Transcripts For GBN Sunday 20240703

Party success in the local elections, an opinion poll gives sir keir starmer a 30 point lead over the conservatives, which does not support the prime ministers quirky theory that we are headed for a hung parliament. Starmer seize the initiative on small boats as he announced his plans to use Counter Terror powers to smash people smuggling gangs. But does the loss of some muslim voters in the local elections . Nonetheless put pressure on starmer to pivot his partys stance on gaza, and looking north of the scottish border. Can john swinney and kate forbes steer the snp away from the gender and hate crime policies pursued by Nicola Sturgeon and humza yousaf . Ill discuss all of that with my political panel. The final of the Eurovision Song Contest took place last night, with switzerlands nemo picking up the crown. Theres been a lot of controversy in recent weeks about the uks representative Olly Alexander, who said that he was ambivalent about the union jack. Doctor eurovision himself. Doctor paul jordan will join us to share his insights on europes big night of music and, alas, of politics. Richard. Universities have been in the news this week with extraordinary scenes at oxford and cambridge caused by pro palestine protests. But such pro palestine protests. But such institutions may also be in deep financial trouble , it seems, as financial trouble, it seems, as the University Drop out rate has surged by over 28 over the last five years. Professor Karl Gombrich will answer whether universities need to adapt to significant new challenges, and arts editor of the express, Stefan Kyriazis, will, of course, be here to talk to us about his latest theatrical adventures. But before all of that, the headlines with tatiana sanchez. Michael. Thank you. The top stories this hour claims a british israeli hostage has died in gaza are being urgently investigated by the Foreign Office. Hamas says nadav popplewell, who was kidnapped dunng popplewell, who was kidnapped during the october attack in israel, was injured during an airstrike a month ago. The government says its seeking more information after the terrorist group made the claim. In a video. Undated footage of the 51 year old with a black eye confirming his name was also released, the Foreign Office reiterated its working with partners to secure the release of all hostages, including british nationals. Deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell condemned the actions of hamas. My heart goes out to the family at this extraordinary time with the barbarism of these appalling terrorists who , have appalling terrorists who, have treated the family in such a cynical , cruel treated the family in such a cynical, cruel and heartless way. And we must wait for further information to become available. But, what an appalling , dreadful experience appalling, dreadful experience for this poor family to have to suffer at the hands of this this absolutely dreadful terrorist organisation. Organisation. Tory defector Natalie Elphicke denies she lobbied the justice secretary over her then husbands sex offences trial. Sir Robert Buckland claims the mp , who crossed the floor to mp, who crossed the floor to laboun mp, who crossed the floor to labour, requested the case to be moved to a lower profile court. Speaking to the sunday times, he says she was told the request was completely inappropriate. Was completely inappropriate. Her spokesperson refuted the accusation, describing it as a nonsense. In the mail on sunday, mr elphicke ended the marriage when her husband was convicted of sexually assaulting two women and jailed for two years. Applications have opened for funded childcare and expansion on the governments current offer for working families. Parents of children who are older than nine months from september are now eligible for support. Parents of two year olds have been able to access 15 hours of funded childcare since last month. The full rollout last month. The full rollout will see support increase to 30 hours a week by september next year. Hours a week by september next year. Labour hours a week by september next year. Labour has hours a week by september next year. Labour has rejected a year. Labour has rejected a report claiming its fair pay agreements in social care could cost taxpayers £42 billion a yeah cost taxpayers £42 billion a year. The party says it wants to empower Adult Social Care professionals and trade unions that represent them, so they can negotiate better deals, the policy Exchange Think Tank says the total cost of the proposed wage rise in 2023 to 24 would have been at least £9. 9 billion per year. Labour says the claims are based on fiction and dont reflect party policy , and three reflect party policy, and three weather warnings for thunderstorms are in place across the country, with britains warm spell set to end this afternoon. Yesterday was confirmed as the hottest day of the year so far. Temperatures are forecast to hit 25 degrees again today in parts of southern and central england. But the forecast isnt all sunshine in Western Areas of england, wales, scotland and Northern Ireland. A met Office Yellow alert for thunderstorms with heavy showers is set to come into force from midday. For the latest stories midday. 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. Comment alerts. Now back to michael i thank 5mm thank you. Tatiana sanchez. On friday, sir keir starmer announced his plans if elected to government to use Counter Terror powers to smash people smuggling gangs. The labour leader has already pledged to cancel the conservative governments scheme to send some Asylum Seekers to rwanda, which was passed into law last month. Sir keir starmer insists that our asylum system must be rebuilt, but has he really seized the initiative on small boats in the local elections , labour experienced an elections, labour experienced an 80 drop in its vote in areas of england where more than a fifth of people identify as muslim as you need to amend his stance on gaza, will a sectarian muslim party emerge in this country and in scotland . Can john sweeney and kate forbes steer the snp away from the gender and hate crime policies pursued by sturgeon and usaf without a party implosion . Consider these party implosion . Consider these matters i have with me. Columnists at the Daily Telegraph madeline grant former labour adviser matthew laza and former labour mp bill rammell. Very nice to see you all on the programme this morning. Madeleine can it possibly be that sir keir starmer has discovered a series of anti terror powers that would be open to a government to use that the conservative government has ignored . I dont think so at all. I think its a classic case of sort of proposing a new law when in fact the existing laws can be used. Theyve already been making arrests using the current legislation, it seems to me that what keir starmer was promising was very, very similar to what the conservatives have already been doing for some time. But been doing for some time. But removing the potential deterrent of rwanda, which for all its flaws, since it since they have actually began to send a limited number there , were now hearing, number there, were now hearing, for example, from ireland that the rwanda, possibility of, of rwanda as a deterrent was one of the things that was propelling people to choose ireland instead, so that were actually getting now some minimal evidence that its working. So it seems quite early to be pulling the plug on this. But i think that because the conservative policy has been so patchy and weak for such a long time, labour can actually get away with promising something thatis away with promising something that is essentially a fig leaf. That is essentially a fig leaf. It barely advances what the conservatives currently have at all. Matthew, i noticed that some Security Experts were in support of sir Keir Starmers announcement. What do you think announcement. What do you think it is that is new . It sounded to me like the development of a new body, the appointment of a new quango, which you will understand, doesnt fill me with a great deal of confidence. Did a great deal of confidence. Did you feel it was anything more than that . Yeah. I mean, actually its not really to establish a new quango. Its to in terms of a new agency. What it is to do is new agency. What it is to do is to bring the existing agencies together. So the two, the three kind of fresh elements are £75 million, taken from the endless budget of rwanda , to get more budget of rwanda, to get more enforcement officers, both to process claims , but also, on the process claims, but also, on the Law Enforcement side , on the Law Enforcement side, on the gangs. Secondly, to bring agencies together. So to use the approach that labour used in government, against terror groups after seven over seven. So thats making sure that things dont fall between the gaps between mi5, between the, you know, the counter between the Police Forces when they use we use the Counter Terrorism sections in those in the territorial Police Forces, and then finally it is to use the Counter Terror. And he hasnt found, as you asked madeleine. He hasnt found a whole new set of legislative legislation. Its legislation thats there. I dont understand for the life of me why the tory government doesnt use it, but it means things that you can do, like seize peoples phones before arrest, etc, which is not being done. And actually other countries have done it, particularly belgium, for example, taking phones has been a really strong way of them being able to trace back the gangs. It sounds like its not that its not that significant , that its not that significant, but actually in belgium, theyve doneit but actually in belgium, theyve done it to actually trace back through the gangs. So people say, oh, theyll just shut the phones over the side. Well, thats not what theyre doing because they make tiktoks. When people arrive on our shores and people arrive on our shores and people want their phones because they, you know, because they think they need them to link up with people when theyre here. So it will make a difference. I dont think anybodys pretending its a magic wand, though. Bill rammell just before the local elections, sir keir starmer announced a development of his policy towards those people arriving on small boats, which sounded, to many people a bit like an amnesty. It sounded like, you know, the people in the system, they were going to be processed very fast and basically they were going to be granted their asylum claims. Thats that seemed like a weak flank. That seemed like opening up territory for the conservatives. Was that your reaction to it . No i dont think it was in any sense an amnesty. But speeding up the process of asylum claims is absolutely critical, because thats one of the biggest pull factors attracting people to come here illegally and try to claim asylum. They know their claims will not be dealt with for years, and they can disappear into the black economy and work. So speeding up the process of claims is critical, but i think that the new policy articulation is important. Yes, its the is important. Yes, its the elites Border Security force , elites Border Security force, but its also a commitment to negotiate a returns agreement with the European Union, effectively taking us back into the dublin convention, which means you can then send people back to the First European Union country that they arrive within. And that would help us significantly that for those who are rejected, we can send them back. But the European Union wont do us any favours, will it, bill . I mean, presumably we would be asked to enter into a burden sharing agreement between Northern European countries. In other words, we would take a share that share might turn out to be more than were already receiving. Were not going to go for that burden sharing agreement. But my understanding is that we would look at if people have got family members within the uk, we would look at those people. But i think, look, you know, before we left the European Union, whatever one thinks about that decision, we didnt have this massive boats crisis coming across the english channel. Weve got to cooperate with the European Union. Weve got to get returns agreements and weve got to process claims faster. Madeleine, putting aside the fact that you might be a tory sympathiser , do you think sympathiser, do you think analytically that labour has succeeded here in seizing the initiative . I suppose perhaps in the most short term way. But i think as soon as there starts to be real scrutiny of what their plans are, its not its not really going to hold up. I think that fundamentally, if you dont have a kind of third country in which you can, you can take people to, you can, you can take people to, you havent got that fundamental deterrent that makes this a less attractive place to come and visit. And i dont think that the possibility of having your phone swiped is going to be the great determiner there. I think you have to look at the, the, the, the fundamental mental reality and the fundamental things that make this a very attractive country. And i think that rwanda, for all its faults , that rwanda, for all its faults, was closer to creating a serious, serious obstacle there. But but im going to move on, if i may. Bill, matthew, ive been quite impressed in one respect. I emphasise that by sir keir starmer, which is the ways more or less held the line on gaza, do you the local Election Results with, with the losses that labour sustained in areas where there was a large muslim population, do they mean that he should be changing his policy on gaza . No, because he should continue to do what he thinks is right and what i think the electorate think is right. And frankly, its a policy thats similar to that of the uk government. The us president and many other governments around the world. And he hasnt given in to pressure, which there is now. I mean, hes in the fortunate position that if you end up losing 1 or 2 mps, which is basically youre talking one, two, maybe three at the outside to either , you know, to to either, you know, to independent pro palestine candidates , if youre, you know, candidates, if youre, you know, be looking at winning seats across the country, you can afford that. Itll be more afford that. Itll be more difficult to say this was the last, you know, if it was, if it was in the position of the tories at the moment where every seat counted, as it were, then it would be more difficult, or if you were in the position that gordon brown was in in 2010, it would have been more difficult in that electoral arithmetic, bill, a bit of analysis. Do you think the emergence of a sectarian Muslim Political party is likely or even inevitable . Is likely or even inevitable . Well, i think weve effectively got a muslim Sectarian Party in the body of the Workers Party under George Galloway and undoubtedly we lost some votes to that party at the local elections. So i dont think we need to pivot in terms of our position, but i think weve got a better articulate it and weve got to rebut some of the misrepresentation of labours position on the far left and by some people in muslim communities. And weve got to make clear that for an incoming Labour Government, as it was for the last Labour Government working, pressuring for a two state solution with a viable state for palestinians is going to be a key priority for that Labour Government. But i think if we tried to pivot from our position now and effectively acquiesce with what hamas have done, one, it would be totally wrong. But two, it wouldnt work politically. Madeleine, do you mind if i move you on to scotland and more analysis . Do you think this new combination of john swinney and kate forbes can can bring the snp from where it has been to a more centrist position, maybe a position where it can begin to attract votes back from labour without an implosion within the snp . Good question. I mean, i think , i think thats certainly think, i think thats certainly what john swinney would like to do. It does seem like he was very closely connected with Nicola Sturgeon , obviously, and Nicola Sturgeon, obviously, and it seems like freed from the yoke of Nicola Sturgeon, he is adopting a more centrist position. He, for example, he spoke about his, profound christian faith, which is not something that hed really talked about openly very much. I guess hes now trying to speak in kate forbes language a little bit. But, you know, theyre going to be in real difficulty there because obviously they are now in a minority government and the greens have already i think theyre feeling quite embittered about the breakdown of their, electoral pact with the snp. You know, they used the first his first outing in first ministers questions to go off to her and her social conservatism. And her social conservatism. And although i think there is a growing recognition , within some growing recognition, within some sections of the snp that rightly , theyve been accused of not focusing on the things that really matter to the scottish people, but trivialities and identity politics and stuff. I still think there is a big rump that will be opposed to kate forbes and obviously the with without the greens theyll have to try and make common cause. I think were going to see, for example , a big clash coming over example, a big clash coming over the issue of trans convert so called trans conversion therapy. Although the cass report made it very clear that that should not be, outlawed in its entirety , because you may its entirety, because you may end up penalising parents and teachers who are just trying to help children who are struggling with gender identity issues. I think thats a real that will be a red line for the greens, and there will be a big clash over that, matthew, were coming to the end of this, swinney has already said that theres an end to the idea of gender self identification, it looks as though he might implement the cass report in scotland. What do you think he might or what do you think he might or what do you think he might or what do you think he might need to do about the hate crimes legislation, which appears to me to have caused pretty much chaos in the it certainly did in the first few weeks. I think what theyll do is theyll see over the next few weeks whether the people are still ringing that helpline, still ringing that helpline, still going into the glasgow sex shop and the farm shop in aberdeenshire and all the places you could report a hate crime afresh under the new legislation, i suspect, because obviously people were pranking at the beginning. If it calms down, i think they might just quietly de emphasise it because they want to throw the baby out with the bath water. I think what swinneys got is a core vote strategy is to try and shore up the traditional snp vote. Particularly against the tories where they used to win. Realising that in labour theyve in the central belt, the labour is going to win a lot of seats, ithank is going to win a lot of seats, i thank all three of you for being with me on this sunday morning. Thank you very much for your very interesting comments. Thats, madeline grant. Matthew laza and bill rammell. And now its laza and bill rammell. And now wsfime laza and bill rammell. And now its time for the Great British giveaway and your chance to enjoy a spectacular summer with an extra £20,000 cash in your bank account. Its our biggest cash prize of the year so far. And heres how it could be yours. You really could be our next big winner with an incredible £20,000 in tax free cash to play with this summer. What would you spend that on . Well, whilst youre thinking about it, listen to some of our previous winners getting that winning phone call from us. Im charles, im on £18,000 cash. It was just amazing. And as soon as it goes into your bank account, it just changes the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its an absolute must. You must try and go for it. The next winning call could be answered by you 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 dee one nine double tee 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. Listening or watching on demand. Good luck i good luck hello after the break, well be getting to the bottom of what occurred before and during the big night of music and politics at the 68th eurovision. Ill be speaking to the man who may be described as welcome back. Last night was the final of the 68th annual Eurovision Song Contest, a competition that began in the 19505 competition that began in the 1950s as a technical experiment in live, simultaneous transnational broadcasting , and transnational broadcasting, and that people in europe and beyond have now been watching for nearly 70 years. Never a dull moment , as nearly 70 years. Never a dull moment, as this celebrated song contest is rarely away. Far away from controversy after the European Broadcasting Union confirmed israels participation in the contest, there were calls for countries to boycott the event. The uks entrant, Olly Alexander, was urged in an open letter from more than 100 queer artists to withdraw in solidarity with palestine. He did not, whilst bemoaning that its a fantasy that the contest must be a political. Im joined now by gb News Reporter charlie peters, who is in malmo. Peters, who is in malmo. Charlie, hello. Do the organisers believe that despite all the protests outside, inside the auditorium , they succeeded the auditorium, they succeeded in having a politics free contest . Contest . Well they didnt. Thats the long and short of it, because many contestants were issuing political statements on the stage, not only in their final dress rehearsal on friday, but also last night during the grand final, as its known, the irish performers saying that love will triumph, hate and we also saw the portuguese performer saying peace will prevail. Expected to be references towards the ongoing conflict between israel and hamas in gaza. We also saw ahead of the final several of the jury votes. Announcers were withdrawing themselves from the competition. Both the norwegian and the finnish announcers saying that they wouldnt be involved with the norwegian with the norwegian jury vote announcer specifically saying that they werent comfortable with it. It didnt feel right, which is expected to be a reference towards the situation with israel involving themselves in the competition. As you just heard a man interrupt our broadcast there to say free palestine. He was likely one of thousands who were protesting yesterday throughout this city because there was a significant march that started here in this square about 24 hours ago, and it moved all the way to the west of the city ahead of several more protesters also migrating from that position to outside of the arena. And as the competition started at 9 pm. Here, there was a significant scuffle between protesters and the police. Pepper spray was deployed. Several arrests were made as groups were kettled by both danish and Swedish Police and moved away from the venue. Now they say that politics is not part of eurovision , but in not part of eurovision, but in all the lead up and in the performance, it certainly was. Thank you very much. From malmo, charlie peters, and im now joined down the line from dubun now joined down the line from dublin by doctor eurovision doctor paul jordan. Welcome very much to gb news. And so we heard that report just there about the scuffles outside certain of the artists making at least veiled references inside the auditorium to political matters and how successful do you think the organisers were at keeping politics at bay . Good morning michael, and yes , greetings from dublin, i think this year has been really challenging. Its been a very difficult year for the organisers. Theyre producing a organisers. Theyre producing a television show. Its not a political rally. Its not a summit. But politics political rally. Its not a summit. But politics comes into it, just like it does with the world cup in qatar last year. So i think theyve not really helped themselves by being inconsistent in the past. Theyve allowed certain songs to be allowed through, you know, which could be seen as political. Theyve turned a blind eye to some countries and their behaviour in terms of, you know, freedom of the press, freedom of the media and then theyve allowed israel to compete when theres a really serious situation. And so serious situation. And so theyve not helped themselves. But overall, i think the music was louder than the politics, paul, was louder than the politics, paul , you was louder than the politics, paul, you werent saying that they shouldnt have allowed israel to participate. Were you . Israel to participate. Were you . No. And i think israel have every right to participate. But every right to participate. But its a very different situation to what happened with russia and ukraine. And technically, the israeli broadcaster had not broken any rules. And i do think its a really complex situation. I understand feelings are running high about the entire situation. Whichever way you look at it, its awful. I do look at it, its awful. I do think it was actually quite distasteful for some people to be booing the israeli artist. Then the day shes a 20 year old singer singing a very good song. And you know, shes not a spokesperson for the government. Shes not responsible for whats happening. And it was all in all, not really in keeping with the spirit of the event. The spirit of the event. There we are. Were seeing eden golan performing there. She actually came fifth, a pretty creditable performance, the Israeli Security forces shin bet it clearly took her safety extremely seriously. They they extremely seriously. They they clearly thought there was a threat to her life. And, lim, do threat to her life. And, lim, do you feel there was any exaggeration in that position . Paul well, i think if you look back to whats happened over, you know , israels participation you know, israels participation in, you know, Large Scale International events before , International Events before, like the olympics in 72. Now these things have consequences. So i think they were taking no chances. And im glad that she did. Well, its a good song, but its interesting that the juries did not vote for her. I think some countries were worried about seem to be supporting israel. And this is a song contest. Its not a political rally, but as i say, politics comes into it. But you know, i wish her all the best, but also, i understand, calls for peace and freedom as well. Its a very complex situation and its a shame that eurovision this year for me was tainted by this. She did extremely well with the public vote from britain, do you think that was a well organised, or do you think that was simply a spontaneous explosion of appreciation for the artist . Well, when it comes to eurovision voting, its very difficult one to predict. I mean, eurovision is a positive vote. Youre voting for someone and not against someone. So all those people who loved her song and wanted to maybe show solidarity or support for israel would have voted for her. But similarly, you know, with the u. K. Result, you know, we got zero points from the public now with the eurovision voting, you get ten chances to vote for a country. You got one point to eight, ten, then 12. So technically the uk could have come 11th with everyone and still scored zero. So its a very difficult one to predict and im sure well be dissecting the results over the next few months , what about olly months, what about Olly Alexander . I find it a bit difficult to imagine going into a contest where you are clearly representing your country. I mean, everything is on a national basis. Each artist has national basis. Each artist has described as coming from that country. Theres a lot of emphasis given to the nationalism of the thing. And for our artists then to say that he was uncomfortable with the union jack, which , just to union jack, which, just to explain to him, is the flag of the country, was representing. The country, was representing. Well, he didnt seem that uncomfortable when he walked on stage carrying it at the flag ceremony. You know, he had that wrapped around him. And i think, ollie, you know, an interesting character. Hes an artist. Hes, you know, hes got his own mind. Hes you know, very creative and hes outspoken. Hes also spoken about israel as well, you know, fair play to him for being true to himself. But at the end of the day, he was representing the uk and the bbc. Its a competition between public broadcasters. And they they had broadcasters. And they they had a gamble really, in terms of their staging. The uk really had their staging. The uk really had quite a provocative performance and perhaps it was a little bit too much for some. As we saw in the public vote. Why do you think, nemo won . Why do you think, nemo won . Why do you think, nemo won . I think nemo is a very good singer. I i think nemo is a very good singer. I think it captured peoples imaginations , peoples imaginations, switzerland. You know, theyve not won since 1988. Since celine dion won, they were the home of eurovision. And, you know, they eurovision. And, you know, they hosted eurovision for the very first time for the in the first contest. It started there in 56. And, who knows . I mean, given all the difficulties this year and all the politicisation, its almost like quite a safe win. You know, neutral switzerland wins eurovision in a year where theres lots of politics. I think the song is very good. The performer is very good. Wasnt my favourite. But, you know, my favourite. But, you know, that never really happens. My favourite tends not to win the first non binary artist ever to win. Do you think that was factor . I dont know if people would have really known about that. It depends on whether the commentators were communicating that. I think people were hopefully voting for the music rather than anything else. I think thats a moment. Rather than anything else. I think thats a moment. You know, think thats a moment. You know, eurovision has these moments. We had conchita, who was a drag queen from austria with the beard. We had Dana International from israel, who was the first trans winner. And you know, eurovision does break boundaries. It breaks, you know, technologies. Theres lots of, you know, ambitions when it comes to eurovision. And its a technical , as comes to eurovision. And its a technical, as you said in the introduction technological experiment. And i dont think experiment. And i dont think people would have been voting for the singer because they were non binary. I think they were probably voting for the singer because of the song. Most interesting, a lot to reflect on. Thank you very much indeed, doctor paul jordan, thanks for joining me this morning. Youre watching Michael Portillo on gb news britains news channel coming up. Well be asking whether its time for universities to adapt whom they teach if they want to survive. The dean of london, interdisciplinar school will join me, then stay with me now. Welcome back. In recent years , universities have years, universities have grappled with financial difficulties. The British Government has not increased the fee that could be charged to uk students since 2017, despite high inflation. And so colleges have turned to International Students whose fees are not capped. The number of visas for capped. The number of visas for students and dependents makes up a big part of legal migration. Less helpful to university coffers is the Record Number of University Dropouts, more than 40,000 undergraduates in 2023 alone, a total that has surged by 28 over five years. Why are students dissatisfied . Joining me is the dean of London Interdisciplinary School and former professor at ucl, professor Karl Gombrich. Welcome to gb news. Thank you michael. Thank you michael. May we do a, first of all with the very large numbers of foreign students now, i mean, it is clear why it is happening because theres more money to be made from foreign students. Its also a policy which in its own terms, gives the government quite a lot of difficulties because it boosts the numbers of migrants, which is causing it political difficulties, by the way, it brings a lot of Chinese Students into the country, and now the government is worried about chinese influence and so on. Have you ever thought as to whether the government is, as it were, doing the right deal for itself here, suppressing uk fees, attracting vast numbers of foreign students , those foreign foreign students, those foreign students bringing their own headaches for the government . Well , youve outlined headaches for the government . Well, youve outlined all headaches for the government . Well , youve outlined all the well, youve outlined all the political difficulties in one 90, political difficulties in one go, really. I mean , its quite go, really. I mean, its quite a stark choice because foreign students are the only things that make money above the margin for british universities. So if we get rid of them, we have to find another way to increase the funding for universities. And that means putting up student fees and we know what the political implications of that are. So it really is a question of kind of trying to match this thing together without many variables at play. The universities have to make a choice , i think, in conversation choice, i think, in conversation with the government about how theyre going to fund themselves i does this number of foreign students you think affect the quality of the education either available to them or indeed to indigenous british students . Its wholly positive in my experience, but it depends on the number. I think if you have more than 50 foreign students on some particular programs, its not good for them either. So Chinese Students who join a course where its all Chinese Students are of course not happy about that. But obviously having 20, 30, even 40 International Students on some courses is incredibly enriching. Thats incredibly enriching. Thats a valuable experience for british and International Students. And International Students. Why, then, is the dropout rate so high . So i think thats a different question. Thats more about undergraduate degrees, which is something im very interested in. I hope we have a chance to talk about. Yes, i think universities simply havent moved enough with the times in the last 20, 30 years. The extraordinary changes outside of universities have not been reflected by whats inside universities. Universities. Can we assume that these dropouts are mainly uk students , dropouts are mainly uk students, or would they be equally divided between the uk and the overseas students . Students . Do you think . I dont know the data . So i wouldnt say for sure, but i would suspect theyre mostly british students. Yeah, because once youve made the commitment to come here as an international, i think you stay right, what we see at my university is that the most satisfied students are those that have left single honours degrees, often at Russell Group universities, and joined our program, which is very different. And i think thats rather revealing because theyve gone to elite programs, studied a single subject and thought to themselves , how is this actually themselves, how is this actually relevant to me and the great problems of the world today . Problems of the world today . So tell tell us what you mean by interdisciplinary. So interdisciplinary basically means just combining subjects and methods to tackle problems that we need to really tackle. So things like migration that you mentioned, inequality , you mentioned, inequality, sustainability. None of these really urgent real world issues can be tackled by a single discipline. So you need to learn a range of subjects and particularly a range of methods and skills to tackle those problems. When i went through education, the model was that you began as a generalist and as you began as a generalist and as you moved up through education, you moved up through education, you became increasingly a specialist. And i think the specialist. And i think the argument for that was that you needed to learn something in depth and that if you went on being a generalist, it was it was possible to know a little about a lot of things. That was rather easy. But to know a lot about one thing was rather more difficult. So what im really saying to you is, is there a loss of rigour in this process . Our program is extremely rigorous indeed. Our students say its intense and requires a lot of cognitive effort. I think what your analysis is missing, if i may, is that so many of the modern areas of real interest require for you to know different things. So how do you become an expert in sustainability . You have to know something about energy, but you also have to know about economics. You may also need to know about human behaviour. Economics. You may also need to know about human behaviour. What know about human behaviour. What about al and law . This is a booming and extremely important area, but the experts are going to be those who combine knowledge of ai to be those who combine knowledge of a with law. So its not about doing a bit of both. Its that combination which is so important. Which is so important. I understand your argument, but i remain slightly sceptical. A little learning is a dangerous thing. Yes, drink deep or touch, not the hyperion spring. Theres Something Like that , i mean, so Something Like that, i mean, so youre this generalist who knows a bit about economics, a bit about energy, a bit about al. Its not a general, its a specialist in a new thing. Its a specialist in the combination of ai and law. Its a specialist in inequality. Its a specialist in inequality. Its a specialist in sustainability. A specialist in sustainability. But there arent degrees in these things yet. So you get your specialism by combining things focused on the actual object of interest. What about leadership . I mean, one of the things that really looks to me to be absent from britain, from top to bottom and side to side, is leadership. Do you teach that . Interestingly, we have a professional Development Course in leadership, which is doing extremely well. We rolled it out with the is it part of your interdisciplinary approach . In other words, this person is doing energy and ai and so on. Will that person also be doing, do you think leadership . I do think they will, they work in groups, our students, and theres a lot of what were called soft skills, but, you know, arent soft as you say. Theyre really hard skills to undergraduates. We dont specifically teach leadership, but they will be learning leadership. Theres a module called campaigns and communications , and they have to communications, and they have to do a real World Campaign and evidence that theyve moved the needle somewhere in the real world through that. So theyre certainly learning leadership as part of the curriculum. Part of the curriculum. Thinking about the civil service. And ill ask you a very Quick Response to this. It seems to me were still recruiting in the way that we did in the 18705. The way that we did in the 1870s. So, you know, people are good at writing an essay. Yes, and probably have a bit of latin. Do you think in government now we need people who really understand . Im going to say it again, leadership, but also , you again, leadership, but also, you know, economics, energy, whatever you like. But really understand these things 100. So i in another interview, id like to ask you if you were doing the ppe degree today, what would you put in it . Right. Its 100 years old now. I put in data science for sure. You have to understand what the data is telling you, when it could be lying, how its trying to trick you. Id also put in though, something about the media visual methods , how youre being fooled methods, how youre being fooled by the media, what how youre being manipulated. There are all being manipulated. There are all sorts of fundamental things that people are going to politics, and more general leadership roles should be learning that theyre not in standard degrees. Most interesting discussion, and thank you so much for coming on a sunday morning to discuss it. Thats professor Karl Gombrich still ahead. Its nearly time to offer the stage to Stefan Kyriazis to hear about his latest escapades in the auditorium. Im welcome back. Another busy week for theatre goers. And Stefan Kyriazis, as always, is one of them, you have been along to the open air theatre in regents park. I have, which i have loved since i was a child. Although i must say i havent been all that much recently. How is it . Is it is it still doing well . It is absolutely. Absolutely. And anyone that hasnt gone. Please, please please go. Its beautiful. Theres a lawn inside. Theres trees wrapping around the stage. Great big auditorium, bars, restaurants. Its stunning. Yeah, its still its stunning. Yeah, its still doing well. Its stunning. The open air. Its completely in the open air. Its completely in the open air. Its completely in the open air. There have been times where ive been huddled under a brolly, but we are blessed at the moment. Im. One of the things i learned is that Summer Nights in britain are not necessarily warm. I mean, particularly in june. Warm. I mean, particularly in june. Yes, you can have a warm june. Yes, you can have a warm day. It can be very cold at night. Yeah, im a im a brit. I have a bag filled with jumpers, puffers, scarves and you may want to take a Little Something for your bottom as well. So yeah, its a fantastic venue and this is, its opening up with shakespeares 12th night, the shakespeares12th night, the story of two twins that get shipwrecked and one, the girl decides to disguise herself as a boy, and she falls in love with count orsino. Hes in love with countess olivia. She falls in love with the girl disguised as the boy, and then the girls twin also turns up and gets into the mix. Typical shakespeare, i would say off the bat , whatever. Would say off the bat, whatever. I think about other parts of the show, the woman playing olivia , show, the woman playing olivia, which is anna francolini, is spectacular. She enters, shes in mourning for her brother, and she enters with this floor length veil trailing down the stage. The costumes are stunning all the way through , and shes all the way through, and shes holding this urn aloft, bedazzled urn like like the lion king. And shes her comic timing. She knows when to go large. Bnng. She knows when to go large. Bring it small, wink to the audience. She understands the language. She also gets a big song and her voice is spectacular. So she, for me, is the star of the show. Its set. The cafe is like a cafe drag revue bar , so its bringing up a revue bar, so its bringing up a lot of the queer elements out of the shakespeare text, and im not sure that it was entirely necessary. I think a lot of its already in the text, so. So the already in the text, so. So the person thats the least over the top is malvolio, which is played by richard kandt. And hes a very which is unusual because malvolio is usually completely over the top. Yes. So theyve taken her as the very camp character. Hes a very fussy, kind of tweedy secretary bird. But the bit where he reads out the fake letter, where he thinks the countess is in love with him, this huge monologue, he does stunningly well. And then when he dresses himself in the yellow leggings and cross cut it, its wonderful. So those two play off each other very well. Its the background characters, like sir toby belch, whos supposed to be the sort of crazy one. And they move the plot along and im fine with big burly men in drag. It works. It can be really hilarious. Works. It can be really hilarious. It works works. It can be really hilarious. It works really well hilarious. It works really well sometimes at the globe here. I just felt it was a little bit too much, but didnt really serve it any great purpose. It serve it any great purpose. It was a bit redundant. I thought lots of kind of knicker flashing and all of that. So for me the campery didnt work as well. Some of the language doesnt translate as well as it should. I drifted in and out, which i dont always do. Dont always do. So a bit of a mixed bag, a mixed bag. But at regents park in london, my goodness, please go. And theyve also got secret garden and then fiddler on the roof coming up at the end of july, which im very excited about. Okay. And then from a kind of outside where were looking in, the next thing weve got is across at the coliseum, which is spirited away, the big Famous Studio ghibli film, but it almost feels like youre inside looking into the world and out. Weve got a trailer and out. Weve got a trailer here. Just to give you a little taste of how wonderful it is. Really. Really. That looks remarkable. Is this a show which has come from japan . Yes, yes. So this was done by the toho company in tokyo, although done by john caird. Adapted and directed, whos a very established british director. Hes worked a lot in japan, but also hugely with the National Theatre here. Its based on the film. Its Hayao Miyazaki , the film. Its Hayao Miyazaki, the famous creator, artist and its a little girl, chihiro, who with her parents wanders into this mysterious building and gets trapped in a kind of bathhouse resort for gods and creatures. Resort for gods and creatures. And its presided over by this crazy witch who also has a twin sister. So theres lots of confusions. Again, i would say with this one, when you go in the colosseum is a vast auditorium , so youve got this auditorium, so youve got this huge stage and they fill it, but they also the entire outside of it is wrapped around wreathed in vines and greenery, which come down the walls and youve got kind of two lawns either side. You get a rippling effect of a river across the front the whole time, and i felt like i was looking into another world. And ihave looking into another world. And i have to say, this show is all in japanese, so this is a very bold move. Completely in japanese subtitles and the subtitles of the problem, because the staging is so amazing, theyre right on either side. So you have to keep doing this and slightly broke the magic for me, however. Well, opera audiences are used to having to look around for their surtitles. Well, you have. I know, i know, there are better places and worse you can flick, but because the sort of upper areas are so covered in stuff, they couldnt obviously put it there. However, i felt like i was peeking into another world. The language, the movement, the way they use their voices, the way they use their voices, the way they use their bodies, their visualisations of creatures. Visualisations of creatures. Its stunningly done. Huge revolve set the completely keeps reconfiguring the whole time. And this thing where the puppeteers are all on stage, so you see them Holding Things on long wires or moving things around. When the witch gets crazy, her head blows up, expands. But theyre all holding different parts of her face, and then they bring it together. The guy there with the white face that we saw in the video, no face, he gobbles up lots of people and expands to monstrous proportions , but its lots more proportions, but its lots more and more people get inside his costume. Its extraordinary. Costume. Its extraordinary. Its like nothing youve seen before. So for that alone, i felt it was magical. I was seeing something utterly different. So i loved it a little bit too long. And yeah, those subtitles are a problem, but i dont know how they would have solved it. But its extraordinary. Thats on at the london coliseum. Please go and see. Im going to move you on to talk about shakespeares globe, which has had some quite good days. Yes, in all these troubled times, they posted a loss 2022 like many, many places, last years accounts, which have just finally all been released. They are six point and the one is important 6. 1 million in profit, which is extraordinary. And they also pointed out 190,000 tickets sold at £10 or less. So london is not crazy expensive all the time. Theres all this choice. Time. Theres all this choice. Theyve benefited also from this, tax relief that the government gave them. And they, they acknowledge that strike. How do you make a profit out of selling very cheap tickets . I think the answer must be that people come back. So you introduce these people to theatre with a £5 ticket, but maybe another day they come back and they pay. You have to sell out number one. Theyve said theyve been very, very careful. And yes, the government tax was supposed to be phasing down and the government has announced its now fixed. So thats a huge bonus to everybody. So its really thrilling. But theyve said theyve been very careful, very responsible , which perhaps very responsible, which perhaps other organisations might take note of. And theyve made their note of. And theyve made their venue survive. And i think its thrilling. Thrilling. Have you anything else tony, or should i tell you about very quickly Rufus Wainwright. Oh, god. Wanting to tank , and oh, god. Wanting to tank, and blame us for the failure of Opening Night . Yeah. Opening night was the name of the show that was the Sheridan Smith one. It got closed down after a relatively short number of performances, and he tells us that it was brexit that was to blame. Because what . Because we british have now become narrow minded. We have the imagination to absorb his show. Since brexit we have entered into a dark corridor and weve become slightly smaller minded. And i have just seen a show all in japanese. And i would like to point out that ivo van hove, who directed the show, who is a very sort of a marmite director, he also directed a little life with james norton , which was a very james norton, which was a very difficult show to watch. But stunningly done, sold out and extended , so we are up for it. Extended, so we are up for it. What we want is a good show , and what we want is a good show, and i find it embarrassing that Rufus Wainwright is trying to blame it on everything, but the fact that the show didnt work and i would have to say his music is not particularly suited for a musical. So yes , let me for a musical. So yes, let me just very briefly, i go around the world watching wagners ring cycles, and wagner is both music and text, and the text is incredibly important. And what happens very often is a director comes along whos so arrogant as to think, im going to put my own idea here, even though it conflicts all the time with what the people are actually singing about. Ive been to this production in zunch been to this production in zurich , directed by andreas zurich, directed by andreas homoki, where for once it is the text that is supreme, and it is not the idea of the director. He makes sure that the singers come forward and tell us what it is thats on their minds. So thats the zurich ring. Thank you very much indeed. Stefan kyriazis, please do not go away after the break. Were going to be talking the dire state of the Welsh National opera. See you then. National opera. See you then. A brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on. Gb solar sponsors of weather on. Gb news. Hello and welcome to your gb news weather update by the met office. Sunny spells for some, but also some scattered heavy thunderstorms. Its going to be feeling warm. Very warm to be feeling warm. Very warm for some of us. High pressure still in charge, especially across eastern parts. Thats gradually clearing its way eastwards. We do have some weather fronts to give a focus of some heavy rain, especially across Northern Ireland, later into scotland as well. But we do have a weather warnings in force for thunderstorms across much of england, wales, Northern Ireland and into scotland later. So we are going to see some heavy downpours torrential with thunder, lightning and hail further towards the south and east, though plenty of sunshine on offer. Feeling warm with on offer. Feeling warm with highs of up to 27, possibly 28 degrees, so heavy showers continue tonight with the risk of thunder and lightning. Theyre going to be pulling their way northwards, affecting much of Northern England and into scotland later, with heavy rain here as well elsewhere turning dry into the night. Some low cloud across western parts, but otherwise temperatures are Still Holding up at around 11 or 12 degrees, so a mild start as we go through monday. But a bit of an east and west split many places across eastern parts are seeing a dry day once again, but further towards the west weve got low pressure in charge, bringing outbreaks of heavy and persistent rain, especially across southwest england, wales and Northern Ireland. Feeling cooler for all as well. And with a bit of a breeze across eastern coasts. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers , sponsors of from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on gb news. Way. Good afternoon, and welcome to the second hour of sunday with Michael Portillo on gb news leo tolstoy said spring is the time of plans and projects. And time of plans and projects. And ihope time of plans and projects. And i hope that you plan to spend the next hour of this spring day with me as we delve into a variety of political, artistic and creative matters. Sir Nicholas Kenyon has issued a stark warning this week over the future of Welsh National opera after the company suffered large cuts to its Public Sector funding. Why is Classical Music penalised when it forms such a part of our National Heritage . Part of our National Heritage . Perhaps that question contains its own perverse answer. Sir nicholas will talk to me about the worrying implications and how opera can survive. The National Gallery is celebrating 200 years of history. The home to monets the water lily pond. Velasquez the toilet of venus and constables the haywain. This is a collection of international importance, providing stunning snapshots of the history of art and illustrating artistic movements. The lead curator of the National Gallery will join me to talk about why we should celebrate after home secretary James Cleverly identified him as a spy. Russias Defence Attache in the United Kingdom has been expelled. Maxime leveque will soon be thrown out of the country as part of a crackdown on malign russian activity across europe. Does this latest move provide evidence that the west is getting tough . As David Cameron has promised in a speech this week . Alexander vasiliev will be here to discuss. And finally, tomorrow is world cocktail day. Whether it be a pina colada, a raspberry collins or an espresso martini, its the perfect excuse to indulge in your favourite alcoholic beverage. Mixologist andrea amoroso will be here to shake and stir me all of that ahead. But first, your headlines with tatiana sanchez. Tatiana sanchez. Michael, thank you very much. And good afternoon. The top stories from the gb newsroom claims a british israeli hostage has died in gaza, are being urgently investigated by the Foreign Office. Hamas says nadav popplewell, who was kidnapped dunng popplewell, who was kidnapped during the october attack in israel, was injured during an airstrike a month ago. Undated footage of the 51 year old with a black eye was also released. The government says its seeking more information after the terrorist group made the claim in a video. Deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell is condemning the actions of hamas. Condemning the actions of hamas. My heart goes out to the family at this extraordinary time with the barbarism of these appalling terrorists who have treated the family in such a cynical, cruel and heartless way. And, we must wait for further information to become available. But, what an appalling, dreadful experience for this poor family to have to suffer at the hands of this this absolutely dreadful terrorist organisation. Terrorist organisation. Tory defector Natalie Elphicke denies shes lobbied the justice secretary over her then husbands sex offences trial. Sir Robert Buckland claims the mp, who crossed the floor to labour, requested the case to be moved to a lower profile court. Speaking to the sunday times, he says she was told the request was completely inappropriate. Her spokesperson inappropriate. Her spokesperson refuted the accusation, describing it as nonsense. In the mail on sunday, mr elphicke ended the marriage when her husband was convicted of sexually assaulting two women and jailed for two years. At least seven people have been killed and 15 injured after an apartment block collapsed in russia , state media says. Russia, state media says. Fragments of a Ukrainian Missile , which were downed by russias air defence system, landed on the building in the city of belgorod. Rescue efforts, which were hampered when the roof also collapsed, are underway in a bid to find survivors. Applications to find survivors. Applications have opened for funded childcare and expansion on the governments current offer for working families. Parents of children who are older than nine months from september are now eligible for support. Parents of two year olds have been able to access 15 hours of funded childcare since last month. The full rollout will see support increase to 30 hours a week by september next year. Labour has rejected a report claiming its fair pay agreements in social care could cost taxpayers £42 billion a year. The party says it wants to empower Adult Social Care professionals and the trade unions that represent them, so they can negotiate better deals, they can negotiate better deals, the policy Exchange Think Tank says the total cost of the proposed wage and rise 2023 2024 would have been at least £9. 9 billion a year. Labour says the claims are based on fiction and dont reflect party policy , and dont reflect party policy, and three weather warnings for thunderstorms are in place across the country, with britains warm spell set to end this afternoon. Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far, reaching 26 degrees. Temperatures are expected to climb again today to around 27 in central parts of the country, but the met office has also now issued new warnings for rain in southwest england. Spells of heavy rain also expected to hit eastern areas of Northern Ireland today, with a warning in place until 6 am. On tuesday. For the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to news. Com. Au alerts. Now back to news. Com. Au alerts. Now back to michael i thank 5mm thank you tatiana. A british thank you tatiana. A british opera regards itself as under renewed attack, as the Welsh National opera faces a 35 cut in its funding from Arts Council England and an 11. 8 cut in grant from the welsh arts council. The company now finds itself in financial crisis and has resorted to reducing the weeks of touring in the 20 2425 season in both london and bristol. If Classical Music fans detect in those cuts a disdain for excellence, further evidence was perhaps provided when the tenorian was perhaps provided when the tenor Ian Bostridge discovered dunng tenor Ian Bostridge discovered during a performance that the chief executive of the city of birmingham symphony orchestra, emma stenning, had introduced new rules allowing the audience to film him as long as it wasnt his whole performance to discuss whats going on in Classical Music. Im whats going on in Classical Music. Im joined by the telegraphs opera critic and the former director of the bbc proms, sir Nicholas Kenyon. Nicholas let me see you here again. In 1977, i drove twice again. In 1977, i drove twice within the space of a week to cardiff to hear two performances of wagner operas conducted by sir reginald goodall. And why is the Welsh National opera so excellent . Tell us a bit about this company that you are concerned about. Its a magnificent company with a long story of imaginative but musically based great productions. Remember, they had pierre boulez, they had peter stein die erecting. And its a long and illustrious history, and i think it has now just come up against this really shocking disdain for opera as an art form. I mean , opera as an art form. I mean, you cant query the excellence to use your word of what they have been doing last night in birmingham was the last performance of their absolutely outstanding production of benjamin brittens death in venice, which i saw in cardiff and i would say is one of the best opera productions in recent times in britain. Across across the board. So theyve just fallen victim and in a really shocking way with Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales not talking to each other, but collaborating to decimate its resources , i said rather acidly resources, i said rather acidly dunng resources, i said rather acidly during my introduction that, well, i implied that perhaps its because they represent a National Tradition and a tradition of excellence that theyre being despised. In other words, is the agenda to promote some different sort of music, maybe some music, which is in some way more Community Based in their stead , Community Based in their stead, i it is not just that it is nationally based because this attack on opera, which is perceived by people who dont know enough about it as an elitist art form , is across the elitist art form, is across the board. Weve already talked about the threat to English National opera, glyndebourne touring has been cut. And so i think what were seeing is a desire for a more Community Based. But, i mean, if you say Community Based in wales, music sukh song, Community Music making is absolutely at the heart of the culture there. And Welsh National opera represents a certain articulation of that culture. And just because it is a pricey thing to employ a full time orchestra and chorus and to mount productions of quality that should not be the way to move forward. Yes, we want to change. Yes, we want to have different ways of presenting opera, which could well be small scale, could well be more Community Based , but you cant Community Based, but you cant have one suddenly without the other. And thats the crisis other. And thats the crisis that Welsh National opera now faces. One of the puzzles here is that we saw a movement by the funding bodies to spread music and artistic activity, generally away from just london, make sure that things toured, make sure that things toured, make sure that things toured, make sure that things occurred in provincial theatres and provincial theatres and provincial opera houses and so on. And provincial opera houses and so on. And yet, actually, the effect of these cuts and youve alluded to this already has been precisely to ensure that the eno, for example, that glyndebourne have had to cut their touring because thats at their touring because thats at the fringe of their budget, and im sorry to say that i think this levelling up and more activity around the country, which we all totally support, has been a cover. It has been a cover for an attack on an art form, which certain people in the funding bodies simply do not regard as a valid expression of modern day culture. And yet the fact is that these are some of the most thrilling, some of the most involving pieces known to man. And the arts council has put out an absolutely appalling report trying to demonstrate late that because operatic stories were conceived in the past and a lot of the most popular operas in the repertory are 19th century, this somehow cuts them out of contention as expressions of modern culture. That doesnt apply to shakespeare. At the globe, we look for different interpretations of great works of the past , interpretations of great works of the past, and that is equally true of opera. The way you speak about Arts Council England implies that you know a bit about whats going on there and whos taken these decisions. What are the things. Thats frustrating to me as a member of the public is i dont know whos accountable for these decisions. And i certainly dont understand the political accountability for all this. I mean, are ministers responsible for this . If someone is unhappy with this, can they , is unhappy with this, can they, summon the minister to parliament and ask questions or is the minister also completely powerless here, the arts council operates under what has always been described as the arms length principle , that it is not length principle, that it is not government directing them. They are an independent body setting their own strategy. But what we saw under the brief and calamitous culture secretaryship of Nadine Dorries was a very specific instruction to Arts Council England to move funding out of london and that was the route of English National operas problems. So, i can tell operas problems. So, i can tell you its not a secret. The chairman of the arts council is the much respected sir nicholas serota. The chief executive is darren henley, and it puzzles me that there has not been more accountability in terms of the outrage that what they have done has prompted in recent weeks and months. What we do know now is that the government is instituting one of its regular reviews of its arms length bodies, in this case the Arts Council England , which will be council england, which will be chaired by mary archer and mary archer, is no pushover. And i archer, is no pushover. And i think we can expect a quite forensic look at how recent decisions by Arts Council England have prompted the outcry that they have. Well, one would hope then that that can report in a timely manner. I mean, one of the problems with these reviews is that they reached decisions long after the horse has bolted. Yes. Or in the in the case of the Arts Council Strategy review into opera and music theatre , into opera and music theatre, published seven months after the decisions have been taken, yes, ex post facto justification. Ex post facto justification. Do you mind if we turn to this issue of Ian Bostridge . So theres this, tenor trying to give his performance and he becomes aware that that hes being filmed, i assume, by quite a lot of people, immense , a lot of people, immense, distracting to him, also immensely distracting to other people in the audience. And it turns out, i mean, i think this is the way it is. I think he didnt know about this. It turns out that the policy of the new chief executive of the orchestra was that people should be allowed to film. How do you feel about this . I think this is just a horrible misunderstanding in terms of trying to loosen up the concert format and trying to make people feel more welcome, and that the experience is accessible. When you say misunderstanding, you mean a mis decision, a bad decision, yes. And it is complete , deeply and it is complete, deeply unacceptable that that should happen without without it being thoroughly talked about and thoroughly talked about and thoroughly discussed. Various places. Now say please film our places. Now say please film our cut and calls , you know, using cut and calls, you know, using phones for reading Digital Programme notes, for instance, is a more familiar thing now. But an artist like Ian Bostridge has to be respected in his attempt to draw a hall together in total concentration and total silence, some artists may want to stimulate dancing in the aisles. Thats, you know, thats aisles. Thats, you know, thats a different show. But i think that with the best will in the world, what the new chief executive birmingham has done is say, well, what can we do to make it a less intimidating experience to welcome people in and just got it wrong in this instance, and they have already backtracked on the video issue . You may be astonished to know that i am an occasional performer only of the spoken word, but i go to theatres quite a lot. I mean, to me it would be devastating. It would. I really wouldnt be able to concentrate at all if i saw people filming me or exchanging messages or whatever. Whatever. And there are huge rights issues. Of course , you know, in issues. Of course, you know, in bostridge singing a song cycle by britten which, you know, is, thats his intellectual property, as it were, that performance. But things are changing and i can see the birmingham orchestra wanting to have themselves on youtube, wanting to have things that reach out to the community in birmingham. Lets think it through a bit more carefully as to how thats done, the last night of the proms, rule britannia and so on. Used to run the proms, is it conceivable that some people, including some artists, could be offended by this piece of music . This piece of music . Well, i think it is perfectly, perfectly reasonable if you take it at literal face value, that you are suddenly brought up short with what it is trying to say, but in fact, those pieces on the last night of the proms, land of hope and glory, jerusalem, which i think is a completely wonderful piece, they are the letting of the hair down after , you know, 70 down after, you know, 70 concerts of superb quality vie. And they are part of a tradition of music making. I dont think we should be in quotes cancelling them simply because they come. You would let them live on. I think youre absolutely right that people dont take them literally. I mean, one has seen the womens institute, the Mothers Union over the years, you know , bring me my arrows of you know, bring me my arrows of desire. I mean, presumably they were they were not literal about what they were singing. Well , who knows . And i think well, who knows . And i think you would surely michael , say you would surely michael, say that in terms of opera, not every opera singer is literal about the text that they are singing , but about the text that they are singing, but i think this just needs to be put in perspective. Needs to be put in perspective. The last night of the proms is a wonderful celebration , but the wonderful celebration, but the meat of the proms season, which starts in mid july, is this yean starts in mid july, is this year, looks an absolute wonderful spread of symphonic and other concerts with great orchestras from abroad. Berlin orchestras from abroad. Berlin philharmonic simon rattle bringing his new orchestra bavarian radio how marvellous to end on a positive note, thank you very much indeed, sir Nicholas Kenyon. Nicholas kenyon. Time for the Great British giveaway and your chance to enjoy a spectacular summer with an extra £20,000 of cash in your bank account. Its an extra £20,000 of cash in your bank account. Its our biggest cash prize of the year so far, and heres how it could be yours. You really could be our next big winner with an incredible £20,000 in tax free cash to play with this summer. What £20,000 in tax free cash to play with this summer. What would you with this summer. What would you spend that on . Well, whilst youre thinking about it, listen to some of our previous winners getting that winning phone call from us. Im charles, im on £18,000 cash. It was just amazing. And as soon as it goes into your bank account, it just changes the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its an the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its an absolute the life changing thing. Just go for it. Its an absolute must. You must try and go for it. The next winning call could be answered by you 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 p. O your name and number two gb05 po box 8690 derby dh1 980, uk only entrance must be 18 or oven only entrance 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. After the break ill be speaking to doctor Susanna Avery , the lead curator of the National Gallery, to discuss its 200 years of history. Stay us. The National Gallery in londons Trafalgar Square celebrates 200 years since its foundation. The collection rates alongside other National Galleries and private collections. As one of the great concentrations of art, especially western art, of the second millennium in the whole world. The National Gallerys prominence has made it a target, a Diego Velasquez the toilet of venus was attacked by a suffragette in 1914 and by Just Stop Oil recently, the gallerys masterpieces were hidden in a welsh slate mine during the second world war. In 2020, the gallery closed for an unprecedented 111 days due to the governments response to covid 19. To discuss the history and the gallerys value to the nafion and the gallerys value to the nation and to the world. Today, im joined by lead curator of the National Gallery, doctor susana avery quash. Susanna, susana avery quash. Susanna, lovely to see you. Tell us about the foundation. Was it a sort of global pioneering, step forward to establish a National Gallery . Yes, i think it was michael. Yes, i think it was michael. We were set up in 1824 by an act of parliament. Lord liverpools government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of john julius angerstein, and they were really largely historical continental works by raphael, rembrandt, rubens , people like that. And rubens, people like that. And there were also some british pictures. We tend to think of the National Gallery being full of international art, but there were wonderful works by hogarth and reynolds, for example , and and reynolds, for example, and even a work by david wilkie, who was then a living artist. I think we were definitely pioneering in the sense that we werent founded from a Royal Collection varne, unlike our continental peers like the louvre in paris or the prado in spain. But we were founded by an act of parliament, and that made us quite special, that we were always a peoples picture gallery bought for the people by the people. And i think also what made us quite special was that were quite a small, compact collection. We only have about 2400 paintings, again, in comparison with the prado, the louvre. Were very, very tiny, but that makes us almost like a treasure trove of gems and id, i think were also pioneering in the sense that in 1855 we were reconstituted and we didnt then only collect sort of baroque masterpieces of the type that found were in the foundational collection, but we expanded quite radically to start collecting early italian art to tell the whole story of western european painting from its origins in italy in the middle of the 13th century. So we were radical in the sense we werent a royal foundation. We were small , but we a royal foundation. We were small, but we were able to tell the whole history of western european painting that you alluded to. And is that the great strength of the National Gallery . Is that what you would say . It tells the story . Yes, it tells the story in a very condensed way. So you dont get too tired. Youre not running through masses of galleries like you. You do in the prado or the louvre. We in a the prado or the louvre. We in a compact space, through some real gems, we can actually tell the story of western european painting. And in fact, weve got 12 masterpieces, as part of our bicentenary on tour at the moment , bicentenary on tour at the moment, michael, bicentenary on tour at the moment , michael, where weve, moment, michael, where weve, weve lent out real masterpieces on this, you know, National Treasures tour, and weve got works which really show the strengths of our collection. So weve got a turner and a constable. I think youve got some pictures up that we can we can share, and theyre being lent out. And in fact, people lent out. And in fact, people forget that until 1896, we had a huge amount of british pictures, but they went off to the National Gallery of british art at millbank, which is basically the tate gallery. Weve always been very, very rich in collections of italian painting, and then when looking at a botticelli now, which i think youve well, thats now rembrandt, but were on a botticelli which youve lent to the fitzwilliam. Thats absolutely right. And then that wonderful rembrandt that we just looked at, we were very, very always very rich in 17th century dutch art. And so weve let this dutch art. And so weve let this beautiful portrait self portrait by by rembrandt at the age of 34, out to one of our 12 locations. And also we are very rich in post 1800 french art, impressionism , impressionism, post impressionism. Now, unlike early italian art, where we were bucking the trend and going out and buying this stuff in order to expand our collection, we were quite slow off the mark in in relation to purchasing french art, modern french art. Some of the trustees, i think they werent quite sure whether it was a fad or not, and they said they didnt want modern french rebels in the hallowed precincts of Trafalgar Square. But we do. Through the generosity of people like hugh hugh lane and sir simon sainsbury. Weve got a lovely collection, so were lending out the water lilies as part of that collection. Weve part of that collection. Weve got other strengths too. So, yeah. By claude monet and youll be interested. I know you like spanish art. You know, we have beautiful , spanish pictures. So beautiful, spanish pictures. So were lending out the rokeby venus. The picture you mentioned as one of our absolute National Treasures. And thats going out. So we got 12 venues across the nafion so we got 12 venues across the nation where the hope is that half the population will only be an hour away from being able to visit one of these wonderful treasures that represent the core of our collection in the in the digital age, of course, you can reach people in all sorts of ways. Tell me a bit about that, because presumably youve gone from being a london institution. You were always a national institution, but now presumably youre a global institution. Absolutely. I mean, were always the National Gallery, the nations gallery, the peoples gallery. But where do we stop the people . So weve expanded through the digital age. Were through the digital age. Were saying is in my book is not either or. Its both. And so we still work analogue. Theres nothing like beating coming to see a National Gallery picture face to face, but we realise that many people cant get to the National Gallery , whether the National Gallery, whether thats because theyre ill or frail or elderly, or they live across the world or they cant afford it. So we want to bring our pictures to them where they are. And so the digital age are. And so the digital age allows us to do that because we can work on a digital platform. So we do a lot of now online teaching. We produce films , that teaching. We produce films, that people can access from their, their phones or from home. And we have many digital projects. We have many digital projects. So for example, in 2020, we transformed one of our paintings, a renaissance painting, always in room nine at National Gallery, and we recreated what it would have been like for the viewers in 1561, where it was in its original context through, virtual reality. So you put on a headset and you suddenly were transformed from londons National Gallery, and you entered this church, San Benedetto po , and it was a way benedetto po, and it was a way of using Digital Technologies to harness these assets in order to bnng harness these assets in order to bring new life and interest in our paintings to the people. What about scholarship . What is the scholarship that goes on in the National Gallery . Yeah, the scholarship is very, very important. I think Research Really underlines absolutely everything we do because we dont just share pictures with people, but we want to share our knowledge and enthusiasm about those pictures with them. And so we have a very Research Active staff and Research Active staff and research supportive staff at the gallery , one of our projects for gallery, one of our projects for the bicentenary, michael, is that were going to be putting all our dossiers , which contains all our dossiers, which contains all our dossiers, which contains all the information about our paintings, which were stored in paper files before in in the library, in archive and in the scientific department, that relates to the paintings, history of provenance, its history of provenance, its history of provenance, its history of conservation, the history of conservation, the history of conservation, the history of ownership and so on, an exhibition history. All of thatis an exhibition history. All of that is going to be made available from next year through digital platforms, through the National Gallery website. Thats just one example of how digital helps us share our knowledge with people. With people. Susanna, i congratulate you on the 200th anniversary. Thats to the gallery and i congratulate you personally on being in position at this marvellous moment when youre going to have such a great celebration. And thank you very much for what the National Gallery does for us all. Thats susana avery quash. After the break, well be discussing what is putins approach to espionage and the significance of spy expulsions by western leaders. Expulsions by western leaders. Ill be speaking to the russian espionage historian and writer alexander vasilyev, but first with the latest headlines. Its tatiana sanchez. Tatiana sanchez. Michael, thank you very much. 1231 the top stories claims a british israeli hostage has died in gaza are being urgently investigated by the Foreign Office. Hamas says nadav popplewell, who was kidnapped dunng popplewell, who was kidnapped during the october attack in israel, was injured during an airstrike a month ago. Undated footage of the 51 year old with a black eye was also released. A black eye was also released. The government says its seeking more information after the terrorist group made the claim. In a video. Tory defector in a video. Tory defector Natalie Elphicke denies she lobbied the justice secretary over her then husbands sex offences trial. Sir Robert Buckland claims the mp , who buckland claims the mp, who crossed the floor to labour, requested the case be moved to a lower profile court. Speaking to the sunday times, he says she was told the request was completely inappropriate. Her completely inappropriate. Her spokesperson refuted the accusation in the mail on sunday, describing it as nonsense. Applications have nonsense. Applications have opened for funded childcare , opened for funded childcare, part of an expansion of the governments current offer for working families. Parents of working families. Parents of children who are older than nine months from september are now eligible for support. The full rollout will see support increase to 30 hours a week by september next year , and weather september next year, and weather warnings for thunderstorms are in place across the country, with britains warm spell set to end this afternoon. The met Office Issued a new alert for rain in southwest england, eastern areas of Northern Ireland can also expect a heavy downpour, with a warning in place until 6 00 tuesday morning. For the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. Carmelites michaels back after the. Break. Welcome back. Last week, the British Government announced the expulsion of the russian Defence Attache from london following russias invasion of ukraine. More than 600 russian spies were ejected from operating in europe under diplomatic cover, creating a gap in putins intelligence coverage of the west. One response was to change the focus and objectives of russian agents. Joining me now is russian espionage historian and writer alexander vasiliev. Writer alexander vasiliev. Alexander, welcome to the program. What do we know about the Defence Attache and what he might have been doing that has upset the British Government . Is that, it is, a well known fact, and its universally accepted that military attaches of any country, they are responsible for collecting information about the armed forces, about the, scientific developments, developments in the Defence Industry and so on. It is accepted this this is a part of the job, right where the what exactly did this colonel, i think his name is colonel jelavic. What exactly did he do . Hes been working in this country for ten years. And before that, he was assistant military attache in washington. And americans didnt have a problem with him. He then, got a visa to this country, which is actually a good indication that he is. He is a good, good russian. Right americans are never expelled him. He worked here for ten years. What happened . What happened . So at happened . What happened . So at the moment, i think we need more information to figure out anything about this case. So far, it looks like you know more political decision. Thats very interesting. I thats very interesting. I suppose many of us would be struck by the number of instances where we believe that the russians are trying to penetrate , information penetrate, Information Technology systems and disruptive activity, has that been a change of emphasis . Are been a change of emphasis . Are russian spies now more focused on that sort of disruption rather than simply collecting information . Well , i information . Well, i think they, information . Well , i think they, theyre well, i think they, theyre doing it. They are using every way possible to collect more information. Maybe to influence even, british politics, foreign politics is the thing which worries me is, for instance, a recent case when a russian guy was killed in spain. Tell me about this case. Tell me about this case. This is basically a traitor. She defected to the ukrainian side. Hes a he used to be a helicopter pilot. And he flew over from the russian side to the ukrainian side. There were 2 or 3 people in helicopter. In his helicopter, they got killed and he became some sort of hero in ukraine. They made a documentary about him. They paid him half 1 million. They gave him half 1 million. They gave him a new identity, new ukrainian passport, and he went to spain to have a good time. So so two guys may be russians , may so two guys may be russians, may be someone working for russia in europe. They found him. Yeah. Europe. They found him. Yeah. And they killed him. I mean, this is that is of course, horrible. And we absolutely deplore it. But theres nothing very new about this, is there . I mean , putin this, is there . I mean, putin follows traitors , relentlessly follows traitors, relentlessly across the globe and makes us all realise that his reach is infinite. Infinite. Yeah, he obviously hates traitors. And he talks about it more than once. On the other hand, when an intelligence service, Russian Intelligence Service, Russian Intelligence Service, for instance, plan plans operations , they weigh plans operations, they weigh pros and cons. Yeah and killing someone in such an important country with a professional Counterintelligence Service as britain or the united states, there are , a lot of factors there are, a lot of factors against it. For instance , im. Against it. For instance, im. You may remember the skripals case. Of course we do. Yes. Which played out in salisbury. Absolutely, in my opinion and my personal opinion, its the official narrative of that case is pretty questionable , to me , is pretty questionable, to me, its very difficult to believe that putin would authorise anything like this three months before the world cup in russia. Right . I see in which russia invested huge amount of money. So what you think it might have been a freelance activity . Yes, it may be freelance. And yes, it may be freelance. And also, you know, i would i as like in any case, where russia is, was, allegedly involved. I would like to see solid evidence as far as i understand , there is as far as i understand, there is no solid evidence that those two guys, petrov and boshirov, actually went up to Sergei Skripals house. There was there is a there is a problem with, timeline because the skripals left the house at 9 am. And then they were spotted in central salisbury at 130. I suppose it should not be surprising in the field of espionage that there are many things that we dont understand. Things that we dont understand. Absolutely, absolutely. Absolutely, absolutely. And which the sort of thing that youre working on, do you have any idea the russians have this Country House . Yes. And this Country House . Yes. And this Country House enjoyed diplomatic immunity and that has now been withdrawn, presumably because the British Government think that some sort of espionage activity has been carried out in that house. I mean, firstly, do you agree that thatis mean, firstly, do you agree that that is probably why the diplomatic immunity has been withdrawn . Yes. If the diplomatic immunity is withdrawn, it means that the British Police can enter the house. Yes. The British Police cant enter the embassy because of the diplomatic immunity. But the thing is, im not sure whether the station of the gru or the Russian Intelligence Service was was located there. They usually use , the embassies for that. Use, the embassies for that. Exactly. Because of the diplomatic immunity, because the police can cant enter them. And police can cant enter them. And its a Common Knowledge that station the stations of the guru and the Russian Intelligence Service. They are actually located in the embassies. Located in the embassies. Well, there seem to be many puzzles here. I was i was hoping you were going to elucidate everything, but really, what youre making me believe is that everything is even more complicated. Oh, absolutely. Complicated. Oh, absolutely. Even more ambiguous than one might have imagined. Thank you so much forjoining me. Alexander vasilyev , after the alexander vasilyev, after the break, it will be 5 00 somewhere as well be mixing it ahead of world cocktail day tomorrow. Andrea amoroso from the cocktail lab will be with me for our taste of britain. And welcome back. It was an 1806 when a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind. Sugan composed of spirits of any kind. Sugar, water and bitters , was sugar, water and bitters, was first named a cocktail. The new york tabloid newspaper the balance and columbian repository coined the phrase in response to a readers inquiry. 200 years later, we have an annual celebration of the drinks that are madly popular. All year round, all around the world. Andrea amoroso , the founder and andrea amoroso, the founder and mixologist of the cocktail lab , mixologist of the cocktail lab, is here. Its lovely to see you. Thank you for coming in again. Im fantastic. There are thousands of cocktails. How on thousands of cocktails. How on earth have you chosen what to mix today . Right. Okay today im going to make two of, great summer cocktails there. Well, we like and we think are one of the best ones, so one will be a timeless cocktail, which is a mai tai. I love mai tai, a mai tai. Many people know different ways. We people know different ways. We make a pretty decent one, and the second one would be an estate , hold up cocktail. Estate, hold up cocktail. Thats how. Okay, lets start with our mai tai. Great on it. Great on it. Describe what youre up to, right . Absolutely. So by the way, youve got beautiful equipment. Thank you so much. All your stuff is so youve got it all in this sort of coppery bronze colour. Very nice. Okay, then two. Oh, so , nice. Okay, then two. Oh, so, you know, were always joking about, stirred, not mixed or stirred. Not shaken. What is the advantage of shaking . Advantage of shaking . Right. Its, so basically we mainly need three, principles, three main things, which is dilution, mixing and, and, chilling, cooling, chilling. Chilling, cooling, chilling. Yes. Thats right. Yes. So in a shaken yes. Thats right. Yes. So in a shaker, if you have more, dilution. So thats a rum based cocktail. So we start with some rum , well have some nice lovely rum, well have some nice lovely pineapple juice. Pineapple juice. Pineapple juice. Its always nice and refreshing for some reason it lovely. There we go. So youre not measuring today but presumably very often you do measure. But im so used to it. You know what youre doing a splurge. Splurge. Yep. Yep. Of lime juice. Then we are these lovely orgeat syrup. Orgeat syrup is essentially almond and blossom. Now, some of these things are quite sugary. And i heard that, its funny how governments always achieve the opposite of what they intend during prohibition in the united states, there were lots of illegal speakeasies, and in order to make people drink their dnnks order to make people drink their drinks faster before the police could come through the door, they found that if they mix them with sweet things, the alcohol went down faster. Also, the went down faster. Also, the smell of the honey and so on disguised the smell of the alcohol. And so the cocktail flourished during prohibition. Thats right. Isnt it marvellous . Thats great. So what are you doing with that glass . Just cooling the glass as well. Are you . Best cocktails are made dunng best cocktails are made during prohibition time, which is, which is right at the time you described, yes , indeed. You described, yes, indeed. Yeah. So just give it a nice sip i is that quite an art . Yes right. I mean, you you do it in a very flamboyant way. Is there a particular reason for that . Yeah. So we want the ice to go in and round into the cocktail. So that makes it. Oh, cocktail. So that makes it. Oh, thank you so much. Is it that youre going to use. Yes yes yes. There we go. There we go. Thats us. Dip the ice into the shaker so that we can pour in a glass. We leave a little bit of room so that we can were going to give it another top up. Yeah. Layer of dark rum this time. Oh my goodness. That makes it even nicer. Lovely. I have nothing on for the rest of the day. The rest of the day. And then so sorry, im just going to make a very beautiful for you. Of course, you are so sure. Of course, you are 50 sure. Of course, you are so sure. Have you got some nice cherry pineapple . Pineapple . Because the decoration is quite important. Oh, you made that look absolutely lovely. Now, may i suggest, andrea, that you start mixing your next cocktail because were short of time. Absolutely on it. Absolutely on it. So meanwhile, im just going to have a little taste of this. Thank you. Thank you. Let me know. Let me know. Well, well, you know, i made that point about disguising the alcohol. Thats what happens here, isnt it . Yeah. I could dnnk here, isnt it . Yeah. I could drink that happily all afternoon, but i would probably be ill advised to do so. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Very delicious. Very, very summery. Takes you straight to the sandy beach, isnt it . Remind us now what this second one is. Oh, second one is a contemporary classic. Yes. Contemporary excuse made nowadays, but its still a twist of a classic one. So what are you putting in it particularly . Oh yes, thats the vodka based. So ive added some vodka. Triple sec. Were adding a bit of Passion Fruit puree to it. Have you noticed i cant stop sipping this one . Thank you. I mean , i mean, thank you. I mean, i mean, its you like it, and im so glad. Fantastic. So whats going to be the difference between the two . What . What . Right. What would be the difference of occasion . Difference of occasion . This is a an endless, timeless , endless, endless and timeless. Sounds good, as in like, its been going on since since 1944, andifs been going on since since 1944, and its still one of the favourite cocktail in the world. And this has a more modern cut. This one has a more modern touch using Passion Fruit, a bit of sweetness and also whats missing. We are missing a little. Is that april aperol . Thats aperitivo . Yeah, thats an italian aperitif. Meaning italian. I have to give a little italian. Yeah, yeah. No. Absolutely. Right. Time to shake this one as well. Lets look at your method again. Use the freedom. And this again. Use the freedom. And this is going to end up in a shorter glass with the glass youre going to need that. Thank you so much. Fantastic. Thank you so much. Fantastic. Ill use it this way. You can put it on the glass like you did there. Oh my goodness. Look at the colour of that nice fresh fresh colour. Look at the sensational colour. Colour. There we go. So this one goes with a nice mint sprinkle on. Im not allowed to touch it until you decorate it. Oh thats okay i mean here we go. Well add the little straw in. So this this is a little glass and a little straw. What glass and a little straw. What do you think of this . Oh, its very sweet and its very, very fruity. And again , what its also and again, what its also a bit bitter at the end after test. Well, a little bit of bitterness , but both of them are bitterness, but both of them are fabulous summer cocktails. Now, fabulous summer cocktails. Now, in a moment were going to switch over to Darren Grimes whos taking over at 1 00. Darren, what do you think of the setup ive got here . I think this is incredible. Michael. Yeah, well, you should come every week. Well, we really do. We do. We do something a bit like this every week. Whats on your program . Whats on your program . Well, on the program, well be discussing Suella Bravermans intervention this morning where she says , actually, we need to she says, actually, we need to scrap the two child benefit cap , scrap the two child benefit cap, which i think is probably the right thing to do. Ultimately, we need to have more kids in society and well be debating a whole host of issues throughout the morning. And well, afternoon even. Its no longer morning, is it . Sadly. But its 5 00 somewhere, so enjoy , looking somewhere, so enjoy, looking forward to it. Darren. Darren. I think its very noble of you to carry on the afternoon and think about all these very Serious Problems and to debate them in the very profound way that you always do. But will you forgive andrea and me if we continue to enjoy our absolutely with our absolutely wonderful cocktails , i want to say a big cocktails, i want to say a big thanks to andrea amoroso. Thank you so much. Thank you. I want you so much. Thank you. I want to thank all of my guests who took the trouble to come in. I cant speak now. Of course, the trouble to come into the studio on a sunday. This programme will be in its usual slot next sunday, but alas, in my absence, im going to be back in two weeks time on sunday the 26th of may, from 11 am. Up next, as you just heard, is gb news sunday, and thats going to be with Darren Grimes. And meanwhile , andrea amoroso and meanwhile, andrea amoroso and i are going to continue to enjoy ourselves. Cheers, cheers. But. Cheers, cheers. But. Cheers, cheers. But. Looks like things are heating up. Boxt boilers sponsors of up. Boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. Hello welcome to your gb news weather update brought to you by the met office. But the outlook drier in the east, but turning unsettled in the west and also feeling cooler as we go into monday. So High Pressure is going to be moving. Its way eastwards. We do have some weather fronts thats bringing a focus for some showers or longer spells of rain through the rest of today, and we do have some warnings in force as well for thunderstorm. Thunderstorms are going to be pushing their way northwards, affecting Northern England and also into scotland. Some of these are going to be quite heavy at times, giving hail and thunder elsewhere. Turning dnen thunder elsewhere. Turning drier. Some low cloud across western parts, clearest in the east, but temperatures still ranging around 10 or 11 degrees, so it is going to be a mild start as we start monday. But a bit of an east west split in the weather once that low cloud generally clears across much of england and wales, it will turn dner england and wales, it will turn drier and brighter showers coming into scotland, but further west we have an area of low pressure bringing outbreaks of rain across Northern Ireland, western parts of england and also into south wales too. So it is going to be feeling cooler for all highs of up to maybe 20 or 22 degrees as we go through tuesday, that rain shifts its focus further towards the north and east, with showers following, and then that really sets the scene for the outlook as well. So longer spells of rain on tuesday, wednesday and thursday, sunny spells, scattered showers , not as warm scattered showers, not as warm but still highs of 20 or 21 degrees. That warm feeling inside from boxt boilers. Sponsors of weather on gb news. Hello and welcome to gb news monday. Thank you very much for your company this lunchtime. Im Darren Grimes, and for the next two hours, ill be keeping you company on tv, online and on digital radio. Coming up this houn digital radio. Coming up this hour. New labour mp Natalie Elphicke has been accused of lobbying ministers in an attempt to interfere in her former husbands Sexual Assault case. Will starmer regret opening this can of worms . Then susan hall has said. Wes streeting, of labour put me in danger by claiming that a victory for miss hall in the london Mayoral Election would be a win for