Mailmogg gbnews. Com. But now mailmogg gbnews. Com. But now its what youve all been waiting for. The news of the day with ray addison. With ray addison. Thanks, jacob. Good evening. Im ray addison in the gb news room. Our top stories. The Prime Minister says the government will increase defence spending to 2. 5 of gdp by 2030. During a trip to poland, rishi sunak said the budget will reach £87 billion by the end of the decade. Addressing troops, he also said the uk Defence Industry vie will be put on a war footing. Mr sunak called the plans the biggest strengthening of our National Defence in a generation. As churchill said in 1934, to urge the preparation of defence is not to insert the imminence of war. On the contrary, if war was imminent, preparation for defence would be too late. I believe we must do more to defend our country, our interests and our values. So today im announcing the biggest strengthening of our National Defence. For a generation. We defence. For a generation. We will increase defence spending to a new baseline of 2. 5 of gdp by 2030. That announcement comes as rishi sunak warned that president president putin will not stop at the polish border if his assault on ukraine is allowed to continue. Earlier, britain pledged its largest ever package of aid for kyiv, worth £500 million. During the warsaw trip, the Prime Minister has been holding talks with the leaders of poland, germany and nato, warning that the defence of ukraine is essential to our joint security. Ukraines president zelenskyy has welcomed the package, which includes long range missiles, armoured vehicles and boats. Well, on the day that five channel migrants died off the french coast, including a four year old child, gb news can reveal that more than 250 others have crossed to the uk. A small boat got into the uk. A small boat got into difficulties off wimereux beach near boulogne before 2 am. A number of other migrants were rescued, with at least one now critically ill in hospital. Five critically ill in hospital. Five other small boats have now been received by border force and the dover lifeboat, with migrants transported to the Processing Centre in dover harbour. A further two boats were seen heading towards uk waters. Well, heading towards uk waters. Well, police say they were faced with violence at a Saint Georges day eventin violence at a Saint Georges day event in whitehall this afternoon, when a group tried to force its way through a cordon. Mounted officers on horses needed to intervene when the group broke through a police barrier. The force earlier said it expected some, quote, far right groups and groups linked to football clubs to attend the event. Police say six people have been arrested. For the have been arrested. For the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to gb news. Common shirts. Back now to. Jacob. You know the great shakespearean shout, cry god for harry, england and saint george. But why saint george . How did we come to have this great devotion to a particular roman saint . Well the reason is medieval devotion. In the medieval devotion. In the medieval period, people had a personal relationship with their saints. They felt that they were intervening in their daily life day by day, as a regular occurrence. And if they were let down by their saint, if they prayed, they asked for the intercession of a saint, and the saint didnt oblige. They get quite cross. So people had treasured relics of saints , and treasured relics of saints, and if their prayers werent answered, their reports of them throwing them on the floor and stamping on them because they were cross like a toddler with a saint who hadnt obliged and saint george becomes the patron of england because hes seen or was seen to have delivered. Some was seen to have delivered. Some people believe that william the conqueror had the banner of saint george when he came over at the battle of hastings in 1066, but he was certainly thought to be present early in the crusades. So at the battle of antioch in 1098 and at jerusalem in 1099, saint george was there urging on, and indeed rescuing the english, or indeed the norman forces. So the inspiration of the saints is crucially important, and the invocation often carries on. So its loose. In 1340, cressy , its loose. In 1340, cressy, 1346, in poitiers 1356, and famously agincourt 1415. But famously agincourt1415. But evenin famously agincourt1415. But even in the First World War the troops thought at times and this is 1914 1918. Saint george was there helping them, aiding them, inspiring them, boosting morale. But it wasnt always going to be saint george. Saint george saint george. Saint george wasnt the first patron saint of england before him. It was saint edmund the martyr, a ninth century east anglian saint, who was killed by the vikings, and saint edward the confessor was a competitor for this Important Role, and it was really king edward the third who decided that it would be saint george because he established his chivalric order, the order of the garter, which even to this day to this year makes announcements of no new appointments on Saint Georges day, is still dedicated to saint george. The king is still head george. The king is still head of the knights of the garter , of the knights of the garter, and edward the third set that up as his chivalric order. Edward the fourth, and set up his great chapel at windsor to saint george. And really interestingly , when the protestants came in and they got rid of the saints, they abolished the order of the saints. They kept saint george. Saints. They kept saint george. So saint george remains. This extraordinary figure in our national story, in our island story, but very much as an engush story, but very much as an english saint. So who was he . Well, hes thought to have been martyred in about the year 300 under diocletian, and his works were recorded in a very famous book, the golden legend. Legend meaning story rather than fable, by jacobus jolly, good name jacobus de voragine, who was a medieval scholar , and he wrote, medieval scholar, and he wrote, translated into english, which i thought you would prefer to. What happened with saint george . So a city called silene in libya is terrorised by a dragon which infests a vast lake and must be fed if it is to be kept at way. Note the connection of the dragon with water. This is the essential water of life and of baptism. The dragon is the enemy of true faith, and at first the dragon is given sheep. But these run out and the citizens resort to feeding it a man and a sheep. And then at the kings command, they start feeding it young people, and the lot falls upon the kings daughter. And the king tries to get out of this, but the people wont have it, and his daughter is sent to feed the dragon. But lo and behold, saint george rides by. He rescues the princess, and the maiden takes the dragon by her girdle into the city where george slays it, refuses all honoun george slays it, refuses all honour, will not marry the daughter because he is a celibate, a holy man, and the city is saved. The dragon is slain and they all live happily ever after. That was saint george , and youll be glad to george, and youll be glad to know. As with all good things , know. As with all good things, its thought he went to glastonbury in somerset. So happy Saint Georges day as even happy Saint Georges day as ever. Let me know your thoughts. Mael mog gbnews s. Com. But im very pleased now to be joined by gavin ashenden, former chaplain to the late queen and associate editor of the catholic herald. And gavin, thank you so much for joining me. I find the medieval devotion to saints very touching. They had an extraordinary depth and richness of belief. I think a lot of people dont understand the care that people take over finding a belief that works. People are much more pragmatic than we give them credit for. Theres a terrible nofion credit for. Theres a terrible notion that the medieval years were years of superstition, but actually quite the opposite is true. If you look at the buildings, the art , the social buildings, the art, the social care, the sense of community, they reached far higher levels of sophistication than were managing today. So its something of a slander. But i think one of the things we need to give credit to our ancestors for is finding a way of living and loving and believing that worked and served them well. And there are so many things in medieval catholic, christian england that one could be nostalgic for and look up for. And i think probably celebrating Saint Georges day is one way of , of deepening that, that thirst and the saints very much brought god closer to man, didnt they, that people felt that there were these people who had lived, had done real things, and that they were a link between this world and the next world, between the divine and the human, the mortal. Yes the way the world works as we experience it, we all need patrons and influential friends. Friends who can add some leverage to our cause. And this is true in this sort of horizontal level of time and space. But the moment you have a sense of the reality of, of life and love and the spirit beyond time and space, one recognises the same thing is true not because you want it to in some sort of population projection, but simply because when you practice that kind of praying, it appears to work. I remember meeting an early monk who influenced me on my journey from protestantism to catholicism, talking about life as a sort of an arena with those who were alive on on the pitch. So to speak, but if youve ever tried playing a football match without an audience, without a crowd to support you, the thing really falls quite flat and the crowd can sometimes turn the whole event , one way rather than the event, one way rather than the other. And he was saying, look, when i when i die, do talk to me, do do invoke me. Do do ask for my prayers, because i shall be part of the crowd of saints in heaven cheering you on, and youll see the difference. And hes absolutely right with both his prayers and some prayers of some other very special, holy , some other very special, holy, competent people. My life has been greatly helped , and you been greatly helped, and you make the very important point that they can be invoked. They dont actually do things. They can cheer on. They can cheer on if they appear as saint george did at antioch. But they can intercede. Crucially, they can intercede. Crucially, they can intercede. Crucially, they are not mini gods. No, its not magic. And the interesting thing about magic is magic imitates faith. Its not the other way round. Again, this the other way round. Again, this is one of the great misconceptions of the last secular century, but, but, but so it isnt about trying to somehow exercise a degree of control over events, which is what magic does. Its more about what magic does. Its more about putting yourself in the right place with the right spirit, with the right help, the right inspiration , the right inspiration, the right encouragement. I mean, these things are something of a mystery. You cant always describe them. Its very strange how how practical things fall into place. There arent meeting the right person at the right time , in the right way, and this time, in the right way, and this is all part of the life of the spirit that the christian who prays becomes familiar with. And the saints are an enormously important, additional element in that, both for encouragement for and somehow this rearrangement of things in a way that is more propitious. Propitious. And saint george in the modern era is a remembrance of that faith that we once had , but that faith that we once had, but still a link to our christian past. Past. Well, i think hes much more than that. I think that, in fact , i think hes quite a to the secularists to those who want to change culture. I think hes really quite dangerous because he reminds us of values that that people are actually actively trying to get rid of. He reminds us that we need to belong to a nation rather than to some terrible, vague internationalism. In other internationalism. In other words, to a family of peoples who are were wedded to each other by, by, by heritage and by common history. He reminds us that one of the most valuable and effective periods in our National Life was under catholic christianity, lasting for 1300 years, when there was a depth and a quality to social, spiritual and political relationships that we dont have at all. Essentially, what saint george reminds us is what weve lost and what we ought to try to recover. Recover. Well, thank you very much, gavin. With me now is my panel Pr Consultant and former labour aide, stella saint kidu , and the aide, stella saint kidu, and the economist and fellow at the centre for brexit policy, Catherine Mcbride , stella. Saint Catherine Mcbride, stella. Saint george is actually an important state saint in greece as well. Isnt he . A much revered and has the patronage of many cities . Of course hes my grandfather , who, he used to be. He hes passed away now. He he was a Greek Orthodox priest, and his name was george. And he takes after this, this saint who. Yes, extremely important. And i think extremely important. And i think that religion definitely plays a very Important Role when it comes to the National Identity of a country. And i have that as a, as a greek and a Greek Orthodox. And i wouldnt want to deny that to the british people and the english people. However, i do take issue with one thing that gavin said. I do feel like his definition of what it means to have this National Pride and community and spirit and all of that, and i understand that there is a common heritage and there is a common heritage and the common history that someone like me, who came here as an adult, doesnt have. But at the adult, doesnt have. But at the same time, there needs to be for space every everyone who, who, who wants to assimilate in this society to do that in a way that is respectful and appreciative of the culture. And for me, as a greek person, i have no problem with, england having its own national holiday. It makes perfect sense. Other countries perfect sense. Other countries have the same, and i think there should be a way to celebrate that as a community that has space for everyone. And catherine, it is a bit unfortunate that we saw today scenes in whitehall where some people seemed to abuse the flag of saint george. They use it as an opportunity to go and have a bit of a punch up with the police. I find it incredible how people view the flag. I think we should be proud of the countrys flag. I walked, i was in westminster today and i was walking back through knightsbridge and the mandarin Hyde Park Hotel had this Saint Georges flag up. I was so impressed. I took a picture and i thought, wow, a very up market hotel is proud to have the Saint Georges flag on its flagpoles, where people like Emily Thornberry thinks that thats a sign of the lowest person in the in the country , i come from a in the country, i come from a place in australia. They actually had a referendum in the 80s about whether australia should keep the union jack on the australian flag, and overwhelmingly people voted for that. Overwhelmingly people voted for that. We were proud of our that. We were proud of our heritage, and i find the really vie and crazy way that its disrespected the british. The engush disrespected the british. The English Heritage is fantastic. English heritage is fantastic. You should be proud of yourselves. Youve done Amazing Things , its really quite things, its really quite extraordinary the way its treated. But then the english have always been quite relaxed as well as quite proud. So were not like the americans. I wouldnt want us to have the american devotion to the flag and take an oath to the flag. And all of that, which i think is a bit peculiar. Well, i have a feeling that is because they dont have a monarchy. They dont have a monarchy. They dont have a monarchy. Yeah. Sorry, yes. Yeah. So that that is the symbol of the freedom that is america , of the freedom that is america, thatis of the freedom that is america, that is the symbol of their constitution. That is why they all know their constitution, and they know about what is important to be an american, because the people have come from so many different backgrounds and nationalities, so that that puts people together. And, stella, you were implying that you think be fair enough to have Saint Georges day as a national holiday. Yes, yes. Why not . Yes. Wh y not . Wh y yes. Why not . Why not . I think i think that the issue with, national ism rather than patriotism that has that used to take place ten years ago, i think it was more relevant because the whole world was having a bit of a reckoning about what it means to live in a global world and all of that. But i think that we need to stop having a debate about whether, you know, it is good or bad to be to be proud to be british or to be english or to be welsh or whatever. Whoever wants to feel proud will do. We need to provide good, a positive blueprint so that people can feel like they are a part of this community and that if they want to celebrate it, they can, because, for example, in other countries, in greece, we have marches. When we have our independence day, our National Holidays , the scenes that we saw holidays, the scenes that we saw earlier on the videos , on earlier on the videos, on Trafalgar Square of people having a fight with the police, this doesnt make anyone feel proud to be to be english. We need to find something positive so that people actually do feel better about themselves. Better about themselves. And its an interesting reflection on the history the Christian Culture of england, scotland, wales and ireland that each one of them has a patron saint who is still known varne, whereas actually most of the other saints are forgotten. Its t