Five. Weve waited for years. Prime ministers have come and gone. Careers have risen and fallen. But as the rain poured down on downing street and the nafion down on downing street and the nation looked on expectantly, it finally happened. Someone emailed gb news saying they agreed with benjamin butterworth. The wokeist non gender aligned person in britain is back for more, and his old sparring partner Albie Amankona has jetted back from holiday to join the fun too. But im afraid theres no ben leo this week. Theres no ben leo this week. But lovers of annoyingly overconfident young right wingers need not despair. The one and only Alex Armstrong is present and correct now, keeping a measure of order and making her debut on the show. The brilliant freelance journalist georgia gillooly. Now folks, you all know the drill. We outline our argument about a chosen topic, then we all pile in and the first starts to fly. And of course, we want your views as well. Much more important than ours. Send them to gbnews. Com yoursay. Join the conversation there. But before we start tearing each other apart, its time for your saturday night news with ray addison. Addison. Thanks, darren. Its exactly 602. Our top stories. This hour. The Prime Minister says voters and their families would be at risk under a Labour Government posting in a long thread on x, rishi sunak claimed that labour doesnt have a plan and said that would give, quote, our enemies the chance to take advantage of our weakness. The tories are trying to make security a key dividing line between themselves and sir Keir Starmers party. After pledging to raise defence spending to 2. 5 by 2030, while sir keir starmer says the voting age should be lowered to 16. Both major parties have been pitching their messages to voters on the first weekend of this Election Campaign, with the government focusing on the economy. Speaking to reporters, the labour leader said young people deserve to have a say. I want to see 16 and 17 year olds voting. They can go out and work, they can serve in our armed forces and of course, if they are out and working, forces and of course, if they are out and working , they pay are out and working, they pay tax and therefore they should have a say over how the money theyre paying in is being used. So yes, i want to see that vote for 16 and 17 year olds. If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote. 78 tory mps have now stepped down ahead of the summer election, which is a post war record. It also surpasses the record. It also surpasses the previous high, which took place pnor previous high, which took place prior to tony blairs victory back in 1997. It comes as the tories trail in the polls. Lib dem leader sir ed davey says his party is ready for a new parliament. The liberal democrats have got a fantastic set of policies on the health service, on the economy and on the environment today were campaigning against the sewage problem and weve led that campaign on. I think overall, were just much more ambitious than some of the other parties. And critically, we want to transform british politics. We think the politics in our country is broken. It needs to be changed. And were the only party talking about that. In other news, an raf aircraft believed to be a spitfire has crashed in lincolnshire. The single occupant plane crashed into a field near raf coningsby. No one else was believed to be involved. Police and Emergency Services rushed to the scene just before 120 this afternoon. Just before 120 this afternoon. Its thought that the aircraft was taking part in a battle of Britain Memorial event. Well, congestion in dover has eased slightly now, though drivers are still facing waits of up to 90 minutes. Were told an estimated 20 million cars have hit the roads this bank holiday weekend. The port of dover says there are also delays on the french border. Theyre working closely with authorities there to clear those queues. A 17 year old boy those queues. A 17 year old boy from lancashire has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was found dead on after a woman was found dead on a beach in bournemouth last night. Dorset police saying they were called to reports of two women stabbed on durley chine beach at around 11 45 pm. 34 year old was pronounced dead at the scene. A 38 year old was taken to hospital with serious injuries as president putin is reportedly ready to pause his invasion of ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that would recognise current battlefield lines, according to sources. The russian president has grown frustrated by what he sees as western attempts to derail possible negotiations. Asked about the report during a visit to belarus yesterday, putin said talks should resume and negotiations should be based on, quote, the realities on the ground. Ukraines president zelenskyy, though, has previously said that peace, to according putins terms, is impossible. And finally, one of impossible. And finally, one of the most popular us president s is getting the hollywood treatment. As the actor dennis quaid puts his spin on ronald reagan. What would you say is the issue of our time . No question about it. Communism and the soviet Union Getting the game run for office. The first trailer for a new movie about the 40th president has been released. It tells the story of president reagans life, from confronting childhood bullies to becoming a Hollywood Star and then taking his place in the oval office. The cast also includes Penelope Ann Miller as first Lady Nancy Reagan and lesley ann down as margaret thatcher. For the latest stories, you can sign up for gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news. Com slash alerts. Back now to the saturday five. Thanks, ray. Its saturday night and youre with the saturday five. Im Darren Grimes , and in a world where Manchester United can win the fa cup, truly anything can happen. So maybe Albie Amankona can come up with a cogent argument for once, just maybe, just maybe , once, just maybe, just maybe, miracles. But were going to crack on now with tonights first debate. Whos going first . Yeah, i think thats me, darren. So is nigel farage a cop out . Well, myself, like many of you who really like nigels policies and what he stands for, have been really disappointed to see that he has said he is ruling out standing in the general election. Well, whats general election. Well, whats he going to do instead . Well, hes going to fly off to go and support donald trump because he says thats more important in this day and age. Well frankly, nigel, i have to say im really disappointed. And if you are disappointed. And if you are a patriot at a time when you think that you can finish off the tories, you should be standing. Tories, you should be standing. You will give reform a massive poll boost and youll really hammer the nail into the tories. So why not now . Why not do it now . And ill put it to the rest of the panel. Do you think nigel farage is a cop out, darren, i, i, i wouldnt call him a cop out because he is spent in the next six weeks campaigning for reform. So you could argue that all hes done is remove his chance of becoming an mp. But do you not think, though, that if he really believes what he says, he should put his money where his mouth is in the sense of stand for election himself . Of stand for election himself . Yeah. I mean, you can argue that. Yes well, what else can you argue . I think look, i think nigel is a realist. And ultimately, if he stood to be a reform candidate, he wasnt really going to have a real chance of becoming an mp because the first past the post system that we operate in, in this country, its very hard for challenger parties to come up. Challenger parties to come up. Now, nigel farage is a big media figure. It would have been humiliating for him not to win a seat as an mp, i think. So, i think hes done the realistic thing. He has kept his powder dry and hes decided to go off to the us now. How that marries with his whole shtick about being patriotic and how this is such an important general election , then it doesnt really election, then it doesnt really marry up. But objectively speaking, is the us general election more important globally than the uk general election . Yeah it is, but is he going to hand the tories some extra votes now or people go away from reform and say, actually im going to vote for the conservative party. Im not complaining. Im not complaining. And it does say lets save britain behind him, right . This reform rally. And if you know, if you do genuinely think britain is in need of saving, then there is an argument there that you would well attempt to save it, would you not . Absolutely. And i also think that nigel farage is impact on the American Election will be negligible if. Well, its a apparently hes been offered job. Right. If President Trump wins, but trump doesnt need him to win. I think nigel farage has possibly made this, this balance on a personal level, that this will be more beneficial for him. I agree with you that whatever you think of him and his policies, i think he, you know, he rose through british politics. Hes british. He probably cares the most about about britain. You would think. About britain. You would think. And i think that if youre that person in that position, you ought to be putting that first as a politician. And thats clearly not doing. Yeah, i mean, im gutted. Im personally gutted because i do believe people who go into politics should put their money where their mouth is, and they shouldnt complain if theyre not going to do what they expect other people to do. And i find it really difficult now. I mean, i was somebody who was possibly going to vote for reform if nigel came back and now hes not. Its my votes gone. Benjamin. What do you think . I mean, i think hes put money before the country, you know, he has referred to before the last week and in the last week about how he has this big job offer in the us, probably very well paid. Theres an enormous amount of money in us politics, and hes chosen that. But theres also part of his story that i dont think adds up because he said that he was going to launch a campaign to be an mp next week, and they got wind of it. Well, ben habib, deputy leader of reform, said, i knew nothing about that and how odd that if you had a planned, putting yourself forward just in a week that you would suddenly drop that. I think the truth is that he doesnt want his pride to be hurt by the fact that he would almost certainly lose, but im sorry, i dont respect him for that. I think that shows a lack of principle that he stood for Parliament Like seven times and lost. Yes, but so he doesnt want to lose again. So he wants to save face. Well, he did it seven times. He must be a sucker for punishment. Why do you an eighth time . Is there not an argument to argue in defence of nigel . Is there not an argument to say i am nigel farage . Im going to go to the United States of america to work with my friend donald trump and try and get a uk, us trade deal for britain that we really need to succeed in. A post Brexit Britain is there not an argument that he wants to make sure that relations between the uk and the us stay good when theres a Trump Presidency in a potential keir starmer Prime Minister . But thats the point, right . I mean, why would he do any favours for keir starmer . Because keir starmer favours for the country, its favours for the country. Well, you can make that argument right. But keir starmer will herald it. As you know, british Civil Servants doing all the hard work. Yes. Maybe nigel farage just put a connection together, but hes not the guy doing it. Its the Labour Government. Nigel can say i did it and they can have done it without me. Well they can, they can have that debate. But i think keir starmer will come off looking better. Hell go well. Labour achieved what the tories couldnt. And i think that will be far more damning for the country. I think what it shows is that reform is not a serious political operation. Theyre not organised, they dont have candidates, they dont have money. And nigel farage knows all of those things. He knows its a busted flush before it even happens. And i think that youre going to see the bubble of excitement around reform uk really amount to very little. I think theyll do much worse than people have said. So would you welcome so lets say reformer finished after this election. Right. Lets say theyre over. Would you welcome nigel farage into the conservative party . And do you think your peers would, personally, no, i wouldnt, because i dont think it is appropriate to have someone in the conservative party who has campaigned against the conservative party for the last 30 years, really, since he was in the Referendum Party back when jemmy goldsmith was running it. So, it. So, no, i it. So, no, i wouldnt it. So, no, i wouldnt personally welcome him into the party. I know there are other conservatives that would i just dont know why everyone chickens out and says, well, no, i wouldnt welcome him in the party. Its no better than having Natalie Elphicke in the labour party. Why do you want people who have opposed you in your party . Well, well, i would just make the point that i think nigel is a true conservative in the sense that he is low tax. Hes all about freedom of speech. Hes about freedom of speech. Hes about growth and, you know, basically a patriot as well. And i think that the tory party have lost a lot of that identity over the last 20 years and do need those people from reform that are really conservatives to come back. The conservatives are conservatives. There are plenty of conservatives. Well, im not saying that, but i think theres a lot more that are not as conservative as reformer. And i think if youre going, im not as conservative as no, but if youre a conservative, no. Rishi sunak comes out and says, were a broad church. If youre going to be a broad church like, you know, the labour party are, then you should have and we do have him to thank for brexit getting over the line because it was your party that was, not getting that done. Sorry. Sorry. Who got brexit done . Boris got only because of nigel and the conservatives got nigel, nigel, nigel and Boris Johnson got brexit done. Even you know David Cameron called the referendum. But you know why David Cameron. All right ill be since you like the sound of your own mouth so much. Why dont you go next. Its sound of my own voice, darren. And youre right. It does sound very good. Lets cast our minds back to the very First Episode of the saturday vie last march, in my opening monologue for this brilliant show, i said it was still possible for rishi sunak to win the next general election. And a lot of things have changed since then. But im here to say that the next general election is going to be closer than we think. Yes, weve all seen the polls. Labours set all seen the polls. Labours set for a landslide, a 20 plus point poll lead. But if we look at the Empirical Data on the ground, what we saw in the local elections would actually point to a poll lead of much closer to around 10 than 20. And that would indicate to me that the next general election, which is going to be held on the 4th of july, is going to be closer than we think, because it would require a swing from the conservatives to labour, bigger than 1997, in order for keir starmer to win a decent majority. So its still all to play majority. So its still all to play for. The general election is going to be closer than we think. Is going to be closer than we think. Benjamin. The labour party are quite bullish on winning the next election. A little bit cocky, i think in my opinion. Well, what do you think opinion. Well, what do you think of my assessment . Its so to good have you on the show when there are so many vacant safe seats around the country that you could be going for. So, you know, thank you for joining us at this important time in your career, look, the fact is, theres no evidence that the tories are going to get back in. Professor sir john curtice, the oracle of polling , curtice, the oracle of polling, gives a 99 chance that keir starmer will be Prime Minister. This is the biggest lead that a party has had for so long since world war two. The fact is that, for example, you could take theresa mays election where she was about 20 points ahead of corbyn and clearly that collapsed. But what youve seen here is that labours poll lead has basically not shifted an inch since liz truss was Prime Minister and its very reliable. And if you look at the local elections , those numbers didnt elections, those numbers didnt include scotland, for example, which has actually seeing a pretty rapid shift towards the labour party and so i actually think that youre doing a disservice to the tories because the sensible thing for tories to do would be to go to those seats with 15,000 majorities that maybe they could save. If youre trying to save seats that were won last time, youve not got a hopein won last time, youve not got a hope in hell. I dont think you listen to what i said. I said the next general election is going to be closer than we think. And i would caution against being so cocky as to think its not. Its not cocky to win this landslide when actually. Well, you just called nigel farage a realist. I think a realist is the tories are going to have a terrible result and you are deluding yourself. Im not. And the problem is, why do people like you . People like you havent havent been listening to what people have been saying for the last few years. The reason theres still a 20 point lead is because you keep telling yourselves that the tories are wonderful and everything is fine. Rishi sunak keeps going out saying, look, everythings great as people cant even afford to eat. Maybe you started listening, then you might have a fighting chance. The empirical evidence that we have seen in the local elections would suggest th