it's bad for us. economically, it's bad for us. and guess what? it even has an impact on and guess what.7 it even has an impact on housing. well, at least they finally managed to catch up with 1 or 2 of these things. and last night, a vote at the garrick club by 60% to 40 votes to admit women members. is this a victory for diversity, or is it just very weak men flying the flag, the white flag of surrender to the guardian newspaper will debate that to towards the end of the show. but before all of that, let's get the . news. the. news. >> nigel, thank you very much and good evening to you. it's just coming up to 701. and the top story from the newsroom tonight. conservative mp natalie elphicke has switched to labour, accusing rishi sunak of leading accusing rishi sunak of leading a tired and chaotic government . a tired and chaotic government. the mp for dover has revealed the reason she defected were housing and issues with uk borders. downing street, though,

has brushed off questions about whether the prime minister is concerned following the now second defection in under a fortnight. dan poulter made the same switch over the government's handling of the nhs . but number 10 has reaffirmed the prime minister's focused on what they've called the priorities of the british people . officials say that there's no sign of malicious cyber activity and the problems that caused long queues at uk airports last night. the technical issue meant border force e—gates didn't work at several sites, including heathrow, gatwick, manchester and edinburgh. minister for legal migration tom pursglove has been discussing the technical issue in the house of commons, and he apologised for the disruption . the russian the disruption. the russian embassy here in the uk says new measures against its officials are groundless and the reasons given for them are ridiculous. moscow's defence attache is being expelled over claims that he is a spy. several russian diplomatic premises are also being shut while there'll be new restrictions on diplomatic

visas. the home secretary says that britain is trying to dismantle the kremlin's intelligence gathering operations in the uk, in a move that's also supported by labour. andrew tate is being sued for damages by four british women who claim he raped and assaulted them. three of the women reported. the social media influencer to police over allegations in 2015. but the crown prosecution service investigated and then decided not to prosecute four years later. it comes as 37 year old and his brother are currently in romania , waiting to stand trial romania, waiting to stand trial on rape and trafficking charges , on rape and trafficking charges, their representative says both their representative says both the brothers unequivocally deny all allegations. and finally, some royal news prince harry has been celebrating the 10th anniversary of the invictus games with friends, family and veterans at saint paul's cathedral . this afternoon, the cathedral. this afternoon, the duke of sussex gave a reading in front of representatives from various participating nations and sick and injured service personnel and veterans. two, meanwhile , though less than two

meanwhile, though less than two miles away, the king was holding his first garden party of the season at buckingham palace . and season at buckingham palace. and we were told by a spokesperson for prince harry yesterday that the monarch's full program meant the monarch's full program meant the pair won't be seeing each other during his short return to the uk . for the latest stories, the uk. for the latest stories, sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or go to our website gb news. common alerts . news. common alerts. >> well, two weeks ago it was doctor dan poulter who left the conservative party as a member of parliament, has joined the labour party but will not be standing for re . election standing for re. election defections do happen occasionally , but today was an occasionally, but today was an absolute bolt from the blue. the conservative member of parliament, with a 12,000 majority from dover and deal and remember , dover, of course, is remember, dover, of course, is there on the front lines. that's where the small boats come in. that's where the people first

get processed. and in an issue that initially was a constituency and county issue, but is now a massive national issue and the local mp, natalie elphicke, has been deeply critical of the fact she doesn't think labour really have a plan to deal with the boats problem in any way at all. i think she's also quite sceptical about the conservatives plan. she is very, very much on the right wing of the party and i can tell you, having spoken to local people, that the local labour party absolutely hate her. so how bizarre that prime minister's questions begins at midday and there natalie elphicke is sitting in the row behind keir starmer . no sitting in the row behind keir starmer. no one quite knew really what was going on. but later on, after pmqs in an interview, she gave her reasons for now, joining the labour party. >> well, in 2019, the conservative stood on a manifesto that was very much centre ground.

>> but under rishi sunak they've abandoned the centre ground and broken many election promises. meanwhile, under keir starmer, labour have changed and i think that change is going to bring a much better future for our country . and that's why i'm so country. and that's why i'm so keen to join the labour party and play my part in bringing that important future forward. okay that is all complete and utter rubbish. >> don't believe a single word of it. she is opposed to virtually everything that labour stands for, and has been for all of her relatively short time in parliament. so what's going on here? well if you go back to the last years of the major government , there were government, there were defections. conservative mps joining the labour party. do you know something? every single one of them got looked after. yep. they all went to the house of lords and i'd be very surprised if poulter and elphicke didn't go to the house of lords. she won't be standing for labour in that constituency at the next election. mr tapp , who is the

election. mr tapp, who is the already adopted labour prospective parliamentary candidate, will continue. so she hasn't done it for money. whether she thinks keir starmer can give her some kind of broader protection , i just don't broader protection, i just don't know. but i think this really raises a lot more questions than it answers. i wouldn't be surprised . used to see quite surprised. used to see quite a few more defections to the labour party, especially in seats where it appears the conservatives are doomed . but conservatives are doomed. but this really is a funny one, and at the heart of it, as i say, it's her criticism of the labour party for its approach to small boats, let alone to legal migration. so today the centre for policy studies has had to get together. they produced a report and they're questioning publicly whether large scale migration has delivered economic benefits. and this is interesting because the narrative from all of the think tanks, from all of our leading politicians has always been, especially the bbc has always been , that immigration is good been, that immigration is good for the economy . well, the cps

for the economy. well, the cps are challenging that today they're even saying it's putting pressure on housing. who knew ? pressure on housing. who knew? and of course, their star turn was the former immigration minister jenrick, was the former immigration ministerjenrick, robert minister jenrick, robert jenrick. but ministerjenrick, robert jenrick. but here he was on with nick ferrari of lbc this morning. >> require nigel farage with a blue rosette. is it time to have him back into the party? >> well i would not, oppose nigel farage coming back into the party, but that's not our priority. he he's associated with a different political party today. what we should be doing is tackling the issues that the pubuc is tackling the issues that the public care about and which are leading some former conservative voters to look elsewhere. and as i say, legal migration seems to be absolutely top of the list. >> it's funny, whenever it comes to this issue of immigration, be it legal or illegal, my name always seems to crop up . and always seems to crop up. and here he was later on at the centre for policy studies . centre for policy studies. >> could the consequences for be

the conservative party if it does not bring nigel farage and his, fellow travellers back into the fold? >> well, well, firstly , i've >> well, well, firstly, i've been clear that this is not an issue of any one individual or political party. i think that politicians and governments have made promises and been unable to keep them for the last 30 years, and we have to end that. one of the reasons i ultimately chose to leave the government was i didn't want to be just another politician who made promises on immigration and broke them. some politicians are more culpable than others. i mean, i think, for example, theresa may as home secretary, worked very hard to bnng secretary, worked very hard to bring down levels of net migration and deserves credit for the work that she did. there were mistakes made in the immediate aftermath of brexit and the system that was designed

was a very liberal one, which has had a number of negative consequences. >> negative consequences . well, >> negative consequences. well, as i said here in 2021, what bons as i said here in 2021, what boris johnson effectively did was open up the borders to the whole of the world, not just the european union as it was pre—brexit what i'm pleased that people are finally catching up with the fact that this is having a massive impact on people's quality of life . i people's quality of life. i don't even think this is about economics. this is what i said on question time back in 2016. look, whichever way you cut this, immigration is the number one issue in british politics. it has been for some years. people are very upset. they're very unhappy. they're seeing the impact on local schools. they're seeing the impact on gp services. they're seeing the impact on housing or the inability of young people to get on the housing ladder. so that's why it's the number one issue. there are reports that say that we're better off with mass immigration. there are some

reports that say we're slightly worse off economically with mass immigration. but to me there's an issue called the quality of life . and i and i think that life. and i and i think that matters more than money. it's about thinking our kids and grandkids can have what we've had in terms of access to local health care in terms of our kids getting into local primary schools, in terms of our overall quality of life. and that, david, i think , matters more david, i think, matters more than gdp rising by 1% per annum. >> no doubt we'll be. >> no doubt we'll be. >> and this whole debate and yes, i've been very much at the forefront of this for many, many years. this debate will intensify on the 23rd of may. yes, in a few days time, because we will get the annual immigration figures . i have no immigration figures. i have no doubt they will be staggering in their size of numbers. let me ask you, because pollsters ask, well, what is the number one issue in british politics? and i put it to you that it's immigration because it isn't just about the numbers coming in. it's about the impact on whether you can get your kid

into a local primary school. it's about whether you can get onto the housing ladder. it is actually about whether you can go and meet a relation and know whether the journey will take 2 hours or 4 hours, because our population has risen by 10 million since tony blair came to power , and over 85% of that is power, and over 85% of that is directly because of immigration. your thoughts please. is it the number one issue or has farage got this wrong? farage @gbnews .com. well, carl williams, the research director of the centre for policy studies, joins me. carl, it seems that you guys are actually catching up . actually catching up. >> well, i think the facts speak for themselves . and if you care for themselves. and if you care about that then let's do the economics of this. >> i made that point in 2016. i often think with economics that, you know, it's rather like the referendum on brexit. you know, people sit at home and one person says you'll be rich, or one person says, you'll be poorer. and the voters left confused. but we have i mean, virtually everything that's existed for years has told us there's a great economic benefit. so let me ask you the question directly . does question directly. does immigration does mass

immigration does mass immigration make us richer? >> some forms of immigration can help the economy , some mass help the economy, some mass immigration? no, i think it's very clearly the case that it's not, and the common argument is it will be amazing. it'll be rocket fuel for the economy, and yet, since the era of mass immigration started 25 years ago, gdp per capita growth has been half what it was over the previous 50 years. >> yeah, this is the point, isn't it? gdp is the size of the overall economy. and if the population goes up massively, the gdp grows. and this is what politicians tell us. but it's gdp per head that really counts . gdp per head that really counts. >> yes, it's about living standards, about people's quality of life. it's about cost of living pressures and housing. >> housing is of itself rising up.the >> housing is of itself rising up. the issues that all the politicians contesting this year's general election have to talk about. it's a it's a source of endless rows about where we can buy build houses and whether they're affordable and, you know, a lot of people are the younger generation not having the same aspirations that their parents and grandparents had.

it's just beyond their reach. how big a impact do you think at the cps immigration has had on our housing prices? >> so we've done a lot of calculations around this. and if you look at the increasing the housing deficit over the last ten years, how much we've not built enough homes by migration accounts for about 90% of that 90. yeah. so we've under built by about 1.3 million homes in england. migration is about 1.1 1.2 million of that. >> wow . >> wow. >> wow. >> and you're saying this you're doing this as a cps. >> and you're saying this you're doing this as a cps . you had doing this as a cps. you had robert jenrick there who has become, you know, quite a campaigner on these issues. how how widespread do you think this view is in the conservative party today. or would they mostly try and ignore it? >> it's hard to speak to the politics of it, but i feel broadly these issues are gaining traction now, both within the conservative party, but also in sort of voting groups who traditionally might be seen as more pro migration. so young people, for example, if you look at the polling today, 45 to 50%

of young people say migration has been too high over the last ten years. >> it's a massive change. >> it's a massive change. >> it's a big change. and only 5% say too low, so this isn't just an issue that affects leave voters or conservative voters or older voters . this is this view older voters. this is this view is held right across the political spectrum. >> really interesting. as i say, i've been doing it for years, but i'm pleased that people are catching up and making the point now. gb news eamonn patrick christys has an exclusive interview tonight with illegal immigrants. patrick, what on earth are they going to tell us? >> yes, indeed. well, look, i've been saying and know you've been saying for a while that with the rapid rate of asylum seekers and the rejections and the loss of asylum seekers from various databases, we're going to end up with tent cities in various different towns and cities across the uk. well, i went to one of these tent encampments today and i spoke to a couple of them, one chap from sudan, one chap from kuwait. they told us a variety of different things . variety of different things. firstly was that one individual was rejected and there was absolutely no attempt to get him

out of the country. they've just told him to leave the migrant hotel, which he has now done, and another individual as well shed some light on exactly how they feel. these illegal migrants about the rwanda plan. i've got a little clip for you now, rather, you would rather go to sudan than rwanda . to sudan than rwanda. >> rwanda? >> rwanda? >> sudan? sudanese. go sudan. yeah. no. go rwanda . rwanda. one yeah. no. go rwanda. rwanda. one country. why do you go rwanda? yeah yes. everybody is scared about rwanda. everybody is not right about this. everybody say that it's not right. if i come from my country, your country, why you send me another country, another country, different language , different legend, language, different legend, different everything. why >> yeah. this clip sheds a huge amount of light on the journeys that these people take, why they've come here and what's happened to them since they've come here as well. nigel, it's very, very eye opening and we're going to be seeing a heck of a lot more of this because this problem is not going away anytime soon, is it? but it was nice. can i just say quickly, it was nice to actually talk to

these people without some middle class fake communists shouting at me to stop me from talking to them, right? because they do actually want to talk to you. they don't mind. so we actually get to hear from them now. >> but patrick, that last interviewee, his sense of entitlement. yeah, i've come here illegally. why can't i stay? i mean, it's got my blood boiling already. i'll be watching you later on this evening. thank you very much indeed. patrick christys carl williams, thank you for joining me on this segment. in a moment, i'm joined by rob gifford, tom bower and we ask, what's going on? is it the king that is refusing to meet the wayward prince harry because he is in london today

? well, i asked you the question. is immigration. given the number of errors that it affects, this country's number one issue. one viewer says it's not the small boats coming in. it's our border

force taxes. yeah, i was asking a broader question. never mind. natalie elphicke defects to laboun natalie elphicke defects to labour, citing, amongst other reasons, that immigration is part of it. sure, the tories are woeful, but labour are worse. and david says of course it's the number one issue and it will be all the time. we have this government in charge. david, you're absolutely right. no evidence , no evidence that evidence, no evidence that labour will be any better at all. so i was going past buckingham palace in a car earlier on. it's the first big garden party of the year and arguably the first nice spring day of the year. the queues to go into the garden party were there. the ladies were all dressed up as if it was royal ascot, and a very jolly afternoon. it will be not so far away, i guess about a mile and a half away at saint paul's cathedral was one prince harry. yeah, absolutely . and he was yeah, absolutely. and he was there for a service celebrating ten years of the invictus games. i think probably we'd all give him great credit for that. but

the king is not going to meet his son. why? what's going on? lots of gossip, lots of rumours. i don't know the answer, but one man that just might is tom bower, royal biographer and journalist, of course. tom, you've written books about harry and meghan and about the king. so the garden party is over at about 6:00. i was 5 or 6:00, the saint paul service is over at about the same time, and they're not going to meet what is going on. on. >> on. >> well, i think finally the king has got and his advisors have seen since i think the whole of this invictus celebration at saint paul's, the service , i mean, invictus people service, i mean, invictus people are terrific. i mean, the great service to the country and all the rest of it. but harry is milking it for the brand, harry and her services and paul's of thanksgiving. come on. he's not a great christian, that's for sure. but what is really important in all this is that he's going from here to nigeria. and what's really all this is aboutis and what's really all this is about is that meghan is going to

nigeria because she says her mother's family originally was from nigeria , and she's looking from nigeria, and she's looking at her roots. is that really is that true ? could be. who knows. that true? could be. who knows. but what really is important is that she's going to play the duchess there. she's going to play duchess there. she's going to play the royal family, the woman who fled to california for her privacy and who can't do too much with the royals, is going to play the royal card. and the king and his advisers have seen for all this what it really is, this trip to london for saint paups this trip to london for saint paul's and the trip to nigeria is all about picking up the brand, boosting the brand which is, after all, suffering terribly . perhaps she'll take terribly. perhaps she'll take some strawberry jam with her to castit some strawberry jam with her to cast it out to the locals . but cast it out to the locals. but the key is here that harry was desperate for a photo opportunity with the king. so when he gets to nigeria, he can say, i come as a member of the royal family and the king denied him that opportunity. rightly so. >> very interesting. we always think of charles as being a bit of a softie . is this a sign that of a softie. is this a sign that he's actually toughening up? >> i think it's a sign that he

realises finally that with the sussexes he's on a losing card. he can only suffer because he made a terrible mistake giving their children titles. he's making mistake, not stripping them of their titles. the sussex title , and he's finally seeing title, and he's finally seeing that they're exploiting the misery in london. after all, what they're really doing is putting kate and william in a terrible light. i mean, there is poor kate suffering from her illnesses. they should be in nigeria , probably they should be nigeria, probably they should be doing the work. and now the sussexes have stepped in to embarrass the king, to embarrass the sussexes , and rightly the sussexes, and rightly buckingham palace decided, no, we're not going to play their game on this occasion. >> it's harry's behaviour bordering on treachery. oh, absolutely strong word. oh, treachery is a strong, but he is a disloyal, treacherous man, son and brother and member of the british public citizen. >> he has behaved appallingly. his book, the oprah winfrey film, all his conduct and supporting meghan in her bid for all this different branding . he

all this different branding. he has really behaved appallingly towards his family and thankfully the king has finally seen it. my view is that the king was encouraged to take this position. both by the queen and by william, who were badly maligned in the book and harry's book, and they said, enough is enough, we've got to cut them off. >> this looks like one of those rifts that's lifelong. >> i think it is. and all those people who speculate about reconciliation are just popping dreams. it's horrible. it's appalling situation to be in. but the thing is that harry cannot say, sorry, harry. he cannot say, sorry, harry. he cannot say, sorry, harry. he cannot say that he's done wrong. meghan never says anything in any reconciliation. >> she also rarely tells the truth , rarely tells the truth, truth, rarely tells the truth, and got harry completely ensnared . ensnared. >> and really, you can't underestimate what this trip to nigeria is all about. it's meghan playing the colour card. the race card, the royal card, everything to embarrass the royal family. >> this harry. you know, i remember when he was in his middle , late teens and i saw him middle, late teens and i saw him

down in cornwall in the same pub as him in cornwall, and he was this enormously popular figure and i remember asking my daughters when they were youngen daughters when they were younger, what do they think of the royal family? one of them said, oh, they're cool, they're cool, daddy, they're cool. i mean, prince harry, i mean, it was changing the brand of what the royal family meant to a lot of people who perhaps wouldn't have been traditional royalists. and then he goes out and does his bit more than his bit, some would argue, kills 25. i mean, it's so stupid to talk about . it it's so stupid to talk about. it is unbelievable, but he was i think he was the i mean, after his mother, the most, perhaps the most popular member of the royal family i've seen in my lifetime . in your view, is this lifetime. in your view, is this something that's happened inside his own mind? what? it is, of course. but is she the cause, or is it deeper than that? >> oh, no. she's definitely the cause. >> oh, no. she's definitely the cause . but he needed her. the cause. but he needed her. the problem is, he couldn't form relationships with other women. and meghan stepped into the

role. she's a great actress. she knew he was needy and she needed him to bolster her fading. if not terminal, career. and she's got what she wanted. except she probably wanted to be queen rather rather than just the duchess . but now she's got the duchess. but now she's got the title, she's got the money, and he is just like a lap dog going behind her, forgetting his loyalty to the country and to his family and to his grandparents as well. >> and you know, these positions that he had, lieutenant general of the royal marines and actually, you know, he'd taken over from his grandfather. absolutely. you know, at westminster abbey, the fields of remembrance every year , that big remembrance every year, that big link to the services and the services really respected him because he put his life in dangen >> yeah. he really has served the cause. and he's turned his back on all that . and i think back on all that. and i think king charles allowed a lot of time for him to reflect on it and think carefully and sort of the warning shot was to take away frogmore, his home, and then he carried on with his vindictive and nastiness , and so

vindictive and nastiness, and so did she. and playing the royal card constantly in america, which is exactly the opposite of what the queen told them to do, she said. you cannot commercialise the royal family and they've done exactly what they're not meant to do. >> the nigeria angle on this is absolutely fascinating, tom. thank you. as ever. there we are. tom bower says that harry's behaviour is treacherous. pick that up. tabloids now one of my achievements i get some things right and some things wrong obviously, but one of my achievements in 2023 was to raise this whole issue of de—banking king and of the damage that it does to individuals and indeed to businesses as well. i was so pleased that the oxford english dictionary now have de—banking in it. well, treasury select committee report today confirming that 140,000 businesses have been de—banking in the course of the last year. they've made some very strong recommendations to the financial conduct authority , and i'm going conduct authority, and i'm going to be joined very shortly by dame harriet baldwin . and we're

dame harriet baldwin. and we're going to go through that report, and we're going to ask if the fca don't act, will this government bring in some legislation between now and the next general election? having raised the issue, i'm pleased there's a debate. what i now

change. let's get to it, shall we? dame harriet baldwin , conservative harriet baldwin, conservative member of parliament for west worcestershire. and importantly , worcestershire. and importantly, chair of the treasury select committee, joins me. we talked just a few weeks ago about the fact that it's staggering 140,000 businesses extraordinary, had had their bank accounts closed in the last yeah bank accounts closed in the last year. we don't even know how many personal accounts have been closed. we will find that out at some point in the future. but let's stick to business for now. you know, i've always been a great believer that small business, new business, that's where growth comes from. absolutely, at least two thirds ofjobs absolutely, at least two thirds of jobs in the private sector work for small companies.

of jobs in the private sector work for small companies . your work for small companies. your report out today and it seems to me there are two quite important categories here. one is the de—banking and why it's happening. and second is that regulation is holding us back. so let's deal with the de—banking to begin with, you're telling the fca, the financial conduct authority, to act . are conduct authority, to act. are they going to. well it is such a crucial issue, isn't it? >> because you know , small >> because you know, small businesses have had a torrid five years. they had to go through the pandemic. they've had to put up with these spike in energy costs. and now in our report today, we've really spelled out how the banking sector isn't really helping our small businesses to grow either, there was a lot of help during there was a lot of help during the pandemic for businesses of all sizes, but now that we're back in more normal times , it back in more normal times, it appears as though in many cases, the banking sector has really sort of pulled the rug out of some excellent uk businesses. so the issue that we highlighted today was around businesses that

are doing perfectly legal things. in fact , things that are things. in fact, things that are actually defending our country , actually defending our country, like being in the defence industry. and they sometimes struggle to get a bank account and they can have their bank account, oil and gas randomly closed, oil and gas is another example. amusement arcades. you know, lots of things that are perfectly legitimate parts of the weft and weave of the uk economy are struggling to get banking facilities. so not just credit, but actual bank accounts. now, you highlighted the issue around individual accounts. my understanding is that the government actually is the one which is going to act soonest. we're going to see some legislation . legislation. >> keep saying this, harry. >> keep saying this, harry. >> yeah, i keep hearing it. >> yeah, i keep hearing it. >> and then i have a treasury minister that i can talk to. who? and then he's gone and somebody else comes in. yeah. i mean, i highlighted the personal also my business was closed as well, but it was more the personal side of things. but at least we've got a debate going on. this thing about the fca is

they seem to be terribly keen to impose upon financial institutions a whole host of diversity rules. quite what that's got to do with them as a regulator, i don't know, but it strikes me that they don't even seem to be interested in what you've been saying. >> yeah, well , you've been saying. >> yeah, well, i think we'd all agree that we want our financial services sector to be the best in the world. that means it's got to have the best people in it. so i think there's an issue around some of the cultural factors that we've discovered in some of our other work. but what i would agree with you completely on is actually, i think this is more serious than just the regulator. i think that this is that people up and down the country, some of your viewers will have ticked the box when they choose their pension fund option to invest in environmentally social and good governance, and it sounds like motherhood and apple pie, doesn't it? but actually what it can mean for if a lot of shareholders do that is and they are shareholders in a big bank, it can mean that that bank then implements policies that debunk

a lot of things that you and i would think were absolutely essential parts of the uk economy . and i think that's economy. and i think that's what's going on. so actually there's two things here. there's a there's an opportunity for a new bank in this country that perhaps doesn't have shareholders who do that kind of thing. please so challenger banks are going to be a really good part of the solution here. ones who can come in and say, look, we'll bank anybody who's doing something legal, and then i think there's also something that your viewers will have to think about, you know, when they're making those investment choices, are they absolutely sure that when they choose that environmental, social and governance funds , that it's not governance funds, that it's not something that's going to be leading to de—banking. >> i mean, and the returns on e56 >> i mean, and the returns on esg have been very, very poor actually, the last few years. oils and tobaccos have been very good investments. so i think there's a move away from that. but generally your report also mentions the regulatory burden. yes. we've got a massive anti—money laundering, eu regulations and directives incorporated into uk law.

nothing has changed. i mean, this is actually a brexit failure, isn't it? we have had the opportunity, harriet. no, come on, we've had the opportunity. a conservative government with an 80 seat majority could have simplified much of this. it hasn't done it. >> well, interestingly, you know, in the alphabet soup that is financial regulation. one of the things we highlight in our report is not even from the financial conduct authority. it's from the prudential regulation authority, something that was set up in the aftermath of the financial crash. and they are wanting to put much higher risk on lending to small businesses. so they want to and this is something that the basel committee nothing to do with eu, the basel committee is recommending. but the eu aren't going to do it. the us aren't going to do it. the us aren't going to do it. the us aren't going to do it. so i don't think the uk should be an outlier in putting much tighter credit conditions on small businesses. that's another thing we highlight in our business report today. >> david carrick keep fighting unless we want some real change. okay, now the what? the farage moment today. there's a couple actually. one is that the astrazeneca the oxford

astrazeneca the oxford astrazeneca covid vaccine is now being withdrawn worldwide. now of course, this was hailed by bons of course, this was hailed by boris johnson, the pm at the time, as a triumph for british science. and i don't doubt for a moment that everybody was genuinely trying to do their best. what really, really hacks me off is we've known that this vaccine and others causes some very serious side effects, even deaths in some people. it has been the complete denial of that. the fact that nobody has been held to account, that makes me so angry. and this ridicule this. and yes, i banged on about this. and yes, i banged on about this before, but this ridiculous covid inquiry isn't even going to examine negative side effects until sometime next year , by until sometime next year, by which time there will probably be a different government and nobody will ever be held to account. let's find something jolly to talk about, shall we, for a moment before the break. well what about this? pubs will be able to extend their opening hours to 1 am. if either scotland or england take it to

the semi—finals. so let's hope we have a good run in the football. we of course, did get rid of the final last year, which i know two years ago, which i know two years ago, which i know two years ago, which i attended. sadly we saw some of the most disgraceful scenes outside wembley that we've ever seen at any sporting event. so yeah, keep the pubs open , have fun. but as ever, open, have fun. but as ever, with all of these things , try to with all of these things, try to keep it within sensible limits . keep it within sensible limits. yes. so the guardian exposed the fact that the garrick club only admitted male members . this was admitted male members. this was terrible. and once it was revealed, people who'd been members for years resigned, one senior civil servant did. and others like stephen fry, who have been members for years, said, isn't it dreadful that it's men only? we've got to let women in. well, last night at an agm they did. is this somehow a great victory for diversity, or is it just waving the white flag of surrender to bullying from the guardian? heated debate on

this. i've got very strong opinions myself, all in just a moment

so -- so in 1831, david garrick, a very famous actor of the day, founded the garrick club. and unsurprisingly, it was in covent garden, very close to all of the big theatres. and it's been for membership a men only club for, you know, ever since that time. now actually, women go in as guests and if you go in in the evening, you'll find plenty of women in there. but the membership is all men. women in there. but the membership is all men . but the membership is all men. but the prejudice against men's clubs is so extraordinary that earlier this year, a high court judge was removed from overseeing a case involving an alleged rape victim because he was a member of the garrick. i mean, this is real, real prejudice. so the guardian exposed us, the names

of people, senior figures, political figures, senior civil servants , members, of course, of servants, members, of course, of the arts and they're exposed as being members of a man's club. and of course, they all go absolutely weak at the knees. and they're terrified because they're going to get abuse on twitter and facebook and whatever else it may be. and in an act of outright cowardice, in my view, as an extraordinary general meeting , they vote by general meeting, they vote by 60% to 40% to change the rules that have been there since 1831. and to admit women. why does this matter? look, i'm not a member of the garrick. but here's the point. i think freedom of association often comes just below free speech. i think it really matters. i have no objection to women's clubs. i've no objection to any form of club provided the activities that go on are within the law. and i just think that this is an act of bullying by a left wing newspaper and very, very weak

kneed people like stephen fry , kneed people like stephen fry, who was perfectly happy to be a member of the all male garrick , member of the all male garrick, said last night, unless we vote this way, then i will leave. well, joining me to discuss this is lynn townley , barrister and is lynn townley, barrister and lecturer at city of london school , university of london. school, university of london. now lynn, as you can tell, you know, i'm not a member of the garrick, but i absolutely support the right of individuals to form their own clubs and frankly, do what the hell they like. what's wrong with that? well there isn't anything wrong with that. >> if there's a legitimate aim . >> if there's a legitimate aim. and the garrick is quite a different club from single issue clubs , and as you pointed out, clubs, and as you pointed out, women have been going as guests . women have been going as guests. so why can't women go in their own agency and go there as members ? it was set up to deal members? it was set up to deal with performing arts, the liberal arts . there's no reason liberal arts. there's no reason why it needs to be a male only club anymore. there were reasons to do with logistics and the way that professions were made up.

historically. but now the position is different and it's no longer tenable. >> i tell you what, they've opened themselves up to a real disaster. and i'll tell you why. because the garrick club has the black bull rule someone's put up for a member . black bull rule someone's put up for a member. and if another member of the club objects, they say to the chap , sorry, old boy, say to the chap, sorry, old boy, we're not going to have you. and he disappears and that's the end of it. what happens when the first female member gets blackballed? can you? i mean, can you imagine? can you just imagine what the guardian headunes imagine what the guardian headlines are going to be? >> well, it remains to be seen what way this moves forward. and it's going to take a few years because as i understand it, there's a waiting list. and the process takes rather than months or weeks. it takes years. so so it will be interesting to see what happens in the future. but the members have spoken, the members have been bullied and they're very, very weak men who were very happy to be a member for decades, some of them members of an all male club . members of an all male club. >> now here we go. we have the allbright club in mayfair. we

have the university women's club, we have the sorority club, the wing, the trouble, the merit club. in fact, we now have more women only clubs in london than we have all men clubs. isn't there just rank hypocrisy here? i mean, who are you to judge what the garrick should or should not be? >> well, i'm not judging them. no, no you are. >> you're no, no you are. you're saying the original aims of the garrick have changed. so you are judging? >> well, i'm not saying the original aims have changed. the advice was that there was nothing to preclude membership . nothing to preclude membership. and there is a division about about that legal advice . some of about that legal advice. some of the members agree, some don't. the vote was 60. >> but if you know, if someone tries to join, you know the trouble club. i like the sound of the trouble club, the all women's trouble club. i mean, if blake tries to join there, he's not going to be able to. if he tried to cause a stink with the press, it would be ignored. there's a lot of anti—male prejudice going on here, isn't there? >> well, i think the garrick is very different to other clubs. it may be a victim of its own

success. there are a lot of people want to join and there are a lot of influential people join. it looks extremely bad. the visuals are bad and why things have moved on. >> why? why are the visuals bad? i'm sorry, i really don't get this. it's a private member's club. they can do what they like . it's an exclusive organisation. >> it is, but it's perceptions about what goes on there. >> but who cares about perception ? perception? >> well, people who may be exclude people. do people who are excluded from going into the club. whatever goes on there, it may not be sinister at all. in fact, it probably isn't. it's what's it's what's it got to do with anybody else. it doesn't look good, the optics look bad, and there are perceptions. >> so the optics don't look bad for all women's clubs , but look for all women's clubs, but look bad for all men's clubs. that actually, let's be frank about this, lynn. that is what you're saying. >> well, i mean, again, it depends on what the aims of the club are. and as i've said, the garrick is slightly different because it was a liberal arts club. it still is a liberal arts

club. it still is a liberal arts club. there's no reason why women, shouldn't be members. it will strengthen the club. and i'm sure that the men will get overit i'm sure that the men will get over it eventually. well, i don't know. >> let's talk to a member of the garrick club, shall we? i know your father was a member. i had lunch with your father at the garrick club a long time ago, jacob. i mean, you probably weren't there last night at this agm. >> i wasn't. you could attend online, so i was listening to it online. how did you vote? >> i i'm not going to say how i voted. >> it's a private vote and it's a private club. i'm fair enough. i'm very relaxed about women joining, but i don't think they've got any right to. i think we're in completely entitled to men's clubs. one thing i wanted was that the club should be happy with the decision, because the club is a place you go for fun and you go for a nice lunch or a nice dinner. i'm going into the garrick for dinner this evening. >> i'm sure you are. >> i'm sure you are. >> i'm sure you and i think this row just became very disagreeable. and that's what i didn't like about it. >> bullying. a lot of bullying going on, you know, the guardian name and shame people. and

suddenly the online world starts to attack them. >> i thought the people who resigned, having suddenly discovered that the garrick didn't allow women to join, were particularly ridiculous . the particularly ridiculous. the head of m16 resigned, having been a member for some years . been a member for some years. suddenly. oh! oh dear, there are women not allowed to join . i'm women not allowed to join. i'm so upset and i can't cope. that was just pathetic . was just pathetic. >> so you're quite relaxed in terms of the club. you're a member of? >> yes. >> yes. >> but in general, this principle that i'm talking about, you know, i read out a list to lynn earlier of all women's clubs. >> look, i belong to the garrick for quite a few years, and i was very happy for it to be an all male club. i'm quite happy for it to be a mixed club. i belong to other all male clubs. i never joined any of my clubs to change them from the inside, which some old humbugs said they joined various clubs to do. particularly the garrick clubs are for fun and for association and for not endless rows. there are quite enough rows in politics about how the country's governed that matter. whether a club takes women or men only, or

takes people at 18, or takes them at 102, i really don't care. as long as the club is jolly. >> one of the worries i've got lynn about this is i worry , you lynn about this is i worry, you know, we had the equality act brought in in 2010 towards the end of the last labour government . there are some government. there are some people who take the view that to have an all male club is wrong. it's anti—women . and are we it's anti—women. and are we heading down a route where we may even get legislation? do you think on things like this? >> i don't know, i mean we'll have to see what what view other clubs take, because there's still quite a few other clubs that are single sex. as you've said, men and women's clubs. and it's going to depend on what the aim of the particular clubs are. >> but you've judged that the i mean, you've judged that the garrick needed to be changed. what about other men's clubs? >> well, again, it depends on what the aims are and it may well be that they will follow suit, but it's a matter for the membership. i didn't judge it. it was the members. >> what about all male golf clubs? how would you feel about all male golf clubs?

>> well, again, i wouldn't. i mean, what's the aim of it to play mean, what's the aim of it to play golf? well, why why should you exclude women? i don't understand that. there's a legitimate reason why, but because it's a private member's club. >> and if women . want to have an >> and if women. want to have an all women golf course, they can buy one, set one up. >> well, they could, but i mean, why would they necessarily want to? what would be the legitimate reason? i'm not against single sex clubs. if there is a legitimate aim playing golf. well, i don't see you really are a wolf in sheep's clothing, aren't you? >> are you sitting there being all reasonable? i mean, you basically would get rid of every man's club in the country, wouldn't you? not necessarily. i think you would. >> i really do me is down to the club members. >> lynn, you're a very good sport. thank you forjoining me sport. thank you for joining me this evening on gb news. now, odd things happen in the house of commons from time to time, sir jacob. but 12:00 you walk in or a few minutes before to the chamber, and there is a conservative member of parliament considered more right wing than you are. i know. well, i mean, sitting behind keir starmer i was watching this from

my usual perch in the house of commons, and i saw in the seat behind where keir starmer was about to go, somebody who i thought looked remarkably like natalie elphicke. >> i knew that the by—election had been won by a chap who i've actually met and clearly wasn't him. so i thought, who is this? a labour mp who i've never seen before? i couldn't believe that natalie, who is a hard right, tough on migration. i'm a member of the european research group . of the european research group. >> i mean, i mean, i'm so liberal i could join the garrick, you know, compared to her most extraordinary thing for her most extraordinary thing for her to do, it doesn't make any sense at all. well, what she's doing is she's giving the prime minister and the conservative party a very public kicking. >> yeah , but she should have >> yeah, but she should have joined reform. i mean, if she joined reform. i mean, if she joined reform, there had been some logic to it. she might actually agree with reform. but if you look at all her statements over all the time she's been in parliament, she does not agree with the labour party. >> we had the same with doctor dan poulter. >> yeah, but he a couple of he

was a different wing of the party, a different wing of the party. never really had very strong beliefs on anything, very much as far as one could tell. nobody saw him again today. he hasn't been around a great deal. he's one of those mps who is here today, gone tomorrow. natalie has made quite a presence. asphalt, really, but as a tough nosed right winger. and that's why it's very odd. she should have joined the dup or reform. >> but there's not a labour party. there's something here. we just don't know. i don't know what it is or whether we'll ever find out. no doubt, though, she'll finish up in the house of lords because labour are very good at rewarding people. >> all sorts of people end up in the house of lords. yeah, well, i know, i know, i know, it would be probably illegal to, you know, the maundy gregory stuff and all of that. >> the i think those rules are out of the window. i don't think anything i don't think standards when it comes to the appointment of peers count for much. jacob apart from that, what are you talking i'm going to be talking about de—banking, esg and how this has affected defence companies. >> so we've actually put national security at risk because as the sort of people

who de—banking you have been de—banking defence companies and this is really disgraceful. and it's this takeover of the city by woolly liberal regulators , by woolly liberal regulators, rather than them being proper capitalists who are there to make money. well the fca, the regulator, wants to impose upon financial services companies a whole series of quotas . whole series of quotas. >> yeah. diversity quotas. i'm sure lynn would be absolutely thrilled with all of this, and yet they haven't lifted a finger to help anyone. what's been debunked? >> the fca is completely pointless, as far as one can tell. it doesn't do its job properly, and it advocates these woke causes when its job is to make business better. crackers? >> absolutely. crackers well, i'll tell you what, folks. that's enough. i can't cope with any more. let's have a look at the weather. >> looks like things are heating up . boxt boilers sponsors of up. boxt boilers sponsors of weather on gb news. >> hello. good evening. it's been another dry and fine day for many of us. and there'll be

more in the way of sunshine to come tomorrow. and it should be a warmer day for most of us. however, cloudier skies are starting to approach the northwest as this weather front moves in. won't make too much progress overnight . further progress overnight. further elsewhere across the country as high pressure is building in, so it should be a fairly clear and dry night for the bulk of england and wales. cloudier skies will affect parts of northern england, northern ireland and in particular much of scotland, where the rain will turn quite persistent across the northwest overnight. so quite a damp night to come. probably a damp night to come. probably a damp start to the day, but elsewhere it should be a bright and mild start to the day quite widely. temperatures will be in double digits by thursday morning. any mist, a mist and fog that has formed overnight should clear quite readily. it's most likely across coastal areas across england and wales, and that will give way to another day of long lived sunny spells. and it's going to feel warmer in that sunshine than today. and the sunshine should spread up and further north into northwestern areas of scotland, as that weather front pushes north. highs of 2223, possibly 24 degrees across central areas

of england on thursday. again, there's a risk of mist and fog to start the day on friday. the sunshine could be a bit hazy first thing, but it should brighten up quite quickly through the day and i think most areas will see a day of long lived sunny spells and once again, it's going to be feeling fairly warm, long lived sunshine to come on saturday. a risk of showers on sunday, but temperatures are climbing towards 25 or 26 degrees. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on

gb news. >> hello. good evening . it's me, >> hello. good evening. it's me, jacob rees—mogg on state of the nation. tonight the de—banking scandal continues as santander and lloyds have closed 300 defence accounts over fears of ethical compliance. so not only has de—banking threatened freedom of speech, but now it's threatening national security

too . natalie elphicke, who was too. natalie elphicke, who was allegedly firmly on the right of politics and once mocked sir keir starmer as sir softy , has keir starmer as sir softy, has defected to labour. i'll be giving my view. israel has launched its long expected rafa offensive and vowed to eliminate the remaining hamas battalions in the city. i'll be joined by an israeli mp who also attended the oxford pro—palestine protests today and like the prodigal son, it seems the king's schedule is too busy. state of the nation starts now. i'll also be joined by a particularly pugnacious panel this evening historian and broadcaster doctor tessa dunlop and the founder of the new culture forum, peter whittle. as always, as you know, i want to hear from you. it's a crucial part of the programme. email me mercy muroki gbnews.com. but now it's what you've all been waiting for. the news of the day with sam francis.