4644 crossed over via whopping 4644 crossed over via small boats during the first three months of the year, and this is during the wintry months. so are we to expect more as begins to shine and as the sun begins to shine and more importantly, stopping the boats is one of the prime minister's five key pledges. so the question is, with the recalcitrant lords doubling down on their amendments to the rwanda bill, will he be able to get the plan over the line, and will it be sufficient to effectively deter the phenomenon? and how might it all affect a general election? the front page of the daily mail today reveals the prime minister is under pressure for a june election win, but it was only the other day that an eminent pollster declared labour has a 99% chance of winning . and it's 99% chance of winning. and it's not just the boats. the starts of the local election campaign or even angela rayner's tax affairs will be discussing this evening. no you'll be hearing from the one and only sirjacob from the one and only sir jacob rees—mogg himself for this evening's denouement. he'll be sitting down with canon martin

edwards to discuss the meaning of friday in his catholic of good friday in his catholic context. of course, all that is still to come. state of the nafion still to come. state of the nation starts now. so . nation starts now. so. now i'll also be joined by jacob's highly civilised panel, of course. gb news senior political commentator nigel nelson, and the economist and fellow at the centre for brexit policy, catherine mcbride, now , policy, catherine mcbride, now, despite jacob's absence, the email address remains the same. it's mail mog at gb news.com , so it's mail mog at gb news.com, so let me know what you think on all of the stories that we discuss this evening. now it's time the news of the day time for the news of the day with polly middlehurst. >> tom, thank you and good evening to you. well, the top story from the gb newsroom

tonight is that the united nafionsis tonight is that the united nations is calling on rishi sunak to scrap his rwanda scheme. the organisation's human rights committee the rights committee says the government's plan to send asylum seekers on a one way trip to the east african nation should be abandoned or repealed if it passes in parliament. in a report, 18 member states raised their concerns about discrimination and they said potential violations of international law. but the government pushed back today, accusing the united nations themselves of double standards because it already sends refugees to rwanda for michael, gove has described the management of thames water as a disgrace after calls to increase customers bills to plug a major funding gap, the firm's bosses have admitted it could face the risk emergency risk of emergency nationalisation as the company's cash crisis deepens . cash crisis deepens. shareholders have refused to give the company half £1 billion of extra funding, describing the

rescue plan put in front of them as uninvestable . instead, they as uninvestable. instead, they want the regulator, ofwat, to increase consumer bills by up to 40% over the next five years. the mp andrew bridgen, has been ordered to pay over £40,000 in legal fees to the former health secretary, matt hancock, after the first stages of a legal battle. mr bridgen initiated the case to so—called clear his name after the former health secretary allegedly accused him of anti—semitism. it's after a spat on the platform x, formerly known as twitter, and in one tweet he made about the covid vaccine, suggesting , quote, was vaccine, suggesting, quote, was the biggest crime against humanity since the holocaust. hours later, mr hancock wrote back on social media that a sitting mp had spouted disgusting and dangerous anti—semitic, anti—vax and anti—scientific conspiracy theories. but mr bridgen claimed mr hancock's post was seriously defamatory. despite certain

parts of mr bridgen's case being struck out , the high court has struck out, the high court has now given him a chance to amend his claim , and for conservative his claim, and for conservative mps and a major conservative donor have been awarded honours after the prime minister recommended them to his majesty the king. mohammed mansoor has been knighted for his contributions to business, charity and politics. philip davis, husband of the government's common sense minister esther mcvey, has also been knighted alongside farming minister mark spencer. meanwhile, treasury committee chairwoman harriet baldwin has been given a damehood, as has tracey crouch, the former sports minister. now the queen received overwhelming support for the king and princess of wales at her historic royal maundy service earlier on today, well—wishers brave cold and wet conditions to catch a glimpse of camilla as she stood in for her husband, who's receiving treatment for cancer . despite treatment for cancer. despite the king's absence, there was a

personal pre—recorded message from him broadcast inside worcester cathedral and in the video he highlighted the importance of care and kindness in times of need in the wake of his and the princess of wales's cancer diagnoses . that's the cancer diagnoses. that's the news for the latest stories. do sign up to gb news alerts. scan the qr code on your screen right now or go to gb news .com/ alerts . alerts. >> thank you very much, polly . >> thank you very much, polly. now, brace yourself, because i've been told to embark upon my own attempt at one of jacob's illustrious monologues or, as he calls them, monologues. now now, i've spent all day practising various antiquated tongue twisters, everything from the latin recitations of the lord's prayer to repetitions of the word. jacob's brought erudite word. jacob's brought so erudite to the green benches 12 years ago. floxy gnocchi,

vilification. but to the big story of the day made so much more relevant this evening by the extraordinary announcement from the un committee on human rights. yes, they want the united kingdom to never make rwanda policy law. indeed, they want the united kingdom to repeal any laws pertaining to the rwanda policy. if they do become law. this is in the context of the channel crossing numbers they're for in the first quarter of 2024, and the prime minister has another record to his some 4644 people have his name, some 4644 people have made the journey in 2024. that we know of a record for the first three months of any calendar year. now, i should add, this is just in the first three rather wintry and fairly rainy months of the year. many would argue that we should expect much higher numbers as the year goes on and the weather becomes more clement of course,

if we look at the previous trends, the numbers are invariably higher in the summer months as viewers on television can see from this graph from migrant watch last year, the biggest month was august, as was the year before. the fifth of the year before. the fifth of the prime minister's five key pledges is, of course, stopping the boats and he has repeatedly said that the numbers are down. well, first time since the small boats crisis emerged. >> numbers are down. i just want to say that again, numbers are down. they're down because of all the things we're doing. the new deal i signed with albania, we've returned almost 3000 illegal migrants albania . and illegal migrants to albania. and you know they've stopped you know what? they've stopped coming. that we've coming. i'm pleased that we've made . last year, the made progress. last year, the numbers down a third. numbers were down by a third. that happened before. that never happened before. shows the plans are shows that the plans are working, as well as the working, but as well as the great victorian statesman benjamin disraeli once said, there are lies damned lies and

statistics. >> the numbers may well have been down last year, but of course this all depends on your time frame. the prime minister insists that a huge part of the solution lies in the deterrence effect of the rwanda plan. but there are serious questions about this. gb news home and security editor mark white broke a story earlier this year suggesting that the rwanda plan had become something of a joke a laughing stock amongst migrants attempting to cross the channel. and these new record breaking numbers do appeal to appear to show that the threat of the rwanda plan, as things stand, hasn't acted as a deterrent. this being said, the proposal itself has spent the last two years being shredded by the courts. it's been a long time since, each passenger on board the original deportation flight was one by one, picked off by the european court of human rights and their liberal use of what's known as section 39

orders. it isn't only the echr in strasbourg or indeed our own courts here at home, holding things up. however, last week the house of lords doubled down on many of its stifling amendments to the safety of rwanda bill, once again delaying the passage of the bill. with the passage of the bill. with the commons to ping the commons now not set to ping back until after recess back the pong until after recess , it seems that the prime minister studiously avoided the advice of the usual host of this program. last week . program. last week. >> i would like the chief whip to change commons so to change commons business so that we send these proposals back to the house of lords tomorrow and that we sit, if necessary, through easter until the house of lords backs down. might teach the bishops a lesson if they have to come and vote against the government on good friday, be suitably friday, it would be suitably penitential for them. >> sadly, that was not to be. and more and so we're faced with more delay perhaps delay and more boats. perhaps it's little wonder that with this drawn out process, the rwanda itself has rwanda government itself has publicly expressed doubts. the prime minister's work is very much ahead of him. the migrant

crisis remains an election defining issue, particularly for red wall seats. in 2019, conservative voters and with the conservatives facing an electoral oblivion , stopping the electoral oblivion, stopping the boats is a necessary, albeit perhaps not sufficient, action to turn the tide. now as the eminent psephologist professor sir john curtice, now says, the labour party has a 99% chance of winning the next election. the tories 1% chance might just hinge on getting the flights off the ground before rishi sunak goes head to head with sir keir starmer. as ever, let me know your thoughts on all of the above mail mog at gbnews.com. but let's get into the weeds . but let's get into the weeds. now let's dive into the detail. i'm joined by the legal consultant specialising in immigration asylum, fadi immigration and asylum, fadi farhat. thank you so much for joining us this evening. first of all, with the un's

announcement this evening, this is extraordinary call to is an extraordinary call to action, a call to perhaps dis action, a call to perhaps dis action on the uk government. surely the government will simply ignore them, yes. i mean , simply ignore them, yes. i mean, the un and its various committees have arrived at the view that the rwanda plan should be scrapped because it's part of it are not conforming to international law. in specifically the 1951 refugee convention, the united kingdom contests united contests that, yes, the united kingdom but not kingdom contests that. but not in terms of the international law framework. the un and its various organs. and of course, the un does administer certain organs of the un and has a refugee agency, and it does deal with such matters, including the unhcr, and so that that is the view of the unhcr. and as, as you've pointed out earlier in your monologue, which jacob will be this is a view be proud of, this is a view that's been doubled down by, by by institutions, by various other institutions, such as the supreme court and, and what have you. yes. >> and yet the irony here, of course, is that the refugee

course, is that the un refugee agency deals itself with rwanda and people with rwanda and relocates people with rwanda has done in the past. >> yes, it has. and indeed has in the past. made submissions that that were favourable to uganda to rwanda, the only, i suppose the differential, the differentiating factor is that the un deals with relocations to rwanda in the context of other states, which may not be signatories to the 1951 convention. so it's seen as the lesser of the two evils. but where a state is a signatory, like the united kingdom, that's where i think the un saying where i think the un is saying that parts of the plan, specifically with certain nationalities and discrimination might as might not be compliant, but as you've pointed out, it hasn't acted as a deterrent. and arrivals are now at a record high compared as long as high compared to as as long as it being frustrated . it is being frustrated. >> of course, we don't know the counterfactual of how many numbers there would have been had bill passed earlier, or had this bill passed earlier, or indeed had flights already taken off. wonder, though, this

off. yes. i wonder, though, this conversation back conversation always comes back to convention, to the 1951 convention, a convention signed in a very different time to the time that we live in today, a convention that perhaps did not envisage the scale of the international mass migration that we see today . previous prime ministers of the united kingdom, not least tony blair, suggested updating reforming that convention because it doesn't quite sit with how the world is today and the ease of movement today. do you think there's a chance that multiple countries, the dozens of countries that have signed up to this convention, could actually change it , that would actually change it, that would involve a lot of political will, and of course, much of our human rights instruments took place in the, in the 1950s or were conceived in the 1950s, in the aftermath of the second world war. an event such as war. so it took an event such as off the scale of the second world war, to arrive at the framework which we have, and

that framework has held up, but for me, or unfortunately, depending on your view, we haven't had such well, fortunately, in terms of peace, because been living in a because we've been living in a penod because we've been living in a period of relative peace, but we haven't had such events whereby the entire international community to sit community has decided to sit down and revise the framework, and there seems to be no political to will do so now. >> now you're, of course, a legal am i right in legal expert. am i right in saying that under the 1951 convention, millions , hundreds convention, millions, hundreds of millions, potentially billions of people could have the right to come to the united kingdom? sadly many billions of people live in abject poverty. sadly many billions of people live under totalitarian regimes aims that don't uphold the same rights that we do in the united kingdom . could it be that over kingdom. could it be that over a billion people have the right to come to the united kingdom and claim asylum under the terms of that convention, without focusing too much on the numbers

, the convention is written and framed in a manner whereby anybody who presents themselves in the territory of a signatory state, such as the united kingdom, can make a claim in situ once they've upon arrival. >> and another approval rate is extraordinarily high, the approval rate is high, but that's dependent on the nationality of the arrivals. certain countries like afghanistan , iran, certain afghanistan, iran, certain countries will. >> syria, of course, but, but but this could represent hundreds of millions if not billions of people with the theoretical right. >> yes. so the theoretical right is there as stated, it's anyone who themselves and who presents themselves and declares that they are . that declares that they are. that they are going to claim asylum because of a convention. reason which is usually political opinion, rafe . yes. being opinion, rafe. yes. being a member of a social group. so that category of persons is uncapped by very nature

uncapped by by the very nature of the framework in the convention. >> yes. no. well, it's been a fascinating conversation . thank fascinating conversation. thank you so much for coming in and talking through the particulars of this, because i do think there are many countries around there are many countries around the world now that do think think that the treaties that we signed up to more than half a century ago in the wake of the second world war, perhaps do need need, need modernisation or do need, updating frankly, where updating because frankly, where we and the united states of america and many european countries now sit and face the scale of the mass migration that we see today, the question is, what happens if we don't maintain democratic consent for all this? but, a huge thanks all of this? but, a huge thanks to fadi farhat, the, of course, specialist in immigration and asylum. after the break, asylum. now, after the break, news has emerged that the prime minister is under pressure to commit to a summer election. could it be too late to prove the pollsters wrong? and don't

forget, you'll be hearing from the man himself, sir

good friday. welcome back. a pleasure to have your company. it's 8:20. i'm the deputy political editor of gb news tom harwood standing in for sir jacob rees—mogg on state of sirjacob rees—mogg on state of the nation. now, we've been discussing the migrant crisis and the record numbers crossing the channel in the wake of this extraordinary ruling from the human rights committee of the united nations. they want us to scrap the rwanda plan. but you've been getting in touch with your mail mobs, and steve has written in . good evening,

has written in. good evening, steve, to say we're between a rock and a hard place . rock and a hard place. we're overcrowded, but we don't have a workforce that is willing to put in the work and do the jobs we need for the pay that we're offering, and i think that is a fair point. steve i mean, we do have a million job vacancies in this country, but we also have a huge number of people out of work, particularly, claiming . work, particularly, claiming. not just, not just . job seeking not just, not just. job seeking benefits, but incapacity benefits. now, sean . has written

benefits. now, sean. has written in to say, why are we talking about immigration and not immigration? this country is losing doctors and nurses every day. and yes, i do think there is a fair point to raise because ironically, we see so many doctors and nurses choosing to move to countries that have far less socialised forms of . less socialised forms of. healthcare than the united kingdom does in australia. for example, if you are a top rate tax payer, you have a tax penalty unless you take out private health care. could you imagine the reaction from the same doctors and nurses moving to australia to work in that system ? if any government were system? if any government were to bring such a tax penalty in

for those who don't have private health care in the united kingdom . it's an interesting kingdom. it's an interesting point to dwell on. now. there's been much speculation . about been much speculation. about when the next general election will be for a number of weeks now, but today's daily mail front page might be the biggest clue yet. yes, the mail has claimed that it's rishi sunaks aides that are urging him to hold an election in the summer of this year, owing to fears that the backbench tory plotters could oust him if he doesn't act soon. these fears are not unfounded, gb news political editor has it from two sources christopher hope , that is, that christopher hope, that is, that as many as 40 mps could have sent in letters of no .

sent in letters of no. confidence to the 1922 committee chairman, sir graham brady. but the question is, with the tories facing electoral oblivion according to the polls, do they stand any chance of turning the ship around with me now is the former labour minister, ivor capun former labour minister, ivor caplin . ivor, of course you were caplin. ivor, of course you were one of those people who saw the ascendancy of new labour in 1997. d0 ascendancy of new labour in 1997. do you feel that we're for on a similar course as that famous landslide . famous landslide. >> hi tom, it's always good to see you. and i have to say this very clearly. you know, not a single vote has yet been cast in

a general election. and that means that for the labour party, whilst we're ready for a general election , we can't be complacent election, we can't be complacent at all. that's. that would be very , very wrong for us to be very, very wrong for us to be like that. and i see this as a very different election than the 1 in 1997, i think 97. there was different economy. there was, you know, very well , well, a you know, very well, well, a leader who everyone liked and that doesn't always happen in, in political parties. so but for me, tom, i would say that there's a long way to go yet. and if that are you saying that potentially keir starmer is not a leader that everyone likes? >> that's . not what i'm saying. >> that's. not what i'm saying. >> that's. not what i'm saying. >> well, what i'm saying is that there's a big difference between there's a big difference between the tony blair and other leaders and that has been consistent

actually through the whole penod actually through the whole period since blair left. so it's not it's not something that's just about fear or or rishi sunak or anyone else . it's the sunak or anyone else. it's the fact that blair was a different type of leader and he gave that that, that great. leadership to the public during that period . the public during that period. in the run up and then in the general election. and what happened afterwards , i think happened afterwards, i think that's very different. if your question is, is it the same as 97? question is, is it the same as 97.7 my question is, is it the same as 97? my answer is no, it isn't. >> and of course , the famous >> and of course, the famous peter mandelson line about tony blair and his electoral success within the labour party is that the recent history of general elections for the labour party has been lose, lose, lose, lose. blair, blair, blair lose, lose,

lose . i think blair, blair, blair lose, lose, lose. i think i think it's only three, but. but there we go. i wonder, is it, is it four off the top of my head . but the the top of my head. but the question but the point that focuses in here is 2010, when the labour party lost power . the labour party lost power. gordon brown, as prime minister, then had the opportunity to call an early election. three years pnor an early election. three years prior to that, it was almost as soon as he became prime minister in two thousand and seven, he bottled it, and the bottler brown moniker carried on and potentially contributed to his loss in 2010. the labour party has been trying to attach this to rishi sunak, saying he could have called an election. this could have been the start of the

general election campaign today, not the local election campaign, doesn't quite have the same ring to it though. >> but i think there is a case to say that sunak probably should have called a general election , whether it was for election, whether it was for may, or he could have called it. of course . when he first became of course. when he first became leader of the conservative party that would have put him in a much stronger position with the conservative party if he'd gone into an election, maybe he'd lost, but he would then have been the person to take the tories forward. now, the conservative party in general . conservative party in general. terms, are in a bit of a state, and they they don't know which way to turn. that's very evident to many gb news, you know,

reporters . over the coming over reporters. over the coming over the coming weeks , over the last the coming weeks, over the last few weeks. and i think that's part of the problem if you don't, get into the right way for where you want to be as a political leader, then you are going to be in a difficult situation . and i think he is. situation. and i think he is. >> that's certainly true. i think anyone, vaguely literate or numerate could look at any poll or even just test the mood of the country and see what a tncky of the country and see what a tricky position , what a sticky tricky position, what a sticky wicket the prime minister is on. but thank you, ivan kaplan , but thank you, ivan kaplan, former labour minister, really appreciate your time this evening . well, joining now is evening. well, joining me now is my news senior my panel, gb news senior political commentator nigel

nelson, and the economist and fellow at the centre for brexit policy, mcbride and policy, catherine mcbride and catherine, we're going to start with you as an economist. people often say that this doesn't feel like 1997, but i would put it to you that actually, for an incumbent government, things are much worse than 1997. in 1997, you had a fair economic wind. you had 4% growth in the united kingdom at the moment. our january figures, most recently 0.1. >> yes. but i think that's about to change, which is why i think sunak would be very badly advised to go to the polls in june, because we've seen inflation come down quite dramatically. the bank of england is kind of holding all the cards there really should have started cutting rates now, i think, but they will next time. it's going to be very hard for them to not start cutting rates. >> yeah, the market expectations are that they will cut rates. you can get a mortgage for less

than the bank of england base rate now. >> exactly. yes. so that as that happens it's going to give more money into people's pockets. they're feel a bit they're going to feel a bit better. the longer this better. and so the longer this goes on, the better chance the government has of maybe not winning, but certainly not being wiped that actually wiped out. and that actually happened 97, where the happened in 97, where the conservative government it had put in quite good policies so that they actually gifted the labour party a very good economy , which is half the reason why tony kept winning tony blair kept winning elections, because he was in a, you economically, everyone you know, economically, everyone was feeling good. they were all making money and everything seemed to fine. and there was seemed to be fine. and there was no sudden left wing labour no big sudden left wing labour change, you know. and he did adopt the financial policies of the conservative party so i do think that that's , you know, think that that's, you know, that's in sunak's advantage is to wait. >> to wait. nigel nelson, what do you think about that. the i suppose the, the big hope for tory strategists is wait and hope something comes along. hope something changes the not just

the numbers now, but the direction in which they're going . yes. >> and also that they would hope that labour would implode between now and the election. so i agree with catherine. i think probably at this stage you wait for it, what they planned at the end of last year was for may the 2nd election. it was quite clear they were laying all the groundwork, but

were put on were very, very loose, nigel nelson and indeed catherine mcbride, thank you very much for joining for us this section. but coming up, did you know that peter was you know that peter pan was a white supremacist? well that's supposedly why the book has been slapped with a trigger warning by a university. and don't forget, of course, you'll be heanng forget, of course, you'll be hearing from the main man himself, sirjacob rees—mogg. in an with martin an interview with canon martin edwards of edwards on the importance of good that to come.

good evening. i'm gb news deputy political editor. tom harwood covering sir jacob rees—mogg political editor. tom harwood covering sirjacob rees—mogg in the state of the nation. tonight, we've been discussing

the possibility of a june election. and you've been getting in touch with your mail mugs. sooner the mugs. ian says sooner the better. this country is treading water. and, ian, i have to say, quite a few people out there in the country agree with you, although michelle says, why are labour so desperate for an election? have no election? they seem to have no plans for power, suppose plans for power, and i suppose looking at the polls, perhaps no plans preferable to the plans might be preferable to the current according current plans. according to at least sizeable chunk of the least a sizeable chunk of the electorate. but that's all to be fought out over the coming months , and maybe quite a few months, and maybe quite a few months, and maybe quite a few months to come. but let's months still to come. but let's turn that could turn to an issue that could become much, larger become much, much larger in those months. we near those coming months. as we near that election . angela rayner is that election. angela rayner is the leader of the labour the deputy leader of the labour party , and her tax affairs party, and her tax affairs simply won't go away. she's saying that she will not publish her personal tax advice . this her personal tax advice. this advice that she received on the sale of one of her houses , which sale of one of her houses, which she did not pay tax upon, but what is going and perhaps what is going on and perhaps more importantly, want you to more importantly, i want you to take a look at this. is take a look at this. this is a newspaper article from the sunday was sunday times, which was in january keir starmer january 2023. sir keir starmer commits top three

commits labour's top three to publishing returns . that's commits labour's top three to pubtoping returns . that's commits labour's top three to pubtop three returns . that's commits labour's top three to pubtop three peoples . that's commits labour's top three to pubtop three people in that's the top three people in government, demanded, government, he demanded, released returns and government, he demanded, releaifed returns and government, he demanded, releaif elected returns and government, he demanded, releaif elected willeturns and government, he demanded, releaif elected will do ms and government, he demanded, releaif elected will do so. and says if elected will do so. that's the leader. the deputy leader and the chancellor. well, is this a little bit of backsliding from that commitment? joining me now is my panel gb news senior political commentator nigel nelson, and the economist and fellow at the centre for brexit policy, catherine mcbride, nigel, let's start with you . you. it was a start with you. you. it was a little over a year ago that sir keir starmer said everyone should publish their tax affairs and now returns. >> i think that tax return their affairs. well angela rayner is saying that she won't know. i think what angela rayner is saying is she doesn't want to. she's not publishing the legal advice had about her advice she's had about her council house, i think is council house, which i think is perfectly reasonable. she's had private legal advice, what angela is that there angela rayner says is that there was nothing untoward about the sale that house, and sale of that of that house, and the only change now is the police talking about whether or

not reinvestigate it. why not to reinvestigate it. why should should should the police should be involved should the police should be involv�*should the who which should be the ones who deal with something like this . deal with something like this. >> but the tories, the police are involved. the police say that they're going to reassess their decision to reassess it. >> yes. they haven't said they're going to. they're actually going to investigate it. they're going reassess. it. they're going to reassess. but might . yes, only but they might. yes, only because there's been complaints from is from the tory party but this is just showing desperation just showing the desperation of the and nail the tories to try and nail someone from labour. >> catherine, of >> well, catherine, how much of this actually the tories this is actually just the tories say because the police say this because the police somewhat some extent seem somewhat to some extent seem like they think they have. >> there's a case to answer. >> well, in that case it is a case for the police or i agree with nigel. i think it should be a case for hmrc who a case for the hmrc who prosecute or prosecute these sort things time, i'm sort of things all the time, i'm not sure why it's, it's not entirely sure why it's, it's being used politically, and i'm not sure that it should be. >> do you think it would be used if boot the other foot? >> oh, for sure. i mean, angela is very good at at throwing stones at other people, but she was writing many , many letters

was writing many, many letters about nadhim zahawi tax affairs, well , that's true. well, that's true. >> and so she has probably set herself up for this . if you're herself up for this. if you're going to throw, you know, live in glass houses, don't throw stones. and, so, yes, i can see why they're doing it. but at the same time, you know, they shouldn't be. >> now we only have two minutes, but to squeeze in our but i do want to squeeze in our peter pan story because, york saint have saint john university have decided put what they call decided to put what they call trigger warnings on the front of a classic books , a collection of classic books, nigel, your reaction, i'm perfectly comfortable with this. what i'm not comfortable comfortable with is when they've been books make been rewriting books to make them correct them politically correct effectively, a trigger warning. fine i mean, one of the authors on this list is, is girgenti a victorian author? i used to read him when i was age ten. i'm not a white supremacist. i'm not a colonialist. as a result of that. but i'm not sure that i would actually recommend that book books children nowadays. >> catherine, shouldn't we >> but catherine, shouldn't we sort that a book was sort of know that if a book was written years might written 150 years ago, it might contain to contain different language to the language which we would use

today? >> oh, for certain, i'm absolutely against this, and especially fairy especially in terms of fairy tales stories like peter tales and stories like peter pan. i mean, these were cautionary tales , you know, when cautionary tales, you know, when you were, you know, the grimm's family, a fairy tales, very, family, a fairy tales, a very, very about children very dark stories about children going into the woods by themselves and ending up being eaten by a witch in a house because they accepted sweets from a, you know, it was all things. like a way of teaching your children don't take sweets from strangers, which we still do. and nigel, are we really to expect that we slap parental advisory stickers on just about everything that is written before the year 2010? >> well, it depends what it contains. obviously i think that the universe has gone a bit far with this rather long explanation that they've come up with simple warning would do with a simple warning would do that. the language this that. the language used in this book outdated. may find book is outdated. you may find some views the some of the views of the references offensive, something like think university >> you'd think that university students of all people, should have minds to the have their minds open to the idea might

good evening. my name's tom harwood . i'm the deputy harwood. i'm the deputy political editor of gb news, and i'm standing in this evening. or indeed, sitting in for sir jacob rees—mogg's state of the nation. now, we've been discussing everything from peter pan's white supremacy, or at least his alleged, white supremacy to angela rayner. and you have been writing in with your own thoughts now, mick has said there's something fishy about this rayner story . i have the this rayner story. i have the feeling it won't lay down any time soon, and it seems like the police might agree with you, but ken parker says where did she get the money to pay for that

house when she was a care worker in 27 years old? although i think 27 year old's several years ago found it a lot easier to buy a house than they do today. now let's get to the easter dernierement. sir jacob himself sat down with canon martin edwards, the parish priest of saint mary magdalene's in wandsworth, about the importance of good friday, the most solemn event in the christian calendar, which is coming up tomorrow . let's take coming up tomorrow. let's take a listen. >> thank you so much for coming in at good friday. always seems oddly named, doesn't it? because it's the point of greatest despair when christ dies on the cross. ci'oss. >> cross. >> indeed. and it the. i'm particularly, privileged to be ianed particularly, privileged to be invited here today because good friday is a day above all, where the ceremonies of our church are very accessible. on good friday, we have , most churches will have we have, most churches will have stations of the cross. and then

there's another, service that takes place in, of course, the afternoon. and these are services are designed for everyone. and praying for everyone. and praying for everyone and including everyone in in this great day of, of mourning, which is what good friday is, but also of celebration, of the sacrifice of god made man for us. >> and tell me what happened with stations of the cross? >> well, the stations of the cross comes from a devotion, really, that we can trace back to the first christians of the holy land. there have been times in the history of that very turbulent region where christians were simply prevented, or if . not prevented, prevented, or if. not prevented, could only get to the holy land with great difficulty . and so with great difficulty. and so the franciscans, who had been given for many centuries the custody of the holy land, were granted the faculty of

reproducing that last walk of jesus christ in our churches. traditionally in 14 stations, as it's called, where various aspects of that journey are recalled . to mind. recalled. to mind. >> so that's what the stations and that's why you see in every catholic church, these 14 pictures from the judgement of pontius pilate all the way through to christ being taken down from the cross. and it's a wonderfully vivid, joining with what christ did and endured that, people that this that, reminding people that this was a physical torture. yes. as well as a spiritual journey. yes. >> and no special prayers are needed. that's why i emphasise that it's a day that anyone who feels inclined to morrow to go into a catholic church . can make into a catholic church. can make the stations. all you need to do is go and look at each picture

and try to recall what happened to those 2000 years ago on that where the cross during holy week, we've heard from the other gospel writers , matthew, mark gospel writers, matthew, mark and luke. but john is reserved for this day. john, who was the only witness actually of the evangelists. the others had run away. the john was not there. the youngest, he was the disciple who on maundy thursday had his head against our lord's chest closest to him, and he writes about the crucifixion as an eyewitness of the sacrifice of god made man and the glorification of saint john remembers jesus saying, when i am lifted up from the earth, i will draw all men to myself. and

that's the moment of our lord's triumph as well as the tragedy of the cross. and saint john presents that in that beautiful gospel indeed, and in the middle ages there was a huge devotion to the five wounds of christ, a very physical imagining of what was happening, and that is brought across so clearly in all the gospels that this is real and painful, and that crucifixion is about as cruel a means of killing somebody as you can find, and that christ, while suffering this is still thinking about everybody else. yes. so, father , forgive them, for they father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. but then say, going to, our lady , and say, going to, our lady, and saint john, behold your mother and saint john makes a place for

her in his home from thereafter the reality of the physical suffering is brought home in ways that go beyond words. >> in that same ceremony, by the unveiling and veneration of the cross. it's . a part of the cross. it's. a part of the ceremony that goes back really to the fourth century in jerusalem, when the imperial authorities, having found that the actual cross of jesus, sent a large amount of it back to rome and kept some in jerusalem and in jerusalem on this good friday, the cross , the true friday, the cross, the true cross, the cross of jesus would have been unveiled , as it still have been unveiled, as it still is. and the priest, chants an ancient and very moving chant, hsi lignum . crucis, behold the hsi lignum. crucis, behold the wood of the cross on which hung

the salvation of the world, and everyone in the church is ianed everyone in the church is invited then to come and venerate that cross. usually it's a gesture of kissing . it it's a gesture of kissing. it doesn't have to be some, gesture of veneration. no one is excluded from that. christ it's a recalling that he died for all, without exception. >> it's a reminder also that it is a sacrifice . yes. that is a sacrifice. yes. that without this, this spilling of blood, the death of christ, our sins would remain with us. but the church is able to through through this gesture of, of love, actually of kissing the wood of the cross, to express our gratitude for us, our salvation . and then christ calls salvation. and then christ calls out one last time the three

calls, my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me then, father, into thy hands i commend my spirit, and saint john it is accomplished. yes, it's . done, accomplished. yes, it's. done, what must have the apostles been thinking at that point? all but saint john have run away. christ dead and dead like a common criminal, unfortunately , the criminal, unfortunately, the death that our lord suffered was not, unusual, one of the features of our good friday service . and i wouldn't be service. and i wouldn't be a catholic priest if i didn't mention it is a collection varne. and the money, unusually, goes to the christians of the holy land. and i'd like to mention this because the, christian community is suffering greatly at the moment. so this, human, lack of power, of

impotence is something that our brothers and sisters in the holy land are living at this moment. but equally, they're living that that easter hope isn't. >> well, karen, thank you so much for coming in. thank you, sir. thank you very much. >> because i remember a few years ago, a very erudite tory politician. i forget his name now, popularised the latin saw vox populi, vox dei. yes. so this is the people's channel, and you have been the vox populi. and i hope, at least for a few moments, that i've been at least not vox, if not vox de at least not vox, if not vox de at least the spokesman for the church on this solemn , i think church on this solemn, i think we can say all the voice of god. >> you are, of course, as the priest , the representative of priest, the representative of christ, at the sacrifice of the mass, which is very important. thank you. thank you, sir jacob. thank you. thank you, sir jacob. thank you. thank you, sir jacob. thank you . thank you. >> well, that's all from sir.

jacob canon martin edwards, and indeed me. up next, it's patrick christys, so what's on the bill of fare . this evening with you, patrick? >> yeah. bang up for it tonight , >> yeah. bang up for it tonight, tom. why won't the police release the pictures of a serial sex attacker who is on the run? that's what i want to know. will angela rayner resign as well? the ministry of justice is refusing to even let us pay to get the information that they hold . when it comes to how many hold. when it comes to how many asylum seeker sex attackers there are in the uk. asylum seeker sex attackers there are in the uk . there's the there are in the uk. there's the latest nhs gender madness and are the anti—monarchists quote scumbags for demonstrating whilst the king and kate have cancen whilst the king and kate have cancer, i'll also have all of

tomorrow's newspaper front pages for you tonight . for you tonight. >> it sounds like a very exciting show. patrick. i've got to get your view though. why do you think this angela rayner story has been so sort of squashed up until this point? >> yeah. absolutely remarkable. in fact, it was only really if you tuned . in 9 to 11 pm. you tuned. in 9 to 11 pm. monday to friday on

gb news. >> it's 9 pm. i'm patrick christys tonight. lawless britain laid bare is a manhunt for a sex maniac. enters its second month. so why has it taken police so long to release an e—fit image of a dangerous serial sex attacker who is still on the loose? also crown jewel in the crown. >> now on the crown >> now on the crown >> now on the crown >> now with the crown. >> now with the crown. >> our anti—monarchist scumbags for protesting while the king and kate battle cancer. >> plus, i think it's appropriate for me personally to see it. i'm satisfied with the answers that she has given.

>> starmer