Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: The Fuel Crisis, NHS & Tory Leadership Race

Episode Date: August 10, 2022

Standing in for Piers, Jeremy Kyle asks what is fuelling Britain's transport crisis, and how we can fix it? Jeremy speaks to two medical professionals about the current state of the NHS, and asks: who will heal it? Lastly, Jeremy asks the Conservative Party Deputy Chairman if it's time to cut short the leadership contest and focus on fixing the nation. Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8pm on TalkTV on Sky 526, Virgin Media 627, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tonight on Pierce Morgan, I'm censored with me, Jeremy Kyle. Rail fails and pumped up petrol prices are causing complete misery for millions. We'll ask what's fueling Britain's transport crisis and how we can fix it. Record waiting lists and DIY dentistry, who will heal the National Health Service? And as the race for number 10 enters what feels like its 70th year, we'll ask the Tory Party deputy chairman if it's time to cut short this ridiculous contest and fix our country. Good evening, my friends. A big welcome to Pearce Morgan, I'm censored. I'm Jeremy Kyle. Now, all this week, I've been using my platform to talk about the cost of living crisis and Britain's summer of strife.

Tonight, we're going to be talking transport, and I want you to spot the words, because this has been painstakingly put together. Almost everyone's had plans derailed by the biggest train walkouts in 30 years. That Mick Lynch has ideas above his station, doesn't he? More strikes than a 10-pin bowler. The three more are planned this month, and you can forget about London Under. They weren't less days than Santa Claus. But my friends, at least there's one faithful engine we can always rely on.

That's right. Thomas the tank engine, that faithful symbol of British railroad reliability and service with a smile. But sadly no more. Thomas has tanked. I took my kid to see him today. There we are, lovely. Sadly, we discovered on arrival that Thomas

couldn't perform properly because it was too hot. Apparently sparks from his engine could cause fires in the hot weather. in the hot weather, so he could only move 100 meters in and out of the station. So there you have it, my friends. Even Thomas has packed it in. Now, there is, of course, a serious side to this. So let's get back on track before I run out of steam and lose my train of thought. Cost of living. It's not just public transport-facing crisis.

For many people, the cost of fuel is becoming a very serious problem. Record prices mean just getting to work for many is becoming too expensive. The cost of oil and gas made worse by the war in Ukraine is driving up prices. squeezing supply, so much so that today we learned, this is just extraordinary. The UK is now expecting planned power cuts this winter. Great. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. I've a go, oh done, oh done. Excuse me. Hello. Rob, I need some money for the meter, mate. We haven't got any cash left. Brilliant, we've got no cash. Bingo. Thank you very much. Did you like that? Oh, that was good. Right, first to know, those painful prices at the pumps, fuel,

costs have finally started to fall, but they're still near record highs. The RAC today says the gap between four-court prices and wholesale prices is the widest in almost a decade. At the start of the week, the average petrol price at Britain's biggest four supermarkets was 174 a litre, diesel at 186. Now, we did some research. The cheapest place to fill up is here. Dale Head Garage in Hawes in North Yorkshire. Great for the good people of whores, but it's 250 miles away from this studio, so my little Fiat 500 in brackets, trying to sound like Rishi Sunak, closed brackets. That's close to a hundred squid round trip just to get there.

I wrote this. So if you can't pop into haws, what can you do? Join me now, thank you. A financial expert, Gemma, Godfrey here every night, former Top Gear presenter, a motoring legend, Steve Berry, and my good old mate Howard Cox from the campaign group Fair Fuel UK. I'm going to start with you, Howard. A lot of people will talk about the difference between the forecour,

price and what it costs, you know, the supplier or whatever, you're calling for a fuel duty cut of 25p per litre. Quick question. Can we afford that? Absolutely. In the last year, this government is wallowing in an extra 4 billion of VAT because of the high prices. And don't forget the VAT's on the duty as well. It's a double taxation. And fundamentally, as you mentioned earlier, the wholesale price, and let's get this right, June the first, for example, was a... 30 p, well, it's now 30 p less than it was in June the 1st. Why? And yet the retail price has gone up 4p.

What, why? I mean, look, Steve, help me out. Why aren't supermarkets lowering their prices more to almost save the motoring industry? Because we are hearing real stories of people who might not be able to get their kids to school, people who might not be able to get to work. I mean, I say it, and I've said it with Gemma every night this week, You wake up in this country and you think, what is next? People cannot afford petrol. Why is something not being done?

But we're talking about it, and a lot of other people are starting to talk about it. I think people are nearly said something I shouldn't. I think people are getting angry, genuinely angry about this. And I think that's why we're having this conversation. And it's happening in homes and workplaces and businesses and in pubs all over the country. People are starting to ask that question. Why isn't it lower? Why isn't the price been lowered?

and I think they're going to have to react. Some are reacting, and because the others have, they charge what they think they can get. But here's an interesting thing. That research of the garage in Great Hors is people are queuing down the road to go to that garage. So does that in a business way say to you that if garages take the decision to be competitive,

they will do better. But I don't understand, again, we're going to bring it, Gemma, back to the government. You know, I watch these two people vying to get to number 10, promising this, promising that. But yet again, nobody from the government front and centre saying, we know you're struggling in another way. Polio today, that's something else.

But why, Howard, to me, it makes so much sense to cut that and reduce some pain for people? Well, we've got two ask is. One is to cut fuel duty. Germany have done it by 25p. France have done it by 20p. Spain have done it by 20p. In Ireland, 17p.

We did it by 5p in March at the Spring Statement. And it didn't touch the sides. We didn't see it. But I remember that. It was two quid a liter. And he said, oh, this is. massive thing. You've taken 5P off. And I remember that exact day, Gemma, right? Because, and I think we talked on the radio, it was 195. It came down to 190. By the time I parked the car

about 100 yards down the road, that one had gone to two quid. It's not fair, is it? It's not fair. And what we're seeing is prices, they're increasing prices very quickly. So it's not the case that actually all changes take a lot of time to implement. Very quick to increase prices, but they haven't decreased the prices as much they should do. And it's real people. People are playing now. It's a postcode lottery of where you live to be able to get cheaper petrol. Tips? Well, okay, so in terms of tips, again, we've seen such a huge increase in petrol prices

that everybody is struggling. But it's the simple things like, I mean, you're not going to like this one, but don't accelerate so hard, empty your boots. Why is he not going to like that? Well, you know, if you like driving fast, accelerating hard is going to increase your fuel consumption. An extra 25 kilograms in your boot

is going to increase your fuel consumption by a percentage. In this hot weather, or here's a tough one, if you put on air conditioning, that will also increase your food. your consumption but if you decrease it and open your windows that can increase the drag here's Morgan sent me a text earlier could I ask when you're talking about turning down the AC what about his new car with the cold seats and the hot and cold thing for his coffee what's he's supposed to do about that very very tough and if he's if he's got the roof down

as well that could create a drag as well yeah horrible must be difficult in LA moving on um in should I just feel for here's Morgan a second anyway moving on Steve, the motoring industry, is there more that the motoring industry can do? Not really. It's too short term. This has happened very recently, hasn't it? And these are the dying days of dead tree juice. I mean, the electric future is going to happen before we know it. There is one advantage to this panic over fuel prices, though. You can buy some very tasty mortars, very cheaply.

A palomine just bought a Porsche Cayenne S with a full-service history, about 11 years old, very nice order, 2,000 of your English pounds. Again, I got off with a Mercedes coupe the other day, 5 litre V8. So when you say that to people now, they're like, oh my God, the only thing it won't pass is a petrol station.

The car is £1,000. Nobody wants those big old barges. So if you ever lusted after one, now is the time. Electric motors? Look how much the car's cost in the first place. Yes, you're saving money by plugging it in. And people are very smug about all that, and they think they're saving the planet. But the initial purchase price is so high.

Cradle to Grave. If you compare Cradle to Grave for an electric vehicle with internal combustion engine, there's hardly any difference in terms of saving the planet in terms of CO2 emissions. Do you know what? The greenest vehicle, and they were green, so there's a clue that was ever made was because of cradle to grave. What? The World War II Jeep. Yeah.

Because it's how long they keep going for. And people, one of the things that Morris can do is not chop and change the car so much. I mean, the old days of thinking, oh, it's going to be all worn out at 100,000 miles. A good... You know, drive it into the ground. Just keep it until it falls.

And then, if you've got a big motor these days, you're getting 500 a quid for scrap for a bigot. Howard, Fairfell UK campaign has done such a lot of good. You always tell me that politicians are listening. You know, we've heard then France has done it, Germany's done it. What do we need? Do the companies need pressure bought on them by a political leader

because there's no government in sight? I mean, that's why I said to you at the beginning, I would have thought that one of those two leadership candidates would have thought, oh, this is a really good opportunity. Maybe they will, I don't know. Are you getting through to the politicians with your message, do you think? Well, I've met with both of them individually

in the last three weeks. Liz is going to win with ease. And simply there's the reason is the tax cutting issue is the big one, of course. But I'm afraid Rishi is actually, it was found by Bloomberg, who actually published, that he wants to put green taxes on diesel and petrol. We're already paying the highest tax is in the world.

We're already paying the highest petrol in the world. And here's the thing, Jeremy, it's very important to understand. Our second ask is for we've got off-GEM, off-com, off-what. Why haven't we got something for Pump Watch? There are 37 million drivers in this country, and they don't have any price protection whatsoever. Do you believe them both? Or Liz will, when we all know that.

Do you believe her when she says she'll get a grip of this? Yes or no? I think, yes, she will. I'm more convinced. I was a fan of Penny Morden. That's who I was going for, because she immediately came out and said she's going to cut fuel duty. Obviously, that's my campaign.

I worry about the promises that they make. I'm going to throw something out. Watch Steve Berry's face. I don't want to upset cyclists, but I have absolutely no idea why cyclists seem to dominate our roads nowadays and don't have to pay anything in petrol, don't have to pay road tax themselves or get insured.

One has to move about five feet out the way. You get abused. They take pictures of you. Why aren't they taking them? some responsibility. Well, what do you want me to say? Do you agree? With every single syllable, you just... And they shave their legs to go faster, which does my head in, but it's true, isn't it? Cyclists. Do you know, I think they should be taxed? Yes, absolutely, and they should have an MOT on their motorbike. And they should have to wear a helmet. And they should have some sort of

identification. Don't say you can't do it because we already do it in Denmark. We're paying for petrol, you've got everything you want on the roads and you don't pay any money. Gem, what, no? I also think that they're doing what they need to for their health. as well. They're getting out. They're doing exercise. I don't know. I think that we want to encourage people to be doing more because I think during the pandemic it was health suffered. I get that. I get that. But should they not shoulder some of the burden?

Because motorists are shouldering a ridiculous. Can they please use the cycle lanes? That would be nice. Okay, okay. Are you a cyclist? I'm not a cyclist. I just feel like, you know. Well, there's a place for people. There is a place, but they're taking over our road. The velodrome. That's a place for it.

The velodrome, yeah. So you hope this message, this cut that you want. in fuel duty of 25p. You're hopeful that Liz Truss will listen. You're hopeful that the next Prime Minister, we believe it will be here, will do this. Because if it doesn't happen very briefly from all three of you, what happens? Well, we're in dire straits.

It's infacting on the economy. As you made the point, people are really suffering. People can't even afford to fill their car to go to medical points, to hospitals. There's that issue that's happening. They're not going to the supermarket once a week. They're going once a month now, so it's impacting on the high street. The whole thing is costing a problem.

I'm backed by the road hall. association, something like 50% of a trucker's costs is fuel. Unbelievable, Steve, briefly. The economy's got to get back from the pandemic. People have got to get back to work. They can't afford to drive to the place that they do their work. How are we going to do that? Brilliant.

Guys, thank you so much. Gemma, back tomorrow night. We're talking finances. Brilliant. It is yet another problem for us in the United Kingdom. And next, and uncensored, more problems. Record waiting lists, DIY dentistry, and a possible nurses.

to come. The big question is the NHS facing its biggest ever emergency. Cheery stuff tonight. Don't go away. We're coming back in three. See ya. It can sometimes feel like the NHS is always in crisis, never more so than just before an election. But the truth is that national healthcare is complicated. It's expensive and it matters. And put simply for many, this is life and death stuff. And the NHS itself has arguably never been in greater need of emergency care. The pandemic and the cost crisis have withered a health service that was already under serious strain. And all those performance metrics and missed targets and dire warnings are suddenly becoming very real, very, very painful stories of suffering. Now, NHS staff are suffering too. How could they not be?

First, the pandemic, now all of this. This week, we heard the Royal College of Nursing is telling its 465,000 members to vote to strike over pay. That would be the first time ever in England and Wales and it could bring hospitals to their knees. Some of them are already there. Waiting lists for routine hospitals have hit unbelievable records of 6.6 million people. And for some, and this is personal to me, waiting is deadly.

10,000 people have been waiting longer than 104 days to start cancer treatment. That is double last year. It's appalling. Add in waiting times for ambulances at accident emergency problems as well. And England's health watchdog says that people are pulling out their own rotten teeth

and using super glue to stick in homemade replacements. This is why, my friends. Nine, yes, out of every 10, NHS dental practices are now not accepting new adult patients. The message is simple, go private, or just carry on in agony. Remember, all of this, then, is before the expected winter chaos of flu and COVID.

Here's a shocking real-life story that should, in this day and age, be unthinkable. Billy Taylor removed a tooth with pliers like these. Now, he's about to join me for more squeamish viewers, look away. Billy, for everybody watching, thinking this is the United Kingdom in 2022. Tell me exactly what happened. Hi, Jeremy, yeah. So we went into lockdown.

And within about a few weeks, I started getting a bit of problem with my tooth. I had a bit of work on it done before. And I started producing abscess on the side of my face. and it got bigger and bigger. It's excruciating pain. So I phoned up the dentist and Bacey said, told them exactly that. And they said, unless I can't breathe,

like, I literally can't breathe at all, then you can't come in. They can't do anything about it. I know there's a delay. Sorry, can we just recap. The dentist, who we are told we can't name, for legal reasons, said, unless you can't breathe, don't bother coming in.

Yep. They said they can't do anything at all. If you couldn't breathe, you wouldn't be able to make the call. So you do this, you mean, you literally decided to take this tooth out yourself. So bad, oh, God. So bad was the agony. I'm told you had to drink some whiskey.

How painful was it, pal? Yeah, I mean, you know, if you've had toothache before, you'll know how it can kind of affect you. It's, you know, it's excruciating pain. And, yeah, just had to do it, really. I mean, it had a bit of whiskey and then thought. thought, let's go for it. Just gave him a best shot, to be honest. But yeah, I mean, the abscess could have got a lot worse. Could have had an infection which could, you know, could go to your brain. So it's quite serious stuff we're dealing with. When it finished the pandemic, did you get treatment in the end? Did you go and tell this dentist or another dentist you'd done this?

Well, no, I mean, I did, I was what I took it out, the next day it started healing and it had a full recovery. We were in about three days it had fully sort of healed over. The next time I saw the dentist, which was just a routine checkup, they had a look and they asked me who took it out. I told them I did it, and they're sort of a bit shocked. But I said, well, I couldn't see a dentist. Two questions. Was that the same dentist who told you you couldn't breathe

or did you change surgeries? Yeah, no, I couldn't change surgery. There's no else I could go to, really. They all sort of, they all had massive waiting lists. So tonight, when you... you've finished, your launch on British television, right, you get toothache. The big question, Billy Taylor, would you go to a dentist or would you do it yourself? Well, there we go. I'd go to a dentist if I could see a dentist, but at the moment,

they don't seem to be able to get hold of them, can you really? That's the truth of it. Billy, thank you so much indeed. Stay there, Dr. Rona, Escander. In a second, Dr. Philippa Kay. I know when you walked in, you said, oh, I'm going to get a hard time. No, listen, I want to try and understand. When you see that? Yeah. You're a dentist. Correct.

You trained. What in the name of the Lord do you think when you see that in 2022? A colleague of yours saying, if you can't breathe, don't bother ringing us. Ridiculous. I think it's totally unacceptable. And I think it really affirms that NHS dentistry is at its all-time crisis. This story, unfortunately, is something that I heard a lot during the pandemic. So it's not a one-off?

No, not a one-off. And unfortunately, when national lockdown hit, I was actually spending most of my days on the phone dealing with patients, my own patients, or even patients that weren't my own, and trying to give them advice over the phone. Physically couldn't open up my dental practice. We were shut for the first three months.

We couldn't see them. I think I spoke to Philippa as well, who also told me that a lot of dental patients were calling up the doctors and saying, I have abscesses, I have this. And dentists felt really, really powerless. Why are there so? Why are we in the grip, as we see?

sit here and we'll move to Philip a second about doctor's appointments, you know, 6.6 million people on waiting this. Why are people unable to find a dentist? Presumably that means there aren't an F dentist and you know what I'm going to say to you. You trained as an NHS dentist. We, the taxpayer, paid for that and then you've gone private because you told my team there's too much stress. So why are we investing in you if you're allowed to then disappear? Is there not a contract? Well, this is a thing and I think that NHS dentistry, the problem really is the system. I went in with a lot of love and passion for my career. Dentistry has the highest suicide rate of lots of professions. The BDA have affirmed that as well. When I went in there,

I was given targets and quotas by my practice. These are set out by the NHS. You have to do X amount of work. That meant that sometimes I was doing checkups in six minutes, seven minutes. That is not the care that I want to give my patients. I was burning out and I wasn't giving the quality that they really deserved. Why are people, listen, the way you explain, I can understand why more people aren't getting into the profession. Certainly it's yet another thing that seems to have crept up on us and is causing massive problems. Are they finding it difficult to find dentists? Is that the reason because of the industry? Well, I think this is a great question because actually dental schools take about 70 dental students on average in a year. This hasn't increased.

There were 70, 10 years ago when I qualified, and they're 70 now. The crisis is getting worse. Why don't they taking on more students. Again, it's a funding problem. And you're, and actually you make such a salient point. I'll bring in Dr. Philippa Kay. Philippa, this is not just dentists. This is doctors. This is nurses. We heard about the Royal College of Nursing saying strike. I mean, that's never happened before.

How bad is it on the front line for you? It's difficult. And I think that we need to remember that we don't want to frighten people and we don't want people to not go to hospital when they need to. You know, if you are having symptoms of a heart attack or a stroke, You need to go. And we saw at the beginning of lockdown that people weren't going

when they had cancer symptoms. They were concerned. If you are in need, the NHS is open, it has always been open, and it is open for you. But we are 6,000, GPshots. We are tens of thousands of hospital doctors

and nurses and midwives. Why? Is it, as Ron has said, and I totally get your point, you know, that you go in there with such expectations a bit, you know, it's something that you want to do, you want to give,

and the pressure is unbearable. And of course you're going to go private. I'm out of completely get that. People who send their kids to private education and say, why would I not if I can afford it? Because the system's not great. What, for you as a GP, I mean, 6.6 million people waiting. I mean, it's okay.

I'm quite proper to say, don't panic, because, you know, my old man died a year ago, and the NHS were absolutely unbelievable. But you go out into the waiting room, and there's thousands of people waiting, and it's not fair on anybody, is it? I think it's a combination of things, and I think it's also important to remember

that when patients are complaining and complaining about lack of access, that actually you need to be complaining to your MP as much as you might be complaining to your GP. There is a lack of training. But even if we opened up the medical schools right now, I'm still 10 years away from having more GPs on the desk next to me. And we need to be able to retain our staff.

There are issues about pension rules and senior doctors leaving early or leaving at different times. I mean, I'm doing this the other day on the radio. Some doctors or GPs want to work three days a week because they don't, they can't. a bit like you, the pressure and the stress. The message that would come across, and I'm not criticising either of you

because you do a fantastic job, it seems to me that the very people that keep this country going are being let down by this country. And that, for all of us, has really, really bad ramifications, doesn't it? You have to remember that GPs who may be working three full days

are likely to be working over 40 hours within those three, four days. And that GPs, lots of us, will also be a press. of other GPs, which we have to do every year, or we'll be teaching medical students, or we'll be doing other things that have to, or research, that have to be done.

So it's not that if you're a portfolio GP and you work three or four days a week, it's not that people aren't working, they're working, and also in any job, people have the right to work part-time if that's what they want to do. And that's how you might retain your staff better. Interesting. And of course, the private sector would be more preferable for people, not just the money, but the work things that you've talked about,

hours and flexibility. I think. looking after, in my mind, dentists, doctors, the very people who are supposed to look after us. How do we fix this? What's your answer? I think that this is a great question, and I've been really thinking about. That's two great questions. In one interview, I'm quite proud of myself. Literally. Quite proud of myself. Well done, Jess.

I think the thing is, really, as I said, you've got to take up more dental students. We've got to provide the funding. More dentists need to go through. We need to also prepare them for a better work environment. The other thing is, is that 2,000 dentists left the NHS this year. right and why this isn't necessarily to go private they're leaving the profession as a whole they cannot handle the stress of running a practice with fulfilling these quotas they're finding themselves incredibly short staff we're not having the support system anymore you know nurses receptionists etc we know they're shortages across the board so we really need to provide an

environment that's conducive to providing optimal health care um billy i think i think it's really really philippa sorry in terms of the way you look at this whole thing I guess as a medical professional, you think people are on us the whole time. We care, we want to do our best. To sum up, really, as you're going to say, what's your message to people? If they are in pain, can't get a GP's appointment, they can't get a dentistry, they're sitting at home,

they can't put petrol in their car, they can't afford this. It's a nightmare. Healthcare, I would have thought, to this country is one of the most important things. It's going to get worse, as we said in the winter. What's your message, Philippa? First thing is to do is to look after yourself. That means you take up your COVID vaccine, your flu vaccine, if it's offered to you and all of those things.

You attend your cervical screening and your breast screening because catching things early or prevention is better than cure. And from a financial point of view, it costs less to the NHS as well, never mind the huge personal cost. So there are definitely things that you can do. You also need to use the NHS wisely. And that might mean that you talk to your pharmacist first.

Pharmacists are often a really underused resource. That you use your walking centre and your local minor injuries clinic and your GP and not just go to A&E straight away. So we have to use it carefully. But if you have chest pain, if you have stroke, if you have symptoms related to cancer, then you need to ring your GP.

And yes, you might be talking to a receptionist first, but you need to say, this is what I'm concerned about. And you will be put forward because we are triaging. That means that we are dealing with the people in most need first. Do you both think that there are some dentists and doctors who are having it too easy when the country looks on and is suffering? No. I think my colleagues are working incredibly, incredibly,

hard under a time of immense pressure on the background of two years of a pandemic. I have to say, I had to be in hospital some months ago and the response was incredible. And I think that we have to balance it. I think we do have to balance it because the people who do that job, but you wouldn't advocate that, would you? No, definitely, definitely not. And I think the thing is as well, just to echo what Philippa says is that, you know, I sometimes speak to dentists that are newly qualified have been two years into practice.

and they call me up in tears because they simply cannot cope. And the restrictions that we had to work in afterwards, you know, we had to allow surgeries to air for an hour between patients so we couldn't see enough patients. The PPE, I mean, literally looked like the Michelin Man, you know, was so uncomfortable. And, you know, these just weren't great conditions. And we are here to provide health.

You know, we care about our patients. I really, really appreciate it. Billy and Devon as well, thank you very much indeed. I think it's really easy, as I said, to criticise. and say this isn't good enough. And it isn't, but I think it's also really important to say that the service that people like you do is so important. Thank you for joining us tonight.

Can I have an appointment tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock? We've got toothache. What, one for you, Joe? Private or NHS? Anything for you. There we go. Still to come on unscensored. It's the dog days of the Tory leadership race.

But there's still, my friends, another four weeks to go. My feeling is, as so many other people agree, shouldn't they just put us out of our misery, put Liz Trust into 10 Downing Street, and get on with Rew, running this country. Tory party deputy chairman Matt Vick has been in the job three weeks. He's live after this break. I'm coming right back.

Right, last night, talk TV hosted the Tory leadership hustings in Darlington, a veritable cornerstone in the former red wall. Liz Truss and Ritchie Sunak traded barbs on tax, on leveling up and the cost crisis. But it was presented Tom Newton Dunn's comments at the end of his interview with Liz Truss

that stole the headlines. The foreign secretary was caught on Mike apologising to our Tom for criticising the media. Tom rightly called her out and said it's cheap. Have a look. Thanks very well. I'm sorry I to meet about the media, Tom. It's cheap. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak, worth 730 million quid, by the way,

tried to find common ground with his northern audience. Dishi Rishi told them, when he's eating out to help out, he quite enjoys a parmo. For the uninitiated here, a parmo is a tineside takeaway favourite involving a giant slab of breaded chicken covered in white sauce and cheese. Now, I'm not utterly convinced that's really your... Your dish, Rish. Great. Tom also asked both candidates if they'd be prepared to work together to solve Britain's cost crisis. Trust snipe that Sunak's plans were, quote, Gordon Brown economics.

I'd say a bit like that, although I don't agree with this. It all got quite tasty. I'm delighted, though, to be joined now by Deputy Conservative Party Chairman and MP for Stockton. Good friend of mine. Matt Fickers. Good evening. Matt, how are you? Good evening, Jeremy. I'm fantastic. Coming out of you loud and clear from Costa del Stockton. It's been glorious up here today. We've been out on the It's fantastic. I'm upbeat. I'm happy. Let's start with the Parmo because I've read something very interesting. Matt Vickers sent a letter to the parliamentary catering team last year asking to include

the traditional Teaside delicacy on its list of culinary options. In Tuesday's Hustings, Rishi Sunak praised you for putting the parmo on the menu in Parliament. And he said, we won't just be serving them in Parliament. We'll be serving them off the cabinet table in Downing Street. I mean, celebrity chef, Matt Vickers. on man if you had a palm or yet jeremy it's absolutely fantastic basically i went down there to westminster and noticed that when you you know you see this fantastic menu with all these wonderful culinary dishes from all over the world there for mps parliamentarians and peers to eat and i decided

why not a dish from teaside the parmo wonderful stuff and actually my mission down there was getting the parmo on their menu and getting teaside on their menu as well so that they can get spend some cash up here and get you know some of my issues dealt with right let's get serious my first my friend. I'm going to put to you, the Deputy Conservative Party chairman, I know you've only been in the job a week. You were very supportive of Boris Johnson. You haven't come out to declare for either Liz Truss or Rishishishina, although you were involved in his election in his Richmond constituency. To a lot of people in this country, and this is what I want a direct answer to, we're watching an elongated mess that is, I don't know, they trade barbs every day. They both seem to make

promises that none of us can quite work out whether those are attainable. Do you not think the British people right now need a government to be active, to be available, to be out there telling us that these horrendous things, be it the cost of living

at petrol food, polio today, do you not think our government needs to govern, put this to bed and get on with doing what we the British people need, Matt? I think democracy is a really important thing. I actually think it's right that those two people who will be in down, one of whom will be in down the street running this country,

is travelling the length and breadth of this country, talking to Conservative Party members, being asked the questions that matter to the people in Stockton, in Darlington last night. I think that's a healthy thing. I think that's a good thing. And I think it should be stressed-tested. I think that we should be put on the spot and questioned about the issues that affect the people around here. And I think that's entirely the right thing to do. Do I think there are lots of issues going around the country? Exactly. And that's why it's so important that we get the right person. Of course, government hasn't stopped when it comes to the cost of... I get that, Matt, but you might have heard the last section. I'll put this in real terms for you. I'm speaking to, before the break, a dentist so stressed by the conditions of being an NHS dentist, she quit. A doctor who is part of a workforce that's shrinking that's got a 6.6 million long waiting list. And a man who unable to see a dentist took his own team.

teeth out with pliers. I'm not being against democracy. Our government has in many people's eyes disappeared and needs to be more on the front foot helping us at this moment. That's what I'm saying to you. And I think whatever your policies and whatever side wins, actually, the British people are getting fed up because they think we're being left in the mire on our own mat. That's the point. In real terms, our waiting lists are through the roof. We had a pandemic where people couldn't get elected surgery. You couldn't access to things that they might have. The NHS under massive pressure, our amazing NHS, by the way, that delivers fantastic services. There's amazing, many women who work at my local hospital and deliver unbelievable quality of care. And actually,

you know what? There are almost, I think we're on 12, 11,800 more nurses in those hospitals than there were a year ago. There are 4,300 more doctors in those hospitals than they were just a year ago. The NHS is getting the biggest cash boost in its entire history. But Matt, Matt, Matt, I know what they were debating last night? I know there's a delay. How we should get spent? How do we make it go further? Matt, I know there's a delay.

I understand when you work in government about sandbikes. What I'm asking is, does the Tory government right now understand the depth of concern, the depth of fear, fear that people will not be able to heat their homes, fear that they won't be able to fill their cars to get to work, fear that they'll have to, what, take their own teeth out, fear that there will be blackouts. We've read that today. What I'm saying is I'm not trying to over-dramatize it.

I'm trying to say that a majority of people in this country are looking at what's going on and going, whether it's Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss, I want my government to tell me how the hell I'm going to pay my electricity bill come January. That's what I'm saying, mate, yeah? You... Yeah, you couldn't over-dramatize the impact of the cost of living to me.

Every day, two-day, I was out on the doorsteps, hearing from people in my part of the world, seeing the bills that are landing on those... door mats that are through the roof. This isn't a UK problem. This is a global problem. We all know all the causes of it, whether it be the war in Ukraine, whether it be the unlock from COVID, all of the zero COVID policies of China. All those things have had a massive impact. It's affecting the globe these prices. And what is the government doing? Well, it's focusing, you know what? The government doesn't grow money on trees. It has the money that you pay in tax,

that I pay in tax, and that everyone else at home pays in tax. So when we give it to somebody to support them, we take it from somebody else. And those are fine balancing acts. What we are doing is ensuring that those most vulnerable in society get as much as 1,600 pounds extra in the pocket. And that's entirely the right thing to do. That money hasn't all reached everybody yet. There is money that will appear in October for pensioners, whether that be, you know, there's an increase of £300,000 of winter fuel allowance. There's the... Matt, is it, final question, a good look for the Tory party? The party that's supposed to tax and spend prudently, the party that's supposed to care.

What I find astonishing, and I'm going to stick up for Rishi Sunak here, he stands up and he talks about prudence in terms of tax and inflation, almost thatcherite. It seems from what we read that the Tory faithful have turned against that. I fear that the Tory party, if they continue to rip themselves to shreds, and whether they say they care about the British people, they are perceived to not have their eyes on the game. I fear that that will affect them long term

and I'm asking you as the deputy chair, does your party and does your government understand the depth, the depth of misery, suffering and concern right now, not just in Darlington, but across the country, Matt, because that's the question. I think we're very well aware. We're out on the streets every day hearing the challenges that people are facing.

And that's exactly why those candidates are travelling around the country, hearing the pressures, hearing the challenges that people face in different parts of this country and how very tough these times are. But you know what? We've got through that pandemic. We've got the doors open on the economy again. We've got people still in work. During that pandemic, we've paid 13.5 million people's wages. That has to be paid down somehow. And now we're getting to the other end. We're dealing with the problems, the impact that's had on our hospitals, the impact's had on our kids in school and the impacts had on our economy.

Big challenges. We got through the Brexit thing. We got through the pandemic. and now we're dealing with recovering from that pandemic and getting this country moving again. And you know what? We're going to be optimistic and we're going to get on with the job with whichever one of those fantastic candidates we select to be the next Prime Minister of this country. Actually I've got two more very quickly and it's the one word answer. Who wins? Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss? Oh, that's a convenient time. You know what? I'm entirely neutral. I'm not allowed. Okay. I'm not allowed. Otherwise I'm sure they're both great candidates.

Do you know what the Labour Party would love to have a female leader? All right, all right. We might be on through our third. They love to have a leader from an ethnic minority. We're probably going to have the... You've got 30 seconds to promote something that I think is fantastic. Tell us about your campaign for posthumous awards for World War I soldiers. And fair play to you.

30 seconds. Go, Matt, Vickers. It's the most important campaign I probably ever ran. I know about a guy from Stockton called George Hunter. He had an industrial... He worked at a foundry up in Port Clarence. He suffered from an industrial accident, still put himself forward to going to World War I,

was sent off to France, children behind. He was shot at dawn because his behaviour as a result of this industrial action made them seem as a trouble causer. He was pardoned. We pardoned him. People looked at the evidence and said that was completely wrong. And now he deserves those medals and I'm going to do everything I can to get him those medals. Good man. Matt, thank you for that. Take your parmo with you and coming up next. Jezzas's journales are fired up and ready to fulver date and fume all over today's debates. The legend that is Kevin O'Suddland and Afia Hagen next on Uncensored. see in a minute. Welcome back to Uncensored with me, Jekar. I'm joined now by my fabulous

Jezzas Journows tonight, Talk TV legendary presenter Kevin O'Sullivan and Talk TV contributor of Fia Hagan or Mrs H as I love to call her. Welcome. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. Nice to see you, Kev. So the big question, extraordinary to think in 2022. Are we going to see blackouts at Christmas this year? Probably, yes. Really? Yes. I think the government preparing people preparing saying, You know, perhaps we might have problems with power of power. We only have a sixth of the power that we need. I think, yes, the government should be preparing people.

Growing up in Scotland, I remember there was a winter where we did have blackouts for about two months. I'm not really sure why. I asked my mum. She couldn't remember why either. But we had to deal with that. And Scotland, it was really, really freezing. Oh, dear. Honestly, I do apologise.

Rob, when you put money, wait, hold on a minute. Hold on it. Where's me back? Let's money in the metre. No, oh, there he is. Kev O'Sullivan, as I never saw it before. Rob, put the money in the meter man. He's going to have any money. Haven't you?

Well, you get paid enough. Right, listen. I'm sick of that guy. Kev, honestly, 2020, places running out of water, petrol we can't afford to put in our cars. Blackout. What is this? What is this? Why has all of this seemingly just come and jumped at us?

Was there no forward planning? What's going on? We've had incoherent energy policies for a long, long time. We've got a perfect storm. Ukraine. Russia cutting off the gas, our green policies which have left us rather susceptible to fluctuating global situations and the economy. And therefore, what's going to happen is hospitals and food outlets, food manufacturers have already been told, get your generators ready, because we are going to almost certainly have to impose strategic blackouts on the country. Now, the last time this happened, I'm young enough, I'm old enough.

I was only a little kid, but I do remember Ted Heath, he had to do the same back in the 1970s. And once a politician, a government has to impose turning the lights out, that government is out. If we have blackouts, the government will lose the next election. Well, I think this is the end of the game for the tourists. This has happened. I mean, civil unrest. I'm just being honest. I mean, if you lay it out, people can't pay their bills. They're not going to have a lecture. I mean, where does it end, briefly? And this is the thing is that, Kevin, you're absolutely right.

This is the end of this government. And actually, people need to realize that they need to stop voting for the Tory party. Stop voting. Well, what's the alternative? I had this argument last night. This is a very good point. But you're right. Civil unrest is not too far down the road. If people can't pay their bills, if they can't put food on the table, they can't heat their homes, they can't feed their children, where else are they go? And they can only make the...

voices have by going to the ballot box and that's not for another couple of years. Well, we've said it, we've said it to you this morning, this rudderless government. I don't believe that anybody should get into number 10 down the street without a mandate from the people. People will disagree. We've got fuel prices. We were talking about this today. We've got, I mean, I did the graphic last night, you know, electricity and gas from like 1,277 quid. A year later, 4,200. What do you think will happen to the people of this country? Well, the problem is they're talking about civil disobedience. It will be enforced civil disobedience because It's not a question of people saying these bills are too high.

We refuse to pay them. This is a protest. They will refuse to pay them because they simply can't pay them. The abyss we are staring into is unprecedented. I'm not sure this government's got a handle on it, but I also don't think that the answer is to vote Labor. It certainly isn't that. Well, the answer is not to keep voting conservatives.

And also, I don't understand why it's called... But that doesn't answer it. The Labour Party should be straight to hell. I said last night. They should be. They should be taking advantage of this opportunity. But they're useless. Well, yes, because Kiarma is useless.

Absolutely. Agreed. And there's lots of people who are politically homeless. Because the Labour Party, they couldn't organise a party in a brewery. What are they doing? They should be using this as an opportunity. Well, they organised the party in a brewer and he got away with it. Very quickly.

Well, not really. Well, there we go. Tom Daly's new documentary about homophobia in the Commonwealth. Just 30 seconds briefly. Is he right? Is he wrong? He's right and he's wrong. A lot of homophobia in lots of those countries that he talked about,

30-something countries, was actually already there. before colonialism, before the empire. And you're from Ghana, and that's one of the countries involved, right? Absolutely, which is really shameful. But a lot of these things were culturally unacceptable, and then the empire came and put them into law. And I think that's what he means when he was talking about. The empire didn't make it easy, I know.

They kind of, in a way... It's not Britain's fault, though. It's not Britain's fault. He tried to blame Britain. There are 56 countries in the Commonwealth. But a lot of the laws came in because of the empire. 35 of them ban homosexuality. 14 of them are under direct British law.

And in all of those colonies, the directly ruled British colonies, homosexuality is legal. So to blame Britain for other countries' laws is just ludicrous. All right, Kev, you had a heated discussion with a climate activist today. Can we just watch this clip? This is brilliant. It's what is known, Dylan, as a nice, sunny summer day. It is not a prelude to the end of the... of the world. Do you get that?

It is a nice day. It's not the end of the world. It's one of the key contributors to the climate. No, no, listen to me. Listen to me, will you? Don't talk over me. You're supposed to be a climate crisis. Oh, God, you people, you're supposed to be a meet. And you are, you are telling us to enjoy the weather.

Yes, I am. Can you believe that? Do you enjoy the weather? Yeah, I mean, these people are doomsday cultists. They hate the whole idea of joy, of people enjoying anything. Sunny, it's the end of the world. No, it's not. And hot days, even those very hot days we had a couple of weeks ago,

certainly do not prove that climate change has reached a critical point, if at all. That's the problem, Kevin, because they actually do. They do. They really do. That's rubbish. Prove it, prove it. What proof? 97% of climate scientists agree that global warming is caused by humans. You can. You can. You can, but, you know, that would.

Why not? So certitude is not warranted here, is it? But the thing is, Kevin. It's factual that the earth is warming. And that's proven by the warmer temperature of... It's not necessarily awful. It's not necessarily awful. Can I jump in? Because I'd love to talk to you to forever. Maybe we'll go down the pub. But listen, I'm a serious note.

You know, I get the whole idea we should be concerned about the climate. And I'm not just siding with my mate. I think there are more pressing problems right now to get dealt with rather than worrying. And I think that green levy. I love you, Mrs. H. but I got to go. Please come back, won't you? O'Near Fia Hagan, thank you very much.

The legend that is Kevo Sullivan, back tomorrow morning, 10 o'clock on Talk TV. Almost five tonight. So we're standing by for the talk, which will be on after 9 o'clock. That's it from me. What a day it was, from Thomas the Tank Engine to Kevo Sullivan,

all in 16 hours. Wherever you are tonight, keep it uncensored. Have yourselves a great Wednesday. We'll see you back here. Tomorrow night and 8 o'clock. Tera!