Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: Tobias Ellwood

Episode Date: August 4, 2022

Standing in for Piers, Jeremy Kyle speaks to a panel of money saving experts after the Bank of England says things can only get worse. Jeremy also asks Tobias Ellwood about the growing threat of China. Jeremy discusses the announcement of the hosepipe ban. 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, uncensored with me, Jeremy Kyle, things can only get worse. Or so the Bank of England is saying, we'll have a panel of money-saving experts to get you through the cost of living crisis. Conservative MP and chair of the Defence Select Committee, Whiplis Tobias Elwood, will be keeping us all in line tonight as he discusses the growing threat from China. And is it the summer of 1976 all over again? First, the record temperatures and now, how British is this? a hose pipe ban. Good evening, my friends. So let's go straight in with that cost of living crisis.

The biggest single issue affecting every single person watching this tonight. Yes, even you, Morgan, because apparently nobody's going to be immune if it gets as bad as the Bank of England forecast this morning. They gave arguably the gloomiest prediction this country's ever had with a year-long recession to start by the end of this year, inflation to peak at 13%, and unemployment expected to double in the next three years. an interest rate raise of 0.5%.

That's the first time since 1995. So everybody's walking around and going, is it time to panic? What can we do about it? Well, on this show, on my watch, we're going to keep calm and carry on. So welcome to my don't panic room. Did you like that?

If I could explain to you what putting this show together tonight has meant because my first guest, Justin Erkart Stewart, investment manager and business commentators just walked on this set in the last 10 seconds. I don't tie. The cost of living crisis meant there was no petrol in your car.

We also welcome Gemma Godfrey and also Sue Hayward. We're going to talk about ways that... For me, to start tonight, I want to put it in layman's terms, okay? We see all these figures thrown out. Inflation here. Put it in layman's terms. What does today mean for the men and women up and down this country who want to know in their pocket what the reality is?

What they're going to see is the value of their money is devaluing really quite fast at the moment because actually what's happening to the economy, it is still growing, but we've got politicians who seem to be focusing on the wrong issues at the moment, not focusing on the areas where the economy is growing. We're focusing on some of the old industrial areas, as opposed to actually some of the technology in those elements.

Meanwhile, you've got a chancellor, I've got a chance of never quite sure which one he is today. Is that we today? And the Bank of England. Bank of England apparently is independent. No, it's not. And so we've actually got a position where the Bank of England is really got a difficult position.

Because inflation, you're told, if you've got inflation, you put interest rates up. Hang on, if you put interest rates up, you've got to slow the economy. That's all well and good. But let me, treat me as an idiot, right? Electricity and gas bills, 3,300 quid. Petrol, diesel, 2 pounds a litre. A hose pipe ban, right? You can't take a flight anywhere.

Unemployment skyrocketing. You can't get a GP appointment. You can't see a dentis. people out there are going, where does this end? You say about the figures, but in terms of, if you're watching this, what hope have you got? What are you grasping hold of tonight? What you are actually seeing, parts of the economy

are still doing really around the world. What? What? You've got the technology, smaller company technologies where we actually set up more small businesses in this country than France and Germany put together. Unfortunately, we're not very good at them. They get to a certain scale, they get bought up by the Americans,

they go elsewhere. So we're really good at that. And not necessarily in London. You go to the technology centres around the universities all over the country and you'll find some really exciting businesses there. They're looking at the wrong bit. That's where the future is.

Meantime, we've got to sort out our other issues which are, frankly, those are problems which are affecting the whole world. You're an expert, I'm not. Yesterday, I wake up to the fact the BP in three months makes £6.9 billion worth of profits. Energy companies are raking in. We couldn't get a boss from a water company

tonight to come anywhere near talking to. us and yet people's water bills, people elects, electricity bills, going through the roof. What does the government need to do? No, at least to have some proper regulators. We've actually got something that actually have some teeth as opposed to off water, off genet, off sod, frankly. They don't do very much. We were told when water was privatised, they were going to replace all the Victorian pipes.

And now we see signs saying, we're investing 30 years later to replace all the Victorian pipes. Someone's got the money. And the answer was it tend to be those large institutions. So he wasn't fed through in the right way. And the other thing I never understand is a price cap. because this is a price cap that continually moves upwards. And a price cap as well, which has borne very little resemblance

to actually what's been happening in the economy. You saw what happened with the electric, with the producers coming through in terms of power. You had the old providers, and they had to put chip in, had to pay for the green levy, and this, that and the other. Then you had a bunch of...

I should get rid of that straight away, in my humble opinion. Well, then you had a bunch of other people coming in who had no qualifications or experience in how to actually operate. Can you give anybody any hope very quickly? Yes. what you're finding is that actually the global economy is still growing, despite what fact we have had a pandemic. It's not in your pocket, though, does it?

But it may not feel like it, but we've had a pandemic. We've had huge, this is we've got a war going on. And despite that, the global economy is slowing, but still growing. This is a don't panic room. I say, good evening to Gemma Godfrey, financial and personal finance consumer business expert. That's a mouthful. What I want is how the people watching this can gain any positivity from tonight.

What can you say to people, Gemma? Look, families are really fighting a battle on all fronts. That's why it's unprecedented because it's, you know, food prices are going up. The price to be able to get to work is going up. The price to warm your home is going up. And now, obviously, today, debt is getting more expensive. So it is a really tough time. And I think so the first thing I would say, because I do have three areas I can give people tips on,

but the first thing I would say is there are many families, millions of families who are already doing everything they can. And it's not helpful to their mental health to say, and here's a list of 10 more things. Also, there isn't a silver bullet out there. Usually I come with lots of tips. But what I would say is this, is for people, Because every little helps. The first thing to do is to check for leaks in your budget.

So this is the time to not put your head in the sand, but to go through bank statements, see all the little free trials that suddenly become paid for trials, use budgeting apps, whatever you can to try it because the little bits can add up. And the second thing is really important is to speak up because the biggest risk, especially when debt's getting more expensive, is that people fall into unarranged overdrafts. They get penalties, they get late fees, and they fall into debt that gets more expensive. So the energy regulator has come out and said that energy suppliers there is an obligation for them to provide payment plans that are affordable. Are people just very quickly, we hear lots of stories about people saying, I can't get through, I can't get a response.

Are these companies being realistic in chasing this debt because they know how bad it is? Will you get a more sympathetic response, do you think? Well, I think at times like this, again, let's keep it really business-minded. Forget the fact that people want to help people, but let's keep it really business-minded. It's in no bit of interest for people to fall more and more in debt and never get paid. So that's why actually speaking up earlier, quite often there'll be payment plans.

And actually, because the third point I was going to say is being very wary of deals. Because what they'll sometimes do is give people longer to pay back, but maybe, you know, but if they're paying back for longer, even if it's at a lower interest rate, over the longer term, it could be more expensive. Sue Hayward, personal finance and consumer expert as well. How do you see this? I mean, I was just saying to Justin, I'm not sure out there how people feel good about anything. right now. It's hard, right?

Absolutely. And the fact is that because everything is going up, you know, the pound in your pocket is pretty much buying you zero right now because the inflation is eating away at it, the food bills are going up, and we will be chatting outside. You know, it's individual things that all of us have noticed in our weekly shop that we buy. Absolutely. That you tend to think, I mean, mine is cheese, cheeseflation, if you like, you know. It's just a piece of brie, I buy it in the same supermarket. Bree? You're posh woman, aren't you? Bree? What about some tips?

What about, I mean, somebody said to me today, well, you turn your thermostat down by two degrees. It's the summer. I haven't got me eating on. What can you do? Do you know what? That's the sort of thing. Usually, in normal circumstances, I would suggest that as a tick. But in the current climate, apart from the fact, it's obviously summer, it's really not going to touch the sides of the bills.

I mean, the big thing I would say is mortgages. We know interest rates have gone up. Obviously, it's not going to affect everyone. If you are on a fixed rate right now, you won't be affected until your deal ends. But, of course, when your deal ends, you then got to try and lock in a new one. But it will affect, there's around 2 million homeowners, on standard variable rates, so you're paying your lenders bog standard rate, or if you're on a tracker rate, which means it will affect you.

And obviously, the lenders will start to come out if they haven't already in the next few days, putting their rates up. So one thing that you can do is if you really, really are struggling, is to speak to your lender. And if you've got a really good, strong track payment record where you make your payments on time, they might give you a mortgage payment holiday. Now, under the whole coronavirus scheme that they were obliged to do this, under the government rules.

That's now stopped. But if you've got a good payment track record, a lot of them will allow you to stop payments maybe six to 12 months temporarily. Of course, it's not free cash. You will have to pay the money back and interest. If we all assume around this table that we are stretched, everybody is stretched,

is it time, briefly amongst the three of us, is it time for the government to do more? Are there tools that the government could use now to make people's lives better? Because I hear about the cost of living crisis every day. and I want practical solutions. What can the government do? There's some serious.

Address this seriously. In the same way we're dealing with the pandemic and you had to have furlough being used which no one had heard of before, we need to address this. We have never seen price rises like this when it comes to power. So you need that action

to be able to provide the support for the populations to get through this period. It's not going to finish within a year. It may take 80 months, it may take two years, but it will come to an end at some stage. The government can provide that sort of support.

It has got access to cheaper money. That's why we had caused. of easy. You don't use it for everything, but this is a vital moment. You see, I'd agree with that. It's almost like I want the government to be on an economic war footing. Do you know what I mean? To make it easier for people. Would you agree? Yeah, and I also think that what they're doing is, is that it's

like, you're bleeding and they're coming along and putting a bandage on it, but what's the reason that we're actually bleeding? So one of the things I think is important is we need to, because of the lack of competition, so many energy suppliers went bust. It means if you go online and you try and find a better deal, there isn't competition there. So I think trying to boost that will be really important. And the second thing is that while we've seen job losses in the hospitality sector, we're really stretched in healthcare.

So I actually think helping people reskill will also be really important as well. Sue, to finish, what would you say? I would say with the mortgages, one of the things the government could do is reintroduce the pressure on lenders to actually allow people to have the mortgage payment holiday. So it should be there that you can ask, rather than you have to go cap in hand, prove that you've got this amazing track record to be allowed to do it. Because it's almost to say it really, there will come a point whether it's mortgage companies, credit card companies, utility companies.

If people can't pay, they won't pay. And if they can't pay, then I presume the companies are going to have to find some sort of middle ground. I have to move on. Justin, you made it, in the nick of time. Honestly, I thought, cost a living crisis, you got no petrol. Sue Hayward, Gemogovsky. Thank you very much, Adi, for joining us.

Right, my friends, next on Uncensored, with no end in sight to the war in Ukraine and with tensions rising significantly into one, could this all end in nuclear war? I will be asking Chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee, Tobias Elwood, after the break, all of that. Stay with us. I'm coming back in three. Welcome back to Uncensored with me, Jeremy Kahn.

This weekend is the anniversary of the first use of a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, Japan, on 6th of August 1945. A few days later, the US dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki. Estimates are that up to 220,000 people were killed across the two cities. Russia has over 6,000 weapons of mass destruction. ready to deploy. In the last few months, Putin has not shied away from threatening to push the button himself.

But is this just explosive rhetoric or the prelude to all-out nuclear war? I'm delighted to be joined now by Conservative MP and chair of the Defence Select Committee, Tobias Elwood. Tobias, welcome. Good evening. We saw Pelosi land in Taiwan. We saw China the following day,

military exercises around the island. I'm fascinated about the Biden response. Do you think that China is on the brink of invading Taiwan? I don't, actually. I don't think that's China's intentions at all. We think in election cycles, almost in new cycles, but China will not do today what it can do a lot easier in five to ten years' time.

But they are making sure that we are rattled about it, that we're worried. They see this as their backyard, and they want everybody to know that. They don't cover this from a territorial perspective. Don't forget, this also allows them to then control the South-Saheastern. China Sea, that nine-dotted line that you sometimes see on the map.

So that will annoy the United States that's got Guam and indeed Hawaii as well. But also don't forget that economically, most of the microchips made that are distributed around the world are all coming from Taiwan. So if they grab Taiwan, they economically have a stranglehold over the rest of the world. It's interesting for me. Do the US and the UK recognise Taiwan's independence? No, we don't. So what are we invested in there? Why the interest, then, if we don't recognize them?

For those reasons that I've just said, where does China then go next? Because they are militarily, economically, technologically, they will overtake the United States in our lifetime. We don't know how to handle that. We don't have a China strategy. And that is the problem. We don't have a Russia strategy either. We've been dominated by local elections or national elections here. We've been, the United States is distracted. So is France and Germany.

Where is the Western leadership at the moment? It's not there to be seen. When Pelosi landed, there was a lot said and written about Biden's response. For me, and you're the expert. You know, she landed on an Air Force one jet, it seemed. She seemed to be afforded every attribute of a foreign dignitary. The first and most senior one, I think, a US politician in 25 years. Do you not think that that was antagonistic towards China?

And do you think that Biden, through his silence, he could have stopped it, or did he support it or does it suit his agenda? So my worry is, and I saw this one, and we went across it, to the United States with a defense select committee, is that America is actually obsessed about Taiwan and it is actually not seeing the bigger picture. China likes the fact privately that the world or the West is concerned about Taiwan.

Because it distracts China or us looking at China and all the other things that it's doing. What's going on in Hong Kong? The Uyghurs, for example, what's happening across the world with its one belt, one road program. China is ensnaring dozens of countries into debt traps they cannot afford.

Is it a convenient distraction? And we don't look at that because we're all focused on Taiwan. And this is the worry I have. We are failing to see the bigger picture. What I see happening at the moment, after Afghanistan is both Russia and China taking advantage of the fact that the West has become more timid, more risk-averse.

We've lost that Cold War statecraft that we once had to look. Our adversaries in the eye and stand up to them. In terms of Putin and Russia, two questions. Do you think China would look at what Russia is doing in Ukraine and that might affect what they next do. And also, I'm fascinated from you with your experience. He keeps threatening, doesn't he, subtly and unsubtely, to use nuclear weapons? We talked

about 1945 in that intro. Can you see him ever pushing that nuclear button? Let's take those two things separately. Firstly, these aren't separate items here. You've got Russia and China that are now working together. Let's wake up to that. We have two cold wars that are going to blur into one. Our world is splintering to two spheres of competing influence. Russia and China are quietly working together, recognizing that they are stronger together to stand up to the West. They don't like our international rules-based order. They want it to fall apart. They want it to be wobbly. They want to be able to take advantage of that. And when it comes to nuclear weapons as well, you talked about, you know, 77 years ago when those two bombs shocked the world.

And we thought, my goodness, you know, we have these inventions that we come up with terribly in war, going back to the longbow, the gatling gun, the tank and so forth, they changed the characteristic of war. Never we invented something that could wipe out humanity. So, yes, we had the Cold War, we had the arms race, but then there were agreements, there were treaties. There was a recognition that if you had arms, you know, nuclear weapons, and I did as well, I won't invade you, you weren't invade me.

I grew up. When we were going, I've got them, you've got them, so we cancel each other out, right? Exactly. So that led to a reduction in these treaties and so on. Now a number of nations have got them, Not only that, you don't have just city killers, you have tactical low-yield nuclear weapons. I was going to ask you, what are these low-yield tactical weapons? Because is it halfway house?

No, these are tiny nuclear weapons, but they're still a nuclear weapon. And this is what Russia, Putin, is threatening to use. But if he uses this one, you then you cross the threshold of a nuclear weapon being used. Where does that take you to? And the trouble is, as we heard from our national security adviser, only a week ago, saying that there aren't the back channels that they were during the Cold War. We don't have the conversations behind the scenes to say what you just heard by our president,

don't take it out of context. You know, it's okay. It was meant for domestic audience. That has gone. My worry is, through miscalculation, through a misunderstanding, we can actually see us escalate towards Armageddon. When you look at Russia,

and I said the other day that the Ukraine war is everybody's war. And we've talked in the past, you and I've talked on the radio, you know, could we do more? Logistically, we're doing what we can. Do you believe that Ukraine can win this war, is going to win this war, or will Russia just continue?

And ultimately, we'll have that victory. No, at the moment, it's looking like a frozen war. You just had a really interesting conversation about the state of British, you know, UK economics. What's the real problems? What's the headwinds? What's the cause of stagflation? It's because of what's going on in Ukraine.

And we didn't have the forethought to go in and stand up to Russia prior to the invasion. We now realize that that grain that's not allowed to come out in the scale, it needs to from Odessa is the fueling, the cost of living crisis here. Oil and gas is up because of Ukraine. Why didn't we step up? And you're absolutely right to point out what goes on in Ukraine, won't stay in Ukraine.

No, won't. Russia is now on the front foot. They're setting the agenda. We're watching what's going on. We need to really stand up to Russia. Let's talk about standing up to them. What would you do? Put yourself in the foreign secretary's shoes or whatever.

What would you do as a nation right now to make this? And I try and do this show every night for the people who are watching. I don't want to be, I'll be accused and so will you at some point tomorrow of warmongering. We're not. We're being realistic. We're putting the points out there. What should people at home be thinking, Tobar?

Well, you're absolutely right to point that question. What can we do? I went to Edessa to ask that very question or to pose an idea, a proposal. And that's is that you go to the General Assembly, the UN General Assembly, bypassing the Security Council, where Russia and China will veto.

You get a resolution that turns Odessa into a humanitarian safe haven. that would allow a coalition of the willing to create a maritime force to protect the shipping, those grain ships to get out. At the moment, they're only moving out one at a time. I have a theory because this is Russia's solution that all they want to see is those 70 ships that got caught up during the invasion.

They're about 70 ships from across the world. Russia is going to let them out. Once it's done that, they'll then actually attack Odessa, because that's their long-term plan. They want to isolate Ukraine. They want to make it landlocked because that would really strangle the economy, and it also affect because they're weaponised grain as well. Does our government, does the UN need to be...

In basic terms, you talk about that. Do we continue to support the Ukraine war logistically? Can you ever see a situation where there would be foot traffic from soldiers on the ground or not? Well, once you've got that maritime force in place, and yes, you are going to have to look Russia in the eye, all this talk during the leadership elections of trying to emulate Fatscher, why don't emulate Churchill?

Let's stand up and lead Europe. Let's leave. It's still going on the front foot. We are a P5 member of the UN Security Council. I see no leadership in the West whatsoever at the moment. We need to get back to that, step forward, lead other countries, and have a solution that stands up to Russia. You brought up, we've talked in detail about the world order.

You brought up the leadership election. You were one of Boris Johnson's fiercest critics. Yesterday on this show, I had Jacob Rees-Mogg. Just watch this if you can. It'd be nice to play it. No, it's all right. We're getting on with it or not? No, it's fine, I'm cool.

Great. The overall scorecard for Boris Johnson is that we have had an absolutely fine prime minister, and it is very sad that he has been forced out. Thoughts on that? Well, it wasn't just me. I actually put my hand up and said the style of government,

less the policy is the reason why we can't go forward. We are hemorrhaging the trust with the British people. We want to earn that trust again. With any attempts to win the next general election, then we're going to have to do that under a new leader. And it wasn't just me, but then you had a swath. I think 50 ministers resigned on one day. So I'm here to take a wrist-wold. Fifty-two, yeah. But let's talk about Penny Morden, because you backed Penny Morden. She came from absolutely nowhere. She ended up third.

She was knocked out. What I don't get politically, well, I do, but I want to ask you this question. She and Liz Truss were quite vociferous in their criticism of each other. And the other day, she delivered what can only be described as an Oscar-winning speech, saying Liz Truss is the greatest thing since sliced bread. And I always knew she'd make a great Prime Minister. Is that how you feel about Liz Trust now? I'm not going to make a comment because one of the criticisms I had of this entire campaign is the blue on blue of us taking chunks out of each

other. We're forgetting that we shouldn't be actually just appealing to our base. Our base actually wants to be led. And at the moment, we're following them. Doesn't your base still want Boris Johnson? 71% of the Tory membership want Boris Johnson as the next Prime Minister? Well, that's not an option. What's happened is that the MPs,

so many MPs have decided Boris is not the future, therefore we're now going through this process. That's where we are. That's reality check we have to face. But how do you answer the criticism and the people say to me, Kylie being undemocratic? How do you answer the British people who would say the 70-something million of us, have an 180,000 Tory members who pay 25 quid are going to get to decide on the next Prime Minister when 14 million people, whether you like him or loving, voting for Boris Johnson and new lot to safeguard your seats, threw him out, should there not

have been a general election? It's a bit more complicated than that. I know, but do you not think the people should have that decision? Where I agree is that we should remove the base, the party membership from making that judgment. Because it's exactly right. I believe that MPs, you have to work most directly who make up the government, get to decide who the prime ministers should be whilst in government. When we're in opposition, it's a different matter. Go back to Michael Heseltine and Margaret Thatcher's time. That didn't go to the base. I don't, it's a personal opinion. I'm entitled to it like you, or I don't think anybody should enter 10 down the street unless they've got a mandate from the British people. I've said it from

all right. You're not going to say who you're backing. Would you accept the foreign secretary's job from Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, or the defence minister, because you've done it all. Why are you not in the government? You must be in the government, right? It's for the choice for the next Prime Minister to do so. What I would say is that we do need fiscal responsibility. That's what the Conservatives are known for.

You've just had some statistics. We've had some statistics from the Bank of England showing where our country is actually going. Let's be physically responsible. The final point to us, and you've been great. Many people are saying, Sunat can't win. We should put this to bed, make her prime minister, and get on doing the things that you're talking about.

The economic crisis, the situation in the world. Would you not agree with that? We're still a democracy. We have to go through the process. The summer's almost over. Fifth of September, we'll have a new Prime Minister. A new Prime Minister and PM himself.

We'll be back in the chair, Tobias Selwood, as ever a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed to him. Right next, and uncensored, millions of households are phasing host pipe bands after the driest July in decades as forecasters warn of another heat wave. I'm going to tell you that when you come back from the break, I am so nervous about the next bit.

We'll see you in three. Don't go anywhere. Right, look at this. Welcome back. What a perfect evening for a spot of pre-bedtime gardening. The birds are merrily chirping. The leaves are gently fluttering, and I'm about to water my plants.

What a joy it is to be alive. But wait a minute, what can I hear? Good Lord. Is stop and search back? Maybe. But this time, they'll be searching you for one of these bad boys, my friends. Do you like that? Apparently, there are already host pipe bands in place

across the south of England. Today, Yorkshire water has warmed that if the current dry spell continues, they'll be forced to take action. Now, I'm not sure many of you will remember the sweltering summer of 76. I was a mere lad back then, always looking for an opportunity to play with my...

Anyway, it was the last time there was a blanket ban across this country. The situation was so bad that many of us were left without tap water. People were told to pour washing up water down the loo to save on flushing. You could only bathe in five inches of water.

And this is my favourite. A major government thing was you can bathe with a friend. See, he even takes up most of the bath, for goodness sake. I'm running. Oh, do-to-do-do-do-do-do-do. Hello, how are you? Oh, the chair's nearly gone. There we go.

I'm joined now by lawyer Paul Britton, this man, who says you should snitch on your neighbours if you see them using a hosepipe in band areas, the head of the Institute of Environmental Management, this man, Martin Baxter, Baxter even. We did, my friends, try. Out of breath. To get a chief executive from one of the water companies, but they were all busy, watering their gardens and swimming in their pools. But before we talk to these two, I want to start with Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers Union.

Tom, good evening. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. This is your farm, and one only has to look at the ground around you to see what decimation it is caused. And the reason I wanted to do this differently tonight was, we've talked about the cost of liver. the lack of water, I suspect, will affect your crops, and that will affect price. Is that right? Yeah, you're absolutely correct. You can see the very parched landscape behind me here, and the lack of rainfall is causing huge concern for all sectors of agriculture. But if you think about those that are using irrigation, that grow out of vegetables, they've been using their irrigation now for several months. The dry weather is still ongoing,

and many of them now are running out of water. And the impact that's going to have is it's going to mean that the yields are lower, the potatoes are going to be smaller, the onions will be smaller, and ultimately they'll be less available as we move forward through the season. What I don't understand, Tom, is the infrastructure. And I talk as a layman, because I don't really have any experience of this, but it seems to me that it always rains in the winter. I spent several years in Manchester.

It rained for the first 63 days I was here. So we've got all the rain in the winter, and yet come July there's a hose. Where does it go, Tom? I know I'd love to know the answer to that question. Every year we pump millions of litres of water into the North Sea. And I think we've got to start thinking about water strategically so that we can make sure that we really can underwrite our food security.

We can't afford to pump that water into the North Sea. We need to be capturing it. We need to be storing it so that we can utilise it in these dry summer months because we're very lucky in this country that we do have an abundance of water in the winter. And then when we have a dry spell, we should be able to have ample water available for irrigation or for you. your hose pipes so that we can grow the crops that everyone needs. And then the other thing, of course, is we're an island.

So there's water all the way around us. In terms of what we were talking about earlier, this cost of living crisis, because so many people talk about it, but I'm trying to put it in real terms for people, for food stuffs, for fruit and for vegetables from what you see as the president of the NFU, what will this do to food prices, this water shortage? I mean, we'd already seen the critical shortages of food because of the crisis going on in the Ukraine. and that's driven food prices higher. And I'm afraid with this very dry weather that we're seeing now,

we're seeing that dairy prices are beginning to rise. They need to do that so they can afford to feed their animals over the winter and carry on producing the milk. So it's going to make sure that our farmers have sustainable returns and fair returns. Retailers have really got to make sure they do give them the rewards that they're required so that we can reinvest in next year's crops, that we can invest in the infrastructure to store the water and the irrigation facilities.

And I think, inevitably, it's been, It's putting an upward pressure on prices. Martin Baxter, I'll bring you in. What's your view of this situation? I guess there are people in this country that would say, ah, it's not my problem, I'm going to have a shower, I'm going to water my garden, I'm going to wash my car. How bad is it?

Well, it is bad because clearly, you know, we just turned from Tom. He's got significant challenges. And if we don't have enough water to supply people, then, you know, people at the end up without any water at all. So we really must address this issue. We're in a situation where, you know, extensive heat, you know, 40-odd degrees, really dries out our water resources. But what he said, where's all the water in the winter gone?

Why are we not... What's that plant, somebody said, that a desalination plant's been apparently a massive one summer in the UK, has been there for 12 years and nobody started it. So there's a big challenge. One is about leakage. We lose, and you won't believe this stat, but it is true. we lose 3 billion litres of water from leakage every day. 3 billion litres of water leaked every day.

And that's down to the companies. Who are still making record profits? They are. And dealing with that is one of the really big challenges. Now, we have a water network that if you laid it out, it would go around the equator eight and a half times. So that's 220,000 miles worth. And I can't wash the car.

All underground, and you have to find the leagues, and then you have to dig them up. If they're in cities, you're digging up roads. People don't like it. Is this another example with the grace of respect? We were talking earlier about energy companies. These are massive conglomerates in this country, making billions of pounds worth of profits

and delivering pretty bad service to its customers, isn't it? Well, I would definitely agree with that comment in terms of not having enough investment. The question is, why don't they have the investment? In part, the regulatory refunds, is set by government, overseen by off-watt and implemented by off-watt. And ultimately, what they're looking at is what's the price to the consumer. So we've got pipes with leaks in, and we'd pour a lot into the North Sea and everywhere around the coast.

We've got a hose pipe band. You're my favourite guest for ages. Paul Britton, you're a lawyer. You'd have me shot me neighbour man. You're just making money out of people's misery, man, aren't you? Well, I think you're exaggerating it, but if your neighbour is using a hose pipe during, and they're in a region where there is a ban in place, then I think the advice would be speak to them in the first instance, approach them in a neighbourly way. The curtain twitches around. It depends how you get on with your neighbours, obviously.

But if you get on well with them, approach them. What would you do in a serious note? If you woke up one morning in your lovely house, looked over your fence or whatever it is, and saw your neighbour just quickly doing the pansies or washing the car, What would you do? I would say, Jeremy, can you not water your garden? I'm not living next door to you.

Don't stop. But I'm saying, would you go and have a conversation? Because we Brits are quite good at not saying anything, aren't we? Well, I would probably have a word and just say, look, there is a... I think what you'll find nine times out of ten is that your neighbour probably doesn't realize that there's a ban. Well, here's the thing. It's a thousand pound fine. I get the feeling with everything that's going on at the moment in terms of the cost of living crisis, the order of the world, whether it's a hose pipe, bam, the threats and things.

We are quite good, I think, this country, when we come together in a crisis. We've become seemingly a lot stronger. Do you think people will respond? Or do you think, and I'm just going to play the devil's advocate here, do you think people will go, I don't care, if you're tuning in, this is not my opinion, I'm saying, I don't care about a hosepipe ban, I don't care about the environment, I don't care about the crops, I'm not bothered about that, I'm going to wash my car,

I'm going to have four showers a day and they can do one. What would you say to those people? I mean, sadly, if that was an attitude adopted by too many people, then we would be in a situation where the water supplies, the water's authority would restrict the amount of water coming through. They can restrict the times of days that certain things are done. You mentioned that you couldn't wash your car, but it's also a leisure boat, fill your swimming pool up,

maintain your pond, clean your windows. So don't water your grass, but grass your neighbour up? Grass your neighbour up. Did you like that? Out of your mouth, not mine. But that's what you're saying, but we have to take responsibility. speak to your neighbours. Of course.

And if it comes to it, then, of course, then you can report them to the local authority. And Martin, what do you see from the government? What do you want to see a big problem from the government? What do you want to see from these companies? To make this situation, as we heard from Tom Bradshaw, better, because it's going to affect all of us in the long run, right? Yeah, and it will definitely continue to be a problem.

Climate change will help to drive that. What we need is three things. So one is that we need to support a reduction in demand by being more efficient. Only half of households have water meat, and households that have a hot water meter use on average a third less water than those per person.

So get everybody on a meter. That then starts, you know, pay as you use. That seems pretty fair. We need to invest in leakage detection and resolving. Can I just jump in. I love both of your views. I don't know why the government doesn't force the water companies

to use some of their profits or a lot more of their profits to reinvest and make the service better. We've got 30 seconds. We were discussing this before we can. came in and the real tragedy is that there isn't enough storage and they're not storing what. It's not like climate change has crept up on us, is it? We've known it's been coming for a long time. This was always going to happen and the weather's going to continue to get hotter. What we want to know is what are the plans going forward?

Absolutely. To stop this happening again. Tom Bradshaw, final word from you, live from your parched field somewhere, I think, in Colchester. Farmers need this situation rectify, don't they, sir? It's absolutely critical that we really view water as part of our national infrastructure and to underwrite our food security we've got to make sure that we get our water infrastructure in place. Climate change is a very real threat as we move forward and we've got to make sure we learn from what we're going through at the moment so that we're better prepared and we're more resilient when it happens again. Paul Bradshaw, Paul Britain, Martin Baxter, thank you both very much. All of you for joining us.

Right next on Uncensored, it used to be called Peers' Pack. It's called Jezers' Journal. It's cheap, but it works. And tonight we're joined by Talk TV's legend Kevin O'Sullivan and Dr Sonia Adisara. Don't go anywhere, I'm coming back in three. Welcome back, my friends, unscensored with me, Jeremy Carlin. It's now time for Jezzas Journows tonight.

I'm delighted to be joined by a good friend of mine, Talk TV's presenter, TV Kev O'Sullivan, and an old adversary. Interestingly, Dr. Sonia Adisara is here, and it's taking me three months to get an appointment with the GP. How are you? Very good, how you? Are you well, sir? I'm very, very well, Jane.

Much to discuss and you're across the table with each other. let's start with the cost of living crisis. This is, I mean, we've heard so much about it, but this is real, and it seems to affect almost every part of our lives. And they're saying that 10 million people in this country will be plunged below the poverty line. What would you do? What would you say? Yeah, 10 million households going into fuel poverty.

What does that mean? That means elderly people getting into hospital from being too cold. That means children being too cold that they can't sleep. It's just, it is horrific. And I, you know, already, we already, I have so many families that I speak to in my clinic who are already struggling and the fact that that's set to go worse

and we can enter this winter with the fuel prices going up and people not being able to pay their bills, I find very frightening. And on top of that, we have a vacant government. We have a prime minister that's on holiday. I'm not quite sure who the chance it is right now. And we've got two leadership rivals

who are talking about, what, woke toilets and, I don't know, diversity offices, where is a plan, where is the measures to intervene right now because we know that families are struggling and families are being pushed into poverty and into destitution as well. Really, really good point, Kev. And people have talked about how the leadership election

has created stagnation and the government isn't governing. Many people are saying get rid of the leadership thing, let's get on with it. How bad is this cost of living crisis and what does the government need to do? Well, I mean, we are on the edge of a kind of catastrophe that we're going into uncharted territory. We all know that energy prices in October will rocket because of the price cap changing,

so they're going to go up to the average household about £3,500 or £3,300. We only learn today that actually now the energy companies are going to be allowed to raise the price cap every three months. So that's going to carry on. So by January, we're talking about $3,800 and more and more and more. And today we had the biggest interest rate rise. for 27 years. Inflation is going to go up to 13%, maybe 15%. This is

a nightmare. This is frightening. I had an economist on my show today, and he just said this is terrifying. But it is terrifying, we all agree, right? What I want to know is, briefly, what do we do? I mean, you talk about the Prime Minister because you don't like him. Where are the MPs? There's 680 MPs

back in their constituencies. Why are they not in Westminster to dealing with this for the people of this country? Where is our government? our government they need to intervene and they need to intervene now okay so we energy prices are going to be going up in October and again in January at the same time what have we heard again record record profits with the energy corporations the government can step in there and you know the windfall levy what about that well I think you know the windfall tax was was a good idea but they need to go

through with it I think they can backtrack the windfall tax to collect more money from that and also they can extend the windfall tax so so there was a I guess a get-out cause that allowed and they said if you're investing the money then you can not pay that tax and it allows the energy corporations to basically not pay up to a third of that of that windfall tax so they can tighten up that legislation to get that money back and then help struggling families they can do that right now vat cut on fuel would make sense cut the green levy i think that the government should be doing what it can right now to help people in the next few months yes so Liz trust has promised to do this if she wins the battle and it looks as if

she will it's pointless battle i just give up where she's she soon as i'm going to hope in hell uh and by the way It is ridiculous that we have to wait until September 5th at this critical time. But, yes, we must cut, get rid of the 25% we pay on our electricity bills and the 8% we pay on our energy bills generally, which goes to the green levy. That is the green levy. We must like that right now. Do you know, tomorrow, hold on a second. Tomorrow is one month until the new prime minister is announced in this country.

I think they should be here for that month doing something. But I want to move on. Absolutely. I think he's on holiday, right? Our Prime Minister right now. Well, you don't like for it. The Chancellor. So are most doctors, aren't they?

No doctors. No, majority of doctors are working right now. That's not why you can't get an appointment. I promise you. And look, this is not a joke. This is millions of families going into poverty. We will see people die as a result of people. I agree.

You said, Sonia, that fuel poverty they'll go into on October. Actually, 10 million people will be plunged below. low the poverty. Well, we heard it there. Let's move. And that's told you're going up into poverty. I agree. You're doing it again. You're doing it again. Let's move on. Very quickly. Hose pipe ban. Would you snitching your neighbour? No, I would not. I definitely would

not. And I don't like the hose pipe ban because, first of all, the water companies, they leak billions and billions of gallons of water a year because of their rubbish pipe systems. Their executives get paid massive amounts of money.

And they blame us. I couldn't get one on at all, by the way. Not one water company. One particular water company that has 84 million in profit wastes 90 million of litres of water per day. Ridiculous. Right? So the government can intervene, get the water companies to tighten up

or let's nationalise them. We've had this same story year after year after year. Probably going to get worse. They're not doing the job. They're not nationalising. Nationalisation is always a disaster. Let's talk about Prince Harry before you to have a bun fight. Second lawsuit, Prince Harry back in the news,

didn't want security, then offered to pay for it. It's not looking great for him, is it, to be fair? Yeah, this case is ridiculous. I mean, he started to sue the government. The home office, because they would not provide him with police protection when he brought his family over. And they said, well, that's because you're no longer a frontline royal. So he's now launched a new legal battle

because he then asked, well, I'll pay for it myself. We quite rightly said to Prince Harry, hey, look, it's not a sort of commercial service. Oh, when I'm over, can I pay for a few cops? We don't do that. So now he is suing the home office to say, you must allow me to pay for my own coppers. So far, the home office has spent $90,000 and rising on this.

This man is a pernicious problem. I'm completely with him. Would you agree? So he wants to pay for his own security. So when he comes to this country, him and his family are protected. You can't buy coppers. You can't pay for coppers privately. You can't do that, Sonia.

End on. He's a prince. You can't pay for coppers. He is a line in the throne, and his security will be at risk. Yeah, but you can't buy coppers. You can't say here's a few quid. Can I have some coppers from Scotland Yard to look after me?

It doesn't go like that. Bring your own private security and pay for it. I've said it before. Listen, if you want to be in the royal family, absolutely. Go and take you $112 million. Very, very quickly. What shall I pick? Batgirl film canned for $90 million.

We've got two minutes. without even being shown it's too woke, isn't it? Well, I was 10 years in Hollywood. I've covered the showbiz industry for a long, long time. I've seen many massive Hollywood flops, huge flops. I have never, ever heard of a studio saying we spent $90 million on Backgirl. It's so bad. So bad.

I'm not going to release it at all. We're going to junk it. Unbelievable. And Dr. Sonia Adisara comes out with the greatest line of the night. A waste of money. And you think that the people in Glasgow, just to repeat, This is barking, but have a go. I just think, given what we're talking about, spoken about today,

the fact that they've just thrown 17 million down the drain is... No, you've said that the people in Glasgow should be compensated if their lives were disrupted by filming. So the story was that people in Glasgow were very angry. They were very angry because a lot of disruption happened, and they're very angry now that film has been cancelled. So if their lives were disrupted, then whatever, pay them in compensation. They seem to have a lot of money to throw around.

The word is, it's too woke. In other words, you go woke and you go, broke. There you go. 30 seconds. South End Football Club have made a massive, massive mistake by renaming one of their stands. The West Stand, the Rose West Stand. Can you help me out for 10 seconds? It's a local estate agent called Gilbert and Rose. They sponsored this stand. And it's called the West Stand. So South End Football Club have called it the Gilbert and Rose West stand. They're rethinking that now. They didn't think it through. I just think no one cares about this story, do they? I do. I think it's really funny.

Are you two going out for dinner afterwards? I can't imagine the conversation might be that. I could nationalise it. So for all of us, we agree. We haven't got a lot of time, but the cost of living crisis is the most important thing. The government need to get on it. They need to come back to Westminster, and everybody needs to pull together. And what I would say to everybody is that it's very easy to hear the headlines and see the stuff.

It is just when you go to bed tonight, 10 million people in this country under the poverty line. The fifth richest nation in the world. That is absolutely ludicrous and needs to be changed. Kevin O'Sullivan, back tomorrow morning for Mike Graham at 10. Indeed. Dr Sonia Rade de Sala, I'll hopefully get an appointment with you very soon. Loved having you both on. Well, that's it from me.

That is week one done. Well, tomorrow as well. Piers Morgan, not here for another month. You lucky people, thank you for watching. I'm back at 6.30 in the morning. Breakfast for Friday, no sleep for me. That's it for tomorrow. Quasi Quartet.

I'm on my show tomorrow. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, make it uncensored. Have a great one. Tura.