Correspondent Laura Bundock now reports.
>> Today, 29year-old Josh Kull can walk and
see cancer free. But only four years
ago, a brain cancer diagnosis robbed him
of his mobility and caused him to
develop daily sickness and temporarily
lose his eyesight.
The NHS allowed me to survive cancer,
but Maggie's and the support of other
charities such as McMillan uh allowed me
to thrive after cancer. So, you know,
the NHS is built for purpose. It's like
a factory, right? You know, you got this
constant conveyor belt, you know,
helping as many people as possible. But
unfortunately with that, the doctors,
they just don't have the time or the
funding just to provide the level of
support which cancer patients need.
That's why Josh is backing a coalition
of 60 charities, setting out the
measures they want included in the
government's national cancer plan.
They're warning 6 million new cancer
cases could be diagnosed in England
between now and 2040.
>> We would like to see the UK elevated
from the lower leagues of national
cancer survival to the top of the
Premier League of Cancer Survival. uh a
huge jump from where we are now. That
means meeting cancer waiting times. That
means backing research. That means
taking action to prevent more cancers in
the future.
>> The earlier cancer is diagnosed and
treated, the better the chances of
recovery. So part of the aim is to hit
the target of 85% of patients beginning
treatment within 2 months, a metric the
NHS is currently missing.
>> There needs to be funding across the
board. you know, funding increases
across the boards. You know, they just
don't have the support they need. You
know, these doctors are working
incredibly hard, incredibly long hours
>> to help them help people like Josh.
We'll find out how closely the
government's listening when it publishes
the National Cancer Plan later this
year.
>> A little earlier this morning, Laura
gave us this update.
>> A lot of this data was based on
predictions from preandemic data. So
they've sort of analyzed and and
projected as a as a result of of that
data. But I think most would agree that
in terms of our cancer health care
system, it's not where it should be. And
I think it's interesting looking that
85% target. So that target says that um
within two months um you should have
started your your treatment and we've
been not hitting that target 85% of
people getting that treatment. We
haven't hit that target for about a
decade now. So it it's been bad for a
while. And of course delays in diagnosis
and treatment have this significant
impact on on outcomes for patients as
well. And I think when you look at
comparable countries, the the UK is
still lagging behind. A really big
example of that is one of the most
common cancers, colon cancer. When you
look at the 5-year survival rates, you
look at 18 comparable countries, the UK
is at the bottom of the list, way behind
countries like Australia, Belgium, the
US, and Japan. So it's figures like
this, data like this that is back at the
four and I think these these cancer
charities and there are over 60 of them.
So you've got big cancer charities,
smaller cancer charities are all coming
together united to sort of amplify their
voice and their plea really to the
government ahead of the publication of
its of its cancer plan. We know what you
need to do. We've set out six steps.
These are the measures you must take if
we're going to see workable um tangible
change to improve the current the
current uh status quo. That's what needs
to happen. Of course, the health
secretary Wes Streeting himself a cancer
survivor often speaks of his
experiences. He knows the reality. He's
been there on the ground himself and
they're directly appealing to him before
he publishes that piece of work later.
Well, earlier former Sky News presenter
Emma Mahan spoke to Anna Jones about his
experience after being diagnosed with
stage 4 prostate cancer. There is no
formal screening program, i.e. proactive
on the behalf of the the NHS when it
when it comes to men wanting to be
screened. You know, they do have a right
to be screened, but they actually have
to ask for it rather than be be offered
it as so often happens with with other
cancers. Um so in my own case um yeah I
I fell through those through those gaps.
I mean I foolishly and would you know
sat in your position for many many years
speaking to people about this very issue
and talking about men particularly over
the age of 50 men in high-risisk groups
who may have a history of it uh in their
family to go and ask for the screening.
And I kept thinking you know once I got
over that age yeah I'll go and do that
hearing what you're saying but I'm fine.
The other the other telltale sign is of
course symptoms and I think most people
know what they are. You know frequent
urination in the evening is a particular
one at nighttime. Um but I didn't have
any of that. So I kept thinking okay
well you know I get round to it. Life
intervenes jobs holiday all kinds of
things. And I never did.
I want to just take you live to
Livingston. We're seeing here Graeme
Simpson MSP, formerly a conservative,
but you can see there the flag of reform
behind him because that is the breaking
news this morning. The Tory MSP, Graeme
Simpson, has defected to reform. Nigel
Farage is also in Scotland as part of
this announcement. Graeme Simpson, MSP
for Central Scotland, uh has been part
of the Conservative Party, sits on
committees for local government housing
and planning and also public audit
committees uh in the Scottish
Parliament. Uh previous roles have
included net energy, net zero energy and
transport, deputy party spokesperson for
the Conservatives on Transport, too.
Well, that's a bit of his background.
Let's listen to what he has to say. Now,
I've been thinking about my future for
some time. I decided a few months ago
that I would not be standing for the
Scottish Conservatives again, and others
have taken the same decision. I told the
party that at the end of May, but with
the Hamilton bi-election looming um
where Ross did uh very very well, I
promised not to say anything. I've not
stuck out a press release or said
anything on social media.
I honestly thought the most likely
scenario for me would be to move on to
the next stage of my life and find a job
in one of the sectors that really
interest me such as housing or
transport. And although finding a job
may not have been easy, I think I have
enough respect out there to have got
something that would have excited me.
But I've watched reform with interest
and I see the opportunity to help to
create something fresh here in Scotland
and it's clear that the voters agree in
increasing numbers. But just because a
party is becoming popular isn't a reason
to join it. Keeping your job in
parliament isn't a good enough reason
either. I've only reached the decision
that I have in the past few weeks, and I
mean over the summer, and it's not been
easy. It really has not been easy. I
first joined the Conservatives when I
was at school just before Mrs. Satcha
came to power. I left politics for a
career in journalism, but then rejoined
and have been a counselor and an MSP.
So, I'm really very fortunate. I know
what a conservative is and I actually
wrote about it last year just to remind
some people. The election next year here
in Scotland is going to see a very diff
different parliament from the one we
have now which is stale and very often
uninspiring. Too many people feel let
down and ignored. They feel the system
is against them that the traditional
parties don't even care about them. Save
for some fine individual MSPs across
parties, the political class is not
serving the people well. Failure is
accepted and change takes far too long.
And I'll give you a couple of examples
personally of that. Thousands of people
living in tenementss often face real
difficulties when it comes to
maintaining their buildings. In the last
session of parliament, March 2018 to be
exact, a group of MSPs from across the
divide, formed a working group to see
how we could address the challenges and
we came up with some proposals. But it
will be the next parliament until we see
any legislative change. So probably at
least 10 years since we first started
looking at this. The second example of
how slow things can be has been the
progress of my members bill which would
see a system of recall introduced into
the Scottish Parliament. I first muted
this at the end of the last session of
parliament and started work on it at the
beginning of this session. It's badly
needed to resource some restore some
trust, but we've not even had the stage
one debate. It might get over the line.
Graham Simpson, MSP, there announcing
his defection from the Conservative
Party to reform, doing so at that press
conference in Livingston. He is the MSP
for Central Scotland. And that is Graham
Simpson. We will hear more uh reaction,
I'm sure, in the coming hours. We'll
bring it to you here live on Sky News.
11 minutes past 11. The average annual
energy bill will rise by more than
expected in October. Energy regulator
gem has increased it by 2% double what
analysts had predicted. Well, the
average annual energy bill that
households pay is currently at 1,720.
When the new price cap is implemented in
October, it will add on average 35 to
the typical bill with the cost for the
year rising to 1755.
Earlier we heard from offjems Tim
Jarvis.
>> What we're announcing today is an
increase of of 2% in the cap. That's the
cap that suppliers can charge. It caps
the rate at which they can uh charge for
energy. That's about 2% higher than the
same period last year. So it's slightly
less than the rate of inflation, but
obviously nevertheless an increase all
the same. Um there's around a third of
households are on fixed rate deals. So
they won't be affected by today's cap.
Um and I would very much urge people who
aren't on a fixed rate deal to look at
the market, see what's available. We
know there are deals on the market that
are around £200 a year less.
It's all kicking off in Spain. Look at
this. This is Bunol near Valencia. The
annual Tomatina Festival. An hourong
event bringing together well goggles,
smartphones, and 120 tons of overripe
tomatoes in the eastern town. Buildings
are covered with tarpolins. 22,000
people are ammoed up with tomatoes. You
can see them flying everywhere. If
you're non-local, it's €15 for a ticket
and people come from around the world to
take part. One person who attended back
in 1999 said it's a blur of tomatoes,
but a blast. It's the anniversary
actually of a spontaneous food fight. It
was held on the last Wednesday of
August, and it was inspired by a food
fight between local children. They
pelted each other with tomatoes. 1945 is
the end of the Second World War and it's
become a yearly tradition.
Unsurprisingly, Franco, the dictator,
not a fan, banned it for a while in the
1950s, a decision that locals protested
against. It was televised uh from the
1980s and turned into a national event
drawing in an international crowd. Uh in
2002, well, Spain changed. It recognized
the festival as an international tourism
attraction. It's only been suspended
twice during the coronavirus pandemic.
Goes without saying as these tomatoes
are being held around, they aren't
edible. They're from crops that have
been treated but are grown exclusively
for the festival. Um, if it didn't
exist, they say, then you wouldn't get
what you have. Look at this. Just
tomatoes flying everywhere. I don't know
whether those shirts were that color to
start with. Were they always green or
have they been tainted by green
tomatoes? Who knows? Uh, but this is the
tomatina festival in Bunol.
120 tons of overripe tomatoes in the
eastern town, not far from Valencia.
Goes on for an hour. One former attendee
said that when a friend finished the
battle, they were left with two black
eyes. So, do go steady, wear your
protection, and uh don't try this at
home.
Well, from Valencia to Livingston, Nigel
Farage with his new MSP, Graeme Simpson.
Let's take a listen and see what he has
to say in getting our policy platform
right
for those elections next May. And he's
joining us now because he he's prepared
to put in the hard yards. And it will be
important for us, however many of our
number go into the Scottish Parliament,
to have some people there who can show
us the ropes. otherwise will turn up and
just not know what to do. So, we're very
very delighted uh Graeme that you've
made this decision. And I'm sure if
you've been a member of the Tory party
for all those years, as you say, you've
not taken this decision
>> lightly, but you've done it for positive
reasons, not negative ones. And that's
great. Now, we have a whole host of
questions, beginning with Andrew K from
BBC Scotland.
>> Thank you, Mr. Far. Good morning to you.
When Richard Ty was here in March, he
spoke about net zero. You've now spoken
about immigration, the SNP are accusing
you of being the architect of the small
boats crisis because of your support for
Brexit. When it comes to reform and
looking ahead to next year, is your
party just a two trick pony in Scotland?
And for Graeme Simpson as well, will you
resign from the regional list because
you are elected as a Tory MSP? Thank
you. Oh, I'm a two-trick pony now, not a
one-trick pony. Well, that's progress,
isn't it? We must be going in the right
direction. For years, I was called a
one-trick pony. All he ever talks about
is the EU. Um, well, yes, we do talk
about the small boats because there is a
sense of outrage amongst a very clear
majority of the British public on this
issue. Uh, firstly, because it's unfair.
You know, I touch very briefly on the
social housing list in Glasgow, just as
one little example. Uh, and secondly,
because it does threaten our national
security. And I'll I'll word this
carefully as we're live, but you know,
there have been some recent arrests made
on suspicion of terrorism offenses. Um,
and thirdly, uh, because, uh, frankly,
uh, people find it unacceptable that if
they have HMOs or they have, uh, migrant
hotels in their area, there is an
increase in certain types of crime. And
I'm just going to give you a simple fact
whether you like it or not, but an
Afghan national is 22 times more likely
to be convicted of rape than a
Britishborn person. This is cultural.
It's not racial. It's cultural. And I
think that's a very very strong point to
make. And no. Oh, and we're now
campaigning, of course, on net zero very
much. So, it is a self-inflicted wound.
Uh it is something of absolute stupidity
that is de-industrializing large parts
of parts of the United Kingdom. Look,
you know, be marvelous if we didn't need
oil or gas, but we do and we're going to
for a very, very long time. So, why not
produce it ourselves? And of course,
Scotland would be the chief beneficiary
within the United Kingdom of that. Plus,
we've launched a campaign on crime. You
might have noticed we've got Britain's
most senior famous living detective, you
know, who's joined us. Colin's joined
us, and there have been feature films
made about him and books written about
him. We got Vanessa Frank who's joined
us, a very well-known prison governor
and regarded as one of the toughest
prison governors in the country. Um, and
we will be broadening our campaigns and
talking about the cost of living crisis.
There is a direct link there to energy.
I will grant you because it's one of the
main components of the problem. Uh, and
we'll move on and we'll talk more
broadly about the economy. We'll talk uh
more broadly about the tax system. We'll
talk about the fact small businesses
have been disincentivized. So, no, no,
we are far from being a two-trick pony,
but if the S&P are unhappy with us, I
haven't got a problem with that.
>> Um, and just just to build on that, I
think um one of the tasks that I've got,
Andrew, is to develop a policy suite
that's not just those two issues, but
actually looks at um the powers that the
Scottish Parliament has um and how to
address the challenges that Scotland
faces. Um so as I said earlier um I'll
be outlining some thoughts um very very
soon not today not today not in any
detail today uh but you'll hear more
from me uh and others uh on that um so
that reform isn't just seen as a party
that just concentrates on two issues. Um
on the question of whether I will resign
uh from the parliament um I guess you
probably know the answer and the answer
is uh no I won't be resigning. I think
it's a fair question. It's a very fair
question. Um, but I won't be um I still
have work to do. I've still got this
very important members bill that I want
to get through um which I don't see as
party political. It isn't. It it is
about reforming uh the system in the
Scottish Parliament um so that we can
have a system of recall there. I take
that very seriously. Um, as I said
earlier, I think one one one of the
risks, one thing I'm really worried
about is by going now, um, will other
parties start to play silly games with
that piece of legislation? I hope they
don't.
>> Okay. Thank you, Colin Mai from STV.
>> Thank you. Just to clarify before I ask
you a proper question. Who's going to
lead the party into the election next
year? And who's going to take part in
the STV leaders debate?
>> Well, it won't be me. It won't
>> You're not going to lead the part the
You're not going to lead reform into the
Scottish election next year.
>> I'm not standing for the Scottish
Parliament. No.
>> But you're not going to lead the
campaign.
>> We will of course have a leader of our
group, you know, who will go in as
leader of the group and be a potential,
you know, first minister. So, so yes, of
course. But but hey, you know what? As
I've explained before, and I did a
similar thing when I was in Abedine the
other day, you know, we are a work in
progress. We're growing. We're probably
um an advanced teenager now. We haven't
got to full maturity as a political
party. And as I, you know, as I said a m
a moment ago, we had 200 candidates over
the weekend being interviewed. We're
going to put out a what what you'll see
from us is a list of candidates
representing every aspect of life with
broad experience of many many fields and
from within that number there will be a
leader as we go into the elections.
>> On the immigration stuff that you were
talking about yesterday, you're talking
about keeping 24,000 illegal immigrants
in mod bases. Will any of these
internment camps be in Scotland? Will
any of the flights be from Scotland? And
will you have to contend separately with
the Scottish court system?
>> Even though Glasgow is the asylum
capital of the UK, numerically the
numbers in Glasgow compared to the
northern connibations in England are
actually very very small. As for which
military bases, you know, we're not
going to say that now, otherwise
government would simply sell them off
and and probably put solar farms on them
or something like that. Um, but no, we
are deadly serious about this plan. And
I think what's I tell you what's really
interesting is there's been a people
aren't questioning the need for
something radical to be done. Even the
prime minister hasn't attacked me on the
idea that we should be deporting people
that come illegally. Uh but he hasn't
got the means to do it. The tries didn't
have the means to do it. We are
proposing the means to do it.
>> The ventilment camps
>> people will be detained and deported.
Yes. And hopefully they'll be in those
camps for a very short period of time.
And I do believe that once the message
gets to those who are prepared to pay
thousands of euros to criminal smuggling
gangs that if you spend that money and
come to the UK, you won't ever be
allowed to stay. Within two weeks, the
boats will stop coming and that will at
least stop the inward pressure that's
been coming. There are other problems
too. I mean, huge other problems too,
such as overstayers. You know, if you
look at the if you look at the asylum
list for last year, you see the biggest
contingent is from Pakistan and they're
people that have flown supposedly to
meet family members or come on holiday
and just deliberately overstayed and
then claimed asylum. So, you know, there
there are many many aspects to this. The
boats obviously is about 40% of it and
it is the most visible thing. And I
would just quickly say that when Tony
Abbott put forward similar proposals on
Australia in 2012, he was met with the
same kind of debate, you know, can you
in practical terms do what you've set
out in your general election manifesto
and he stopped the votes. Tony Abbott
and Australia proved that with political
will, you can stop this scourge. Thank
you very much indeed. We're going to go
on. Can I just um please
>> before we move on um just call in on the
the leadership question um because I
think I it's a really fair question.
What what is reform going to be offering
when we come into the final months of
the election campaign?
Clearly reform will need a figurehead so
that you can grill them um during the
STV debate. But I'm not coming here
today as uh somebody who's been
parachuted in to be the reform leader.
That would be entirely wrong. Uh it
would be wrong uh for the members of
reform. Um so I'm just here as I am uh
as a as an MSP.
>> Yeah, there's no there's no back there's
no back room deal.
>> No, there there certainly isn't. Um but
obviously by the time of the election uh
we will need have someone in
>> No, absolutely. No, absolutely. Uh Tony
McGuire, GB News.
>> Thank you. And Mr. Farage, um you said
that obviously immigration hasn't been
uh a particularly big deal in Scotland,
but over the last few weekends, we have
seen an increasing number of protests
outside migrant hotels. What have you
learned over your your last few trips to
Scotland to help you, I guess,
renegotiate your your plans for England,
for for Scotland? you know, is there an
understanding there that things have to
perhaps be dealt very differently north
of the border? And then to to Mr.
Simpson, um, in terms of John Swinny,
who's often talking about reform as dog
whistle politics, bringing division to
the country, how do you hope to combat
him when you take your seat at
Hollywood?
>> Well, clearly there are some areas that
need to be dealt with differently, but
there is also ex, you know, a lot of
commonality. uh there hasn't been a
great debate about immigration in
Scotland because frankly, you know, none
of the parties in Hollywood have wanted
to have that debate, so we've not really
been having it. You're right over the
last few weeks there's a growing
awareness of the issue. And I predicted
from the podium a few minutes ago that I
think that that debate will get bigger.
Inevitably, it will get bigger. Um but I
think, you know, I think the one thing
that Scotland gives England an example
of is the sheer stupidity
of not being of not aiming to be
self-sufficient in energy because
clearly the Scottish economy stands to
benefit far more from oil and gas uh
than other regions or other parts of the
United Kingdom. And I think it's
absolutely tragic and and and
self-defeating and stupid what we're
doing to the North Sea. Uh it just makes
no sense at all. It is absolutely crazy
on every single level. Economic madness.
Uh and the argument that wind power
makes us less reliant on other sources
of energy from around the world just is
not true. Uh the national grid is not
fit to deal with intermittent renewable
energy. Uh and frankly, if you look at
what's happened to energy costs with
wind, one of the biggest lies we've been
told is that it would give us cheaper
energy. It does not. And right at the
minute, there's another big round being
negotiated for for wind contracts. Uh,
we'll find out what the final auction
prices are, but there's no good news in
it at all.
>> Um, with regard to how I'll deal with
John Swinny, I get on with Mr. Swinny as
I get on with most people. Um, he he
knows me well enough to know that I
don't indulge in dog whistle politics as
you describe it. Um, he would have a job
making that one stick, but he'll
probably try. Uh but I'll take my place
in the parliament uh next week for first
minister's questions. I'm not sure where
I'll sit yet, but probably won't be with
the conservatives. Although actually
there's no rules on that in parliament.
You can sit wherever you want. So uh
maybe I'll decide on the day. Uh I'm
sure Mr. Sweeney will have some fun. Uh
and I'll enjoy listening to his jokes on
the day.
>> Yeah, but he might be surprised how many
S&P voters might actually vote for you
party next year. So I'm sure he will
have a go. Um right, let's move on.
James Cook, BBC National.
>> Thank you very much, Mr. Farage. Um
Scotland faces in common with other
parts of the UK uh a demographic issue
in terms of a shrinking share of the
working age population and a falling
birth rate. Given that in a flatlining
economy over many years now, doesn't the
Scottish economy really need more
migration? Whether that might be legal
migration, but doesn't it need more
migrants rather than fewer? And and just
if you don't mind for for Mr. Simpson. I
I'm sorry I didn't quite follow I'm so
sorry your logic in terms of staying in
parliament because I understand that if
one is a an MP or if one is elected in a
constituency that that to a certain
degree one has a contract with those
voters and you can say well they voted
for me but no one voted for you did they
voted for the Conservative party.
>> Okay. Um do you want to go with that
first?
>> Yeah absolutely. Um you're you're right.
I was elected on the Conservative list.
Um, that's why I've been uneasy with
this decision. Um, I am uneasy with it.
Um, but the rules say that you can stay.
Now, maybe we should look at the rules.
Um, but we've had recently Jamie Green
uh has gone from the Conservatives uh to
the Liberal Democrats uh and he he has
stayed on as an MSP. Um I think uh that
it's maybe something that the the
parliament should look at. But I was
asked um I was actually asked this very
question um when I appeared before the
standards committee to talk about my
bill and I was asked you know should
someone in the position that I'm now in
have to stand down. My answer was well I
don't think they should because um
people leave can leave parties for many
many reasons. Um, you know, you may have
you may have been finding life very
uncomfortable um in your workplace. I'm
not in that position. The Conservatives
haven't made life uncomfortable for me.
Um, but I do think I've got work to do.
Um, so I'm sorry if it upsets folk, but
I'm I'm staying put.
>> Yeah. I mean, people leave parties, but
equally parties leave people as well.
And perhaps as a long-term conservative,
maybe that's how you feel to a certain
extent.
>> Yeah. This has not been an easy
decision. No, I'm not I'm not pretending
otherwise
>> on falling birth rates. I mean, it's a
very fair point. Um, where are the
workers of the future going to come
from? Uh, one concern on that front is
the pace of AI development uh is such
that an awful lot of jobs that exist
today are not going to exist in just a
few years time. So, we may be in a
position where we actually need fewer
people in the workplace.
But on the subject of skilled migration,
I mean, look, you know, if people come
into Britain and they've got skills and
they integrate and they contribute, then
no one's got a problem with that,
provided the numbers are at a sensible
level. The problem, you know, if we're
moving on to legal migration very
quickly, um, is that a Conservative
party that promised net migration of
tens of thousands a year gave us net
migration of up to nearly a million a
year. And amazingly, of the last three
million that came into Britain from
outside the European Union, fewer than
20% are in work. So it's actually become
a a negative. Even the argument, look,
expanding population, pressure on
services, lack of integration. But don't
worry, Nigel, because it's an economic
benefit, and now it's not an economic
benefit, and everybody knows it. So, so,
so you know, I get the point, but but I
think the jobs market is going to go
through some quite revolutionary change
within the next 5 years, and it's
something that government's going to
need to think about and adapt to. And of
course, one of the answers is that while
Scotland maintains or should maintain
its traditional, more traditional oil
and gas industries, it also needs to
think about becoming a hub for the new
evolving world of AI and tech because
that's where the future is. and I'm
afraid the entirety of the United
Kingdom is falling badly behind on this
race. Uh to my great regret. Thank you
very much. Let's move on. Kzia Buckley
from Sky News.
>> Thank you. Um you've had a number of
defections now across councilors and now
obviously in the the Scottish
Parliament. Are you just becoming the uh
party of the old Tories and how can you
say that you're offering renewal if
you're just going to fill the seats up
with defectors?
>> Well, we're not. But but we do need some
experience. You you can't just send
people I mean if you look at the county
councils in England that we won. You
know where we're doing best is where
we've got some people that actually have
been on those councils have been in
cabinet who know the ropes. So we do
need some people to help us. I'm
absolutely not going to allow this to
become the Tory party 2.0. But if and
I'm not going to be a vehicle for those
just to rescue their careers in
parliament. And I thought, you know,
Graeme spoke to that point actually
quite strongly. Just getting reelected
wouldn't be good enough for him anyway.
He's got the ability to do many other
things in life. So, you know, we'll be
very selective about who comes. Um,
and frankly, an awful lot of
conservatives, I mean, really are
probably closer to the Liberal Democrats
anyway. So, you know, those that are
coming with us are coming because they
see it's a positive vision. And those
that are coming to us are all ones that
if I accept them, I accept them on the
basis they're going to roll their
sleeves up and help us with the project.
And by the way, you know, across the
country at council level, we've got
former labor counselors coming to us. We
even had a lib dem which did surprise me
very much indeed. But you know I think
one of the interesting things about
reform and one of the about its growth
since the general election is if you
have a look at where the votes have come
from
and the biggest and most important chunk
of votes that's come to us since the
general election has come to us from
people who did not vote in last year's
general election. So it's a really
interesting cross-section of people uh
that are coming to us across all across
all ages uh and and actually you know a
much a much more breadth of the
political spectrum than perhaps uh you
know you would you would naturally
assume
>> and actually I would make the point
Kzier that you know when I hopefully
stand next year if I'm selected and that
hasn't happened yet um there is no
guarantee
that I'll be elected. So, so I'm going
going into that with no guarantees of
being elected. Uh, and uh I was
interested in your description of me as
an old Tory. Um, I don't feel that old,
but um, you'll all want to know, but I'm
61, which I know will surprise terrible
age.
>> Will surprise surprise a lot of you. I
don't know whether that's old. Kzia
older than you.
>> Same age as me. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh
dear. Never mind.
>> That's where we'll leave Livingston. I
do just want to show you the latest
polling for political parties here in
the UK. If I can, let's just take a look
at the following graph. This showing
Westminster voting intention. If an
election was carried out now, it would
have quite the impact. Obviously,
general election probably not until 4
years time. So, take all of this with a
bit of pinch of salt, but reform UK
there 28%. Labour down on 20, just three
ahead of the Conservatives and four
ahead of the Lib Dems. All other parties
uh coming in the following orders, but
that was a sample of two and a half
thousand adults uh showing reform at 28%
in the polls. Let's take you from
Westminster voting to Valencia. Now,
check out this. This is the Tomatina
Festival. 12 tons of overripe tomatoes
being pelted in the town of Bunol close
to Valencia and it's an annual tradition
started back as a food fight in 1945
banned by the dictator Francisco Franco
during the 1950s for a time brought back
televised in the 80s and now these
tomatoes specially grown so that people
can lob them at each other um cemented
as a cultural institution in 2002 by the
Spanish authorities is and uh yeah, if
you want to paint the town red, that's
the place to go.
Let's bringing the news back uh here
closer to home, shall we? A reminder of
our top story. A coalition of more than
60 charities warning that 6 million new
cancer cases could be diagnosed in
England in the next 15 years. They're
calling on the government to commit to a
range of measures, including earlier
diagnosis and better support for
patients. Well, earlier we heard from
former Sky News presenter Demhan who has
stage 4 prostate cancer. He says he fell
through the gaps with his diagnosis and
spoke to Anna Jones. There is no formal
screening program, i.e. proactive on the
behalf of the the NHS when it when it
comes to men wanting to be screened. You
know, they do have a right to be
screened, but they actually have to ask
for it rather than be be offered it as
so often happens with with other
hearing what we're saying but I'm fine.
Let's speak to the assistant director of
health improvement at Prostate Cancer UK
Amy Ryland. Good to have you with us
Amy. Appreciate your time. We just heard
there from from Dermott that line from
him that he fell through the gaps, I
quote, with his diagnosis. How familiar
is that story?
>> Sadly, it's all too familiar. Diagnosing
prostate cancer early is really
challenging. And the reason for that is
that in most cases, men don't have any
symptoms. So, we're really comfortable.
We're used to this narrative that you
need to look out for lumps, bumps,
changes, coughs, blood in pee. All of
these kind of cancer messages are very
familiar to us, but none of them work
for prostate cancer. Actually, the
earlier you find prostate cancer, the
easier it is to treat, but in those
early stages, it normally won't have any
symptoms. And so, we need men to
understand their risk for prostate
cancer. Prostate Cancer UK have
developed an online risk checker. You
can just Google risk checker. It will
ask you a couple of quick questions
about your age, your family history of
the disease, and your ethnicity because
black men have double the risk of
prostate cancer. It will then help you
to understand if you're at risk, but
crucially, if you are at risk, what you
can do about it. Because as Dermit says,
the NHS isn't going to step in. You're
not going to get an invite from your GP.
It is on you to take action.
>> This figure of of more than six million
new cancer cases that could be diagnosed
in England by 2040 at the the top of
that list is over a million new prostate
cancer diagnoses. What's the driver
behind that? Is that an increased
instance and rate of these diagnoses? Is
it just the fact that we're diagnosing
more or we getting more instances of it?
Where's this coming from?
>> Yes. So this data shows over a million
men will be diagnosed with prostate
cancer in the next 15 years. And and the
big driver for that is an aging
population. So when we talk about risk,
your risk does go up as you get older.
For most men, risk starts at the age of
50. If you have additional risk factors,
so if you are black or if you have a
family history of the disease, your risk
actually starts from your mid4s.
But we have a growing population who are
aged over 50. And so there are more men
who are able to get prostate cancer. And
you know, I think I just want to keep
emphasizing that diagnosed early,
prostate cancer is really treatable.
But if it's left to the point where you
wait for symptoms, you wait until you
start feeling very unwell, that's the
point where unfortunately it's much
harder to treat. and and too many men
find themselves in the position that
Dermat is in. Um and so what we want to
see over the next 15 years is real
progress towards earlier diagnosis. And
that's why we really want to see clear
commitments in the government's cancer
plan towards faster and fairer
diagnosis. making sure that men have a
fair chance of a cure for their prostate
cancer and have access to better
treatments for that cancer once they are
diagnosed.
>> To what degree does that classic
situation of men not talking about
health and not reporting it, not going
to the GP play a factor in all of this?
>> It's really interesting. I I've worked
in prostate cancer for a number of
years. A lot of people ask me about, oh,
is this about men not taking action?
Actually, what we can see is that when
we give men the information, they are
very good at taking action. Over four
million men have done Prostate Cancer
UK's online risk checker. What I would
argue is that actually the system isn't
set up right for men. Actually, it isn't
right that men can all have a PSA blood
test, which is the first test for
prostate cancer. But the NHS doesn't
tell them that. Actually, it's on men to
understand their risk to to ask for a
test. So, I would say that the system is
built in such a way that actually it
gets in the way of people being able to
access an early diagnosis. We know that
if we equip men with the facts, if we
tell them about their risk, if we tell
them that they can go and get a PSA
blood test for free from their GP, that
lots of men will take that action.
Joining us live from central London,
assistant director of health improvement
at Prostate Cancer UK, Amy Ryland. Good
to have you with us. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Let's stick with health, shall we?
Fertility rates across England and Wales
have dropped to their lowest rate since
1938.
New figures show the total fertility
rate with 1.41 children per woman in
England and Wales in 2024 compared to
1.42
in 2023. It represents the lowest
fertility rate on record for the third
consecutive year. Sadia Chowry's got
more on the story for us. Sadia.
>> Well, the total uh fertility rate or the
TFR is the total number of uh babies
being born per woman of um childbearing
age. That is of course different to the
birth rate which is the total number of
babies being born. And the TFR globally
has been on the decline uh on a gradual
decline over many years. And in England
and Wales that has been declining uh
over the last 50 years or so and as you
say that uh number now dropping to uh
1.41 the total fatigue rate 1.41 which
represents a record low for the third
year in a row. The data was released
just this morning. We've been going
through it um for you and if I look at
it broken down into regions, West
Midlands and London actually saw
increases in TFR, the total fertility
rate. um where as the rest of the
country saw um many of much of the rest
of the country saw decreases and if you
bro break it down into local authorities
Luton was the local authority with the
highest TFR at two um there's some
interesting background to this if you
look at total births to UK born mothers
that's going down but total births to
foreignb born mothers is actually going
up and of those there's been an increase
in mothers born in the Middle East Asia
and Africa and perhaps reflecting the
postrexit population change, a drop in
EU born mothers. Um, now we've seen the
TFR decline previously during both the
World Wars for example and then when the
contraceptive pill uh became widely
available, then again in the 1960s when
the abortion act came into effect and in
the 1970s when more women were going out
to work. But last year we actually saw
an increase in births by 0.6%.
So why are we having an increase in
births but but a decrease in the total
fertility rate? That's only happened six
times since those records were uh first
made in 1938 and four of those have been
in the last 15 years. And but it can be
explained by an increase in adult
population in 2024
which means that more women are having
babies but women are having fewer babies
each. So where does the UK stand in
relation to the rest of the world? where
we've been speaking to an associate
professor of reproductive medicine,
Basel Watar. Have a listen to what he
said.
>> We're seeing this trend in
industrialized countries like you
mentioned Japan and South Korea
population has actually shrunk. So they
are slightly bit ahead of us in in that
in that in that um sort of spectrum. Uh
but the UK numbers are are very similar
to our neighboring European colleagues.
So we're seeing similar trends in France
and and Germany and and the Netherlands.
uh the the contrast however is that
we're seeing booming fertility rates in
for in developing countries for for
example in Nigeria and subsahara and
Africa the the number the total
fertility rate is is increasing at a
prog proportional rate. Um so uh this
again points to the potential play of
economical factors and and and
economical pressures that is forcing uh
families to ration their decisions about
um um uh how many childrens they they
can have in the household.
>> Well, this morning's figures didn't
include the replacement level fertility
rates. This is interesting because it's
the number of children women need to
have on average in order to ensure the
long-term natural replacement of the
population. The total fertility rate has
been below this um replacement level for
the last 50 years. Women in the UK need
to be having 2.075
children on average to ensure the
population. And we are, as we are
reporting, a reminder at 1.41.
Now Sia in our Westminster studio. Thank
you so much. Now then, after a two-day
delay, Elon Musk's SpaceX has launched
Starship's 10th test flight.
Following a successful takeoff, the
Starship separated from the rocket
booster, which landed in the Gulf Waters
near SpaceX's launch facilities in
Texas. Starship continued on into space
and deployed mock satellites as part of
the test mission. Our science and tech
correspondent Thomas Moore has more.
>> A lot was hanging on this test flight
and they nailed it. It was the fourth
test flight of the year for the world's
largest and most powerful rocket. The
previous three had ended in failure. Two
catastrophic explosions soon after
launch and another it broke up on on
re-entry into the atmosphere. This time
the booster came down in a controlled
descent as planned. It didn't go back to
the the the launch pad for its classic
chopsticks catch which is so
spectacular. Uh and the the upper stage
which is called ship went through a
series of uh maneuvers. It released
those satellites. uh it uh managed to
relight its engine and it safely made it
back through the atmosphere even though
uh engineers had removed some of the
tiles from the heat shield to put the
structure under stress and also to test
other ways of cooling down the rocket
for what is a a blistering ride. But it
came down right in front of the camera
that SpaceX had installed on a boy in
the Indian Ocean. But there is still a
lot to prove. Even though this test
flight has been a success, the the um
the rocket hasn't yet proved itself
ready to go to the moon and Mars. It's
about to be upgraded to a version three,
even larger, even more powerful. And
Elon Musk, the owner of space SpaceX,
has talked about how difficult it has
been designing a heat shield that is
robust enough for these really quick
turnarounds that he envisages for these
rockets. as fast as an airliner turns
around uh at an airport. And bear in
mind the space shuttle, it took NASA 9
months to get them back off the ground.
It's that complicated. But NASA is
relying on SpaceX to get this rocket
ready. In just two years time, it's
banking on it being ready to take people
and goods down onto the surface of the
moon. And Elon Musk has talked about an
uncrrewed Starship going all the way to
Mars by the end of next year. Now, at
the moment, that looks doubtful, but
you'd ne never bet against SpaceX.
>> You're watching Sky News today. Still to
come, as Guinness World Records
celebrates its 70th anniversary, we'll
look at some of the unclaimed titles up
for grabs.
Heat.
Hey, heat. Hey, heat.
hear that whistle and that crunch. We
know that they're coming from the south
of the city where there's a column of
Russian armory. I'm Alex Crawford and
I'm Skye's special correspondent based
in Istanbul.
Look at that sheet of flames. And that
has happened within minutes. And now
it's coming from both sides. And it's
moving this way.
This is the game changer seat. Look, it
even comes with binoculars.
Fly, fly better.
Guinness World Records are celebrating
their 70th anniversary today,
highlighting some of the records still
up for grabs. The first edition of the
book published back in 1955 by Sahu
Beaver, the then managing director of
the Guinness Brewery. Since then,
thousands of records have been
authenticated and added to the books.
There's been 155 million copies of those
books sold worldwide. Well, Cheryl Baker
co-hosted the children's television show
Record Breakers from 1987 to 1997
alongside Roy Castle.
>> I mean, 70 years ago, I I can't imagine.
It was Ross and Norris McWarter who
started it, wasn't it? I I can't imagine
how they would think now 70 years on.
It's just as popular as it ever was. But
people love to see records broken.
Cheryl Baker there. Let's show you some
of the records that have been broken
over the years. Let's start let's start
with this. This is the Philippines back
in 2023. Human dominoes with mattresses.
2355
people setting the record. And I'm
pleased to say that all of those
mattresses then donated to 55
charities. That was 2023. I want to show
you this footage now from 2017.
Check out this uh pooch. remarkable pub.
This is a skateboarding dog. However,
oh, this is 2015. This is an old record.
So, this is an old record. I think this
pup is skating underneath 30 people. How
dare he only do 30. In 2024, that was
surpassed in Milan, Italy by KOD, who
skateboarded under 40. Records tumbling
year after year. Uh but not for well
talking of actually tumbling, let's take
you to Barkshshire now and a man called
Simon Berry. Check out Simon. He is
about to bungee jump into this very
British cup of tea because he set the
world record back in 2016 for the
highest tea dunk 73.41.
And he needed the one cuz he got very
close but just close enough.
There he goes for that dunk of cup. That
was 2016.
And then once we've had the POV of the
tea dunk, I'm hoping it's a rich tea
personally. What about this from 2021?
This is Nang Chong in China. And this is
a PE primary school teacher who is
towing a car whilst walking on his
hands. It's the fastest time to do 50 m,
setting the world record in 1 minute and
13 seconds whilst towing that car. And
like I say, a PE primary school teacher,
my primary school PE did not look
anything like that, I can tell you. Um,
and then there's records set up for
grabs, of course, including the most
whoopy cushions sat on, what a
celebration. And the most whoopy
cushions sat on in one minute. Bit less
of a record, I think, than pulling a
car. Uh, the fastest time to blow a
stamp, 10 m. Uh, and the furthest
distance bottle flip as well. They're
all up for grabs. Uh, or you could try
and, I don't know, skid your mini
instead.
Talking of record-breaking, I could try
a bottle flip. I only have a glass
bottle. I think I think the bosses would
would yeah have a have a conipion if I
tried that. But talking of talking of
record-breaking, check out this. Taylor
Swift fans around the world sent into a
frenzy after the singer announced she's
getting married to Travis Kelce. News of
the engagement sparking talk of the US
getting its own royal wedding. the
couple sharing the news in a joint post
on Instagram captioned, "Your English
teacher and your gym teacher are getting
married." Uh, that announcement liked
more than 1.7 million times in just over
30 minutes after being posted. Look at
those floral arrangements. You can tell
it's going to be a jazzy wedding, eh?
But will it be good weather here in the
UK? Let's look.
The perfect climate
wherever the destination.
The weather sponsored by Kata Airways.
Relatively cool, unsettled for the rest
of the week. Widespread showers, longest
spells of rain. Temperatures today
mostly around average. Windy almost
everywhere though. Northern central
Britain seeing prolonged rain spreading
from the southwest this afternoon. While
southern Britain can expect showery
outbreaks. Thoroughly downpours are
possible. Do watch out for those.
The perfect climate whatever the
forecast. The weather sponsored by Kata
Airways.
This this is Sky News today. It's 12:00.
I'm Gareth Bar. The headlines this hour.
A Conservative MSP defects to the Reform
Party becoming Nigel Farage's first
politician in the Scottish Parliament
>> because he's deeply experienced in the
fields of journalism and politics. and I
believe he's going to help us
significantly in getting our policy
platform right.
>> More than 6 million new cancer cases in
England by 2040. The warning from 60
charities as they demand action from the
government.
We speak to former Sky News presenter
Derma Mahhan about his prostate cancer
diagnosis and the importance of getting
checked.
>> I kept thinking, okay, well, you know, I
get round to it. life intervenes, jobs,
children, holiday, all kinds of things.
And I never did.
Also ahead, household bills to rise more
than expected this winter as the energy
price cap increases. Plus,
from skateboarding dogs, look at him go,
to dunking biscuits, Guinness World
Records is celebrating its 70th, wait
for it, anniversary, highlighting
unclaimed titles. still up for grabs.
Plus, live scenes from near Valencia Bun
where they're painting the town red.
Thousands taking part in the 80th
anniversary of Spain's famous tomato
frank festival.
Very good afternoon to you. Breaking
news in the last hour. A conservative
member of the Scottish Parliament has
defected to the Reform Party, becoming
Nigel Farage's first politician at
Hollywood. Announcing the news, Graeme
Simpson said it was an enormous wrench
to leave the party he joined at the age
of 15. But he said it's time to bring
change to Scotland.
I've joined reform because we have the
chance to create something new,
exciting, and lasting that puts the
needs of people over the system that
asks what is going wrong and how we can
fix it. The S&P was first elected to
power in 2007. So, next year will mark
19 years of failure in health,
education, and transport. Somehow, we
need to remove them from office, and
reform can help to do that. Scotland
needs fresh thinking, new ideas, and I
hope to be at the heart of helping
reform shape that offer to the people
next year with policies drawn up in
Scotland for Scotland and designed to
fix the mess that we're in. And that's
why I'm joining now and not later.
Well, polling carried out by Yug for Sky
News and the Times shows that Labor has
slumped to a low of 20% in the opinion
polls. It shows reform UK in first with
28% of the share. Our political
correspondent Serena Barka Singh joins
us now. Serena Reform riding on a high
and also adding new members to its
operation.
>> Yeah, this is a significant defection.
He's not a well-known uh name, but he is
a member of the Scottish Parliament and
has been since 2016. So, he's the
party's first uh MSP for reform. now and
it's a bit of an odd way to accumulate
uh members and politicians not through
elections but through defections but I
think that's a sign of the times this is
what reform have been uh doing
particularly looking for those uh
conservative uh defections now Graham
Simpson says it's not purely about
keeping his job there's Hollywood
elections next May he said he was
already going to step down as a
conservative but now will stand for
reform uh but questions around jobs for
defections have arisen in the past. Now,
just briefly give you some context.
Reform did have an MSP before the 2021
Scottish elections, but now Graeme
Simpson will become the only one out of
a hundred or so. So that is uh
significance but politically uh
obviously uh it's a big blow for the
tries the Scottish tries particularly
and a huge cue for Nigel Farage who as
you can see was with uh Graeme Simpson
earlier uh today whilst he was making
this speech and Graham Simpson said
there was some soularching that he had
to do. this was one of the reasons he
felt uh he had to uh uh defect but also
said that Scotland needed a new
right-wing party that constitutional
battles had essentially got in the way
of politics. He's speaking of course
about uh independence battles. Now
inside reform strategists see both
elections in Wales and Scotland as a
sort of a step on the way to a general
election. So next year is looking
crucial for them and these kind of
defections are little uh stepping stones
on the way to that. So not a massive
name today but a prominent defection uh
in that this is the first time an MSP uh
is uh in the reform party at the moment.
The question for reform is now how do
they build that up? Could there be uh
more uh Tory defections or even from
other parties and how can uh how can
they build on that? Will there be others
who could move with him?
>> Serena joining us live from Westminster.
Thank you so much. Well, in the past
half hour or so, Nigel Farage has been
speaking in Scotland Livingston and has
wrote back uh to some degree on
deportation policies for women and
girls. He said that it wasn't the plan
in the first five years of the policy.
He's been questioned by reporters and
correspondents and he said he was very
very clear yesterday in what I said that
the deportation of illegal immigrants
going on though to say we're not even
discussing women and children on this
stage there are so many illegal males in
Britain and the news reports sent after
the conference yesterday that pretty
blockbuster conference yesterday were
wrong says Nigel Farage questioned then
by a reporter from channel 4. So are
women and children exempt? I didn't say
exempt forever, says Nigel Farage, but
at this stage that is not part of our
plan for the next five years. So a
softening, it appears to be from the
reform UK leader on deportation
policies. He said it wasn't in the plan
for the first 5 years of that policy.
We'll bring you more details, more
clarification, more reaction to that as
we get it. Uh check out the Politics Hub
blog on the Sky News app for all the
latest political interaction and news.
We'll bring you more in the coming
hours.
A warning today, meanwhile, that more
than 6 million new cancer cases could be
diagnosed in England in the next 15
years. The equivalent of one person
being told they have the disease every 2
minutes. That's the claim from a
coalition of more than 60 charities who
are calling on the government to commit
to a range of measures, including
earlier diagnosis and better support for
patients. Laura Bundock has more.
Today, 29year-old Josh Kull can walk and
>> The NHS allowed me to survive cancer,
helping as many people as possible, but
>> That's why Josh is backing a coalition
Premier League of Cancer Survival. Uh, a