Watch again: Sky News Breakfast - Saturday 25th May 2024

Hello, good morning, it's 7:00 and we are already in the program. We are talking about the cost of living occupying a central place in the electoral campaign. We will be joined by Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones. There are no major events planned for the Prime Minister. Today, as the Conservatives face a record-breaking exodus of MPs as Ipswich owner flies to the UK from the US in a bid to convince coach Kira McKenna to stay amid Manchester interest United in Chelsea, it's Saturday May 25, the Conservatives and Labor will fight for the economy as the election campaign enters its first weekend.

Bry Sunak will seek to divert MP attention from his Exodus party, which now includes veteran cabinet minister Michael Gove, and push for a complete ban on under-16s owning smartphones, as MPs warn. on the harm of screen time China says it has concluded two days of war games in Taiwan after warning that those who play with fire will burn the cost of life even in death how the most basic funerals are proving too much expensive for families morning and In sport, it is a big day of football in both England and Scotland at Wembley. Manchester United will face rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final, while at Hamton Park Celtic will face r in the Scottish Cup final.

Hello, good morning and welcome to Sky News Breakfast. The election campaign is entering its first weekend with the economy and the cost of living taking center stage. Today, the Conservatives will seek to divert focus from what is now a record exodus of MPs that includes some of their most recognizable faces, as well as Housing Secretary Michael Gove. and Andrea leom are the latest additions to those who will not appear on the 4th of July. They join former Prime Minister Theresa May. Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace two former chancellors Nadim no two three Nadim zahari Sajid Javid and quasi quaten then there is the first.

Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Rob and former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, well, let's bring in our political correspondent Mark Cohen, who's here and, um, this is not a good look for Rishi Sunak. I guess there are so many Tori parliamentarians who decide to retire in the elections. much of the party chooses not to stand

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and although people decide not to stand for all sorts of reasons, the raw numbers tell a story. Our hard-working team have put together a spreadsheet that tells us that the number of Conservatives not standing

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in this election is 78, or 22%, compared to Labor MPs, just 10%, and the average age Of those Conservatives is much younger than that of the Labor Party, people throw in the towel to pursue other careers and the most important one so far, of course, Michael Gove, such a central character. figure in Conservative politics for the last 20 years, whether being an early modernizer around David Cameron, Brexit, Boris Johnson's betrayal, helping Boris Johnson become Prime Minister again, the whole Tory psychodrama of The last 20 years have had Michael at the center. and he has been a truly reformist minister.

I think there will be a lot of interest in what he does next, but why don't they show up again? Are you listening to what Theresa May, who is also not standing again, told you in the House of Commons Yesterday I spent 13 years in opposition, that's not something you want to do, you'd think Richy Sonak would be out there trying to deflect the focus of that today, but he doesn't have any big campaign events planned, no, I had a hectic couple of days visiting everyone for the UK's Four Corners. Today he has a

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meeting with veterans from his constituency, but he doesn't have much planned after that and yes, these campaigns take a while to ramp up, but The Guardian reports today that he is taking a DAT to meet his closest advisor, which which suggests that perhaps a bit of a reset is on the cards after, of course, that rain-soaked election announcement in Downing Street and then some criticism of his campaigning yesterday I asked the Conservatives why he's not doing campaign today but it seems a bit strange at first yeah let us know what they say and in the meantime what will the Labor Party be focusing on to get K Starma in the West Midlands um today and their campaign is very much focused on the economy, with Rachel Reeves on the front page of the Daily Mail, who is not traditionally a fan of the Labor Party and says, Daily Mail readers, I believe in sound money, which you can trust.

We're not going to give her finances to the arsonists, she says it's the Tories who burned the house down to the matchbox now, they're obviously combining that with a Boris Johnson article telling people not to believe what they say. unions, but it is certainly interesting that they have given it such prominent coverage and this is a clear argument for the Middle England Conservatives to become Labour. Well, tomorrow we will have a lot of political reaction through today's program, we will hear from many of the main parties. for the moment, thank you very much, in fact an MPS report now recommends that the next government consider a complete ban on under-16s owning smartphones.

The commons education committee also called for a legal ban on mobile phones in schools much earlier. I spoke to Ellen Room, who campaigning for parents to get access to Children's social media after the loss of her son, she supports a proposed ban, but believes more could be done. You know, Jules wasn't supposed to have his phone on, but he would text me that day and tell me what. Are you doing on your phone? Leave it, you know, and I think they don't need it in school, that should be absolutely prohibited. I think there is a bigger problem than simply banning access to those under 16 because they still have access to other devices.

Um and I think it's a bigger issue that we need to control what's displayed on these devices and social media and other websites that they have access to. It's shocking what a child can see these days. Well, Rachel Venables is here with us this morning. and it's a really interesting message isn't it that the um select committee is posting today suggesting that under 16s simply don't have access to smartphones. They have absolutely gone quite far. I think his recommendations for the next government, whoever the next one is. Government is, of course, we know that children are harmed by excessive addiction to screen time on social media, but this education committee report has concluded that the risks associated with things like mobile phones do not outweigh the benefits and I think that's a really key line of In this report they said that spending too much time on their phones can affect young people's memory, their concentration, their attention span, as well as exposing them to really dangerous things like pornography, violence and the risk of groov, which is why this MPS group recommends REM. that the next government will consider a complete ban on phones for under 16s, as well as a complete ban on mobile phones and schools remember that a couple of months ago the department of education issued guidance for principals prohibiting the use of mobile phones throughout the school day, but this would take things much further and they are also talking to this group of MPs about the government.

Consulting on raising the age of digital consent, so to speak, raising the age at which children can access social media sites from 13 to 16 now. Your report turned up a number of really interesting facts and figures that I think we should discuss now. They found, for example, that there has been a pretty steep 52% ​​increase in children's screen time between 2020 and, of course, the pandemic and two years. Later in 2022 they also say that almost a quarter of 25% of children and young people use their smartphones in a way consistent with addictive behavior. They now also find in terms of ages that one in five children between three and four years old has their own mobile phone and that increases to one in four children by the age of eight and almost all children by the age of 12. , but as you discovered this morning when speaking to Ellen Room earlier, there has been a strong reaction to this with the nspcc even saying that while they recommend more be done on this to support teachers and parents, they say a ban A general ban on smartphones and social media for those under 16 would be a blunt instrument that they said would likely leave unintended consequences that would let tech companies off the hook.

Some people say social media companies actually technology companies need to do more to keep children safe others say children should still be able to use this technology because it is fundamental to everyday life yes it is certainly sparking a debate. "Not so, thank you very much, Rachel. Now China says it has concluded two days of war games in Taiwan that included simulated bomber attacks. Beijing characterized the exercises as punishment, while Taiwan insists it will not be intimidated by the Chinese pressure. Chinese military exercises throughout the country. of US Representatives Nancy Pelosi to the island, those exercises simulated a blockade of Taiwan, but China's military described this week's exercises as a simulation of how to seize power on the island China also surrounded a series. of islands administered by Taiwan.

We are now joined by Cordelia Lynch, Sky's Asia correspondent, who is in the Taiwanese city of Kilg um Cordelia in the morning, to tell us a little about what has happened. happening in the last few days and where we are now. Good morning to you Anna, well you would be forgiven for not thinking that there were two days of Chinese war games that Taiwan had so opposed because then you could listen and look around, there is actually a music concert here , people are just going about their normal lives, but the rhetorical grandstanding between Taipei and Beijing has been very intense and I think what's distinctive about what we've seen over the last two days. is that China gave very little notice this time before, they have been blockade rehearsals and they have given a day's notice this time these were drills for an invasion and they gave Taipe only 45 minutes notice and we saw the planes and ships surrounding effectively to Taiwan now this arrives 3 days after Ling, the president, uh, took the oath of power, uh, and Beijing sees him as a separatist, they say that these exercises were punishment for the language he used in his speech inauguration when he said that neither side of the Taiwan Strait is now subordinate to each other, Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan, something that the new leader and indeed the previous leader reject and I think what we are seeing now is a Quite a tense moment and a great test for the new president, who is also trying to evaluate. exactly how to play this now because there are many chances to make a misstep.

I think it would be interesting to spend the day here trying to gauge public opinion because the diplomatic optics on a global level have caused a lot of alarm, but this is a place that has become accustomed to a lot of harsh words and the Specter, of course, of these military exercises , now right behind me. There are two naval ships in this place called keong. This is home to a naval base and in fact this is the closest China ever got. to Taiwan some planes yesterday just 74 km from here, so it certainly feels like it's getting closer, but both sides want to keep it, you know, militarily at bay, for now at least Cordelia, thank you very much, in fact, thank you , now it's time to have a view of Labor this morning Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, of the Labor Party, is here with me this morning.

It's unusual to see anyone in person on a Saturday morning in Westminster, but it's good to have you here with us, it's an election campaign so I want to start by talking about the number of Conservative MPs choosing to leave the party before the general election , the number has now exceeded the number that left in 1997 when Tony Blair of course came to power, does that mean you wait? a similar result in this election uh well I mean I think Tori MPS will probably leave because they have no confidence in rishy sunak or the conservatives plans for the future and that's why we say this election is a swing election that you can have five more years of chaos with the conservative party, who will be your secretary of state?

Who will be your prime minister if you win theseelections? or you can have stability with Labor with K. St. Rachel Reeves and myself, but do you think the numbers going indicate that you are ready for a big victory. Well, look, we are working hard in every electoral district in the country. I think you've already seen it on television and we're going to try to win as much as possible. As many seats as we can, today we saw it on the front page of the Daily Mail, the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, writing an article, getting front page coverage, this is a Conservative support

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paper seeking to speak to middle England, just like central England.

I still need to be convinced of the message she is spreading that she won't go crazy spending well. Look, the Labor Party is a party that seeks to govern for the whole country on behalf of everyone's interests, so it's fantastic that we are being given front-page coverage in all different types of

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papers with different readers in throughout the country, but the central message is that economic stability is the first promise. An incoming Labor government will never play lightly with either public finances or family finances. The way it has happened in recent years, on average, families are now almost £6,000 worse off a year compared to 2019 due to the Tory chaos - but do you still need convincing?

Do you still need to convince her? she said. We saw in the headline that she doesn't want to return the matches to the arsonist who burned down the house, but are you sure you've convinced people that you're not the arsenalist in the first place? We are definitely not the arsonist, the arsonist, there are conservatives, well, when you left office last time you left with very little money left. I've said before that I'd be very happy to compare the books from when Labor left office in 2010 with the books now that the country was in a much fitter state, uh in The End of the Last Labor Government, but look, this is a election campaign.

We're talking to every voter in every congressional district across the country. Polls suggest people have more confidence in the Labor Party than the Conservatives, who can be trusted on the economy. I think Rachel Reeves would be a better Chancellor than the current Chancellor. Obviously I agree with those things, but we have to continue to make that argument and continue to earn the trust and support of the voters and that's what we're going to do every hour. every day of this campaign for the next six weeks because a lot of people will hear K sta launching the campaign talking about what he wants to do for the country he talked about, meaning that he wants to make changes for the people waiting in the shopping carts. sewage and our Rivers talked about practically unpunished crimes, so how can lives be improved without spending money?

Well, look, the first thing is in terms of cash, we spend a lot of money every year. People know that, because they pay a lot of taxes, there is really a question is how to spend that and how to spend it better but, of course, there are regulations, there is legislation and there are reforms of Public Services; essentially you need a government that has the energy to want to address some of these issues and achieve The country's return to normality after 14 years of The toies. Who have clearly run out of steam and are leaving out the stage right door so you feel like you can do more when the economy allows.

So what is your top priority? Well, our main priority is our six. first steps to, but if things you can't afford to do now, but if the economy recovers and that allows what is your top priority, then tuition fees, for example, that you are not eliminating, would be a top priority for To recommit to that well, we have had to make a decision right now on tuition rates that they will have to stay. We can't rule them out because of the state of the economy, but our six First Steps are called Firsts. The steps because they lead towards our missions, so our overall missions will take time to achieve, one is sustained economic growth, another is to eliminate not only the backlog in the NHS but also to reform the system, so our money will go when we do for the economy to grow.

We will launch public service reform trying to keep taxes as low as possible for workers and get the country back on track. I'm just trying to get to those things you can't afford to do right now, the two kids. Also the benefit cap, for example, would be a priority if money allowed in the future. It is the sort of thing the Labor Party would like to change in the future. Yes, but our first priority has to be economic stability with strict spending rules due to the fiscal inheritance we will have from the conservatives if we win the elections and then getting the country back on track we are under no illusions that the inheritance if we win these elections It will be really very difficult and it will take some time to be able to change things, but our long-term missions, our plans for a decade of national renewal, starting with that economic stability and not playing fast and loose with public finances is the beginning of what What will happen if the elections are won in July.

Time is running out, but I have a couple more questions I want to ask you. The Times reports today that he is looking to introduce votes for 16- and 17-year-olds in his first year in office. Manifesto commitment You will have to wait for the manifesto. I'll give us a clue. I will be fired if I tell you what's in the manifesto now, before it's released. I'll be out of work. It'll be a couple of weeks and you'll see the full Manifesto when it's released, so it looks like it's going to be available and I'm not the one answering the question.

I'm afraid you'll have to wait to see what the manifesto is. Well, me. I hope you answer this question Jeremy Corbin is not going to quietly contest his seat against the Labor candidate in his north London constituency Are you worried about him winning? Look, Jeremy running as an independent is a symbol of the fact that Jeremy Corbin is a Unfortunately, a part of Labour's past is not part of the future of the Labor Party. We have a brilliant Labor candidate in the north of England in Islington, who is going to work very hard to win the support of voters there and we want to win in Islington North as we do in all seats across the country, if Jeremy Corbin wins, How much trouble will it be for K St?

As an aside, I think we'll see what the election results are on election night, but we'll work hard to win with Pre as our Labor candidate in North Lington on July 4th. Well, Darren Jones, we appreciate you coming. Thank you so much. In fact, thank you. We have a very busy morning ahead of us in just under an hour. I will also speak to City Minister Bim Aalami, who is in At 8:15 and after 9:00, Liberal Democrat environmental spokesman and former party leader Tim Faren will explain his plan to crack down on the water companies, so there will be a lot more politics to come here too on the

breakfast

show of the UN's highest court. has ordered Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza, we will talk to a human rights lawyer about what happens next and also Jackie will return and they will tell us about two major league players who have moved to Saudi Arabia and how many follow more Sky News is getting ready to move to the election Hi, yeah, okay mate, how's it going, sorry, come on, come on, is this a joke, it's about the Beetle or something.

We're going to have maps there, graphs there and more data there as they feel the pressure that you have to squeeze and you can do it. We're both gone, oh God, I'm not kidding, we're not okay. night, yes I think we can work with this, this place will be our home on Election Night Live and we will be ready to bring you the full story first here on Sky News, every year we do a census of about a thousand people, actually Ask them about their habits and in fact, we included that you know what your habit is in terms of drinking tea, when you drink tea and in fact, we found that people aged 30 to 45 are the ones who actually turn to tea the most. alcohol which is sometimes or frequently and which can be in a home situation. 73% of people say tea is better at home, so these are also people with busy lives who know they really want something to cheer me up.

There are many teas out there. We have purchased a variety of teas here. What do you have? We have some black teas. Mainly black teas. About 70% of the tea drunk in this country is actually blended black tea. 70% of that actually comes from East Africa, so tea, when it first came to this country around the year 1600, was actually green and was actually drunk as a tonic as a health drink, which the Most people don't realize that there are actually no tannins in tea. It's a very lazy methodology to name, okay, so we actually call them polyphenols. In fact, there is a group of these called flavan toles.

Don't worry about the long and complicated name. Literally last year in the US the Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition came out with a daily guideline for actually 400 to 600 milligrams, you're putting milk in it, yeah, just a tiny bit for me, so basically if you're consuming 400 to 600 milligrams of flaven 3 in a day, that is good for cardiometabolic health, in that case that reduces cardiovascular risk. disease, reduced risk of stroke, reduced risk of diabetes, it's hydrating, so actually 27% of people turn to tea before or after exercising and in fact, hydration is really important because a loss of 2% in hydration status actually affects your physical and cognitive state.

The performance is so confusing that we need to stay hydrated, but in reality tea has all the hydrating properties of water. Tea is as hydrating as six cups of water, but has all the other countless health benefits. Tea actually has the right amount of caffeine. it has caffeine it has the right amount of caffeine you have water you have wool you have some fluoride which is good for our pearly whites so it doesn't dehydrate and in fact you can drink tea all day long and it won't affect your sleep, very nice, It's quite mild, in fact, if you look at the tea you're drinking, there are two main types of tea, one originating from China, it has quite small leaves, another originating from Assam, sort of from central Africa, central India.

They actually have quite a bit higher phenolic compounds, so Earl Gry is quite subtle and nice with a hint of bergam, so Jackie last weekend I was talking to you this time last weekend, you were in Riyadh, in a very hot Riad, before the fight, the great yck Fury. The fight was incredible, yes, yes, and absolutely incredible, what a fascinating place, yes, and well, exactly, and you passed, no, you didn't stay, weren't you just covering a fight?, you came into contact with many athletes, well, they have done it. They've been accused of sportswashing, you know, they've gotten so many big sporting events that it was interesting to see their take on it.

What do you think? Come in, get to know the football clubs and see what their lifestyle is like because a lot of players left last summer to go play in Saudi Arabia and I don't think anyone saw that kind of Blitz coming against big-name players to improve their league and I think there will also be another Exodus this summer. Well, and I think even though the quality of football is not up to par with the Premier League and some of the crowds are very small, you know the money far outweighs it for these players and they have this great lifestyle where there really is no pressure.

They're constantly hounded by the media because they know how well or how badly they've played, they get a huge paycheck at the end of the day and they have this amazing work/life balance, they're teams, so I caught up a little bit. with Alexander. Mitrovic, who was a real star player at Fulham and left to go to Al Hillal, and Ruben NZ, equally a star player at Wolves, who also left for a lot of money to Al Hillal, helped them win the league, which who made the transition a lot. better and they are winning games and absolutely thrashing Ronaldo's team, let's take a look 23 players swapped the Premier League for the Saudi professional league last summer Alexand Mitrovic was one of them, the striker is reported to earn over £400,000 a week in alhilal in Riyad It is 42 million in two years in which he settled, but it is a big change compared to Fulham.

Different culture. Different football. He is believed to earn six times his wolf salary and has also adopted a different lifestyle from Europe to here because of the climate, of course, I like it because I can spend the day at home relaxing, I can take the kids to school, I can pick them up. After school, then I can hang out with them a little bit before coming to train. It helped me that Alhilal won the league title without losing a game. Mitovich has scored 36 goals and is the second top scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo. Well we had a seasonincredible.

So far I think we have only had one defeat and we are creating history by fighting for many trophies and one of the reasons why I came here is also that you want to win trophies, you want to win the games, you want to score goals, but Jordan. Henderson lasted less than six months at Steven Gerard's Club. Al eifac mraovic admits that it takes a little time to adapt to the Heat and that players who have left their home countries before may find it easier. He's gotten calls from a lot of players who want a lot of players coming from Europe, you know, they call and ask how they can get here and they start looking, you're really getting PA, trust me and yes, yes, Moala would like to be here of course. , to all players. is the quality of Salah is very welcome to the league uh this season uh we can already see that the league is improving a lot and I think that next season and the next two will be even more soccer is the number one sport in this country in 80 % of the population follows him and they are the only bidder for the 2034 World Cup they are hugely ambitious for this league the players are treated well expect more to follow mitrovich and Nees here in the summer both were missed by their former clubs Fulham and Wolves at the end of this season, but neither Mitrovic nor Nees have any plans to return, they are clearly having a great time, but one wonders if they will miss.

I know there's more pressure with the Premier League in this country, for example, but do some people thrive on that kind of attention and concentration and absolutely enjoy the pressure? Would you know that they both said they think the Premier League is the best league in the world and you know it is in terms of you? I know that on his day any team can be any team, it's not just that four teams dominate all the others like other leagues are, so they recognize that that is the best league in the world where the best players play, but he said, you know that we can. compare the Saudi league with other European leagues but they have been far from it now they are like in deep down how do you really know that both have been selected for their countries for the Euros?

That's interesting, it's not that their level hasn't gone down, so let's see how they do when they come out of the Euro Cup and we're playing European football, yes, again, but yes, you would have thought that the best players wanted to play in the best league and play in the Champions League and win them all when all those trophies you know like Manchester City do. but you still think there are a good number. Maybe it's next. I think you know a lot of players who think well. I have reached my peak. I've been in this club for a few years.

I'm not going to do more. with this club I can also go for cash and I think it's a lot of cash it's a lot it's a lot of cash um yeah, Manchester City has a lot of cash uh yeah and Celtic and a lot of success and Celtic probably less The cash , uh, could complete the league and cup double today. Preparation for the FA Cup and Scottish Cup finals is underway below, plus the latest on the rounds from end-of-season manager Mero, will Kiera McKenna stay at the IP switch and is the company of Vincent moving towards a move to Bayern Munich and we'll bring you the latest from the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

Leis Hamilton wearing this suit when he arrived at the track yesterday, not even sure what he is. We will show you a dramatic near miss in Formula 2 qualifying only. It could get away with that breakfast welcome now that Israel says it will defy a U.N. Supreme Court order to halt military operations in the southern Gaza town of Rafa and allow in humanitarian aid, so That whatever happens next, joining me now is human. Human rights lawyer Jeffrey Nice, who was former Yugoslav president Slobodan Mosovich's chief prosecutor. Very good days. Thank you very much for speaking with us here this morning.

Then the International Court of Justice, the ICJ, ordered Israel to stop its army. offensive in the southern city of Rafa, how significant is a move that by the court is very significant for a number of reasons, first of all because of the instant conflict, adds pressure on Israel to behave in a way that is legal or It is potentially legal and adds great pressure on countries like the United States and Britain who have supported Israel to the extent that they have done so despite criticism to add weight to the criticism they are making and possibly increase effective sanctions or not that they can impose more on Israel.

Overall, it is extremely important because it shows that at last the international legal system, which is incomplete and may not achieve much, is doing what it can both in this court, the international court of justice, which is not a court penal, as in the one that deals only with the States. on state issues and also in the international criminal court that issued arrest warrants against five people a week ago, so it is a very important measure in general, it is yet to be discovered if it will have an immediate medium or long term effect on this conflict .

Well, yes, because Israel says they will defy the order, they say their military operations in Gaza are in self-defense, and they have made clear that the Rafer offensive is key to defeating Hamus after the October 7 attack, so can they just ignore this order if they decide to do so? Yes, they can, they have ignored orders from the International Court of Justice in the past and, as much as the world as a whole has disapproved, they got their way, for example with respect to the construction of the wall in the West Bank. Yes, they don't have to do anything, but I think it's very important that we all recognize how things have changed over the decades since war crimes tribunals and international war tribunals became effective because What happened, I think, others may think differently.

Public opinion has moved and is now favoring the idea of ​​international judicial determination of criminality in conflicts and, as it has moved, the courts have been catching up or moving in parallel and demonstrating that they are prepared to do the little they can. do to affect conflicts that are happening at the same time or to stop future conflicts and the more these two things happen in parallel, the more governments have to respond, they have to respond to public opinion because in democracies they are voted on by the public has They have to respond to the courts that make decisions because if they don't they are seen as acting outside the rule of law and could join the pariah state that happens to countries that completely ignore the law, so yes, it is a Un very good and important development and I think we must also take into account that conflicts of all kinds, this one in Russia, Ukraine, are the result of the total failure of politicians.

Wars don't happen because people say that in World War I, in World War II. They wanted to go out and die by the millions, they were killed by the millions because the politicians on both sides of a conflict and those in general who could have done something to stop the conflict have failed and that is why those people were about to die from wounds that they 'seen to politicians fail, they can say to themselves, look, here is an international court or a couple of international courts doing what they can, no matter how limited, they are made up of people who have no job satisfaction except doing what they are told. has asked. look at the evidence and decide what comes next from your examination of the evidence and, frankly, we, the public, will turn to that body because it might do something that the politicians haven't been able to do, so it's all pretty important.

I think well, Jeffrey, that's nice, we really appreciate it. Your time and thoughts on this topic. Thank you very much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it. You are welcome. Now Jackie is back. With all the day of sports and the big day of football. Do you remember when we were little? You'd like to rush to

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the FA Cup final. It was a big problem in our house. It was like a real family occasion. Great tribune. I'm not going to be in a hurry today. Two teams from Manchester play. I could take a look.

Although, you know, can Manchester City do the double double? But can Manchester United salvage something from a really disappointing season? It's kind of interesting and yesterday there were rumors that Eric ten hog could be fired even if they win, so, that's interesting. Even if they win it, I do, I feel a little bit sorry for him. It's been a bit of a rough ride this morning this season, but let's take a look at the build-up this Sky News sports bulletin brings. to you for Vitality making more people more active live life with Vitality you're going to run, jump on the board and try to stick it on your glue like this, how have you found retirement in general?

Retirement has been a really difficult road, I think it is. We all had a lot of conversations with high level athletes and I think this is a period of discovering who Nilo is, he just exists, I have a great life, I have amazing people around me and Every day is a discovery. In my own self-awareness, for the most part, I simply put my mental health at the forefront of my priority. I seem to be doing much better. Without a doubt, in the last six months something has changed. How do you think you're doing? better in the last six months I was brave and disciplined enough to go, you know, I don't really like the person I am when my bad behavior is acting out or I'm having my own little pity party and upset because I still want to play sports You know, I just thought I'd take control of that and do the things that I know were good for my mental well-being being a particularly male athlete.

We are considered Alpha and strong and we have the answers and we are warriors who feel depressed, anxious, who have addiction issues, they were really scary times in my life and I certainly didn't feel the latter and all those feelings. and I think it's pretty powerful for a male athlete to come out and talk about this and in talking I felt like in the darkest and deepest moments all I needed was someone to speak my language, they would go one at a time when I said "go away" and then you walk to the end of the line.

Do we understand? I was certainly one of those people who didn't necessarily believe in what you know what mental health and depression was. You know he was an outgoing, positive guy. a successful guy and I thought you could sell the self-talk to achieve a positive life, you know, when depression hits me in the face, obviously that's not the case and it's a scary and lonely time, obviously you had a neck injury very serious. What effect can that have on an athlete? That sure takes its toll mentally and certainly my neck injury led me to end my career, but I think it also changed who I was as a physical athlete, you know, I realized how.

I very much lean my definition of myself on my physical capabilities, you know, if things were going really well in the gym and I was brilliantly winning gold medals, if I got injured or things weren't going so well then I would just crash into soil. I've also spoken quite openly about drinking and gambling, when you look back on your relationship with them it's almost like looking at a different person. I have learned the hardware that mental health and addiction are very, very closely aligned. Best of all, they are the best of friends, and unfortunately, we start using things like alcohol and gambling to escape our own feelings.

I look back and having overcome everything, it is now my power and self-awareness for anyone. Who is fighting? Who doesn't know what they're going through? It feels a little different. What would you tell them? You're going to get through this. Everything will be fine. You can do it. You know what I mean? I've done it, plenty of other people have done it and talking is the first place to start. I think you know, one day at a time and you understand this, obviously, we're in the Olympic year, there's going to be a lot of people. those in I know yours happened in the Commonwealth but there will be a lot of people who will become famous overnight, yes their lives are going to change, the next thing will go up, they will get paid more, yes it happened to you. and I think it changed your life.

What advice would you give to any young athlete who is about to succeed? We are going to see performances that will leave everyone speechless. You know, but why in the combination of all that? talk about what comes next you don't want it's too exciting I think my book and what I want to talk about is that there is an after I didn't think it was there I didn't think it was there that there is an after and most likely you will experience a little accident my advice is not necessarily my advice more than a statement it's just so that everyone remembers you more than what you go through 3 2 1 go for me it was like it was pure, it was pure adrenaline, pure passion for those last 200 cubic feet of the morning free.

My parents and fiancé came to my hotel and asked me how I felt about this Sky News sports bulletin, presented by Vitality. To come here at break to show, come onthe US in an attempt to convince manager Kieran McKenna to stay. Amid interest from Manchester United and Chelsea, it's Saturday May 25, the Conservatives and Labor will fight over the economy as the election campaign enters its first weekend. Richie Sunak will seek to divert MP attention from his Exodus party, which now includes a veteran cabinet minister. Michael pushes for outright ban on under-16s owning smartphones as MPs warn of harm of screen time China says it has concluded two days of war games in Taiwan after warning those who play with fire They will burn for the cost of living. even in death, how the most basic funerals are proving too costly for grieving families, it's a big day of football in both England and Scotland at Wembley.

Manchester United face rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final, while at Hampton Park Celtic face Rangers in the FA Cup final. Scottish Cup Final Hello, good morning, thank you for joining us here for Sky News Breakfast. Our top story here today. The election campaign is entering its first weekend with the economy and the cost of living taking center stage. Today the conservatives will seek to divert the focus. In what is now a record exodus from MPS that includes some of its most recognizable faces, Housing Secretary Michael Gove and Andrea Isum, are the latest additions to those who will not turn up on July 4, join the former Prime Minister Theresa May.

Former defense secretary Ben Wallace, three former chancellors Nadin zahawi Sajid Javid and quasi quaten, then there is former deputy prime minister Dominic Rob and former health secretary Matt Hancock. Well, let's bring in our iCal correspondent, Tomara Cohen, and there are a lot of Tor MPs that I've decided to go, is it more than usual? Oh, absolutely, we did it. 78 Conservative MPs resign, that's 22% of the total, compared to Labor MPs, only 10% and this is more conservative now than in 1997 and although people are leaving for a There are several reasons why it is interesting that First of all, the average age of conservatives leaving office is much lower than the working age.

These are not people retiring at the end of a long career, some of them are quite young and there are some big names too. people like Michael Gove surprised everyone by saying yesterday that he was not going to return to a seat with a majority of 18,000. He has been a minister who has really revolutionized things in all the departments he has been in. He is only 56 years old, as you might imagine. he might feel there are a few more years left and there is a sense that many big beasts are throwing in the towel, well yes, and what is the Prime Minister likely to do about it today?

He hasn't had a very full day of campaigning. The Conservatives have angrily denied Labor's claims that he will have a duvet day today. He's doing an event today, having breakfast with veterans in his constituency, this morning and then nothing afterwards. He's obviously had a hectic couple of days traveling to the four corners of the UK, receiving some criticism for appearing at the Titanic shipyard yesterday, where a journalist asked him if his campaign was a sinking ship. Tor says he's done 51 interviews since this campaign started the campaigns are flowing, we're only on day three, um, but yeah, he's not doing much campaigning today, we'll see if he steps it up tomorrow with lots of public appearances, um, he's meeting with him, him, him, him, him, him, him, him, he, he, he, he, he, he, he advisors all the time say claims in the Guardian newspaper that he's in talks with them today and he's having some sort of reset or moving away from the brand so we'll see if he gets back on track tomorrow um and of course he got front and center of this campaign, he's not far behind and he makes relatively few interventions, he wants to do all the debates, he wants to do all the appearances and so it seems like he's taking a step back today, but I think.

We'll have to see in the next few days if that becomes an issue, so what work do you have today, so labors, K Starma is out of the house today and I think the main one of her, they are absolutely delighted this morning that Rachel . Reeves got front page coverage in the Daily Mail with an article saying you can trust me to keep your money safe. I believe in sound money and they have an article in the Daily Mail that says the Tories are the arsonists who are far from the economy and we won't give the keys back to those who burned down the house, although they have an article by Boris Johnson that says that Workers can't be trusted with people's finances and there are many unanswered questions about taxes.

It's notable that a conservative-supporting newspaper has given it such positive coverage, perhaps a sign that they can see where things are going well. Thank you very much, I will send you more information a little later tomorrow and we will also talk to the conservatives shortly. Meanwhile, although an MPS report recommends that the next government consider a complete ban on under-16s owning smartphones, the common education committee also called for a legal ban on mobile phones in schools and found that there have been a 52% increase in children's screens. Between 2020 and 2022, almost 25% of children and young people use their smartphones consistent with a behavioral addiction.

One in five children aged between three and four have their own mobile phone, rising to one in four children by age eight and almost all children by age 12. Much earlier I spoke to Ellen R, who is campaigning for parents to gain access to children's social media after the loss of their child, she supports banning phone use in schools, but is more reluctant. about a blanket ban on under 16s you know Jules wasn't supposed to have her phone on but she was texting me that day and saying what are you doing on your phone leave it you know and I don't think they need it.

In school that should be absolutely prohibited. I think there is a bigger problem than simply banning those under 16 because they still have access to other devices. And I think it's a bigger problem that we need to control what is displayed on these devices and on social media. media and other websites to which they have access to this shocking information about what a child can see these days a person has been arrested after clashes in northwest London between rival protesters at a rally to mark the death of the president Iranian Ibrahim Ricei regime supporters were confronted by opposition groups and the Met has issued this statement saying that a man was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder further investigations will now follow to establish what other crimes took place and identify those involved, the statement continues Saying four people were injured and treated by paramedics The injuries were not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing More than 300 people are feared dead in Papa New Guinea after a landslide devastated a remote village In the northern province of Anger, access to roads was blocked, making helicopters the only way to reach the area for search and rescue operations, a US judge rejected Ed Alec's beard Baldwin to dismiss the manslaughter charge he faces.

The actor's attorneys argued unsuccessfully that the grand jury process was biased against him. Baldwin pleaded not guilty to a shooting on the set of the western film Rusts Down in 20121 when a gun he was holding in rehearsals went off, killing a crew member. Now China says it has concluded two days of war games in Taiwan that included simulated bomber attacks. Beijing characterized the exercises as punishment, while Taiwan insists it will not be intimidated by Chinese pressure Chinese military exercises around the island of Taiwan are nothing new before this week, with the largest in recent years taking place in August 20122 in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to the island, and those exercises simulated a blockade of Taiwan, but China's military described this week's exercises as a simulation how to seize power on the island and China also surrounded several islands administered by Taiwan.

I'm joined now by Sky Asia correspondent Pilia Lynch, who is in Taiwanese kilo city, so pilia's exercises are not out of the ordinary for China in that area, but did they feel different? Yeah, I mean, military exercises in some form were expected. I think what's distinctive about this time is that there was less warning, they were given 45 minutes notice. About a day has passed by Beijing previously and there has also been a subtle change in language and rhetoric that does not refer to blockades but rather tests Beijing's ability to seize power: a simulated invasion with simulated missiles and we have seen planes and ships circling over Taiwan and the timing is critical, this is 3 3 days after the inauguration of the new president here, who Beijing has become very angry because they believe he is a separatist.

They don't like that in his speech he said that neither side of the Taiwan Strait was subordinate. each other now Beijing tried to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, so they see that as a direct shot in the arm and I think this is a sign of growing tension and a test for the new Taiwanese president. You say that the city of Kong here is where there is a naval base and it is the closest the Chinese have been in the last two days to Taiwan. There were planes about 74 kilometers from here, but I think it's important to note that Anna is taking The venue today is actually a music festival behind me, you might be able to make out some of the music from that and we've been talking to a lot of people, a lot of young people here and they seem pretty relaxed about what they've witnessed over the last few days they've gotten used to this threat.

They do not believe they are on the brink of war despite a gentle, subtle but significant shift in rhetoric. If you talk to some of the older people, although there is alarm, there is concern and they feel that they are on a kind of delicate collision course with China Cordelia, thank you very much, in fact, now that the election campaign is underway, let's see the opinion of the conservatives this morning, joining us now is the city minister, Bim aalami, very good morning to you, thank you very much. Thank you very much for speaking to us, so as we said, the election campaign is underway, but I just want to ask you what the Prime Minister is doing today.

We understand he's meeting some veterans first thing this morning in his constituency, but then taking a day off from the campaign is true, it sounds a bit surprising this early in the campaign, isn't it, it's not right, he's going to do campaign in Yorkshire. I think today he is fine, so he has many events planned. It is not like this? I know what he has planned, what I know, he is campaigning in Yorkshire today. Okay, well, we'll wait and see what events happen. So, um, let's talk about the start of the campaign. Can we and Ruth Davidson, who is the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives? uh, I published a post on Things can only get better.

She also tells of a visit to a brewery with a ttotal MP she talks about a visit to the site of something famous for sinking the Titanic, of course she asked if there is a double agent in cchq and if there was a titular writer in previous lives. Our candidates deserve better. Do you think he has a point? Look, huh. I think a lot of that stuff is nonsense, frankly, it doesn't particularly matter and look, Ruth has a very good sense of humour. I think the important thing is that we frame this election correctly because the important election for the British people is after the hardship. we've had with the covid energy support, you know, the government had to spend hundreds of billions of pounds to support people, which meant tough times, tough times for a lot of people, inflation has fallen back to 2.3 %, things are getting better in the economy, even if jobs are not.

It's not been made anymore and the choice now is what future do people want, they want a lower tax, higher growth, a more dynamic future of the Conservative party, which means you have a prosperous economy to pay for the public services we all want and we support, or You want a high tax, low growth future, dominated by the Union, with a job sector that hasn't really changed and a leader that changes everywhere now, that will be the choice before the British people. Well, well, it's interesting that you're introducing yourself. As thelow tax party when taxes are at their highest level in 70 years, well what I also said was that we had to spend hundreds of billions of pounds to support the country during covid, you know, thousands of my constituents who work in small businesses, you know, it supported the self-employed, a number of people, the Furlow scheme, all these things that meant that taxes in the middle of parliament had to go up, but once we got through that period and inflation went down , now is the time to We have shown in the last two fiscal events that the budget and the autumn statement cut taxes for workers, taking out a third of national insurance, it is around 900 for the average worker, which may not seem a lot for some people, but you know what for most.

My constituents, that is real money and we are going to continue in that vein, but making sure we do it responsibly and only with tax cuts that help grow the economy and increase the take-home pay of average people, that is the way forward. the one we find ourselves now. Jeremy What Hunt is talking about on the telegraph today about inheritance tax is that a Manifesto hints that he will reduce inheritance tax if he enters government. Look, you know the manifesto will come out when it comes out. We want to cut all our taxes, but our priorities.

We've made it clear that workers are making sure that workers are better off and making sure that we have tax cuts that help grow our economy because this is really important and it's often difficult because of course we want to cut all taxes, but we have to be responsible with debt, responsible with public finances and make sure our economy grows and we are on track to do that, as the IMF said the other day, the UK is in a good place. That appears to be a similar message to that of shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves. She has a front page of the Daily Mail, a conservative-supporting newspaper, um, and it seems like pretty sympathetic coverage there where she talks about her promise to never play fast and loose with her money.

What do you think of that, given that she is in a newspaper that would normally support your party's appearance? I am perfectly comfortable that it is perfectly legitimate and fair for every newspaper of any political persuasion to allow the Shadow Chancellor to put forward her case, I think. That's perfectly fine, all I would ask male readers and my mother is one of them, as I would say you really have to judge Rachel Reeves and the Labor Party by what is really in their hearts, their points of view. real view and this. This is the same Rachel Reeves who supported Jeremy Corbin to be Prime Minister This is the same shadow cabinet where several members voted to get rid of Al tried nuclear deterrence This is the same Labor party that wanted to nationalize everything that costs hundreds of thousands of millions of pounds Now that's fine, she can say what she wants now, but I think people are smart enough to look beyond that, and I think that will be the choice in this campaign.

What should people make of the fact that the number of Conservative MPs who have decided to resign now exceeds the number who did so before Tony Blair's big victory in 1997, including the current housing minister, Michael Gove, a long-serving cabinet minister, probably the highest-profile Tory MP to resign so far. I think what people should remove. It follows that there have been many Conservative MPs who were in their 50s and 60s who served for 20 to 30 years. John Redwood has served for over 30 years. I think in Parliament, for example, Michael served for 20 years, you know, it's reasonable. After people spend time doing one job for 20 or 30 years and get close to retirement, they choose to do something else, I think that's pretty good, that's fine and I think we have the right mix of experience, people like Jeremy Hunt, who have been in Parliament.

For a long time, a very experienced man as Chancellor and people like me, you know, a little younger, a little newer. I think that combination of experience is a lot, although isn't it? Actually, in percentage terms, it is lower than in 1997 because it was obviously 20%. I think we had a lot less MPS then than we do now, so of course if you had such a big win in 2019, it obviously feels like a bigger number, but look, I'm not going to keep talking about it, all I think is that the The vast majority of Conservative MPs are running again.

We are confident that once people are presented with a real option, we will do well and pass the polls. I would ask you to remember that this is not just some kind of spin, uh, of the s politician. 2017 was my first time in Hitchin as an MP in Hitchin and in 2017 I read a huge majority for Theresa, could we be 20? Jeremy Corbin's clear points did not happen and I think the British people, when it comes to elections, look and participate correctly and I am sure they will make the right decision and keep their votes. Well, Jim Aalami, we really appreciate your time, thank you very much for joining us here this morning, we appreciate it, so we've heard from Labor and the Conservatives this morning and just to let you know that after 9:00 the Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson and former party leader, Tim Faren, Now figures obtained by Sky News have revealed that most councils have seen an increase of almost a quarter in so-called popers or public health funerals between 2018 and 2023, according to the report , the so-called The cost of dying has reached a record level with an increasing number of families seeking urgent help from charities to be able to bury their loved ones.

Sky Melena Veselinovic reports that this was a handprint from Gemma when she passed away when Susan lost two loved ones in less than a year. there was no time to grieve the burden of trying to find £8,000 to pay for two funerals overshadowed the pain of losing his mother and younger sister just 10 months apart you feel like you've been cheated in some way because you know the approach Ha It's been like the cost of the funeral and it's not really what it should be like for your loved ones to have that time to grieve and it's like almost even now you're trying to catch up because of that grieving process, how do you feel about it all? the issue now?

Pretty annoying about having to try and find the money from other charities, but for those who have no way of finding the £4,000 a basic funeral costs, one option is a so-called porpus funded by the council or public health funeral figures sourced by SkyNews. a 23% increase in public health funerals in 5 years in almost two-thirds of English councils, with a much more careful eye on some areas such as Bournemouth Christ Church and Pool, where they increased by 387, and the London warren of Enfield , a 250% increase in public health funerals. They are basic there is no service there are no flowers in some cases family and friends are not even allowed to attend now most councils opt for a cremation but if there is a burial there is no headstone there is no Memorial I just pray Lord you know exactly that will work and will remove all the fear and anxiety in Burnley.

A pastor is trying to help families avoid that fate by paying for all the funerals his charity can afford for the neediest in his community; There must be a 50-fold increase from In the last two years, for us, people come who can't afford the funeral, uh, and it's really very sad, so you see more and more Court Corpus funerals, uh, but you don't get a proper service, you don't get the There's no music playing, so you can't have a proper funeral, but even with this basic farewell, more than half of the councils in England and Wales are probably not following the guidelines, according to research to be published next month with a charity behind it that says the guidelines.

There is also a need for improvement so we want to see minimum legal standards for Council funerals, Public Health funerals and we want that to include a requirement to have an attended funeral because unfortunately the legislation does not require the funeral to be attended but we think that friends of the family members of the community should be able to pay their respects if they wish, the local government association told us that the council seeks to ensure that the deceased receive a dignified funeral at minimal cost to the taxpayer, but to the poorest G on the loss of loved ones the cost of bites alive even in death melin Sky News there's a lot coming up here on the breakfast show uh in a moment we're going to talk to Jackie about two major league players who are they changed to Saudi Arabia and how else We may take a census of about a thousand people every year.

In fact, we asked them about their habits and we actually included that you know what your habit is in terms of drinking tea, when you drink tea and in fact we found that the um 30. People between 45 and 45 years old are the ones who they actually turn more to tea, away from alcohol, which is sometimes or often and which can occur in a home situation. 73% of people say tea is better at home and so are busy people. lives, you know you really want something that will cheer me up, there are a lot of teas out there, we have bought a variety of teas here, what do you have?

We have some black teas, mainly black teas, um, something like that. 70% of the tea drunk in this country is actually a blend of black tea, about 70% of that actually comes from East Africa, so when tea first arrived in this country around a year 1600 was actually green and was actually drunk as a tonic. a healthy drink that most people don't realize there are actually no tannins in tea, it's a very lazy methodology to name them, okay so we actually call them polyphenols, in fact there are a group of these so-called flavanols, don't worry about the long and complicated name, literally last year. um in the US the Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition published a daily guideline of between 400 and 600 milligrams of milk yeah just a tiny bit for me so basically if you consume 400 to 600 milligrams of flaven 3 up to date. that's good for cardiometabolic health, so in that case, it reduces cardiovascular disease, it reduces the risk of stroke, it reduces the risk of diabetes, it's hydrating, so actually 27% of people turn to tea before or after exercise and in fact hydration is very important because 2% loss in hydration status actually affects your annual physical cognitive performance so the thinking is confusing so we need to stay hydrated, but in reality tea has all the hydrating properties of water.

Tea is as hydrating as six cups of water, but has all the other countless properties. health benefits tea actually has the right amount of caffeine it has caffeine it has the right amount of caffeine you have water you have wool you have some fluoride which is good for our white coats so it doesn't dehydrate and you can actually drink tea for all day and will not affect your sleep. Very nice, it's quite soft. In fact, if you look at the tea you're drinking, there are two main types of tea, one originating in China, it has quite small leaves. one originating from Sam, a species from central Africa, central India, um, actually, they have quite a bit higher phenolic compounds, so Earl Gray is quite subtle and nice, with a hint of bergamot, so, ducky, it has a Full sports newsletter coming soon, but first I want to hear a little more about your trip to Saudi Arabia.

I'm not talking about the food, I'm talking about some of the athletes you met because it wasn't just Tyson Fury and Alexander Usyk, no, it was just nice to have a bit more. kind of a look at the way sport is run there because obviously they've mentioned a lot of sporting events, really big sporting events have been accused of sportswashing, you know what it is and I walked into a boxing gym for women that was really interesting, it's a big booming sport in Saudi Arabia and you go to that gym and it's like any other gym.

It was actually very interesting to go and talk to some footballers because you are talking about the exodus of Conservative MPs. There has been an exodus of Premier League footballers, European footballers to Saudi Arabia in the last summer transfer window and I don't think anyone saw it coming and I think this season we will see it coming and we will speak to Alexander Mitrovich who was so full . He had a great career there. Rubén N's brilliant career at Wolves. They both went to Al Hillal, who just won the league and the microphone said that he is receiving calls from many players in Europe who also want to go there.

Big paychecks, big money. a pretty nice lifestyle too H this is what they had to say about their new lives 23 players changed thePremier League by the Saudi professional league last summer Alexander Mitrovic was one of them. It is reported that the striker earns more than £400,000 a week in alhilal in Riyadh - that's 42 million in the two years he settled in, but it's a big change from Fulham, different culture, different football, different, you know, the mentality of the people too, but so far, it's surprising, to be honest, I'm very happy, former Wolves player. Ruben NZ thinks he earns six times his Wolf salary and has also adopted a different lifestyle from Europe to here because of the climate, of course I like it because I can spend the day at home relaxing, I can take the kids to school , I can choose.

So I can spend a little time with them before coming to train. It helps that Al Hillal won the league title without losing a game. Mitrovich has scored 36 goals and is the second top scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo. We had a great time. So far I think we have only had one defeat and we are creating history by fighting for many trophies and one of the reasons why I came here is also that you want to win trophies, you want to win the games, you want to score goals, but Jordan Henderson lasted less than six months at Steven Gerard's Club Al eifac mitovich admits that it takes a little time to adapt to the Heat and that players who have left their home countries earlier may find it easier.

He's gotten calls from a lot of players who want A lot of players come from Europe, you know, they call and ask how they can get here and they start looking, you really trust me a lot and yeah, yeah. Mo Salah would like to be here, of course, every Player, that is the quality of Salah, he is very welcome to the league, this season, we can, we already saw that the league is improving a lot and I think that next season and the two Soon there will be even more. Soccer is number one. Sports in this country are followed by 80% of the population and they are the only bidder for the 2034 World Cup.

They are enormously ambitious for this league. The players are treated well. I hope more follow Mitrovich and NES here in the summer. Both were lost to their former clubs Fulham and Wolves at the end of this season, but neither Mitrovich nor Nees have any plans to return. Yeah, so what was your overall impression? They looked, they seemed to be having a good life. a good life, a good work-life balance, it's almost like we're done with mainstream football and you know we'll play here and take the money. They admitted that the Premier League, you know, is not as good as the Premier League.

League, but they thought it was as good as other leagues in Europe. I didn't see them play in such a difficult game. It is difficult to say that they have been selected for their national team, but they have both been selected for their national team. team, so they will go to the Euro Cup and Serbia Mitovich will play against England in the first match. His first match of the tournament said it couldn't have been harder, so clearly they still think his level is good enough even though he's playing. in a less competitive league, but I don't know, they seem to play football for fun and they say all the right things and I didn't get the sense that they were making them say I just felt like they were, you know they had a pretty good first year and it was um it was quite nice, yeah, anyway, really interesting to see what life is like, um in the meantime, although it's a great day of football here, yeah, and it wouldn't be It's funny, if Mravic was offered a big contract at Manchester City, would he change his mind and think carefully?

Actually, that's the kind of peak in the Premier League and maybe it would change again, but you know at the moment it won't, but it's a great day. Today, Manchester City and Celtic could complete the double league and cup preparation for the FA Cup and Scottish Cup finals. It's on the way next, plus the latest on the season finale. The manager is getting married. Will Kieran McKenna stay in his and Vincent's company? towards a move to Bayern Munich and we'll show you how Britain's Lawrence Coy became a two-eight world champion with a knockout win last night, don't blink you'll miss it, it's quick, oh hello, welcome back from deep fake speeches to AI. generated images that look legitimate There are warnings that artificial intelligence is making it increasingly difficult to know what is real online ahead of the election.

Well, the fact is, it's a London-based charity that fact-checks and corrects misinformation and its chief executive, Chris Morris, joins me now. Very good days. Chris, thank you so much for speaking with us, so tell us a little bit about the role that artificial intelligence could play in this election and what form it could take. I guess we all know well that generative AI means that now everyone can create propagation. your own version of reality with an app on your phone and things that would have required an enormous amount of processing power just a few years ago is two clicks away and is in everyone's pocket, so the ability to literally create millions of different narratives about a single event is getting faster and faster, so it's a big challenge for politics, obviously, because it means it's quite easy, particularly with audio, for people to create something that It's fake and you may remember that recently there were a couple of examples of fake audio, one of Kia Starm supposedly shouting at its staff, one of Sadik Khan, the mayor of London, and in both cases the problem is that we spoke to some experts, Real audio experts said that it is very difficult to prove that it has been artificially generated.

It's easy for people to say well, that's obviously false. He didn't say that his staff can deny it, but proving that it is artificial is really difficult. We're not there yet with the video. but literally every week the fake videos are getting more sophisticated, so I think it's partly up to us as consumers to be a little more sophisticated in the way we view everything online and maybe pause for a while. little more before sharing or forwarding and thinking. he really said that or she really would have, so part of it is just educating us to think before we click, yeah, it also makes your job a little harder.

I guess you know, try to figure out yes or no. things are real or they're not, but if experts have a hard time differentiating what chance the rest of us have of knowing what's real and what's not and what to believe and what not to believe, I mean, it's becoming more and more difficult and You know, I guess financial scams are the only misinformation that almost everyone encounters. You know, a constant barrage of things texted to our phone or on WhatsApp or whatever and after a while you say yes, this is a scam, right? I think we have to do the same, we have to apply the same filter to some of the political material that we might consume in the coming weeks.

It is also, of course, up to political parties to ensure that they set high standards. We created an open letter with the think tank demos a few weeks ago and it was signed by people like Jimmy Wales from Wikipedia Martin Lewis from a money saving expert who basically said that if you use generative AI it should be very, very clear. labeled, you must not use generative AI to materially mislead anyone; In other words, anything that can persuade voters that something is true when it is not is totally unacceptable and you need to make sure everyone is working for you, play by the same rules, the response to the parties' letter was not completely bad weed, but they didn't exactly queue up to sign it, but I think they know that they also have a responsibility because, as you know, if you look at the opinion polls right now, trust in politics and politicians are at an all-time high. low in 40 years and if they want Reb to start building that trust and making politics more relevant to people, then they have to understand that public office carries a fairly high degree of public responsibility.

Some say the tech giants need to do more is that it's realistic, can they do more? Do you find it difficult to detect what is real and what is not? I mean, yeah, they need to do more and what's one of the problems right now, essentially, we have these big companies. based in California and increasingly, for example, Tik Tok in Beijing, and we've sort of left them to regulate themselves and regulating the Internet is a very, very difficult question, how do you strike the right balance between protecting people from harm online and protect freedom of expression?

It's a very difficult balance, but I personally think I would prefer there to be regulation. I'd rather our elected representatives think about it rather than tech executives in the US or China, so yes, tech companies have a role to play. everyone comes out and says: we are going to be responsible, we are going to establish methods in which people can report things, but we are allowing them to do it, to do it for themselves and there is really no There is a lot of Democratic oversight over how it is going. doing that, so it's worrying and I think all the tech companies, all the internet platforms, could and should do better, Chris M, it's really interesting to hear your take on things and a good warning message for all of us so we think a little carefully when we see things online thank you very much really thank you now so uh big football competitions going on this afternoon exciting things who's going to win I mean well tell me you're the expert on Paper Manchester City should win to Manchester United because they've had an incredible season but it's a cup competition so you know they have a different vibe yeah it's a different vibe and anything can happen in a cup competition I just don't know and the United really needs it.

You know they will get a place in Europe if they win this. They're not in Europe right now, so it's important for them and just because of the turmoil of this season. it would mean they could finish at a bit of a high level, but it hasn't been easy for United this season, all managers, Vitality brings you this Sky News sports newsletter to help more people be more active, live life with vitality. run, jump on the board and try to stick it on your glue like this, how have you found the retreat in general? Retirement has been a really difficult road.

I think it is for everyone. I have had many conversations with high-level athletes and I believe. This is a period of discovering who you are, you just exist, I have a great life, I have amazing people around me and every day is a discovery, simply by my own self-awareness, for the most part, just putting my mind to it. health Health is the priority of my priority. I seem to be doing much better, certainly, in the last six months. Something change. Why do you think you are doing better in the last six months? I was brave enough and disciplined enough to go, you know, I don't really like the person I am when I'm bothered by my behaviors or I'm having my own little pity party and I'm upset because I still want to be doing sports, you know, just I thought about taking control of that and doing the things that I know were good for my mental well-being.

Being a particularly male athlete, we are considered Alpha and strong and we have the answers and we I know that us warriors feel depressed, anxious, have addiction issues, they were really scary times in my life and I certainly didn't feel the L and all those feelings, and I think it's pretty powerful for a male athlete to come out and talk about it. this and speaking I just felt like in the darkest and deepest moments all I needed was someone to speak my language to go once when I say go and then you walk to the back of the line, do we understand?

I was certainly one of those. people who didn't necessarily believe in what you know what mental health and depression was, you know, I was a positive, outgoing guy, a successful guy and I thought you could speak for yourself towards a positive life, you know when? Depression slapped me in the face, obviously that's not the case and it's a scary and lonely time. You obviously had a very serious neck injury. What effect can that have on an athlete? That surely takes its toll mentally and certainly on my neck injury. It led me to finish my degree, but I think it also changed who I was as a physical athlete.

You know, I realized how much my definition of myself leans on my physical abilities. You know, if things were going well in the gym and me. It was winning gold medals brilliantly if I got injured or things weren't going so well then I would just fall to the ground. You've also talked pretty openly about drinking and gambling when you look back now on your relationship with them. It's almost like looking at a different person. I have learned the hard way that men's health and addiction are very closely aligned, they are your best friends and unfortunately we start using things like alcohol and gambling to escape our own feelings.

He looked backan attempt to convince coach Kira McKenna to stay amid interest from Manchester United and Chelsea. There are many things coming up for you, it's Saturday, May 25. Tories and Labor to fight over economy as election campaign enters first weekend Rich Sunak will seek to divert attention from his party's NP Exodus, which now includes veteran cabinet minister Michael Gove, pressure for a complete ban of under-16s owning smartphones as MPS warns of harm of shouting time China says two days of war games have concluded in Taiwan after warning those who play with fire will get burned bringing back nature a new title helps preserve this unique and fragile UK rainforest it's a big day of football in both England and Scotland at Wembley Manchester United take on rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final, while at Hamton Park Celtic take on Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final Hello, good morning and welcome to Sky News Breakfast, the election campaign is entering its first weekend with the economy and cost of living at the center from the stage, today the Conservatives will seek to divert focus from what is now a record exodus from MPS that includes some of its most recognizable faces, Housing Secretary Michael Gove and Andrea Leum are the latest additions.

Those who will not appear on July 4 are joined by former Prime Minister Theresa May, former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, the three former Foreign Ministers Nadim Zahawi Shaji Javid and Quasi Quaten, then there is former Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Rob and the Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock. well, our political correspondent for tomorrow is here and tomorrow many of them will leave, right? There are many, there are 78, who are more conservative than those who resigned in 1997 and about 22% of the total, compared to just the 10%. of Labor MPs who are resigning and we also know from our hardworking team who have been in the spreadsheets that the average age of the Conservative who resigns is 10 years younger than the Labor MP, this is not just people retiring at the end from a long career, these are people who seem to be throwing in the towel and, while people leave politics for a wide range of personal and political reasons, in terms of numbers, many conservatives seem to have calculated that they are not going to win their seats .

Michael Gove is a big surprise, of course, because he now has a majority of 18,000. He would be likely to keep his seat where he would be fighting the Lib Dems in Su, but perhaps many Conservatives would take into account Theresa May's warning in Parliament yesterday that she was in opposition for 13 years and this should not be something what they should want. Yes, and I will speak to the liberals shortly. In fact, it will be interesting to see what they say about it in Parliament. Meanwhile, amidst all that news, what is the Prime Minister doing today? Due to some suggestions from workers that he is not doing much today, yes he is doing an event in his constituency, brex was with veterans and then, that is all he has planned today, he has obviously had a After a couple of days A little agitated traveling to the four corners of the UK, the Conservatives deny that he is having a good day, as Labor have said, they say he is front and center of this campaign and that he will return. on the road again tomorrow today the economy is front and center Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has front-page coverage in the Daily Mail that is traditionally not very pro-labour, says undecided voters can trust her their money that no one is going to give them. return a box of matches to the arsonists, in his opinion it's the Tories who burned down the house and, to a large extent, he is appealing to the undecided voters of Middle England saying they can trust the Labor issue of course, how are they going to pay?

The things they have promised we now communicated to their deputy Darren Jones and also to the Conservatives, the Treasury spokesman, Bim Aalami, and this is what they said: it is perfectly legitimate and fair for all newspapers of any political persuasion to allow Chan's shade to state his case, I think that's perfectly fine, all I would ask male readers and my mother is one of them, eh, I would say you really have to judge, you know Rachel Reeves and the match Labor, for what is really in them. their hearts their real views and this is the same Rachel Reeves who supported Jeremy Corbin to be Prime Minister this is the same shadow cabinet where several members voted to get rid of our Trident nuclear deterrent it is the same Labor party that wanted to nationalize it all costing hundreds of billions of pounds our first priority has to be economic stability with strict spending rules due to the fiscal inheritance we will have from the conservatives if we win the election and then getting the country back on track we are under no illusions that The inheritance if we win this election will be really very difficult and it will take some time to be able to change things, but our long-term missions, our plans for a decade of national renewal, starting with that economic stability and without playing fast and loose with finances Public elections are the beginning of what will happen if we win the July elections.

There is an interesting tone from the Tories saying that these people can't be trusted because they supported Jeremy Corbin, of course Rachel Rees refused to serve in Jeremy Corbin's shadow cabinet, but that's what the conservatives are going to tell voters: they really haven't changed. I think what workers are relying on is articles like this, saying we're different now than we were in 2019 and talking to Rachel Reeves' advisors, you know, I said. to them, do they think people still need convincing and they say our goal is to make the case every day that there are things we want to spend money on and things that traditional Labor voters may want them to spend money on? say that we are going to invest money in the NHS to reduce the waiting list, cut, you know, abolish tuition fees etc, but they are saying these are small steps, we are not going to change those things overnight tomorrow OK? interesting tomorrow thank you very much indeed thank you now an MPS report recommends that the next government consider a complete ban on under 16s owning smartphones the commons education committee also called for a legal ban on mobile phones in the schools have found all sorts of extraordinary Um statistics that I'm actually going to let our correspondent tell you, but first I spoke to Ellen Room, who is campaigning for parents to get access to Children's social media after the loss of her son, she supports a ban on school phones, but is more hesitant about an outright ban for those under 16.

You know, Jules wasn't supposed to have her phone on, but she would text me that day and say, what are you doing on your phone? Leave it, you know? and I think they don't need it in school, that should be absolutely prohibited. I think there is a bigger problem than simply banning those under 16 because they still have access to other devices. And I think that's a bigger issue that they need to control what's displayed on those devices, social media and other websites that they have access to, that's shocking about what a child can see these days.

Well, Rachel vbl is here with us, a really interesting recommendation from this committee and they've come out with some extraordinary statistics too, haven't they? Yes, they have and they have also come up with some really interesting findings and conclusions about the huge risk that we know that screen time that excessive cell phone use already has on children. In fact, they say those risks. of mobile phone use do not outweigh the benefits, which I think is a pretty interesting finding from this group of MPS on the education committee, as I said, we know that excessive addiction to screen time on social media can really harm children and affect them. their memory, their concentration, their attention span, can also expose them to really dangerous things online, whether it's violent pornography or the risk of grooming, which is why these MPS groups have recommended that the next government consider implementing a complete ban.

Regarding the provision of smartphones to children under 16, they also suggested a complete ban on mobile phones and schools a couple of months ago. The government issued some non-statutory guidelines to school leaders on the use of banned mobile phones in schools, and they basically say this. should go further and they are also talking about increasing the age limit for children to set up social media accounts, going from 13 to 16 years old, so this would really have an impact on many children, of course affecting their habits diaries. and now you already mentioned the statistics that they published in this report, which had some really interesting findings about the magnitude of the problem, for example, they say that there has been a 52% increase in the time that children spend in front of the screen between 2020 and 2022, so it's a big jump.

Of course, it covers the pandemic, at that time they say almost 25%, so a quarter of children and young people use their smartphones in a way consistent with addictive behavior. One in five children between three and four years old has their own mobile phone, which is increasing. to one in four children by the age of eight and to almost all children by the age of 12, but I think it's fair to say that there has been a mixed reaction and that clip we saw earlier from Ellen's living room who you spoke to This morning really highlights that he certainly feels that something more needs to be done, but whether a general band can work, that really remains to be seen.

The nspcc, for example, also issued a statement this morning calling the blanket ban on smartphones a blunt instrument, they say. it would actually lead to unintended consequences and, more importantly, would also free up technology companies. There are many people who say that children should be allowed to use their phones. Those phones. The devices. The websites they access just need to be more secure. Okay, Rachel. Interesting, thank you very much. Indeed, one person has been arrested after clashes in north-west London between rival protesters at an event marking the death of Iranian President Ibrahim RI. Supporters of the regime clashed with groups of opponents.

Well, the Met has issued this statement. A man was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder now further investigations will be carried out to establish what other crimes took place and to identify those involved, he went on to say four people were injured and treated by paramedics; The injuries are not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing more than 300 people are feared dead in Papa new guini after a landslide devastated a remote village in the northern province of Anger. . Access to highways was blocked, making helicopters the only way to reach the area for search and rescue operations. The US prosecution has rejected Alec Balwi's bid to dismiss the manslaughter charge he faces.

The actor's lawyers unsuccessfully argued that the grand jury process was biased against him. Baldwin pleaded not guilty to a shooting on the set of the film. western film Rust in 2021 when a gun he was holding in rehearsals went off, killing a crew member China says two days of war games in Taiwan that included simulated bomber attacks have concluded. Beijing characterized the exercises as punishment, while Taiwan insists it will not be intimidated by Chinese pressure. Chinese military exercises around the island of Taiwan are nothing new. Before this week, the largest in recent years was in August 2022 in response to the controversial visit to the island of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, those exercises simulated a blockade of Taiwan, But China's military described this week's exercises as a simulation of seizing power on the island, and China also surrounded several islands administered by Taiwan.

Well, our Asia correspondent Cordil Lynch has the latest. He would be forgiven for not thinking that Taiwan had been subjected to two days of Chinese war games because it might be. I can hear and see around me, there's actually a music concert here, people are just going about their ordinary lives, but the rhetorical bluster between Taipei and Beijing has been very intense and I think what's distinctive about what we've seen unfold the last two days is that China gave very little notice this time previously they have been lockdown rehearsals and they have given a one day noticethis time these were drills for an invasion and they gave Taipe only 45 minutes notice and we saw the planes and ships effectively surround Taiwan now this is happening three days after Ling, the president, uh, was sworn into power, uh , and Beijing views him as a separatist, say these exercises were punishment for the language he used in his inauguration speech when he said that neither side of the Taiwan Strait is subordinate to each other now Beijing H claims sovereignty over Taiwan something that the new leader and indeed the previous leader reject and I think what we're seeing now is a pretty tense moment and a big test for the new president like Well, I'm trying to assess exactly how to play this now because there are a lot of possibilities. of committing a false step.

I think it would be interesting to spend the day here trying to gauge public opinion because the diplomatic optics on a global level have caused a lot of alarm, but this is a place where I am used to a lot of harsh words and the Specter, of course, of these exercises military now right behind me. There are two naval ships in this place called keong. This is the home of a naval base and this is in In fact, the closest China got to Taiwan yesterday was a plane just 74 kilometers from here, so it certainly looks like it's getting closer, but both sides continue to keep it at bay. militarily, for now, at least now, the Liberal Democrats will call for The Wat Water Regulator to be abolished and replaced in their Manifesto.

They are also pointing out that water company bosses' bonuses have reached £54m during this Parliament as public outrage grows over sewage and our waterways and beaches, so to me it is now liberal. Tim Faren, Democratic Environment spokesman and former party leader, Tim Faren, very good morning. I want to talk about your plans for water in a moment, but I was wondering if you could respond to the latest news after the campaign and Michael leaving. he has joined the Tori MPS exodus and is leaving, uh, before the election. Does your departure make his job easier in trying to win his seat?

That is a good question. I think he left his job and chose in a very surprising way. I think it is for most of us to step aside and not stand for election and join the legions of Conservative MPs who seem to be throwing in the towel. I think that indicates that Conservative MPs in places like South are afraid of the Liberal Democrats, so I suppose we could say that it is good news for us, but it seems that it is a government and the Conservative party in crisis, without direction, without a leader, and losing some of their strongest players and losing people who would have the competence to help lead a Conservative government if by some chance they won the next election, so it's bad news.

The Conservatives are encouraging of the Lib Dems, but you can only deal with the hand you've been dealt; Of course, you're a candidate in every constituency, but you're actually aiming your real firepower at a certain number of Target seats in In fact, fewer than you won in your peak years, would you agree that your ambitions are lower in this election? Our ambitions are high. I think the Liberal Democrats are in a stronger position than they have been for many years. I hope and hope that this is so. the first election in 20 years where the Lib Dems are not just moving forward but moving forward in significant numbers and you are right, I mean in areas where you talked about Sur Michael Go constituency, other constituencies around Sur like Guilford and others as well . but I speak to you from Westland, many rural and semi-rural communities in England, Wales and Scotland.

We are also the main challengers, so it seems like it is a good start to the campaign for us and for everyone. that we can find by talking to people at the doors, people already recognize that they are intelligent enough to understand that this is more of an electoral system and that you have to use your vote powerfully and in areas like when I talk to you about you now by Michael The electorate of Go and others, as well as a vote for the Liberal Democrats is the way to get rid of this discredited and failed government, according to our opinion poll tracker, their results are lower than those of the Reform Party, which What worries you is that you don't look when all is said and You just highlighted our strategy, we are focusing on the fact that the electoral system creates two horse races and that is why we are one of those frontrunners in dozens and dozens and dozens of seats in all the country you have identified, you already know two or three, but from Cornwall to North Yorkshire, East Anglia, the belt around London, south-west London and many other places, such as Chand Hazel Grove, born in East.

I could name dozens more in that two horse race, it is the Lib Dems who are the main challenges to The Conservatives now know what we would like to see and we will work very hard after the election to change the electoral system with whatever power we have in the next Parliament so that every vote counts everywhere and that would mean they know people in constituencies where If we are going to vote tactically for the Lib Dems in the coming weeks, they could vote Labor or Green if they wanted in the future, but for now we have to use the system we have to get rid of a government whose time is up, so Basically, we're targeting disaffected voters is that where their plans on the water companies come in, I haven't, I mean, I have not met the voter, he is not dissatisfied, so I think you are talking 100% about the voter. there, but I don't think we're just looking for downvotes.

We believe Britain has a positive future and one of the things we do is take one of our most precious resources and ensure it is managed carefully and appropriately. The fact that only 14% of our rivers are in good ecological condition and a shameful z% of our rivers are in good chemical condition is a reminder that over the last few decades we have seen our water companies in the hands of um uh uh from those that would just make profits and not care about the resources or the people that they serve, so what we're saying we're going to do is abolish the fat, uh, have a new regulator, um, which would be the coastal rivers. and Lagos, the first thing they would do is withdraw the licenses from the existing water companies and transfer them to community benefit corporations and what that would mean is that all the money will go in dividends in profits into their pockets. of shareholders and huge bosses, the dividends would be invested in writing up the terrible infrastructure of our waterways across the country and cleaning up the mess the concertivs have left us in, so tell us how your plans would apply to companies like T's Water, which We have heard a lot about intensive management of the dead, that is a key decision, so what should the next government do about T water according to its plans?

Well, T. water. United Utilities, all the water companies across the country that are in private hands, we're not. To say we should nationalize them, my view is spending billions of pounds of taxpayers' money and giving it to water company shareholders so they can get rich without spending a penny on improving infrastructure is not a wise use of public money, so instead what we do with TS and all the other water companies is through our powerful new regulator take away their licenses and convert those companies, the operating companies, into community benefit corporations and they differ greatly from the model current water company because what that would mean is There would have to be environmentalists and other bill paying homeowners on the boards of those companies and their articles would ensure that Trump's environmental and social considerations and the profits they make are reinvested in the infrastructure, which will not be undone.

What 35 years of failure since privatization will do is start doing something that this government could have started years ago and that is change the way the structure of the water system operates so that we put water cleanliness and equity first. .people before profits for a bunch of rich people, well Tim faren, we appreciate your time this morning, thank you very much for coming on the show, thank you, but there's a lot to come here on the breakfast show, including how it's a new qualification. helping to preserve England's largest rainforest, who knew what happened? Also, will you be setting up your seats and doing some DIY this weekend?

Well, get your life in order. F. Robert Bent will share his best advice. Plus, it's Derby D day when Manchester's biggest football teams go head-to-head. Head to head in the FA Cup final at Wembley, former England player Paul and a City superfan will share their predictions Sky News is gearing up for the election hello alright mate how's it going sorry come on , come on, is this a joke is this is Beetle or something like K about Ed is already measuring the course of the screen, this is fantastic, we are going to have maps there, graphs there and more data there, since they feel the pressure you have to squeeze, then both can do it.

We already left, oh God, I'm not kidding, we won't go all night. Yes, I think we can work with this. This place will be our home on Election Night Live and we will be ready to bring you everything. Story first here on Sky News I'm David Bevens and I'm Sky's chief correspondent in Ireland. I live in Belfast, a city transformed by peace but still struggling politically with its past. The two sides are as far apart as ever and that is over. the question of who has sovereignty in Northern Ireland, the same question that has been a source of tension here for generations.

It takes 60 minutes to cross the Irish Sea. It took the British monarchy a century. I have spent 25 years reporting on the journey from conflict to peace. Northern Ireland's political parties have reached an agreement. We help you understand the world with us today. We have reached an agreement with the conservative party on supporting the government in Parliament. We already know what the government gets from this agreement. What exactly does the dup get? outside of that, well, 1.5 billion pounds, welcome to Winterfell, it's an iconic location in this world-acclaimed drama, ailia was the most powerful hurricane on record at this end of the Atlantic, oh my god, you can't live in a place like this and not appreciate the vibe welcome back to the breakfast show eh, coming up, are you going to use this weekend to embark on a DIY trip?

I mean, you do it every other day. I like to paint, it is my relaxation. Oh, I have something you can do at my house. Anyway, we'll give you some tips because it's a traditional time to DIY on a holiday, right? We have the expert Robert Bent. I don't think the weather is going to be great, best advice, don Don't go to the shops like it's Q and others like that just because you want to go there without Q. Anyway, you have the sport in a moment. M House, yes, let's talk about the FA Cup final, we have Manchester.

City overcome and we also have Paulin who is the United in England Legends uh giving his opinion on what's going to happen today in the FA Cup final, it's the Scottish Cup and we'll also talk specifically about Wemble a lot. It wasn't bad, but in the meantime, England's largest rainforest, we had to confess we didn't know England had any. It has been declared a National Nature Reserve at Borodale in the Lake District and is one of the only surviving rainforests left in the UK, north of England correspondent Shingi Marque reports that this is the National Treasure Britain's newest, an area of ​​the Lake District that is home to something rare and remarkable, one of the country's only rainforests, on a release from this beautiful back and on a day as wet as you would expect, Bodell received the recognition real.

The natural habitat here is largely intact, it is a breeding ground for biodiversity. One of the amazing things about these forests is that we have many different species of ferns. Heavy rain and humidity are ideal conditions for wildlife. You can see and hear it. The team here hopes that their new status helps protect this space. The forests are home to many special species that are not found in normal forests, which are not type R forests, so it is very important for us that we take care of them and preserve them as much as possible. as much as possible as we go forward and then we will also see how we can expand it and start to reconnect it so that we can create those natural corridors.

Borodell is the wettest valley in England. It is an almost tropical corner of the Lake District. The ideal conditions for rare flora. FAA and wildlife connecting nature preserves more closely to the community is a goal for executive director ofNatural England. When they were first created, they were seen as something isolated. They are now seen as part of The Wider Countryside. and nature in our towns and cities and on our coasts and that is really important. I think we are now recovering nature. It is no longer enough to simply preserve nature. Now we need to recover nature and nature reserves are part of that movement.

Then there's the A bigger problem: temperate rainforests now make up just 1% of Britain's landscape; With a new title comes more opportunities to turn funding and attention into resource forces to address the challenges caused by the climate crisis. This might just be a fragment of the country, but it is one of many. people want to protect shingi Mar Sky News Bor in the Lake District, so Jackie is a great preparation for today's Cup matches Scotland and England, yes absolutely, it's very, it's very Manchester focused at Wembley State Man City and Celtic should complete the league and cup double or could complete the League Cup double today a big difference between coulda and shoulda eh preparation for the FA Cup and Scottish Cup finals will be on the way to continuation also no later than the end of the season, director Mary Go Around, will Kira McKenna stay? ipswitch and his Vincent company are about to move to Bayern Munich and we'll show you how Britain's Lawrencei became two-way world champion with a knockout victory last night.

It was very fast, so you may have noticed that it is a holiday weekend and for some. that means a little DIY. Yes, Jackie likes a bit of DIY. Without a doubt, painting, painting is your thing anyway. Research shows that young people in particular are not acquiring DIY skills. Well, now joining us is TV Carpenter and a DIY expert. your life out there uh Robert leaned in hello hello I think when I was talking about it earlier it sounded like I was telling the audience to get your life together but we should explain that yeah it's a TV show yeah anyway so Today we're talking about how particularly younger people don't feel like they have the skills in DIY, why do you think that is?

But hey, it's about the next older generation passing on those DIY skills and that's why I've partnered with um. hip or waist to do exactly that um statistics through their research have shown that 58% of under 24 year olds want to DIY feel like their DIY skills are being lost, they have none in four really wish they We, the older generation, would actually pass on the skills to them and two out of every five young people are sitting at home waiting for their parents to do at least two or three jobs that they could do themselves, you know what I already feel guilty because I don't you can do the jobs I can't do the jobs to pass on the skills so my kids will probably waste a lot of time.

My husband is much better than me. I must say that there are some basics that you can tell us about this. that people should know about um well our top five that um that people say the skills they need are at the top is building flat furniture we all have furniture in our homes yeah bleeding a radiator yeah oh , that is easy. one that you can teach, yeah, a very, very easy one, block a um, unblock a sink, yeah, that's it, I can't do anything, it's just a lack of confidence, you can and, and, like you said, decorate, put paper tapestry and me.

I'm fixing up and putting up a fence, oh yeah, well you see, I think I got a really bad score on IL. I can paint a little bit, but beyond that I'm a bit rubbish and you were right, it's about that confidence and that's why we. We're trying to promote it so that the generation gets involved with their kids, so, for example, if you have a flat-pack piece of furniture that you're going to buy at the store, don't do it yourself because you know what happens if I do it. If done right, have your kids help you, you're training them and they don't even know it, and they and you will have a lot of fun, it will be a great bonding experience, teaching that. your younger generation and they look up to us, so if they have someone they trust, who they can see, and who knows what they're doing, then they'll absorb everything you've taught them and then when they grow up, they'll be able to do it. then I take advantage of those skills, it's something I do with my kids and I often get phone calls saying, you know what, Dad, just like the other day my daughter called me to tell me there was a problem at work that needed to be fixed. and she was the only one in the building who knew how to use a drill.

Can? I would just like to break down your theory a little bit. um. I think young children, if they practice that skill in school, are very good at making DIY flat packs. getting the kids together assembling things that come in a box that my kids are very good at because in school they did that subject, that name escapes me now, but it's usually built like Design Tech in my day, that's what it was called, like that that everyone all did that in school so they're much better than my husband at doing all those kinds of skills they should spend a generation teaching how to do it um and that's why you get the younger generation involved because there are skills that even They could teach you, especially with the rise of online videos and online, there are a lot of people recycling furniture that give examples of how to do things and with young minds and with the fact that they are

watch

ing these videos and they will actually teach you. you're getting caught up, it really helps with problem solving and that's a transferable skill that you can use in other places and other areas that you still pass, because that's what I mean, my dad the other day ran out of battery. in his car and we Googled it, you can find a step-by-step guide on how to do it and that's one way to know that a lot of people can learn, they're not going to just learn from the older generation.

Like using online, it's not just sitting around and what and just watching movies or just scrolling through social media online, we can use it to leverage skills, and if everyone's going to um hippo. co.uk I have left a lot of advice myself, we have videos, to give you those simple DIY tips that you can do yourself at home and some of the safety warnings, yes, yes, so do it. it's safe oh well I'm feeling pretty inspired now I'm going to go bleed a radiator right now yeah so be careful who I get. I have the paint for my kitchen.

FYI, I will change the color. I'm going to change the color. By the way, I have never hired a decorator, it's just me, what color are you going to choose. I like a pretty kind of cake. Neally sounds good, not like the color of your shirt, yeah, definitely, definitely, meeting you. Thank you so much for coming, thank you, thank you football, yeah, football, I have um, you know, when I went to Saudi Arabia, yeah, talking about how I went to Saudi Arabia because I went to fight, watching him fight, it was very good, but I thought it would be good while I.

I was there to investigate all the other sports things they are doing in that country. There has been a kind of massive sporting revolution. They have been accused of sports laundering, but I got into Al Halal, which is the club that won the Saudi championship. league that ends on Monday, um, because a lot of stars have defected to Saudi Arabia, um, clearly, for the money, a huge salary, an easier way to play football and it was interesting to see what their lives were like there, so I talked With Alexander Mitrovic and Ruben Neves, two big Premier League stars who left to play in R, let's take a look. 23 players swapped the Premier League for the Saudi professional league last summer Alexander Mitrovic was one of them the striker reported to be earning more than £400,000 a week at Al Hillal in Riyadh - that's 42 million in two years in which settled in, but it's a big change from Fulham.

Different culture. Different football. You know, people's mentality too, but so far it's amazing. Honestly, I'm very happy, former Wolves player Ruben Nez, who believes he earns six times his Wolv salary, has also adopted a different lifestyle from Europe to here because of the climate, of course, I like it because I can spend the day at home relaxing. uh, I can take the kids to school, I can pick them up from school, uh, so I can be with them a little bit before I come to training. He has helped Al Hilal win the league title without losing a match.

Mitrovich has scored 36 goals and is the second top scorer behind Cristiano Ronaldo. We had an amazing season so far. I think we only had one defeat and we are creating history by fighting for many trophies and one of the reasons why I came here is also because you want to win trophies. You want to win games, you want to score goals, but Jordan Henderson lasted less than six months at Steven Gerard's Club. Al Eifac Mraovic admits that you need a little time to adapt to the Heat and that players who have left their home countries before may find it easy, he has received calls from a lot of players who want to come, a lot of players from Europe, you know.

They call and ask how they can get here and start looking. You really trust me a lot and yes, yes. Mo Salah would like to be here, of course, all the players, that is the quality of Salah. He is very welcome. league uh this season uh we can, we already saw that the league is Improv Ming a lot and I think next season and the next two seasons will be even more. Soccer is the number one sport in this country, 80% of the population follows it and they are the only bidder for the 2034 World Cup. They are enormously ambitious for this league.

The players are well treated. They hope that more will follow Mitrovich and NES. here in the summer they were both missed by their former clubs Fulham and Wolves at the end of this season, but neither Mitrovich nor NES have any plans to return, yeah, a really fascinating insight into what's right, they just seem to be living the good life and enjoying themselves of football without too much pressure, you know they won't be. in an FA Cup final any time soon, but they have their own Cup finals and have somehow made peace with that. I guess speaking of the FA Cup, speaking of yes, the big day of the Cup finals, today we will talk more about the The FA Cup final with former Manchester United midfielder Paulin a little later and also the final of the Scottish Cup, so Celtic versus Rangers, let's take a look at this Sky News sports bulletin, brought to you by Vitality, so that more people can be more active and live life with vitality.

I'm going to run, jump on the board and try to stick it on the glue, just like you found the retreat. Overall, retirement has been a really difficult road. I think it is for everyone. I have had many conversations with high-level athletes. and I think this is a period of discovering who Nilo is, he just exists, I have a great life, I have amazing people around me and every day is a discovery, just by my own self-awareness, for the most part, just putting My mental health is at the forefront of my priority. I seem to be doing much better.

Certainly, in the last six months, something has changed. Why do you think you are doing better in the last six months? I was just brave. disciplined enough to go, you know, I don't really like the person I am when I'm kind of, my bad behavior is acting out or I'm having my own little pity party and I'm upset because I still want to play sports, you know, I just thought I would take control of that and do the things that I know were good for my mental well-being and, in particular, as a male athlete, we are considered Alpha, strong and responsive and we know that we are warriors who feel down, anxious, that we struggle with addiction, those were really scary times in my life and I certainly didn't feel the last of all those feelings and I think that's pretty powerful for a man. athlete to come out and talk about this and in talking I felt like in the darkest and deepest moments all I needed was someone to speak my language going one at a time when I said go and then you walk to the back of the line, do we understand? ?

I was certainly one of those people who didn't necessarily believe in what you know what mental health and depression was. You know he was a positive, outgoing guy, a successful guy and I thought you could talk to yourself. your path to a positive life, you know, when depression hit me, obviously, that's not the case and it's a period of terrifying loneliness, obviously you had a very serious neck injury, what effect can that have on an athlete who Take It sure took a toll on me mentally, and certainly my neck injury led to me ending my career, but I think it also changed who I was as a physical athlete.

You know, I realized how much I anchored my definition of myself in my physique. abilities, you know, if things were going really well in the gym and I was winning gold medals, brilliantly, if I got injured or things weren't going so well, then I would just fall to the ground. You've also talked quite openly about drinking and gambling. When you look back now on your relationship with them, it'salmost like looking at a different person. I have learned the hard way that mental health and addiction are very, very closely aligned, they are better, they pale and unfortunately we start.

Using these things like alcohol and gambling to escape our own feelings. I look back and remember and having overcome everything that just happened, my power is self-awareness for anyone who is struggling and doesn't know what it is. Are you going through who feels a little different? What would you tell them? You're going to get through this. Everything will be fine. You can do it. You know what I mean? I've done it, lots of other people have done it. and talking is the first place to start. I think you know it's one day at a time and obviously with the Olympic year there will be a lot of people that will be in.

I know yours happened in the Commonwealth, but there will be a lot of people who will become famous overnight, yes, their lives will change, their followers will increase, they will get paid more, yes, it happened to you and I think it changed your life, what advice would you give? If you tell any young athlete who it's about to happen to, we'll see performances that will blow everyone's mind, you know? But why in the mix of all that would you talk about what comes next? You don't want to, it's just too much. exciting, I think my book and what I want to talk about is that there is an after.

I didn't think it was there. I didn't think it was there. There is an after. This Sky News Sports Bulet is brought to you. by Vitality Still to come on the breakfast show is Derby Day when Manchester's biggest football teams meet in the FA Cup Final at Wembley, former England player Paul l and a City Super Fan will share your predictions every year we make. In a sense of about a thousand people, we actually asked them about their habits and we actually included that you know what your habit is in terms of drinking tea, when you drink tea and in fact we found that people aged 30 to 45 They are the ones who really turn to tea rather than alcohol, which is sometimes or frequently and which can be in a home situation. 73% of people say tea is better at home, so it's also people with busy lives who know they really want it. something that will cheer me up there are a lot of teas out there we have bought a variety of t-shirts here what do you have uh we have some black teas U mainly black teas um about 70% of the tea drunk in this country is actually a blend of black tea, approximately 70% of that actually comes from East Africa, so tea when it first came to this country around the year 1600 was green and was actually drunk as a tonic as a health drink, which most people don't.

You realize that there are actually no tannins in tea, it's a very lazy methodology to name them, so we actually call them polyphenols, in fact there is a group of these called flavan toles, don't worry about the long name and complicated, literally, last year, in the US. The Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition published a daily guideline of between 400 and 600 milligrams, actually, you put milk in it, yes, just a little pinch for me, so basic yes you consume between 400 and 600 milligrams of flaven thol a day, that is good for cardiometabolic health, so in that case it reduces cardiovascular disease, it reduces the risk of stroke, it reduces the risk of diabetes, it is hydration, so actually 27% of people turn to tea before or after exercising and in fact hydration is very important because you lose 2% of Your hydration status actually affects your physical and cognitive performance.

It's a confusing thought, so we need to stay hydrated, but in reality tea has all the hydrating properties of water. Tea is as hydrating as six cups of water, but has all the other countless health benefits. tea actually has the right amount of caffeine it has caffeine it has the right amount of caffeine you have water you have wool you have some fluoride which is good for our pearly whites so it's not dehydrating and In fact, you can drink tea all day long and It won't affect your sleep. Very nice, it's quite soft. In fact, if you look at the tea you're drinking, there are two main types of tea, one originating in China, it has quite small leaves. one native to Assam, a species from central Africa, central India.

They actually have quite a bit higher phenolic compounds, so Earl Gry is quite subtle and pleasant with a hint of bergam. Welcome back this afternoon. Manchester United face Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley. During the match, there is speculation about the future of United manager Eric tenh har, while City go into the match having won their fifth consecutive Premier League title. Well, joining now, I'm delighted to say that he is the former Manchester United SL player. Paul Lince legend and Manchester City superfan Jonathan Marks H. Thank you so much for joining us. um iny.

Firstly, I'll start with you: how badly do United need this win? and what odds do you think he will get? It's um, I mean, I'm not sure that's the case how much they need it, um, you know, obviously, I think people talk about it, if they win today, you know, that could save Ten Hog's job. I don't think that's the case. I think you know M United has always developed in a League form and you know competing for League titles and that's something we haven't done for a long time so, but it's always good to win a trophy.

You know, I was lucky to be able to do it. He won two at Manchester United in '89 and '94, so it's always good to win a trophy at Manchester United. Fans hope you bring home some silverware. Can they win it? Yes, why not listen? This has nothing to do with the Premier League. it's the foral FA Cup final going out the window it's a one off game yes the M unit hasn't been playing well this season they have been very very inconsistent but what you have in that M United team is a team of players that you have gold in moments you can do special things in special moments, so, you know, I have no doubt that they can't, they can win today.

Yeah, so Jonathan, could you accept that it's a cut match, so anything could happen, but you know? After another incredible season for City, can you see anything other than blue ribbons on that trophy at the end of this afternoon? No, absolutely, it is a unique match. I think last year, if United had possibly been more ambitious when Gapo came on late in the game. Game City were under a lot of pressure if it had gotten to 22. I think United would have been F in overtime. It really depends on whether the pressure of getting that fourth title gave us five before.

Thank you so much. The four in the spin were the Pinnacle for this season and the players have and have been able to maintain that focus to carry it through to this weekend and the riggers of a cup final. I'll see, I'll come back to you and ask you everything. the rumors about Eric tenh har in the last 24 hours or so, you know, going around like we said, he said he's preparing for next season, he said he'll be there next season after his vacation, but win or lose, do you think it will? go after this match even if they win and get a place in Europe after that um listen I mean you can never know, we don't know what um soim m is thinking obviously we have seen Van Gal lose the job from him. after winning the FA Cup for Manchester United, but what I would like to say about Ten Ha is that he has behaved excellently, the way he dealt with all the problems, all the rumours, and I think as a manager, until Someone says: You know they don't want you anymore, you have to plan for next season, there will always be rumours, you know, we've seen a lot of managers leave clubs, so there will always be rumors about whether it's Postino, Kier McKenna or someone else.

These rooms will always be there, but I think Ten Har has behaved in an excellent way, he has had a lot of problems, a lot of injuries, and that is something that I am probably skeptical about today, because in the B if I don't go with Casmiro uh it could be a field day for Manchester City um I would like to see kmir come into midfield maybe put Waka in to mark the half Le has pace and can tackle even try with mami there he played there for Scotland so listen like I said win or lose today, I think he carries himself in an excellent way and as any coach would tell you, you have to plan for next season, you have to do your K well and if you're there, you're there, great, if not, you're not, yeah, and that's one kind of management, isn't it, Jonathan?

I mean, even Pep said he had a bit of sympathy for the number of injuries Manchester suffered. United have had this season and you know Eric ten hog was right to highlight that, but do you think today is the time to appreciate Pep Guardiola? You know, we've seen Klopp leave Liverpool this season for City, these are the good times and once he leaves. Who knows what will happen, it's time to appreciate what you have, do you think? I think he is and I think there is a danger as a hometown fan. I can't understate how wonderful it is to reach a cup final.

Only one Cup final against United being favorites and having the title in the bag. I'm not saying it's a freebie because we want to win, but I think if you ask a lot of City fans, it was that fourth title that really meant the most. I'd have to do the double double because that would also be a record that's never been made before and in terms of appreciating Pat, I think there's an enormous depth of passion and gratitude for him anyway, and this. It would just be another cherry on top. from an incredible season where the team was definitely not as good as possibly previous championship winning teams, although they were still pretty good and quick prediction is quick for both.

I think today is tough, all I'm saying, what I would say is today would have been Mat bby's birthday, so I hope the lad is proud, puts on a performance, hopefully wins 21, yeah sweetie, what do you think , Jonathan, am I more? I'm looking forward to seeing what the United hierarchy will do this year last year, they gave a no no, they just have to give me a yes or no, win or lose prediction. I didn't even hear what he said, so thank you very much? In fact, good luck today. May the best team win. Thanks Jackie.

Take care of yourself. That's all from us. We'll both be back tomorrow. No?