President Joe Biden's authorization of the CIA drone strike killing al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri signals continued US counterterrorism efforts despite Afghanistan's withdrawal, though experts warn it may not eliminate the threat. The episode also examines Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit, BP's £6.9 billion quarterly profit amidst soaring household energy bills, and the tragic stabbing death of nine-year-old Lilia Valetita. Discussions highlight the need for community-focused crime prevention, the moral imperative to curb corporate greed through "warm banks," and a polarized debate on whether migrants are essential to the NHS or if welfare systems encourage dependency. Ultimately, these diverse issues underscore deep societal fractures requiring nuanced solutions beyond simple policy shifts. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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America's Strong Signal to Terrorists00:15:33
Uncensored with me, Jeremy Karl.
Now, coming up on tonight's program.
Over two decades since 9-11, America finally get their revenge on Alman al-Zwahiri.
What happens next, though, in this never-ending war on terror?
Our energy bills are predicted to rise by a ridiculous 83%.
And with Truss and Suna producing more U-turns than a DVLA test center, when will real help for you ever arrive?
A nine-year-old girl stabbed in Lincolnshire was joined by a mother who knows exactly the hell her family are going through.
And later we catch up with comedian Bill Bailey walking from Cornwall to Devon in memory of his great friend and amazing comedian, Sean Locke.
Good evening, my friends.
Now the assassination over the weekend of al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zwahiri was a stark reminder that the threat from terrorism in Afghanistan and beyond is not going away anytime soon.
This afternoon Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has become the most senior politician in 25 years to visit Taiwan, a move described tonight by China as playing with fire.
Now thanks to Russia we already have a war raging in Europe.
Piers' brilliant dispatches last week showed us that reality.
But the question is, is Ukraine in fact just the start?
I dragged these figures out.
Check this.
August was when World War I broke out.
It was also in this month that Adolf Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland which sparked World War II into action.
American engagement in Vietnam and the first Gulf conflict to other wars that started in August.
So with events moving fast in this hot and feverish time of the year, we've been what we had planned for tonight's show and have instead created a special war room to explain to you what on earth all this means.
Well as I said and just mentioned, yesterday President Joe Biden confirmed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zwahiri, Osama bin Laden's number two and a man behind the deaths of thousands had been killed via a CIA drone strike in Kabul.
Biden commended the military precision of the operation and managed to prevent the civilian casualties completely.
We're delighted to be joined now by Major Andrew Fox, a veteran of three gruelling tours of Afghanistan, and former British Commanding Lieutenant General David Leakey.
Gentlemen, welcome.
A day I think that has caused an enormous number of people quite rightly to think.
Let's ask you firstly, David, what does the killing of this top al-Qaeda leader mean in terms of the world in its entirety?
Well, it's a clear indication by the US that they haven't finished the campaign, and this campaign has been running for since 9-11 and the Americans haven't given up on it.
And, as President Biden said, this is justice and that the Al-Qaeda will understand very clearly and not just Al-Qaeda, but the wider group will understand very clearly that they do not have impunity or immunity from retaliation.
And this guy has been on the wanted list for years and years.
There's been a bounty on him and they got their man.
I think the question that then comes up is what are the consequences?
What are the repercussions?
On the global stage I don't think we'll see anything yet but I think America has sent out a very strong signal that if insurgent groups, terrorist groups continue to take them on then they can expect to have retaliation on their own terms.
I guess the question bringing in Andrew here is the vacuum.
You know, you served three tours in Afghanistan.
This evil leader is no more.
What happens next?
I mean, the Americans withdrew from Afghanistan.
This guy was taken out in Kabul.
He was in a safe house there.
What do you think is happening on the ground now in Afghanistan, Andrew?
The safe house was being run by Siraj Haqqani, who is the interior minister of Afghanistan.
So what we're really seeing is a split between two Taliban groups at this point.
You have the Kandahari faction in the south, who are very, you know, more keen than the Northern Taliban to establish links with the West and maintain at least a semi-peaceful organization.
However, the Northern Taliban, they want an isolated country and they have a power vacuum.
It depends who's going to be taking over.
Is it Haqqani or is it someone from the Kandahari group?
I think Kandahari group is in our better interest, but the current reigns of power are with the Haqqanis.
Their credibility is damaged because Al-Zawiri was staying with the Haqqanis when he was killed.
And who comes next?
Yeah, that's the thing.
I mean, you know, I want to bring in, if I can, former Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs, Mark Kimmett.
Mark, welcome live from America, General Mark Kimmett.
The other part of this today, we've talked about al-Qaeda, we've talked about Afghanistan.
Nancy Pelosi in the last couple of hours, the most senior, I think, in 25 years American politician, lands in Taiwan.
No mention of anything from the White House.
This is stoking fire.
I think China described it as a bad decision, stoking the flames.
What do Americans make of what Nancy Pelosi's done tonight, Mark?
Well, I don't think the average American really sees this as a significant event.
Candidly, it shouldn't be.
We've had congressional delegations going over to Taiwan for years and years.
As the National Security Advisor said, if China wants to make a big deal out of it, that's up to them.
It's not a big deal for us.
And if the Chinese want to increase their military activities, if they want to increase the tensions, I'm sure the United States is prepared to respond in kind.
General Kimmett, you know, people would say that China have been watching what Russia have done in Ukraine.
Piers talked last week about this new axis of evil, you know, Iran, China, and Russia.
Do you think Pelosi's trip and the silence from Biden, do you think the al-Qaeda takeout, do you think all of this will stoke that axis or not?
No, I really don't think so.
Biden's silence has more to do with the fact that he got ahead of his headlights by disagreeing with Speaker Pelosi's visit over there.
So while the White House may have wanted to look like they were supportive, in fact, they looked like they were working against Nancy Pelosi.
But as to the issue of this axis of evil, as the old term used to go, between Iran and China and Russia, well, that's not a group I'd want to join because there's a lot of incompetence in that group.
There's a lot of capability, but not a lot of competence in terms of fighting a significant measure of warfare as we've seen in places such as Ukraine of late.
Bringing it back to you, David, you talk about, you know, people watch this and they hear, read, and see what's going on in the world.
Should people be sleeping easier in their beds tonight?
Is the world a safer place because that man's been taken out?
Does it create that vacuum we've talked about?
Terrorism will continue.
What are your thoughts?
What would you say to people?
I don't think it makes the world a safer place.
And I go back to this axis of evil thing.
There are lots of axes of evil, and they all have overlaps.
And one of the overlaps between them is that they want to destabilise the West and some of the values and standards and jealousies.
And Putin shares that with some of these groups.
Putin used some of the, supports and encourages these groups to destabilize the West.
They're not part of the same campaign.
They are not an Axis because Putin's aims and objectives are for Russia and they're different from the ones from al-Qaeda or ISO or anyone else wanting to do this.
Might he not look at China now in a more favourable way, you know, be an ally whether we talk about business or political unity in terms of what's happened.
I mean, somebody sent this in today, and I know what you're going to say.
You know, Putin, whatever people make of it, this aggression against a sovereign nation, if the Americans can take out this guy on a balcony, I don't even know where the rocket was launched from, why can't we do that to Putin?
Well, you go back to why was this done in the first place?
Here is a war criminal, an individual guy who, and the judgments on this will all be about the degree of legality and illegality, the degree of proportionality and justification.
But he's killing thousands of people in Ukraine.
Particularly in the public media and in the West, you can get away with that.
And it's partly political, it's partly legal, it's partly proportionality.
Ethics, morality, all of these things get weighed up.
And the senior guys make a judgment.
This one is doable.
We'll get away with this.
We'll get away with it legally, politically, medially, mediatically, and so on.
So it's justifiable.
You can't do that to Putin.
He's running a country.
This guy was, actually, this guy is a nobody.
$25 million bounty and he said, Andrew, can I just bring it?
He was ill and he was powerless and toothless.
But it sends a message.
That's the key thing.
Do you worry just finally you worked there, you did your bit, you've got contacts on the ground in Afghanistan.
That vacuum, let's just finish with that.
Do you fear that this will just continue?
Do you fear that this will enhance the chance for the world to be at war or not?
What do you make of it?
No, I think the Taliban at the lower levels are particularly shaken by this.
They thought they'd beaten America.
But I've seen that from a social media post today.
How did they strike us?
We beat them.
And as David said, there's a very clear message that America can still reach into Afghanistan and touch them should they start to bring up...
But us not being there, does it make it harder to police?
Is that what I'm saying, basically?
The country harder to police.
I mean, it's already pretty lawless, frankly.
I mean, it's hard to see how it could possibly get worse with the Taliban in charge.
You know, these are a fundamentalist Islamist group who rule with a reign of terror.
It's not going to get any easier or better whilst the Taliban is still in charge.
I guess for everybody watching this tonight, whatever your views of it, it's about what happens next.
It's about managing it and trying to make sure that the world is a safer place.
David Leakey, Andrew Fox, thank you very much.
Indeed, also Major General Kimmett in America right next on uncensored BP, get ready for this, have posted their biggest profit in 14 years, a whopping 6.9 billion quid.
That is, as your energy bill goes through the roof and the cost of living crisis deepens, after the break, we'll hear how one food bank is coping with increased demand and how some are even preparing to become warm spaces once winter hits.
Don't go anywhere, stay with us, we're coming back in three.
Welcome out, my friends.
This is Uncensored with me, Jeremy Carr, for the next five weeks, you lucky, lucky people.
Now, the word food bank entered everyday use in the aftermath of the financial crash and the coalition government's austerity budget.
Sadly, it looks like this winter could mark the entrance of warm banks into the English dictionary.
The research firm Cornwall Insight predicts the energy price cap is on track to rise, this is ridiculous, to 3,615 quid a year from January.
And with our next two potential prime ministers offering seemingly only U-turns and magic money trees, is there really any serious help reaching households when it's most needed any time soon?
Johnny Minao is Conservative MP Colonel Bob Stewart, along with Dawn Samford from the Nourish Community Food Bank in Tunbridge Wells.
Dawn, before we speak to you, I just want to shoot to Colonel Bob Stewart.
Colonel Bob, yes, the British Army you were part of, but also part of the British Taiwanese all-party parliamentary group, along with Lord Rogan.
A quick response from you, Colonel Bob, on tonight's developments.
Nancy Pelosi, Tawan al-Qaeda.
Well, I'm very pleased that Pelosi's visited Taiwan.
I'd like to see actually more contact with Taiwan.
I think we should actually face off China.
Taiwan's a very, very successful democratic nation and we should encourage it.
It's absurd that it's not part of the United Nations.
That is absurd.
It's absurd that it's not part of other international organizations where it's been blocked by Chinese actions.
And with regard to the death of Alza Wahiri, I think I'm very pleased that he's gone because the man actually is the sort of person that wants to kill my family, your family, this country, and destroy our society.
So that's my answer to your two questions.
Right, well, that sort of nails it.
Thank you, Colonel Bob.
Let's move on.
Before we speak to Dawn, who runs the Nourish Community Food Bank in Tunbridge Wells.
Bob, I said this last night to somebody who gave me, I suspect, the answer you're going to.
When people in this country wake up, okay, this morning to hear that BP has yet again reported massive profits, 6.9 billion for three months, more than triple the amount it made last year.
People say to me, oh, it's a capitalist society.
Companies have to make profits.
Last year they made nothing.
What do you, a Conservative MP, say, right?
Your party's been in power for 12 years to people north and south in this country who are struggling that much they cannot make the payments for their bills and they hear about these conglomerates coining it in.
What do you say, Colonel Bob?
I say we've got to actually look at these profits because they're immoral.
Actually, they're money taken out of all of us.
We've actually got to see how we can actually reduce them and actually give that back to the people that actually make the companies have the profits, i.e. the people.
That sounds very socialist, but I'm afraid I'm feeling that way myself.
Isn't that interesting from a long-standing Conservative MP?
You say that sounds socialist, but to anybody with a heart or a soul, whatever your political persuasion, you would say that that makes sense.
Because you can't really over-exaggerate, can you, Bob, what this cost of living crisis is doing for people?
They are, I mean, you know, people will say, oh, we're struggling, but they really are struggling when bills go up that much.
And I don't understand, forget the morality.
I don't understand why the government is not saying to these companies, we're going to freeze your profits, we're going to cap your prices, and we're going to look after the people that, frankly, you're ripping off.
I think they are.
I think they're going to have to have a look at this very carefully.
I think actually some moves have already been made.
And I think we've put the energy companies on notice that they can't continue to do this.
They have got to be able to justify these profits and the amount of money that people who work for them get sometimes.
Cost of Living Crisis Hits Hard00:05:25
I completely agree.
Let's put some perspective on this because it's all well and good, isn't it, on Talk TV to just be throwing figures out the whole time.
I want to introduce you to Dawn Stamford, the operations director of Nourish Community Food Bank in Tunbridge Wells.
When we first spoke, I remember saying to you, Dawn, a food bank in Tunbridge Wells.
That sounds ridiculous.
Just explain to Colonel Bob, who probably knows anyway, but the people listening, how bad it is, how many more people you're seeing and the reality of this cost of living crisis, if you can.
The reality is that it is hitting everyone.
Across my desk today came a family, working family.
Lady in the house is poorly.
She's terminally ill.
She's been sent home from hospital with an electric powered hospital bed.
Can't afford the electricity to run the bed.
So we as a food bank now provide fuel vouchers for prepayment customers to make sure that they don't get cut off and to help these people because there's nowhere else to turn.
Everything is tough.
I mean, every time I think I've seen the worst case come across my desk, there comes another.
In Bristol today, we learned, we tried to get the mayor of Bristol, who was busy, but that warm banks are going to be created.
I mean, just, you know, this is 2022.
This is the United Kingdom, allegedly the fifth most financially secure country in the world, warm banks for people to actually go and stay warm this winter.
And that old thing, I mean, I guess, Dawn, what I'm saying is people will go, oh, homeless people go to food banks.
But the reality is your clientele's going through the roof, your donations are going down, and it's bleak, right?
It's bleak.
Yeah, I'm not getting much sleep.
I look a lot greyer than the last time you saw me, Jeremy.
Yeah, I mean, our running costs are increased.
We are suffering the same as every other business up and down the country.
Donations are through the floor because the people who donate, the cost of living crisis is hitting them.
And our clients are up because the cost of living crisis is hitting them.
There isn't one person that it doesn't affect.
Not one person.
Doesn't matter what end of the scale you're at, you're affected by this.
Colonel Bob, if I can come back to you, the current Tory leadership, we've talked about blue on blue attacks.
To me, it's too long, it's paralysing government.
And both Sunak and Truss should be listening to Dawn Samford tonight and saying, what can we do as a government after 12 years to prevent warm banks in 2022?
How do you respond to that information, Colonel Bob?
Well, I think my answer is that we've got to do, we've got to actually look at the whole package.
We've got to look about, look at society completely, because frankly, this is absurd.
I can't stand the idea that people in my country don't have enough to eat.
We're a rich country and we should sort this out.
There's something wrong in the way we, you know, the way the society works.
We've got to sort this out.
So we've got to actually make sure that those people, the poorest in our society, are looked after properly.
I mean, please don't think that it's just a socialist view of life.
It's my view Too, I believe absolutely strongly that we as a country must look after those people that can't look after themselves.
And that means we, I think, we're going to have to look at the way we order society and the way we do things because things aren't working particularly well at the moment.
But in terms of the current leadership candidates, we heard from you know, Boris Johnson's government was all about leveling up.
The reason I've put Dawn on is that's Tunbridge Wells, for goodness sake.
What do either of those candidates constructively say, do you think, Colonel Bob, that will inspire people to think we can create, and I'm you say it, you're not a socialist, I guess I'm not, but it's appalling to think that people will have to go to a charitable organisation to stay warm this winter.
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
I mean, so we've got to do something about it.
Goodness knows I'm no expert on this.
I'm not an economist.
I'm not going to be able to do that.
You're honest, man.
You're honest.
I'm as honest as I can be, but I'm still a politician.
I've got to do the very best for everyone.
But I actually think that in our society, we've now got to look very carefully at those people who are in the bottom section of our society who really need help.
We need help to get them off that.
We need help to get them so they're looked after properly.
I mean, it's not just on food, it's also on things like medical care.
Just very quickly, Colonel Bob, don't think me rude.
30 seconds, Dawn, you're shaking your head.
What do you want to say?
With all due respect, Colonel Bob, these are not the lowest and the most vulnerable in our communities.
These are working families.
90% of our clients are working.
And the families that are coming across the households, they are in this because they physically cannot work anymore.
They cannot do anything themselves to change their circumstances.
Why Victims Are Getting Younger00:10:44
They can't increase their hours.
There aren't any more hours, or they just physically can't work them.
I'm going to have to wrap.
I'm going to have to wrap.
I could do this all night.
Colonel Bob Stewart, you're not a socialist.
You're an honest politician.
I don't think there's many of them.
And Dawn Stamford, what you do and people like you is an absolute credit.
Thank you for joining us right next on Uncensored.
Last week, the UK rocked by yet another appalling death as a result of knife crime.
This time, unbelievably, the deceased was just nine years of age.
Now, stabbings are on the rise, but are the victims getting younger?
We'll discuss that in detail after the break.
We're coming back in three.
Welcome back to Uncensored with me, Jeremy Carl.
With a seemingly unstoppable torrent of knife crime showing no sign of abating, it's become all too easy to just tut and sigh and turn the page when reading of the latest brutality.
Well, the stabbing of nine-year-old Lilia Valetita is not so easy to move on from.
Her shocking death this week follows 12-year-old Ava Weitz at a Christmas light switch on and 14-year-old Feresma II's in April last year.
Now, stabbings are going up, but unbelievably, the age of the victims is actually all going down.
Delighted to be joined now by Tracy Hanson.
Her son Josh was 21 years of age when he was stabbed to death in 2015.
She now runs a charity in his memory, which raises awareness of knife crime and helps organisations in tackling it.
Also joined by former detective Peter Blexley, former superintendent of the Met, Leroy Logan.
Gentlemen, just a tick.
But Tracy, I want to start with you.
I said it last night to Holly Dance, the mother of Archie Battersby.
When it's your kid and I have five, how do you move on from something so, I don't know, horrendous ever?
The honest answer is you don't move on, you just move forward and do the absolute best you can in their memory, shining a light on them.
There's a 10% increase in knife crime year on year.
You say the statistics are higher.
What do you want?
How do we change this?
We seem to have spoken about this for years.
What is your answer as the mother of a victim?
That's a very tall question, to be honest with you.
And I don't think there is one answer to that question.
But I would like to see a much more uniformed approach, cross-party approach, government, police, communities, indeed members of the communities, parents, schools, right across the board.
We need to have open conversations around crime, violence, victimology.
And we shouldn't be scared of those conversations because education is the key.
You actually go into primary schools to advocate how kids should behave, choose your friends more carefully, etc., etc.
Does that help you in a way with your own grief?
Yes, it does, because it's saving other lives.
And the feedback we get is positive.
When I share Josh's story, it's a true story.
There's no shape to share it with us.
Josh was a 21-year-old year-old boy, I say, because he was just a man.
And he walked into a bar and was approached by somebody that he'd never met before.
There was no altercation, no argument, no fights, all the things that society typically thinks should follow any kind of form of violence.
And he was approached by somebody who had a very long history of criminal activity, was an organised crime group member, was carrying a knife.
And he approached my son and asked him what his problem was, to which Josh replied, I don't have one.
And then he was struck with full force with a standing knife and Josh suffocated on his own blood at the scene.
Peter Blexley, former Scotland Yard detective, we've spoken in the past a lot about, you know, this, I don't know, cancer that is knife crime.
We've talked about stop and search.
We've talked about the worrying trend of the age-dropping.
We hear from such a brave mother who's going into schools.
What do we need to do?
When does the talking stop?
How can we change this?
I've had the great honour of knowing Tracy for some years and I'm always humbled just by being in her company and much of what she says is absolutely right.
Excuse me.
The talking needs to carry on and Tracy and other brave people in various charities are reaching out to communities, schools and spreading the message and trying to stop these young people before they walk out of the door of their homes going, right?
Have I got the keys?
Have I got my phone?
Have I got my knife?
That's the fundamental thing that needs to be tackled.
How do we tackle that?
What do we say?
What do we do?
Do we make the laws stronger?
What do we do?
It's complex.
Do we need more police?
Yes.
Do we need stop and search?
Yes.
And what a thorny subject that is.
Look how often people get up in arms over that.
Well, let's just look at it.
We have got children killing children, sadly.
So they do need to be stopped and searched, but it's got to be done properly, proportionately, and explained well.
And there's many other factors.
Leora Logan MB, former police superintendent with the Met.
Stop and search, does it work?
If it's done properly, absolutely.
If it's intelligence-based, not seen as a fishing expedition.
Because when you have a hit rate of one in ten, you've got someone might be carrying a knife, invariably carrying drugs, and then you've got nine other people who are discontent in the way they've been treated without respect and dignity.
And they could be potential sources of information.
When it's one in ten, though, I read a statistic last year.
Let's say I could be wrong: 70,000 stop and search in London and they found four or five thousand knives.
Isn't it worth it?
Well, you can carry it, you can find as many knives.
The issue is how you target those who are carrying the knives, who are going to use it.
So, a lot of that, you know, people don't just carry knives and don't tell their mates.
So, it's a question of educating people to know they are not grassland mates, they're investing in a community to make it safer and stronger.
And also, and as Trace has already said, education is the key.
I've been running a charity called Void Youth for 20 odd years, and we have seen young people who come from very dysfunctional backgrounds and feeling devalued and feeling persecuted.
And they've turned it around and to be more positive young people through our Young Leads for Safer Cities program.
So, it can be done.
So, it can be done on a larger scale.
Taking Lira's point, younger, you know, we're talking younger victims.
Why are the victims getting younger?
Is it social media?
Is it what is it in your mind, Pete?
I think there's multiple factors at play.
You know, and let's not duck the issue: absent parenting, people being absent from school, many other thorny issues.
And I can hear people being enraged by the mention of it.
Not me.
But we have to tackle these.
We have to be courageous enough to say, these are the issues.
How do we tackle them?
How do we support these young people to make the most of the ability that they've got so they can be the best possible human being they can?
There's got to be a line though between support and with respect, your son was 21 years of age, but when you hear of that nine-year-old, I mean, I just, to me, yes, parents, but are we being strict enough?
Are the penalties for knife crime strong enough?
Are we, what do you make of that?
Do you think we should be stronger legally?
To be honest with you, I don't think that's going to make much of a difference because if you're petrified and you're carrying a knife because you are scared, the penalty outweighs your fear.
You're not going to think about that.
And again, if you're an opportunist or you are a criminal and you're looking to raise your profile, again, that's only going to feed into your profile.
I'm a bad man, or I can do this, or you know, I'm a girl who's part of County Lions.
I don't think that's the answer.
I really don't.
What I think the answer is is intervention and prevention and working together in a holistic way.
We talk about young children and what do we do with young children and young adults.
Well, what do we do with the family as a whole?
It can't just be the child.
It's like I always say to young children and to the teachers when I speak to them: if you fell down and broke all the fingers on your hand, would you go to AE and ask them to repair one finger?
No, you would not.
You want your whole hand repaired.
It's the same thing as being in a home environment.
Some of these children have older siblings who are part of the criminal justice system.
Just do you take Peter's point briefly that parental responsibility?
We've talked about intervention and we've talked about the police.
I do agree that parental responsibility has to shine through, but at the same time, parents need to be educated.
I have supported parents that don't even understand some of the consequences around that.
And they're listening to their young people having conversations and they're scared themselves.
It's a very complex situation.
Just around the table, I think we all agree it's complex.
I think it's important for everybody to be involved in a process that will improve it.
Can we reverse briefly from all three of you separately?
Can we reverse this situation in the United Kingdom?
Definitely.
It's going to take time.
I think one of the things we have to really understand is a pipeline to that form of mindset and criminality.
One of the key things that's been part of that is exclusions.
Because when you exclude a child, you're now casting them out from their networks that can keep them positive and their alternative provisions.
It's very patchy.
So we've got to reduce that pipeline into crime and that mindset of using it.
This is where police comes in and working with agencies.
And because you can't arrest about the problem, you can't stop and search away the problem.
You've got to work in partnership more than the prevention side.
The hardest thing about this job sometimes is I could talk about this for another hour.
What comes out is that everybody has to work together.
Tracy Hanson for sharing the story.
Thank you, Peter Blexley, and of course, Leroy Logan.
Thank you so much.
Knife Crime.
It's a horrific thing and it's something that needs to be sorted.
And as these three have just said, everybody needs to work together.
Walking Miles Together for Unity00:04:13
Right next, an uncensored action comedian Bill Bailey is retracing his steps.
100 miles worth in memory of his friend, the late, great comedian Sean Locke.
And he will join us live after the break.
We're coming right back.
Welcome back to Uncensored with Me, Jeremy Carl.
Thank you for tuning in.
Now, 12 months ago, the UK lost one of the funniest men ever to appear on British television.
Sean Locke made us laugh on shows like 15 Stories High and 8 out of 10 cats.
And anyone lucky enough to watch his stand-up live knew they were really in the presence of a comedy genius.
His dear friend and fellow comic Bill Bailey has just completed his first day of a 100-mile walk in Sean's memory.
The journey will take Bill along the southwest coast, which is one of Sean's favourite routes, in order to raise funds for an amazing, amazing organisation, Macmillan Cancer Support.
Delighted to be joined by Bill Bailey now on Uncensored.
Bill, how are the feet after day one, my friend?
Well, I'd be lying to you if I said they were in 100% tip-top shape.
I'm suffering a little bit.
They're a bit sore, but it was quite a tough walk, this one.
It's a tough old section of the path, but we're all in good spirits.
We feel good.
100 miles, an amazing tribute to the late, great Sean Locke.
You've raised, I think, upwards of £60,000 already, which is tremendous.
And the details are on screen now.
How far a day?
What are you doing?
20 miles a day for five days or 10 miles a day for 10 days or what?
What's the plan?
Yeah, it's well, the plan is that we will be walking approximately 14 miles a day, average, because we're walking 100 miles in about seven days, in seven days.
So it's some days are longer, some days are shorter, but it averages out, yeah, about 14 days, which is, I mean, you know, which is a good hike if it's on the flat, but the terrain around here is quite challenging.
A lot of the path goes up and then down.
There's a lot of ascents and descent, so it feels a lot longer.
It's really tough on the old on the calves, but the views are spectacular.
It's, you know, it's one of the most stunning sections of the whole Southwest Coast Path.
So it's, you know, we really, we're all in good spirits.
We're having fun.
We had a great day today.
I know Sean's family and several famous friends, Johnny Lee Mac, today.
What would Sean make of this initiative, Bill?
Well, the thing is, I think Sean would really be quite chuck with it all.
I think he'd be, you know, Sean was someone that never really, you know, he was quite private in many ways, you know, although he had quite a very public profile.
And he loved spending time with friends and family.
And I think that aspect of it, I think he would really love because what this walk has done is brought a lot of people together.
You know, like you say, his family are here, his extended family, his brother, his sister, his cousin, his wife Anoushka and the kids.
And it's turned into a wonderful sort of an occasion where we all get together and everyone is remembering him and talking about him and then coming up with stories.
So I think he'd be really chuffed.
I think it's the kind of thing he would love.
I mean, Sean loved walking.
He loved the outdoors.
Sean and I walked miles and miles together over the years.
And particularly this section of the coast, which is one of his favourite sort of things.
Now I know you've got upcoming shows at London's Royal Opera House as part of the En Route to Normal International Tour.
Profiting from Migrant Labour Issues00:08:57
Do me a favor to finish, Bill.
How would you...
You're one of the best.
How good was he?
What made Sean Locke so good at comedy?
He had a unique sense of humour.
Sean had a brilliant mind, a brilliant comic sensibility.
He had that unpredictable quality which so many other comics would turn out to watch.
You know, he was a real one-off.
I really appreciate you joining us.
I think the walk that you're doing to raise that money for Macmillan is so worthwhile.
60 grand details on the screen.
Bill Bailey, good luck with the next six days.
You'll be all right with those legs from Strickley.
And thank you for joining us on Piers Morgan Uncensored Quarter to Nine.
Well, the only thing I've managed to change in the last two days is I thought that the rather crass title of Piers is Pack, I thought it was lazy.
So yesterday we renamed it Jezz's Journos.
And joining me now on day two, this is going to be hard work.
Hold on, what did I tell you?
Listen, be quiet.
I haven't even started.
Socialist author known to like champagne, Grace Blakely, it doesn't work.
A Marxist Moe drinker, don't give me that.
And talk TV contributor Esther Crackers or Kraku is what they call her.
Of course.
How are we?
We're great.
They said to me, there's so many things that we want to talk about, but what we should start with is, well, I'll tell you what, we'll leave that till the end.
Cost of living.
You heard me say, BP, 6.9 billion quid profit in the last three months, three times last year, whilst this country quite literally is on its backside.
Bills going through the roof, 3,600 quid in January.
Short, sharp answers.
Is it not disgraceful that these companies are not being forced to give back some profit?
Here's my problem, because I do think it's disgraceful and they're clearly profiting off giving people a hard time when they're finding it difficult to live.
I fundamentally disagree with the windfall tax in principle because it's the government saying, oh, we think you've made a bit too much money this year, so we're just going to take it back.
But what I do think they should be doing is making these big corporations pay their fair share in the first place.
Right?
You shouldn't need a windfall tax if companies like Amazon, like BP, like these massive companies, are actually paying what they should be paying in the first place.
Now, we would be politically very apart, but Colonel Bob Stewart, Tory MP, said, I'm going to sound socialist.
It is immoral that these companies are making this money when people in this country are struggling, right?
It's immoral.
It's irrational.
It makes absolutely no sense.
Where is all this money going?
All this money is going into the pockets of shareholders.
Well, this is the point, right?
The reason that we've had all these long-term cuts to corporation tax is that we were told we'll cut corporation tax and nice, responsible companies will go out and spend it on investment, create jobs, boost wages.
We've had a decade of wage stagnation, right?
At least in part because we've had this long-term attack on the labor movement.
Haven't been able to bargain for higher wages.
And what have these fossil fuel companies done?
They have not invested in what they said they would do, which is decarbonizing, finding alternative sources of energy.
Instead, they've just raked it in on fossil fuels, exacerbating the climate crisis and also exacerbating the consumer news.
Jeremy Car's just become a marxist.
She's speaking complete sense, isn't she woman, I know for the first time.
Oh no, I am told to move you lot along, because we've got lots to get through.
Penny Morten, It was like that with Liz Truss.
They were slagging each other off.
Has now come in support of her out of last night introduced at the Exeter Hustings.
It was like, somebody said it was the best speech.
It's Oscar-like she was prepared.
She's been angling for a job in the cabinet, hasn't she, Grace?
Well, I mean, this is so unsurprising.
This is what politicians do.
You know, they are machines that are programmed to ensure their own self-interest, to maximize their own interests.
And Penny Morden's decided that she's going to fall in line behind Liz Trust because it's very obvious at this point that Liz Trust is going to win.
It's why our political system is so broken.
It's why it took so long for Boris Johnson to be ousted because everyone, you know, else in the world.
Are you gutted about that, are you?
What about Boris Johnson moving?
Yeah, absolutely.
Because I think he'll be back in two years.
Do you know what my conspiracy theory?
I think Liz Truss will serve for two years.
Right, this is true.
I read this today.
Liz Truss will serve for two years.
She'll make him the Ukrainian envoy to keep him in the spotlight.
She will end up not winning the next general election.
There'll be a bit of a stage situation.
Starmer will get with the SNP and Boris will ride back in.
That would be my hell on earth.
I agree with you that there'll probably be no overall majority.
I know there won't be.
I try to think.
I don't know.
I wouldn't.
I think rolling back completely the Tories majority would be quite hard because it's quite significant.
I don't think so.
I think it'll be a slight lead.
I think it will be a slight lead.
And the only reason why I say that is because this is an excellent opportunity for Kierstama to really be sort of surging.
Boring.
But the Labour Party's infighting.
The Conservative Party literally don't have a leader right now.
And Labour is basically neck and neck with the Conservative Party.
The Labour Party should be out.
You're so right, Chris.
They should be out of this.
There is so many things right now that are going on that the Labour Party should be out there talking about, saying, we are on your side.
We are here to protect your interests.
You look what happened at Sam Tarry on the picket line.
Angela Raina's boyfriend.
He didn't like me saying that the other day.
But the truth is, they're going to tear themselves apart.
Politics in this country is on the precipice.
Now, I was told if I mention this, I have to move my chair back.
600 migrants arrive today.
We've got to stop them, haven't we?
Yesterday.
Yeah, that's right.
He's waiting for us to carry on this part.
This is the thing.
I feel like, because we always thought about the amount of money that we're spending keeping these migrants in a hotel and all of that.
And I just said, if you look at it from the French perspective, they really don't have much of an incentive to keep the migrants on French shores.
For instance.
There's a war, isn't there?
That's why they're coming here because it's a warned.
Oh, no, France isn't water on that.
That's the thing.
But I think the bigger argument is actually being able to turn them back, right?
Because it's not just about keeping, because once they land on British shores, that's the end.
You need to turn them back, not just for the sake of the migrants.
Wasn't it for the industry?
Wasn't it literally just a few weeks ago that we were having a big existential crisis in this country because the birth rate is too low?
Because we can't get workers to work in the NHS.
These people are not.
This is actually the big problem that we have in this country.
It's that there aren't enough people.
And this is Brexit.
Well, I'm not sure.
Migration has gone down substantially.
No way, Marxist.
I'm going to jump straight in.
I don't think that's right at all.
Well, it is.
No, no, I'll tell you what's wrong is, unfortunately, I always thought the benefit system and the welfare state was the greatest invention in the modern world.
I really passionately believe this.
I am very happy to pay whatever to help people who can't help themselves.
But the fact of the matter is, nowadays in this country, you can go to work, you can go to college, you can choose to go on the dole.
There are millions of people.
You can't choose to go on the business.
There are people who do not choose to go to work because the benefit system has made it as easy for them.
It's a fact, whether you like it or not.
This narrative is completely unhinged from reality.
It's completely like over the last 15 years, it's become extremely difficult to go in and claim universal credit.
There have been people who have been found in their houses.
I don't disagree with that, but they've been starved.
Because they have been penalized because they haven't shown up for a job center appointment because they've had funerals.
Grace, you can probably go over here.
There are people who choose to be on the doll because they know that they might earn 20 quid more to go to work.
And you can argue all the day.
I agree with what you've done.
It's crazy that you could be on the dole and earning barely more than you would be.
I agree, but I'm just saying.
And that's partly have you seen minimum wage.
The issue is that we are not supporting the labor movement.
We're not supporting workers to go out and bargain for higher wages.
But secondly, there are always going to be people in our society who require help, who require support, disabled people, people who can't work.
That's the point.
And this is, you know, we should not be punching down all the people.
But do you not want the money?
Hear me out.
Then let's try a different tech.
The help that we should genuinely give to the people that you've just mentioned, we shouldn't be giving it to migrants, should we?
Well, again, migrants come over here.
This is the classic thing: like, migrants are simultaneously coming over here and sitting on benefits and also coming over here and taking all our jobs.
Actually, most people who come over here do tend to find jobs.
Often in the NHS, there's so many people in our social customers who are looking after the people are not working for the NHS.
They don't.
If they're refugees, hold on.
If they're refugees, then maybe they're not because they don't speak the language they need to be small.
We don't know where they're coming from.
We don't know their history.
These people are being trafficked by people smugglers.
This is an industry.
But that's not the gross generalization about an alzer than the smallest.
Why is it that any point that you don't agree with?
You say it's a gross, you know, generalization.
I'm saying because there's a different personality.
There are people who come to this country who terrorists.
This is not anecdotes.
But like, I'm telling you this for a fact, and I know this because personally, I know someone who made this trip over the Mediterranean.
One minute, ladies, I've got a headache.
He actually went to Italy.
But I know people like this.
For every migrant you see coming off those boats, there are people that have died in the Mediterranean or on the channel trying to come here.
And they're profiting.
The people that are profiting off their debts are people smugglers.
This country would run into the ground without migrants coming.
Smugglers Trafficking Refugees00:00:50
Let me finish.
Let me finish what I'm saying.
30 seconds.
This country would run into the ground without people who've come over here, risking their lives, risking a huge amount to come here, work for our NHS, support our world.
Hey, Jez's Journos, chill, chill, chill.
The champagne's coming out.
Let's agree to disagree.
Don't worry about talking to me here.
I've got this.
Don't worry.
Don't worry.
I'm on it.
Don't worry.
Just I've got a clock.
Chill.
What an honour.
Esther Crackers has been taken on by Grace Buddy.
I loved that.
That was fantastic.
Thank you so much.
You prefer Jez's Journos to Piers' Pack, right?
They're both awful, really.
Stop talking in my ear.
I'm absolutely fine on this.
Watch it.
Thank you.
You be quiet in my ear.
I've got it.
Thank you, you two.
You'll be back next time.
We are back tomorrow.
That's it from me.
Whatever you're up to, make sure it's uncensored, okay?