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Aug. 11, 2022 - Uncensored - Piers Morgan
45:43
20220811_piers-morgan-uncensored-john-bolton
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Property Shortage and Rising Costs 00:14:45
Tonight on Piers Morgan Uncensored with me, Jeremy Kyle, rocketing rents and mortgage madness.
Where and how to live in a cost of living crisis.
Blowtorch Britain faces blazes in yet another heat wave.
Are our firefighters in danger of burning out?
plus former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton on his old boss Donald Trump and surviving an assassination attempt by Iran.
Good evening, my friends, and a big welcome to Piers Morgan Uncensored with me, Jeremy Carl.
First tonight though, very importantly and very rare, a missing person's appeal.
We don't normally do this on Uncensored but authorities my friends are urgently seeking information which may help them locate the leader of the British opposition.
Sakia Starmer is described as pale, stale, a white male who is apparently five foot eight inches tall.
His closest allies are looking for it have described him as extremely boring.
His hobbies include having a curry and a pint, but only at business meetings.
And whilst his Labour Party colleagues once infamously said, never waste a good crisis, Kia, at this moment of utmost strife and in the total absence of a functioning government, the opposition and this man are nowhere to be seen.
Now, if you have any information, I implore you, this is massively important.
Sakia's whereabouts matter to the nation.
Cheap it is, but you can tweet me at J.K.L.O.F.I.L.
Anything for an extra, you know, no rewards.
The budget was spent on this.
Honestly, useless.
They used to call this man Captain Hindsight.
Judging by what you're about to see, I reckon when he gets back, if he gets back, if we ever find him again, they'll call him Captain Hypocrite.
I want to see these issues resolved.
And my criticism is really of the government because it's inevitable, I think, when you've got a cost of living crisis that so many working people are concerned about their wages.
I understand that.
I understand the concerns.
The role of government is to do something.
The role of government is to do something and the role of the opposition is to give a creditable alternative.
So Sakir, the Labour Party in general, where are you?
Why would we vote for you?
Give us a reason.
If you see him at J. Kyle Official, we want to find Sakia Starmer.
Right, first tonight, our series on the cost of living crisis continues.
Tonight we thought we'd concentrate on the housing market.
Now, the situation is so bad.
This is true.
You can now apparently buy a whole Scottish island with its own lighthouse and a helipad for less than two-thirds of the average London house price.
Check this out.
This is Plada Island.
It's a private island which has just gone on the market for 350 grand.
It's about 30 miles from Glasgow and features not only a five-bedroom house, but the entire 30 acres of land surrounding it.
Although the current lighthouse keeper did tell us it does need a bit of an update, apparently it's worth it.
And listen, at the end of the day, I might think this show might buy it and put Nicola Sturgeon at the top.
Listen, joining me once again, financial expert Gemma Godfrey, how are you?
Good, thank you.
And also star of Homes Under the Hammer Game.
My Martin Roberts, good evening.
How are you, sir?
Evening.
I'm very good, sir.
I want to be on the island.
What, with Nicola Sturgeon or on your own?
Yeah, they will pass on that one.
Both of you, welcome, but let's just talk, Gemma, firstly.
Rates are rising.
Mortgages are more expensive.
There are so many problems in the housing market.
I might just say, and I'm being completely honest, Tobias Alexander, an estate agent, was booked to be here tonight next to you.
Unfortunately, he didn't make it.
Apparently, he tried to get a train, but there were no drivers.
He tried to take his car, but he couldn't find any petrol, and it literally all went horrendously wrong.
So you're on your own, but we've got Martin.
If you've got a mortgage right now, what's the best thing?
If you've come out of a fixed-rate mortgage, if you look at everything that's going on, the bills that are on the way, what's the correct way to behave, Gemma?
I mean, I think this is a real challenge because a lot of people like fixed-rate mortgages because it gives you the peace of mind to know how much you're going to be paying every month.
You're able to budget for it, you're able to sleep well at night.
But the problem is you pay a premium and banks aren't stupid.
So they're pricing in further rate rises.
And some people would prefer to spend less money now because things are so dire.
So you've got fixed rate, you've got variable rate.
The important thing as well is when are you thinking of moving house?
There are lots of different variables that are important to take into account.
But ultimately, you've got two million that are already on mortgages that are going up in price.
You've got two million where their fixed rate is going to end in a year.
First-rate buyers, and first-time buyers are also finding it hard to get onto the property.
Let's pick that up.
First time I was just bringing Martin.
You know, homes under the hammer host, you know more about property than anybody.
But there is an argument, Martin, right now that it's almost impossible to get on that property ladder.
And more and more people are turning their back on trying to even attempt to get a mortgage and renting property.
And in terms of this financial crisis, one then wonders what landlords are going to do.
Are they going to swallow these increases?
How difficult is it for people to get on that property ladder, buddy?
Well, I mean, there are always ways, Jeremy.
And I just try and advise people to just like think outside the box.
It's always been tough.
You know, I remember trying to save for my first property and relatively it was expensive for me.
But you have to think a bit more laterally about how you're going to achieve this.
Maybe not exactly going for your first choice of location somewhere, a cheaper property, because there are still bargains to be had in the UK.
I mean, you can still get houses, you know, a reasonable two-bedroom terraced house for like £80,000, £90,000.
And one thing you've got when you're a first-time buyer is enthusiasm and time.
So start building in that equity into your first property.
And don't think, well, you know, I want to live in Kensington.
I need to buy in Kensington.
Let's think, well, I'll get there eventually, but I'll go via a series of routes where I'm going to buy myself something a bit more affordable.
I think the problem is for many people when you think about, you know, the utility bills, electricity, gas, 4,200 from 1,200 and little over a year, the price of petrol, everything seems to be going up.
And I just wondered from your point of view, what is driving up the cost of housing?
I know you're big on, you know, the government said they build 300,000 more homes.
That hasn't happened.
Do we need to build more to make it more affordable, Martin?
Absolutely, because that is the reality.
There isn't enough property available.
And in any kind of economy or any kind of economic environment, if there's a rarity of a product, that product then obviously goes up in value.
The numbers of houses that are for sale is just a tiny fraction of what it was.
And I think most people's experience is if you go to buy a house, before you've even had a chance to see it, somebody will have bought it.
It's really scary.
But that does not create a buyer's market.
That creates a seller's market.
It is really, really tough.
I get that.
I think it's worth persevering, though, because as you quite rightly said, landlords are struggling too.
They're seeing increase in their bills.
They're seeing things they can't mitigate against taxes and all that sort of thing.
So rents are naturally going to go up and you've seen that.
So I still think it's worth doing whatever you can to get yourself on that market.
And what I say to people is don't give up hope because there are ways of achieving it.
And if you're shouting at the television now going, yeah, it's all right for him to say that.
Honestly, there are ways you can do it.
Do not give up hope.
Completely agree, Gemma.
What about some tips?
I mean, how can you make your house more attractive to a seller?
Martin's right, it's a ridiculous market.
It has been.
It's peaked.
It's probably going to start down.
I want to know what you would say to people who are thinking, I want to get my house sold to move on up the ladder, but I just can't.
What can we do?
I mean, obviously, things like, you know, improving how attractive it is when people first walk in.
I mean, that old cliche of, you know, cooking bread or whatever, but it does, you know, it's those simple little things I think that can help sell a house.
But what's really interesting is that there are also things that you can do to try and help build up a deposit for your next home as well while you're in a house.
So for example, things like renting out your driveway is quite a good way to make money.
There's also renting out a spare room or obviously the whole house when you go on holiday and all these little things can really help people.
And there are also, for people to get onto the ladder in the first place, help to buy schemes.
There's also LISES, which is lifetime ISIS, where the government gives you a little bit of money as well every time you save a certain amount.
So there are schemes out there to try and help.
But ultimately, trying to help find your dream home, it can take one or two or three different steps.
Brilliant.
Martin, you were nodding your head.
What sort of tips would you give to people watching this tonight?
Well, in terms of selling, one of the simplest things I've come across is the creation of like a little pack of information for somebody coming to your house.
What was it about the house that you really loved that made you buy it?
What are the local amenities?
You know, when you go into a hotel, there's like a pack of information.
If you are looking to sell quickly, and I think it's not too difficult at the moment, but an information pack you could give people.
But in terms of thinking how else you could maybe get on the ladder, what about linking up with relatives who've maybe got money in the bank and saying to them, I'll tell you what, why don't I cut you in on a bit of a deal?
I've got the energy, I've got the enthusiasm, I'm going to find a property, I'm going to do it up.
We can share the profit if you help me buy that property and then you start building your own equity.
So you might find people out there who are still getting diddly squat in terms of their savings who would buy into that plan.
As long as it's all written down, as long as everyone understands what's in it for everybody, that can be a really good way to do it.
Or just link up with friends.
And again, as long as it's sorted out between you and it's written down exactly what the deal is, you can actually do a joint purchase with somebody and that can be another way just to get you started.
You know, you don't have to get your ideal solution right at the beginning.
Really interesting.
Gemma, just I was reading a statistic today.
Britain is ranked so low in home ownership in the 35 European countries.
Really, really low down.
Would you buy a house?
Would you, I know what Martin's saying, try and get on that ladder.
Would you buy a house right now?
Would you rent?
My fear for landlords is that landlords are going to say, right, well, those electricity bills are going to go up and all of that.
I'm going to hike that rent.
Many people watching this tonight are going to be saying that's all well and good, but we haven't got the ability to save.
We haven't even got the ability to pay the bills that are in front of us.
We need help.
Should the government be doing more to kickstart the estate?
The business of buying and selling houses?
There needs to be more affordable housing.
That's the problem is that actually one in five, they did a research recently, one in five people are renting for five or even nine years before they can even get onto the property ladder.
So obviously more does need to be done to be able to help support more people getting into home ownership.
Do you think one of the problems is that buying, I mean, I noticed the other day they banned mortgages for buy to rent, right?
Which it strikes me that there aren't enough houses and also a lot of people have more than one.
So that's another reason why there aren't enough to go around.
The mortgage companies have stopped doing that because of course there's no money.
Do you think that will help people?
But also if you think about what the cost of living crisis is doing, it's putting up prices everywhere.
So it's not just mortgages.
If we look at rents, rents are over nine and a half percent.
It's almost 10% higher than they were a year ago.
So it's becoming painful on all fronts.
So actually a lot of people ask me, oh, there may be a housing price correction coming.
Should I just wait a bit?
The problem about waiting is you're eroding all your money on rent if you're lucky enough to be able to be saving towards a property.
And if you, again, if you want to get on the property ladder, timing the market is so incredibly hard.
And some people don't have that luxury.
They just have to wait and try and save as much they can.
It's been brilliant having you on all week.
You won breakfast with me tomorrow.
We're getting depressed, but we're trying to be completely honest.
Martin Roberts, thank you very much indeed.
Gemma Godfrey as well, financial expert.
More cost of living crisis next week.
But next on Uncensored, prices are soaring.
We've said that.
The NHS is in crisis.
In many people's minds, the UK is going up in smoke, but the opposition nowhere to be seen.
The government's in self-imposed exile.
What the hell are we going to do?
It's time, my friends, to phone a friend.
John Corbel, founder of Phones for You, is live after this break.
Don't go away.
I'm coming back in three.
Thank you, my friends.
Welcome back to Uncensored.
Here's a question: What does it take to lead in a crisis?
Well, there's different approaches.
You can fight them on the beaches, of course, or like the British government, you can fight them from the beaches.
You can roll up your sleeves and face the music, or like the bystander-in-chief, you can get lost in your sleeves and ultimately face the tarmac.
Some of the great crisis leaders make the big decisions without skipping a beat.
Ours, well, he went skipping.
Liz Truss, meanwhile, is busy worrying about the cover of Vogue, apparently.
Sunak just covering the hole in his brogues.
And as Britain prepares to officially declare a drought tomorrow, surely both of them are deeply concerned about how they'll water their magic money trees.
Today's government meeting with energy bosses, I have to tell you, achieved absolutely nothing.
Pierce Talma's plan is as clear as a sundown in the fog.
This entire country is going to hell in a handcart.
But to give our leaders some credit, I'm told tonight, exclusively, they are all giving 110%.
Sadly, my friends, that's probably the inflation rate next January.
So we decided with a crisis of leadership to go with our cost of living crisis, a drought crisis, an energy crisis, and every other crisis, we need a leader.
We need a guy who's got some ideas.
And I'm delighted to be joined by Phones for You founder and billionaire British business luminary.
You try saying that.
John Colwell, how are you, my friend?
Well, much better after that introduction, Jeremy.
Thank you.
John, we know each other well.
We have a heat wave.
We have a cost of living crisis.
We have the NHS on its knees.
The parliament's out of action.
Our leaders are nowhere to be seen.
You founded one of the most successful businesses this country has ever seen.
Are you impressed by the politicians' work ethic right now?
Well, I'm not impressed by the politicians generally and the performance of the last two years, but often the performance is lacking, regardless of which party's in and regardless of which period you're talking about.
You know, there was so much could have been done in the last two and a half years by the Conservative government and it hasn't been done.
Windfall Taxes on Pandemic Profits 00:05:28
And that is such a disastrous loss to society.
So, no, I'm not particularly happy at all, Jeremy.
You famously donated half a million quid to the Tories before the last election, one of their chief donors.
Did you expect more in return?
Would you be doing it again?
Where are you at with that?
Well, it was a one-off donation, and it was really to help keep Corbyn and McDonnell out.
And am I happy with that?
Yes, absolutely, because I think they would have been a fiasco for Britain.
Having said which, the combination of Brexit, Ukraine war, energy crisis, drought crisis, we're not in a very good place, are we?
And so, but there's so much more could have been done by an ambitious government.
I find myself frustrated.
I don't know if you share that frustration.
You know, Johnson got that mandate.
Yeah, I mean, we'd be the same.
And it seems to have disappeared with this minutiae of ridiculous decisions.
You were very critical of Roshi Sunak's furlough scheme, I remember at the time.
You said it was too dangerous and it would fuel inflation.
There we go.
John Colborough right, Roshi Sunak wrong.
Is he to blame?
And where do you stand on this party leadership campaign, John?
Well, absolutely is to blame.
I mean, only for part of it, of course, because the Ukraine situation and the energy crisis is a big part of it as well.
But, you know, Rishi could have done so much more.
I went out.
Two and a half years ago, immediately the pandemic struck, and said nobody should be substantially worse off as a result of the pandemic.
Well unfortunately, it made people better off as a result of the pandemic and of course there was then a destocking of the entire supply chain throughout the world.
So as soon as people then came back to the market post pandemic, there was a huge desire and demand for goods that had not been produced over the previous two years and that really has stoked inflation.
But also, in addition, he neglected three or four million I don't know how many of the three or four million that are so-called forgotten or so-called excluded, but he certainly neglected some of them and made them substantially worse off.
So he got a lot of things wrong and I am, of course, naturally quite critical of that because, being being very patriotic for Britain, I want to see Britain prosper and succeed.
I don't want governments making big mistakes that are avoidable.
Um, one of the things that just causes so much anger amongst our viewers and our listeners is, every week there seems to be another story john, about an energy firm with billions of pounds worth of profits and you know bills, I think, from this year, won the average electricity 12.77.
It's 4200 pounds.
By next january and I cannot over exaggerate this enough there will be millions of people in this country who cannot pay their bills out of the blue.
Today we hear that energy boss has met with the government.
Boris turned up uh, windfall taxes were ruled out.
Apparently the meeting ended with no agreement.
As a businessman a successful businessman, that's i'm missing the point you need to keep your customers happy.
Do you not think that the government should put pressure on these energy firms to give some of those ridiculously large profits back to the very people, the consumers, that have them where they are?
I do absolutely.
But there is a very, very difficult dilemma here, because I was a great advocate of windfall taxes on those companies during the pandemic that benefited enormously out of the fact that all the shops were shut and everybody was driven online.
I would also be an advocate of uh, taking some of the energy companies profits off them as well.
But and this is a really big but Britain has to be seen to be a friendly country towards businesses that are coming into our country, because if we are seen to just keep taking, Taking money from people who have windfall profits.
It'll make us much less desirable to be invested upon.
So I don't actually have the answer for that, but I do think there is a cause for windfall taxes.
I do think they could be implemented as a one-off, as long as a guarantee was given then that that same type of tax wouldn't occur in the future years, maybe a decade or so, because you've got to give people confidence that they can build a business in Britain without suddenly losing profitability.
But at the same time, they've made a fortune.
I get that.
One final question.
And it is always a pleasure to pick the brains of somebody.
I mean, you should be Prime Minister tomorrow because you turn up.
You're one of the biggest single taxpayers in this country.
I want you, because you are a self-made man, I want you to address the men and women of this country watching talk right now and saying, he's a billionaire.
I'm being straight.
Kyle's on the telly.
I am struggling.
I'm a jam, just about managing.
I've got two kids.
I literally have got a few quid left at the end of the week when I've paid this, that, and the other.
I'm not getting any handouts.
I'm not getting anything.
I see this every single day: energy, petrol, food.
I'm really at the end of my tether.
Putin's Regime in the West 00:04:52
What message, John Corbel, would you give?
And this is the sort of message that the government should give.
What would you say?
Well, I think the government really do have to help the people at the very bottom of the food chain and help them substantially.
We should potentially be looking at minimum wages in this country and whether to implement a new minimum wage.
But certainly, as an emergency measure, we should be helping out dramatically with the energy crisis.
But I think we will do that.
But we shouldn't be giving it to everybody because a lot of people can afford it and it is a real cost.
So we should be giving it to those people that really cannot afford to pay their way and are really going to struggle.
And I think the government will do that.
At least I really hope so.
John Corbwell, that's what I call real leadership.
They're talking and giving practical advice.
We really appreciate you joining us tonight.
Thank you very much indeed.
Really appreciate that.
Where are our politicians?
Nowhere to be seen.
John Corbwell on the television saying, This is what I do.
Thank you, my friend.
Right.
My next guest is lucky to be alive.
Well, he had a price on his head: $300,000, to be precise.
Yes, this week, an Iranian man was charged by the United States with plotting to kill former President Trump's national security advisor.
The plot is thought to have been retaliation for the killing of Revolutionary Guard commander Qasim Soleimani by the US military in 2020.
The Iranians say, no, no, no, these allegations are basis, baseless.
The target was former US National Security Advisor John Bolton.
He's very much alive and kicking, which is a delightful piece of information.
And he joins me now.
John, welcome to Uncensored.
Thank you very much indeed.
Glad to be with you.
For all kinds of reasons.
I love the fact that when we were doing the research today and I was like, oh my goodness me, we're going to be talking to Trump's ex-Nasha.
They said the first thing you've got to ask him is apparently he's really annoyed that the bounty on his head was only $300,000.
Is that right, sir?
Sure.
I mean, I would have thought, would have hoped that for all the trouble I'd caused Iran, it would have been higher, but maybe they're in deeper economic trouble than we thought.
On a serious note, why would Iran want to kill you, John Bolton?
Well, it's a terrorist regime, and it's not me alone.
There are many other former government officials that have been targeted and not only former government officials.
An Iranian American, an American citizen now in Brooklyn, New York, was the subject of what was unquestionably an attack about 10 days or two weeks ago because she was writing critically of the government of Iran for its policy on women.
So this is not a state sponsor of terror.
This is a state terrorist government.
And it's unprecedented in its reach.
It has carried out terrorist operations in the Middle East, in Europe, but now trying to kill Americans on American soil.
John, in the West, we've seen what's happened in Ukraine.
We've been told by our leaders that we can't put feet on the ground in Ukraine.
And with Europe, we've instigated far-reaching sanctions, but we still watch every day appalling footage of Putin's tanks and soldiers killing defenseless people across Ukraine.
We marvel at Ukraine's strength of character.
I'd like your opinion on your current president.
Is Biden weak?
Is the West and Biden weak on Russia?
In your opinion, should we be doing more to get Putin out, to lay down a marker?
Yeah, look, we are not doing as well as people think.
Our biggest failure occurred in February when we did not deter the Russians from invading.
We can talk as we should about the bravery and the competence of the Ukrainians fighting back, but let's be clear: the West as a whole failed to deter Putin, and that was the greatest mistake we made.
Right now, we're in a race as NATO weapons, U.S. and UK weapons in particular, get to the Ukrainian front lines.
They're able to use them effectively in combat.
But as of the moment, the other side of this race, the Russians are still gaining ground.
And in a war about territory, they are winning.
Let's be clear.
They've paid huge costs.
They are winning.
And the question is whether Putin seizes the diplomatic initiative in a way that catches Europe and the United States unaware and allows him to consolidate his territorial gains.
Over here, I have to say, this side of the pond, Biden's presidency was met with real optimism two years ago and is now, with the greatest of respect, laughed at.
I want to bring you a quick update because this is just in on the reason.
Justice Department Search Warrants 00:02:56
We just had this released behind the search of President Trump's Florida home the other day.
U.S. Attorney General Merritt confirmed that Fed searched Trump's Florida estate to establish whether he illegally removed records from the White House as he was leaving office.
First, I personally approve the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter.
Second, the department does not take such a decision lightly.
Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken.
Third, let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors.
I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked.
John Bartner had Jason Miller, an ex-Trump aide, on this show on Monday, and he said that the Democrats and really the establishment in its entirety in Washington will stop at nothing to prevent Donald Trump from standing again and potentially holding public office, whether it's his tax affairs, whether it's allegations of stuff, you know, documentation he removed.
We had him invoking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to answer questions in New York on Wednesday.
What is your take on your ex-boss?
Do you think that these allegations are founded in truth, or do you think it's a witch hunt?
Well, I don't think it's a witch hunt.
I think there's much we don't know.
You know, the tradition in the United States, as it is in Great Britain, is that criminal investigations and prosecutions are carried on in silence in private.
The Department of Justice, in our case, doesn't give a running commentary on what it finds.
So when a party to a criminal proceeding like this, a potential criminal proceeding, speaks out, the natural inclination of the Department of Justice is to say nothing.
I think that's a mistake.
And I'm very glad that the Attorney General did speak out today.
I'm an alumnus of the Department of Justice myself.
It's a great honor to work there.
It has good people and bad people, like every human institution.
But the idea that it's fundamentally corrupt, that it's fundamentally controlled by any political party and is directed against any political figure is fundamentally wrong.
And anybody who tells you to the contrary simply is ignorant.
That's it, period.
Close quote.
John, the better thing to do here would be for all of us to hold silent until we know more.
And now Merrick Garland has done a very interesting thing.
He is filed with the court, which approved this search warrant.
Wasn't the Department of Justice frolic on its own?
A court approved this search warrant.
He's asked that it all be unsealed.
So that's what the Justice Department has.
Wildfires Burning Across England 00:15:39
John, two very, very quick questions to finish.
I'd love to have more time.
First one, would the world be safer if President Trump became the president again?
And do you think he'll declare for 2024?
No, the world would not be safer because Donald Trump doesn't have a philosophy.
It's living, working in his White House is like living inside a pinball machine.
That's not what you need to guarantee American and Western security.
My own view, at least before the search warrant earlier this week, was that he would not run in 2024.
He knows he lost in 2020.
He fears losing again.
He hates being called a loser worse than anything else.
He would talk about running incessantly, but when the rubber met the road, he would not run.
Whether this week's events have changed that or not, I don't know.
I still don't think he'll run as of now.
John Bolton, an absolute pleasure to speak to you.
Thank you for joining us tonight from America.
John Bolton, there on Uncensored.
Next, it's a tinderbox out there.
That's an absolute fact.
Fire chiefs are warning all of us of an unprecedented danger of wildfires this weekend.
I want to know how real is that risk.
I also want to know what we can do about it.
We'll talk to a fire brigade union leader and a firefighter.
Next and uncensored.
We're coming right back.
Welcome back.
Now, we used to say that Britain basks in glorious sunshine.
Now, it's fair to say that Britain burns.
Wildfire season has long been a summer peril in Southern Europe, in California, in Australia.
But is it now becoming a grim reality for the United Kingdom?
On Tuesday, the Med Office issued an amber warning for extreme heat this weekend with temperatures expected to hit 36 degrees Celsius.
Experts tell us that tinderbox conditions have created a risk of exceptional fire severity across large swathes of this country.
Now, this August heat wave, hot on the hills of the driest July since 1935, has drained reservoirs, rivers, and lakes, and millions of people in the south of England could be under a hosepipe ban in the coming weeks.
Part of the country are also expected to tonight be declared as officially in a drought.
Delighted to be joined now by Andy Dark, Assistant General Secretary from the Fire Brigades Union, and firefighter Stuart Gillen from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue.
I'd like to start with you, Andy.
We don't want to scare people, but we want to be realistic.
How dangerous is it right now in the United Kingdom and what should people be doing to help your service?
I think it is extremely dangerous.
We are lucky in England, in the UK, that actually we don't lose many people in fires, in wildfires.
However, they're becoming so severe and I think fire and rescue services are so stretched.
We've been really lucky this year in as much as we've had severe fire, we've had severe water shortage, but it hasn't been coupled with extremely strong wind.
That third factor could mean that we end up with more experience of, as we did in, say, Wennington in the east of London, where I think it was 14 houses in that row burned to the ground from a wildfire on the edge of London.
I mean, it is incredible.
So it is dangerous.
Interestingly, Stuart Gillian, I'll bring you in Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service.
You were shaking your head.
Do you not agree with Andy Dark?
No, I wasn't shaking my head, Jeremy.
I agree with Andy.
The risks around wildfires are increasing.
They're naturally going to increase with this extreme bout of dry weather that we're having.
The ground is tinder dry.
So they are significant risks.
However, appropriately resourced, we are able to deal with that risk.
What would you say to people?
For you and your colleagues on the ground, we're out to protect as many people as we can.
What can the British public, Stuart, do to help your colleagues and you?
Well, we're asking the public to be responsible when they're enjoying the outdoors.
You know, we have beautiful counties, beautiful coastlines, beautiful inland sites across the UK, and we're asking people when they're enjoying the countryside to enjoy that in a responsible fashion.
We're advocates of not using disposable barbecues, don't have open fires or campfires because very, very quickly in these conditions, a small fire can be out of control and lead to a significant wildfire incident.
And we've had a significant incident in May of 2020 at Wareham Forest in Dorset where we had an area equivalent to the size of 230 football pitches that was a light and dirt we had to deal with for a number of weeks.
And that incident was caused by a campfire left unattended on the edge of the forest with the high winds.
As Andy just mentioned, we had all three of the sort of attributes for a significant, you know, the perfect storm for an incident with the high winds.
Andy, you heard me.
We asked people to enjoy our countryside responsibility.
Quite right.
And you would expect and hope people would do that.
I don't believe in a nanny state.
I think people should take responsibility.
Andy, you saw me say in the introduction that, you know, we're used to this in southern Europe, in California and Australia.
Is the fire service equipped for these wildfires?
Do they have the resources?
Do they have the equipment?
Excuse me, do they have the experience to deal with these issues?
Certainly the experience, certainly the commitment.
I think one thing that is missing that we are noticing is that the fire service has been cut by 20% over the last 12 years, is a fact.
At a time when it probably should have been building, we should really crew and resource our fire rescue services for the worst reasonable, it's got to be reasonable scenario, the worst reasonable scenario, and not just the everyday trickle, shall we call it.
And we're not.
We really do need to have more firefighters on the ground to basically get a heavy weight of attack early to extinguish the fire and not allow it to develop, you know, these fires and develop and grow.
You would expect me to ask this question.
Why aren't there more firefighters?
Public service cuts.
I mean, there's no other excuse or reason for it.
I think it is a real mistake.
I think it's not economic efficiency, is that attendance times of two fires of all kinds, not just wildfires now, are getting longer.
It does mean that we're intervening.
It takes us longer to intervene and extinguish the fire.
That's more damage, more businesses and homes damaged.
It does mean that injuries and deaths that could be reduced even further than we have been doing.
There could be a better experience there.
But in terms of the fire service, in relative terms, is really cheap.
It really is.
It's very efficient.
But in terms of the economic loss in terms of people's lives, in terms of their jobs and businesses, it really is a false economy to cut the service in the way it has been cut.
I agree with that.
Stuart Gillian, I'll just bring you back in.
I never understand the United Kingdom.
We seem to have the wettest winters ever, right?
We seem to have salination parts been anything about.
We seem to pump water into the North Sea.
One of the biggest things that we're told with these droughts coming in the south and then perhaps further north is that we're going to run out of water.
Is that a concern for firefighters on the ground that actually we will run out of water?
What can you say to people watching tonight thinking, good lord, that could happen as well?
I wouldn't say that we would run out of water.
What I would say is that we plan for these events.
We work closely with our local authority partners across Dorset and Wiltshire and we plan for events such as these and we enact those plans by looking at the risks of the significant wildfire warnings.
The fire severity index has risen, the alert has gone up to a red this afternoon and we have had subsequent meetings following that information.
I've been in the service 27 years and water supply issues have never occurred in my service.
We have a number of avenues we can go down in terms of locating water supplies, natural water sources.
Obviously the Dorset coastline provides us with an abundant water supply but we also have options to use air support in larger scale incidents.
So I'd like to provide the public with the reassurance that we know where to get the water from and we don't suffer from inadequate water supplies.
Okay I understand I understand you're absolutely saying to people don't panic because you don't want a scaremonger.
Just very quickly, does it not annoy you sometimes that people don't take responsibility very simply from the fire service?
You would hope I think that people do the right thing.
Would that be a fair question?
Absolutely fair question.
We ask people we've all got a responsibility to look after ourselves and our environment that we live in.
The devastation caused by wildfires wherever they are in the UK is huge.
It's huge to human life.
It's huge to the environment and to the natural habitats.
And these wildfires take years to recover from.
So we all have a responsibility.
We advise you, bring a picnic, don't bring a barbecue.
Brilliant.
Listen, Stuart Gillian in Paul and Andy Dark, 25 years experience and now in the union.
Thank you both.
Thank you for the job that you do.
And I absolutely agree.
It's not a nanny state, but we have to take responsibility.
You don't go into a forest with a barbecue.
Be responsible.
We have to help ourselves, help the people who are trying to help us.
Right next on Uncensored, it's apparently sizzling out there, although I've been stuck in this office all day, and it's about to get pretty hot because despite the aircon, on tonight's Jez's Journos, the legend that is Mike Graham and Ava Santina, they're next.
We're coming right back, don't go anywhere.
Welcome back to Uncensored, my friends.
It's time for Jez's Journos.
Piers' pack is but the yesterday thing.
Tonight I'm joined by Talk TV legend and my presenting guru, Mike Graham, and political journalist who's been on holiday.
Ava Santina.
Hello team.
Hello.
Let's start with the heat wave.
The fire engines there, the people in the fire stations talking about, and it is quite serious.
We're told Tinderbox Britain is about to go up in flames this weekend.
And you and I agree we don't want a nanny state, but people have got to be responsible, Mike, haven't they?
Well, yeah, I mean, who wants to have a barbecue on a burned-out piece of meadow, you know, in the middle of this kind of heat wave?
Take some sandwiches, you know, take a nice cold bottle of wine.
But equally, you know, people get very hysterical.
I was looking at this fire in Essex today, right?
It was 87 square meters.
That is about the equivalent of the size of two penalty areas on a football pitch.
They talked about firefighters, you know, dashing out and putting this inferno out.
It took them an hour.
You know, it's two penalty areas.
It's not huge.
It was about 10 firefighters and two fire engines.
You know, we're not talking about, you know, Malibu burning to the ground in sort of 24 hours.
It's really, I think the papers really exaggerate some of this stuff when they don't need to.
Ava, it's quite interesting because both of those firefighters were saying we're down on numbers and we can't.
He almost implied actually that they weren't trained correctly for these wildfires.
What would you say?
You blame Johnson, wouldn't you?
I wouldn't.
You blame him.
I mean, I mean, well, I don't know.
I mean, where is he at the moment?
Probably his fault.
But I'm going to sympathise, and you're not going to like this.
He was told he couldn't get involved.
So what's he supposed to do?
It's not his fault.
They're taking another one.
But he stayed on as a caretaker prime minister, so he should be around.
He should be getting on, you know, getting on because they told him to stay on.
As he should, that is his job.
And that's why we are paying him as taxpayers is to govern and help the country.
But look to your point.
I understand what you're talking about.
It was a small area.
But the potential for that small area is to become an entire field and to become Malibu.
It's totally not normal that grass in England is on fire at the moment.
And the fact that you've got Liz Truss about 10 minutes ago saying that she still thinks that solar panels are unsightly and she's not that interested in green energy is absolutely insane.
Let's come to the leadership debate.
I frankly, I said last night in introduction, it feels like it's been about 70 years.
It is ludicrous.
We are a rudderless country run by a government who are nowhere to be seen.
Today there was an energy meeting.
Apparently nothing was agreed.
And I did earlier, I did, where's Keir Starmer?
We did a missing person.
Exactly right.
I mean, the Labour Party worked out after demanding to see every Tory minister back at work.
They then realised, oh, actually, Keir Starmer's away as well.
So they kind of went to the bottom.
I have had some information, by the way.
It's been spotted in Majorca.
Oh, great.
Okay.
Well, I mean, listen, just to go back for a moment to the firefighters' argument, you know, in Spain and in France and in Portugal and all those other European countries, they have massive numbers of volunteer firemen who can come out, bombed as they call them, and they come out whenever there's a problem.
And Britain is not on fire.
You know, there are parts of Britain that are still very green.
There are huge portions of Scotland where, you know, it rains pretty much every day.
I was once in Glasgow in June.
It rained for 26 days.
You know, yes, there is a problem.
People need to be sensible, but let's not get hysterical.
People are getting hysterical about everything.
Britain isn't burning.
You know, just don't throw matches onto a brown site.
Just don't do it.
Well, it does have the potential to burn.
And we're also, we're out of water.
I don't know if you saw the Oxfordshire town today that is completely out of water.
We haven't even got anything to put it out anymore.
We're in a dire situation.
We lived on an island surrounded by the sea.
How are you going to get that into the middle of the country then?
Well, if I was running the government or the water company, I'd figure a way of getting a hose into the sea and put it into the water.
And can I also point out to everybody here?
I found out the other day we lose 90 trillion litres of water every day through leakage.
That's a joke.
Ava, I want to talk about this because it's close to your heart.
And actually, you might be surprised by our reaction, harassment go.
Which bit of it, the part that I was harassed, I mean, even on the way here, actually, but yesterday I had a really awful incident outside Tottenham Station and unfortunately the British Transport Police couldn't do anything about it.
And well, it's too rude, actually, to say, but it was very physical and it was quite carnal, actually.
That will give you a little hint about what was said.
But, you know, I was told to ring the Met Police and report it there.
I know that the CPS have come out yesterday and they've outlined that we should be reporting these and we should be going further with sexual harassment.
But at the end of the day, do you really want to be bothering the police with this?
Like, do they have enough time?
Like, I don't know.
Obviously, that is a very specific case and personal to you.
And we will try and do whatever we can to support you.
Can I talk about wolf whistling?
Because, you know, this is such an emotional subject, as women of all ages are saying, that men wolf whistle at them and they feel offended and it's fundamentally wrong.
That would be your rightful opinion, yes?
Well, I think that the two are the same.
I think it's all harassment.
I think it's quite feral that a man would want to wolf whistle at you when you're walking down the street.
I mean, what kind of person can't control themselves that they have to leer and physically shout at a woman?
That's quite obscene, in my opinion.
Mike?
Yeah, I think she's right.
I mean, I can't imagine why anyone would want to do it.
I've got a daughter.
You know, when she was younger, she's about 14 or 15.
We were in New York quite a lot.
People would be leering out of car windows at her because, you know, she was 14, she was quite a good-looking young woman.
And I was appalled by that.
And I've never ever in my life dreamed of wolf whistling anyone.
Well, I'm going to add a cat there.
And I've got two sons who would never do it either.
I've got two sons.
I wouldn't.
Let's just talk about it.
And if they did, I do more than that.
My sons would never do that to a woman.
And my respect to you for talking about it.
Very quickly, NHS Diversity Mail Online has found five adverts for senior equality roles at trusts across England, which pay up to £76,000 a year.
Am I wrong, or should we perhaps not be spending that on dentists?
Racism Within the NHS 00:02:00
Dentists, actually, doctors, nurses, whatever.
Do you not think?
It gets worse than that because not only have they got the diversity crowd, they've got the net zero crowd.
They've got sustainability officers getting paid $120,000 in almost every healthcare trust in this country.
Ridiculous.
But we need that.
No, no, you need it.
You need them in the NHS because for some reason, this country is still stuck in quite racist ways.
Look, look, there was a program.
We all watched it.
Adam Kaye's fabulous.
This is going to her.
In the first scene of that show, there was a racist incident.
A patient launched at a black woman.
That is the case for a lot of doctors up and down the country.
You think there's diversity officers in there?
I think I would probably answer that in this way, and it's the same way that I answered the climate.
I know there's a situation in terms of climates.
I know there's a situation still in terms of harassment and the need to try and understand more.
The problem is, and we've only got one minute.
People in this country, all over this country, cannot pay their bills.
They cannot put petrol in the car.
They cannot take their kids to school.
They cannot do anything.
And right now, I want to say that there is surely a reason for saying that's a little bit more important right now.
You would want, surely, out of that money 15 more nurses, because I would right now.
I don't think that you can compare it like that.
I don't think that you should scrimp on diversity or like, you know, offering something that's not racist just because you can provide an extra nurse.
Also, we don't even have nurses that want to come and work in the NHS at the moment.
So the staffing isn't even there, like, you know, regardless of funding.
I think you're both great.
Final word, Michael Graham.
Well, the thing about racism is that there will always be racists.
You will not cure racism by having diversity officers.
The people who are racist are always going to be racist until they die.
And when they die, they won't be racist anymore.
It's as simple as that.
I love you two together.
Thank you for sharing your story.
And I meant what I said.
I hope you get the support you deserve.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Are you not working tomorrow?
I'm doing the show after yours.
Oh, we're on breakfast tomorrow morning, you lucky, lucky people.
That's it from me.
Thank you to Ava Santina.
Thank you to Mike Graham.
Thank you for another week.
Back tomorrow at 8 o'clock.
By the way, whatever you do tonight, whatever you do this weekend, Piers told me to say it.
Keep it uncensored.
We're back tomorrow at 8 o'clock.
Have a great night.
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