Transcript of News at Ten | Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe reported to police over alleged threats against party chair

It's 10: 00. This is Sky News at 10: 00, our top story. Investigators say Hollywood star, Jean Hackman, died of heart disease a week after his wife was killed by a rare virus. Of Police. Police. Three Bulgarian nationals found guilty of spying for Russia, one of the biggest ever foreign intelligence operations in the UK. Dozens of people killed in Syria after violent clashes between government forces and fighters loyal to the former President. The reform party at war bosses report one of their MPs, Rupert Lo, to the police after allegations of serious bullying and violent threats. And a SpaceX setback, the Starship rocket explodes midair, putting Elon Musk's Mars mission at risk. Plus, we'll take a first look at tomorrow's front pages in our press preview from 10: 30 right through to midnight. Good evening. Hollywood star Jean Hackman died of heart disease a week after his wife was killed by a rare virus, usually spread by rodents. Investigators in Santa Fe, California, California issued a major update in the past hour after the couple's bodies were found at their home last month. The cause of death for Ms. Betsey Hackman, aged 65 years, is hantevirus pulmonary syndrome.

The manner of death is natural. The cause of death for Mr. Jean Hackman, aged 95 years, is hypertensive an atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer's disease as a significant contributory factor. Our correspondence, Shaman, Freeman Powell is here and has been following this story. Shaman, we know that Jean Hackman was 95 when he died. What did we learn about his final days? Well, sadly, Gillian, we learned that Jean Hackman was likely alone in that property for around seven days, as earlier today, during that press conference, we understand that his wife, Betty, likely died on February the 11th. We also learned that Jean Hackman was very unwell, as believed he died from significant heart disease. This is because the investigators learned that his pacemaker had stopped recording activity on 18th of February. But as I say, he was also unwell with Alzheimer's disease, which means that he may not have known that his wife had passed away seven days before. It's unsure whether or not he was able to survive without the help of his wife. The autopsy also found that he hadn't eaten anything recently as well, and that links back to whether or not he was dependent on his wife, Betsey's support.

We know that Betsey died of a rare infectious virus, didn't she? Yes, a virus called hanta virus. It is rare, but it's an extremely serious respiratory illness. It's a disease that's transmitted to humans from rodents, and it can occur if someone comes into contact or is exposed with rodent urine or droppings. It cannot be transmitted person to person, though. As I say, it is rare, but over the 50 years, there have been more than 130 confirmed infections in New Mexico alone, and around 42% of those have been fatal. But today, we learned via that press conference that it is believed that Betsey likely died around seven days before her husband. We know that this antivirus can take a number days before it starts presenting its symptoms. Shaman, thank you. Very sad story there. Three members of a sophisticated spiring, based in the UK have been found guilty of passing secrets to Russia and plotting to kidnap and kill critiques of Vladimir Putin's regime. Bulgarian nationals Vania Ghabarova, Catherine Ivanova, and Thierry Maure Ivánchev lived in London and had day jobs as a beautician, healthcare worker, and decorator, respectively. But a court heard they were paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by their Russian spy master to trail journalists and to carry out surveillance on a US military base.

Officers described it as one of the largest foreign intelligence operations in the UK, as our crime correspondent, Martin Brunt, reports. Great Yamouth, Norfolk, the unlikely nerve center of an astonishing Russian spy operation. Police! Police, stay where you are, police. When police raided to a spymasters home, a holiday hotel, they found it packed with surveillance gear. There were dozens of mobile phones, computer hard drives, and drones, and false passports and identity documents in more than 50 names. All in Rusev, a Bulgarian ran the spy ring. He pleaded guilty to espionage charges. So too did Ivan Stajanoff, a cage fighter, and Biza Jumbazov, a delivery driver. He was in a love triangle with two of the gang. The group targeted opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The spy operation was extensive and well-funded by the Russians. The group had hacking software, signal cameras and GPS trackers. Cameras and microphones were hidden in watches, sunglasses, and jewelry, and they weren't short on ambition. You remind me of my wife. They discussed recruiting the actor Sasha Baron Cohen to use his Kazak comedy character, Borat, in a fake campaign against the Kazakhstan government. The Russians would then expose the so-called campaign to impress the Kazaks.

On a flight from London to Vienna, they filmed journalist Christo Grozhev and planned to kidnap him. Grozhev had exposed the Russian military unit behind the Salisbury poisoning of double agent, Serge Skripal. We're now being in those foreign states who still want to conduct that activity, having to resort to working with criminal proxies or groups like this group of Bulgarians to try and have the biggest effect they can in this country. On trial was Katrin Ivanova, a lab assistant, Vania Ghabereva, a beautician, and Tyomir Ivánchev, a painter and decorator. They all denied spying charges. In a police interview, Ivánchev said he thought he'd been hired by Interpol, not the Russians. What was explained to me, obviously, is it's going to be like a big holiday. Just I'm going to go, and eventually, if I can see the bad guy, I mean, now I completely understand it's been completely different. In Germany, the group planned to use a specialist device, a phone identity grabber, to capture the mobile numbers of Ukrainian soldiers under training. It would help the Russians target the enemy troops when they were back fighting in Ukraine. The The operation was allegedly controlled by Jan Marsalek, an Austrian, a fraud suspect who'd fled to Moscow.

I think the use of proxies has always been part of Russian intelligence modus operandi. Of course, it has certain advantages in it. Because if you're able to use a foreign national, particularly in this case, Bulgarian, with EU passports and pretty much freedom of movement into UK at the time, it turns the security services job into the search for a needle in a haystack. Police, stay where you are. According to the prosecution, the operation was run on behalf of Russia's military intelligence and state security agencies. Martin Brunt, Sky News, Central London. An MP for the Reform UK Party is being investigated over allegations of serious bullying and threats of serious violence. The party has now withdrawn the whip from Rupert Lohe, who represents Great Yarmouth. He says there's no credible evidence against him. Live now to our political correspondent, Liz Bates, who's in Westminster for us. Liz, seemingly open hostility between senior members of the party today. It certainly is. It is open warfare among reform MPs. Remember, there's only five of them, and there is real hostility. A long list of allegations released by the chair and the chief whip of bullying and remarks against women and disabled people.

Mr. Lowe has released his own statement. What he says is he's disappointed but not surprised to read reform's untrue and false allegations. He says, Let me be abundantly clear. This investigation is based on zero credible evidence against me and has repeatedly stated That's been repeatedly stated by a neutral investigator. He goes on, Allegations of physical threats are outrageous and entirely untrue. He also says he's never made any derogatory comments about women or people with disabilities. This is a lie. Let me bring you the bit of the statement. He said, It is no surprise that this vexatious statement has been issued the day after my reasonable and constructive questions of Nigel Farage and the reform structure. It was issued on X late on a Friday afternoon with no prior warnings. So he feels like this has just come out of nowhere. I should say we have had confirmation from the Met police that they have received an allegation of verbal threats. They say officers are carrying out an assessment of the allegations to determine what further action may be required. So that clearly in its very early stages, there's no live police investigation. But look, I think what Mr. Lo is referring to in his statement is a public rouse that has been going on between him and the party leader, Nigel Farage.

He did an interview in the Daily Mail in which he called Nigel Farage mess Kianic. He cast doubt on his leadership. Nigel Farage, very angry, hit back and said Mr. Lo probably wanted to be the Prime Minister himself. This potentially all goes back to comments made by Elon Musk in January. That could be the catalyst for what is now a relationship relationship that has completely broken down. Mr. Lo, not part of reform tonight. Difficult to see how, after all of this, he is going to save his political career. Liz, thank you. Now, Donald Trump has sometimes been described as the businessman President who only respects one thing, the markets. This week, it became clear that the so-called Trump bump since his election is now over. The dollar is falling, and there are early indications that the economy is shrinking and inflation is rising. It's all down to the US President's tariff diplomacy. Our business correspondent, Paul Kelso, has this assessment. When Donald Trump on November's election, financial markets seemed almost as pleased as his supporters, anticipating a Wall Street friendly administration, a Trump bump sent the S&P 500 up 2. 5% after polling day, a rally that continued right through to mid-February, in a peak of 6.

3% higher. But since then, uncertainty about his economic plans, specifically the cost of those tariffs, have caused a Trump slump, with all the gains since election day handed back. Now, that slump has accelerated in this last week of unpredictable. On Monday, Trump confirmed that tariffs against China, Mexico, and Canada would be implemented. The market fell. On Tuesday, the tariffs began. Trump warned of a little disturbance in his address to Congress. But on Wednesday, he paused the tariffs after the car industry lobbied him to hold back. The day later, facing threats of retaliation, he paused the levies on Canada and Mexico entirely for a month. All bumps in the road, but in the same direction, down. That's because the tariffs are costly and disruptive and aimed at America's three biggest trading partners. Mexico has a total of $840 billion of goods traded with the US. Canada, 761 billion, and China, 582 billion. Now, these are total imports and exports, but the US has trade deficits with all three. That means it imports more than it exports, and it is that which irks Donald Trump, who believes it is fundamentally unfair. This has been very unfair. Our country, from an economic standpoint, a financial standpoint, and a trade standpoint, has been absolutely ripped off by almost every country in the world, Canada, Mexico, a go, and then you just go right down the line.

Now, if these tariffs were to be sustained, they would come at a price for consumers. This chart shows market expectations for inflation in the US, and you can see it's rising. Now, if we add a line for Europe, we can see the gap between the two has widened. In fact, it's at its largest in three years. Anecdotally, US businesses, including the retail giant target, are warning of price rises. There are also some early indications that growth may be slowing. This is from the Atlanta Federal Reserve. It's their best assessment of the economy today. It suggests the economy is actually in reverse, shrinking by minus 2. 4%. Now, these are not official national figures, but they indicate the jeopardy here for Donald Trump because he promised the precise opposite. Now, Donald Trump has a mandate for terrorists, and for now, he might be using them primarily for political leverage. But if this market downturns learn last and his popularity suffers, we'll find out just how beautiful he thinks tariffs really are. Well, President Trump also threatened Moscow today with what he called Large-Scale Economic Sanctions and Tariffs in response to Russia's bombing of Ukraine. Speaking in the oval office earlier, he said he's finding it harder to deal with Ukraine than Russia, but he believes Putin wants peace.

We're doing very well with Russia, but right now, they're bombing the out of Ukraine. I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine, and they don't have the cards. Dozens of people have reportedly been killed after fierce fighting in Syria between security forces and gunmen loyal to former President Bachar al-Assad. The violence erupted in the west of the country, which is heavily populated by members of the Al-await minority. It's the biggest challenge yet to the authority of the new Islamist-led government. As our Middle East correspondent, Alister Bunkle, reports. This helicopter is flying above the Syrian Coast. The soldiers from the new regime roll a bomb out of the back of it. They are targeting fighters still loyal to the former President, Basher Al-Assad. At this height, though, there is no telling or controlling where that bomb lands. Human rights groups say that dozens of people have been killed in two days of clashes, mostly in a coastal region heavily populated by the Al-await minority sect, once dominant in Assad's regime. It is the worst violence in the country since the dictator was overthrowed. Sky News has located this video to an Al-await village near Latakia.

More than 20 dead bodies lie on the ground, some with visible gunshot wounds to the head. In Latakia, extra security forces have been sent to patrol the streets. The administration admits that there have been some clashes but insist the situation is under control. We have sent very large reinforcements to maintain security and safety. Clashes occurred here in the Dattou area in Latakia. All areas have been controlled, thanks to God Almighty. The regime forces present in this area have been eliminated. Syria is now led by members of the Islamist group known as HTS. Its leaders once fought an insurgency and had links to Al Qaeda, but they have now pledged to unite the country Syria after 14 years of civil war. These attacks are the biggest challenge yet to their authority. It shows that the current interim government inside Syria still doesn't have full control over those forces fighting to its side inside Syria, and that the newly formed Ministry of Defense and Ministry of the Interior, they still don't have full command on those forces. Despite the recent violence, most Syrians remain happy, though, thatAssad is gone. There is enormous optimism about the future in Syria, and for good reason.

But the country is a volatile mix of different ethnic and religious groups with different views about how the country should be governed. If this violence can be contained, it will demonstrate the new regime's power. If it can't, and if it spreads, then Syria might be facing dark days once again. Alister Bunkle, Sky News. The wife of a post office Horizon scandal victim who received a compensation offer just days after his death, has told Sky News the situation is an utter disgrace. Terry Walters died last month, a week before 11: 00 letter arrived, apparently offering less than half of his financial redress claim. Today, the makers of the faulty Horizon software have finally agreed to begin talks with the government. Adele Robinson reports. I suppose I feel sad. I thought things could have been different. On the mantelpiece across from Janet, a stark reality. Terry, her husband, has died. Yet another victim of the post office scandal, gone without receiving full financial redress. I think he was a hero. All what he endured over the years because of the post office and all the ill health he had towards the end. He was a hero. He fought for redress for years, and then 12 months after submitting his claim, Terry died, days before an offer came through from the government and for less than half of what he'd asked for.

The offer that they finally sent through, do you want to accept it? No, I've told them I won't accept that at all. I think it's an utter disgrace. No. Not when I look at him and I think, No, all what you've been through, I won't take just anything and go away. Terry was one of the original postmasters, wrongly accused of stealing, who won their court battle against the post office in 2019. He was also part of the so-called Glow Redress Scheme, one of four to have hit delay after delay. I'm totally disgusted at the length of time it's taken It might have helped Terry two or three years ago. He might not have had a stroke, had his life been more settled and not so stressful, because it was always there in the back of your mind. The government said they've tripled the amount of payments under labor, issuing 410 offers to 431 Glo claimants who've submitted full claims and are making offers to 89% within 40 working days. Forty Three days shouldn't be sacrosunk. If you think it's been turned around within two days or a day, do it. While Lord Beamish says there's progress, he's critical of a 40-day deadline being reset repeatedly because of new information requests to victims.

I'm one that thinks a lot of this should be sorted out around a table. In those cases where information isn't available, we should ear on the side of the postmaster rather than the post office. £1. 8 billion of public money has been set aside to pay victims. Now, Fujitsu, developer of the Faulty Horizon system, has finally committed to begin talks with the government on its contribution towards compensation. I want to make the most of it now for Terry because he'll live through me. But too late for Terry, his funeral was Friday. Janet saying goodbye, knowing he never lived to see the redress he deserved, while she and many more still wait. Adele Robinson, Sky News. The government has been accused of gutting a bill designed to protect children from the harm caused by social media and smartphones. Labor MP and former teacher, Josh McAllister, had proposed raising the digital age of consent for social media to 16. But campaigners were disappointed that his private members bill was watered down to get government support. Tamara Cohen reports. At All Saints College, they're well aware of the effects of social media on learning. The headteacher banned pupils from using their phones on the premises nearly a decade ago.

If you have your phone, it's confiscated. It's put in a safe for five school days, and you won't get it back. But what happens out of school? Do we need more regulation there? We're hearing stories of children late into the night when they need to be sleeping, particularly when they're growing, spending lots of time on the device. It's just extremely unhealthy. Normal childhood activities are falling victim to screen time, says this Labor MP, who introduced a bill calling for a rise in the age teenagers can use apps like TikTok and Snapchat. Children are spending less time outside, less time reading, less time exercising, exploring, meeting people. We must act on excessive screen time today in the same way we acted on smoking back then. Several MPs thought he should have gone further. His bill only commitments government to considering it after advice from Chief Medical Officers. This government, sadly, like the last, notwithstanding the online safety bill, has dithered, diluted, and capitulated. What remains, I'm afraid, is a hollowed out gesture and an opportunity missed. Back at the school we visited in London, people told us about their phone use. I feel like we shouldn't use our phones as much as we do because we could be spending that time doing other things.

I know myself that I'm addicted to it and I rely on a lot. Some of the things that people are posting on social media are not the best content as they can influence other people's actions to doing things that aren't the most ethical or the most safe. This bill was watered down. The MP behind it dropped earlier ideas like a smartphone ban in all schools and restricting certain apps to children over 16 because ministers were opposed. Parents who have suffered the worst trauma, losing a child, have been campaigning for the government to go further. My son Jules took his own life in April '22, almost three years ago. I started campaigning a year ago on social media and hoping that the government would listen. I really do feel disappointed. I think It's such a shame because I think that could have been a powerful debate and we could have followed in the footsteps of Australia, which is getting so much praise for banning under-16s. School's out and the phones are back on. A minister said current online safety laws are being implemented and further action is inevitable, but not as fast as some say is needed.

To Mara Cohen, Sky News. A vulnerable teenage girl who was groomed by a neo-nazi and accused of terror offenses was still being investigated by security services even after the charges were dropped. An inquest has heard that 16-year-old Rhiannon Rudd downloaded a bomb-making manual and carved a swath sticker into her forehead. After she threatened to blow up a synagogue, she became the youngest person to face terror charges in the UK. Sky's Home Editor, Jason Farrell, reports. Investigated by anti-terror police and MI5, but Rhiannon Rudd was also vulnerable. An autistic a major who'd been groom and sexually exploited online by a white suprematist in America. She lived here in Bolsaova with her mother when she became obsessed with Hitler and told her mom she wanted to blow up a synagogue and had downloaded information on bomb-making. Her mother referred her to the deradicalization program, Prevent, but anti-terrorism police later arrested and charged her with terrorism offenses, and she was put into care. The police investigation was later dropped after Shiannan was assessed by the Home Office as a victim of modern slavery. But months later, the 16-year-old took her own life while still in care. Her mother, Emily Carter, believes the pressure of the investigation had taken its toll.

An inquest here at Chesterfield Town Hall has been examining how police and social services balanced the challenges of a young girl who was both the potential danger to herself and the public. And today, the coroner and legal the names came to London to hear evidence from a member of MI5. The man described in court as Witness A appeared behind a blue curtain and said it was known by MI5 from the outset that Rhiannon was vulnerable and had self-harmed, but also that she appeared to show a violent extreme right mindset, that she showed intent, and that an investigation was the only way to assess her threat to national security. Witness A said there had been a significant increase in the number of children under investigation by MI5, and the Internet had lowered the barriers for vulnerable people like Rhiannon to engage with radical individuals. Although the police investigation against her was dropped, she'd remained a subject of MI5 investigation until her death. Jason Farrell, Sky News. A convicted double murderer is due to be executed by firing squad in less than an hour in the first use of the method in the US in 15 years.

Brad Sigmann made the choice to be killed by bullets, saying he feared the alternatives of the electric chair and lethal injection. That they would risk a slower and more torturous death. He was convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend's parents to death in 2001. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has reopened its investigation into the actions of Westershire police after allegations of assault by Nottingham triple killer, Valdo Callacane, on two coworkers. Callacane was reported to have pushed a woman over and punched a man in the face in May 2023, a month before he killed Ian Coates, Grace O'Malley-Kummer, and Barnaby Webber. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses have lost power on the East Coast of Australia as cyclone Alfred approaches the first tropical cyclone to hit the area in half a century. People have been told to evacuate parts of the Queensland State with winds of up to 80 miles per hour forecast. Flights and public transport have also been suspended. In just two years time, the SpaceX Starship is due to land passengers on the surface of the moon. And if you believe Elon Musk, embark on a mission to Mars. So a second spectacular explosion during a rocket launch will be a significant setback for the billionaire.

He's been busy of late, overseeing a government efficiency drive and the sacking of 10,000 federal workers. Here's our science correspondent, Thomas Moore. It had looked at textbooks launch for the world's most powerful rocket. But then, a little over eight minutes into the test flight, with Starship 90 miles above the planet, it had a catastrophic failure. Oh, my gosh. Again. Destabilized by the engine cut out, the rocket started to tumble and then exploded with fiery debris streaking across the sky. The second unsuccessful launch in as many months. This space scientist says the rocket is a long way from being ready to land astronauts on the moon as planned in just two years. It's quite over-optimistic in many ways. It's not unusual to have consecutive failures, but I think having a reliable enough rocket to take humans into space on that time scale is really going to be a big ask because you need to push that reliability very, very close to 100 %. Here we're only up to eight launches. That's not enough to really learn all the ins and outs of how this system is going to work, and perhaps more importantly, how it might fail.

Whoa. What the fuck? Spacex had already made engineering upgrades to Starship after the failure of the test flight in January. It will pour over data from the latest explosion to work out what went wrong. But Elon Musk, its founder, has been busy with his new government efficiency role in the Trump administration. Has he taken his eye off the ball? I'm sure Elon, personally, will be paying more attention and getting more involved. Again, this is not one person makes this work. This is a whole team. And the leadership of the team that I know is back at Hawthorn and SpaceX and at their test sites are some of the best engineers I know and some of the most thorough engineers I know, and I am sure they will figure it out. The United States wants to beat China back to the moon, but Musk's mega rocket still still needs to overcome enormous engineering challenges to make that happen. Thomas More, Sky News in Leicester. Well, that was Sky News at 10. Coming up, we'll take a first look at tomorrow's newspapers in the press preview. Tonight, we're joined by Guardian columnist, Zoe Williams, and political commentator, Benedict Spence.

Amongst the stories we'll be discussing this on the front of the Express. It's headline, Russian Spies: Carry Out Putin's Dirty Work in UK. Okay. Do stay with us. We'll be right back. Sky News get the full story first. Is this now all your territory? Yeah. The battlefield is outside the barricades. We are in the middle of a forest in a jungle, really, in And they're attempting to keep these men alive. I'm Stuart Ramsey, and I'm Sky's chief correspondent. It's really dangerous. Many people have died riding it. Welcome back here, all watching at Sky News. In just a moment, the press preview. A first look at what's on the front pages as they arrive. But first, our top stories. Hollywood star, Jean Hackman, died of heart disease a week after his wife was killed by a rare virus, according to investigators in Santa Fe, California. The couple's bodies were found at their home last month. Three Bulgarians have been convicted of gathering intelligence in the UK for a global Russians spiring and plotting to kidnap and kill critiques of Vladimir Putin's regime. The Reform Party has reported one of its own MPs, Rupert Lo to the police after allegations of serious bullying and violent threats.

Hello there. You are watching the press preview. A first look at what's on the front pages of the newspapers as they arrive. It's time to see what's making the headlines with Guardian columnist Zoe Williams and political commentator, Benedict Spence. They'll be with us from now until just before midnight. So let's see what's on some of those front pages for you now. Well, The Times reports on US President Trump's comments, Putin doing what anyone else would. The Financial Times leads on Donald Trump's effects on Wall Street, reporting that the Federal Reserve has played down economy fears after a blow to jobs. The Express has the story about the three people found guilty of spying for Russia. The Mail leads on the same story with the headline, How many more Putin spies in UK? That's also in the Telegraph, which splashes on the spy's alleged contact in Moscow. The Eye reports that UK animal rights may be watered down as the price of labour's Brexit reset with Europe. The Sun reports that a flight carrying former England footballer Stuart Pears, was forced to divert after he suffered a health scare. And the Star says that it's going to be hotter in the UK this weekend than in Ibiza.

Here come the grills. We're going to get the barbecues out, I think is what they're saying. We're joined tonight by Zoe Williams and Benedict Spencer. Good to see you both. Let's start with the Telegraph, and This is following on from a long investigation that they've carried out, but could only put the evidence and the story in the public domain following the trial of those three Russian spies. This is the mastermind at the center of that That's Spiring, the spy master, I guess. Yeah, it's interesting because the Telegraph is the only paper that really goes big on this guy, Jan Marsalek, who was running quite a major tech operation. In his own right, he was earning a lot of money and had a seat at the table. But the fact that he was also running a spy ring in the United Kingdom is something of a surprise, I think, to authorities, because he skipped Germany very easily. He skipped the UK very easily. He had no real impediment to going where he pleased. And there are thoughts that he's still heavily involved in drone operations and conversations between Russia and China with regards to Ukraine. So they haven't really clipped his wings with this operation, even though, obviously, it's really problematised his anonymity that he's been named as the spy master.

He's still at large. And the Telegraph claiming that they had a year long investigation, certainly they had suspicions about his operations. Yeah. And I mean, this is We're almost certainly going to hear a lot more of these sorts of stories in the coming weeks and months, not necessarily because they're tied to any court case, but of course, because British taxpayers are going to be asked in the next couple of months to tighten their belts and pay for a lot more when it comes to the defense of this country. And It will be this thing that is held up as front and center, is that your money isn't necessarily going to be spent on tanks or planes or anything like that. A lot of it is going to be going towards counter espionage and also espionage as well, let's be honest. I think that this is the That's something that we are going to have to be reminded of quite often on the front pages of newspapers in the coming months, which is that Russia is not simply a military threat on the borders of Eastern Europe, but also it poses a very direct threat when it comes to aspects intelligence, but also gray zone warfare as well.

The piece saying that he had Western secret services in his pocket. He had access to a series of informants inside the police and secret services of the UK, the US, Austria, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, France, and Hong Kong. Yeah. It shows very thoroughly, I suppose, actually, what people ostensibly, I think of as being quite upstanding organs of the state, can be penetrated. That's one of One of the dangers, I suppose, that you face when everything becomes a lot more globalized, you get a lot of benefits that come from that, but also actually these things become a lot easier. This is a good example of somebody who is able to flit in and around the world and has friends in many parts of the world. You take many of the positives, but also when it comes to aspects of national security, nefarious individuals such as this can use those things to their advantage as well. We take us to the Express, and they have pictured the foot soldiers, as it were, the operatives on the ground found guilty of spying. As I say, the Telegraph has given us the most sober-minded account of these spies, because in both the Express and later in the Daily Mail, you've got much more about the relationships between the spies, the fact that Ivanova on the left there was already going out with the deputy spy leader, whereas the other one was thinking of having an affair with him.

So there is already, because it's all landed in one tranche with the court case, there's a huge amount of information ranging from the extremely salacious and ultimately quite trivial to the pretty size It's like if there were serious incursions into the civil service in terms of corruption, then that's a really big deal. But the Express is going very much on these operatives tailing enemies of Putin within the United Kingdom. Those are going to be Russian dissidents and Ukrainians. That's not going to be the British Civil Service. They're not going to be looking for British state secrets. And to your point, Benedict, Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Metz counterterrorism Command said it was clear, example of Moscow hiring proxies and criminals are mourned. We will see more of that. Yeah. And I think I can't remember where it was, which paper it was, but something like one in five of all issues that they're currently facing in in that part of the Met is to do with espionage, it's to do with foreign states. It's not just Russia is the thing, of course. We must remember it is also places like Iran and China as well that are doing this.

The other thing, of course, to bear in mind is because this particular story had the salacious aspect to it, also gives off the impression that it might not have been quite as professional as it could have been. There will be far more people who will be operating on behalf of foreign governments who will actually be very good at their and not risking at all to have an affair with each other. Also, people can exist embedded in different countries for decades at a time and not even be active, not even be using or researching or recruiting or anything like that, waiting until they are activated. We actually saw this during the Ukraine invasion by Russia, when suddenly there were lots of explosions all across Russia, lots of sabotage going on because, of course, former Eastern Bloc countries, none of which you ever trust had busted each other, but are all now part of NATO, had started activating cells that they'd had in the former USSR for decades. It's not simply a question of active cells like this. They can be found in all sorts of corners, and many of them may never even be used. Is the point.

It's an insurance strategy. It's the fact that they can get there and lie very low that is the key. I'm a little bit skeptical about that because you need quite a big payoff to have that operation. These operations are super expensive, right? Not always. Are you going to say that it's actually quite cheap to have undercover spies in Great Yarm. Well, in Great Yammer, if I were to know about that. But it can be. It's to do, I suppose, with the ideology that's underpinning it, what the motivation is. Obviously, if you're hiring mercenaries of a different nationality, that's one thing. But one, of course, one of the issues around Russian espionage in particular and leftover aspects of the Cold War was that a lot of it was ideological. That's also the case for China and for countries like Iran as well. A lot of their objectives aren't necessarily motivated by money. It's a much more broad worldview, and they are happy to go and assimilate into society, knowing for well, they may never actually be used for anything, but what it is that motivates them is the cause rather than any financial gain. I don't know.

It costs a lot of money. Cover costs money. Living a different life costs money. Having a network of a façade costs money. It costs loads of money. But the more money that you spend on that, the more it increases the likelihood of you being identified, because then you're trying to create too much of a cover around yourself. Actually, it's very often people who are just living very ordinary mundane lives. If they're sleepers, they are just carrying out normal functions, living normal lives, having normal jobs, but are laying dormant until they're called upon. I've watched too many readers. The Mail front page, they're asking the question, how many more of these people exist in the UK? I'm really sorry. This is a completely niche press-obsessed point and nothing really to do with the spies, but this is such a classic male approach. If they can't get the smoking gun, their next best thing is, how many smoking guns could there be? So they definitely haven't got what they want from this. They've got to use the word honey trap. They've got to print that super-glamorous photo, but they haven't really got what they want in terms of...

They want to be... There's somewhere in the mail, there's an editor screaming his head off, going Find me the bit where they're trying to get into Buckingham Palace, and nobody can find him that bit. So instead, they do this highly speculative, there could be a spy around every corner. Ben, that's the question that people will be asking, though. Are you asking that question Which question? How many more spies are there? It's the Spider-Man joke, isn't it? Get me pictures of spy demand. Where can you find the evidence? The whole crux of this, though, isn't it? Is that a lot of this stuff just isn't freely available to the press. A lot of this information isn't freely available to the press. It's not as if you can go to MI5 and say, How many people are you looking into? Because they're not going to turn around and go, Oh, well, we've narrowed it down to this many people, because then if they are able to work out how many people they've identified, you end up spooking them. It's a really open-ended question, how many could there be? So we take us to the Times and the headline there, Putin doing what anyone else would.

This is Donald Trump speaking this evening. This is a chilling new intervention from the President of the United States. He's not actually talking about the spying. He is talking about the bombing campaign against Ukraine. He's basically responding to the politics of violence and death in an improving way and saying that... He's saying that the Kremlin leader wants to end the war, though. Well, yeah, but that's a... You know in America, they're calling Trump and Vance, they're using the language of the abuser in the sense that they just take your observed reality, turn it on its head, and dare you to challenge them on it. The person bombing a country is not the person... You don't bomb a country into peace. And that's not... So he's trying to make Putin sound like every man and make him sound like he's pursuing a peaceful solution with violence, and that's not what he's doing. He's also saying, Benedict, that he thinks that Putin is going to be more generous than he has to be. What does that mean? I'm not entirely sure unless what he means is that the mineral deal that supposedly they're going to strike is going to involve minerals that are going to be in the part of Ukraine that Russia is currently occupying, because that's the great hilarity about the mineral deal is that in the west of the country, there aren't very many minerals.

Most of them are, in fact, in Donbas. That would be a key crux. Maybe Vladimir Putin is going to be willing to give the US some of that. I don't know. Putin does want an end to the war. He wants an end to the war by winning it and by occupying this country that he's invaded. So I suppose technically, if Donald Trump isn't lying, just looking at it from a rather grim perspective. But I think what is very clear now is that Donald Trump believes that the war is over. He just thinks it's a matter of time, and he wants to effectively decide who is going to be the victor. He wants to be friends with that country. Supposedly, this is because they want to peel away Russia from China in the event of an invasion of Taiwan. Whether or not that comes to anything, I don't know. But it's rather sad that it's just been decided above the heads of the Ukrainians. We must leave it there to go to a break. Benedikt and Zoe, thank you very much for the moment. Coming up, we'll discuss this story on the front of the Telegraph, the headline reform at Civil War as MP reported to police.

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You are watching the press preview. Still with me, Zoe and Benedict. Let's take a look at the Telegraph. And this story, it's only a little story, actually, on the front of the Telegraph, but a huge story for what you formed UK, seemingly imploding and civil war breaking out. Zoe. So, Rupert No, he's accused of certain things which he denies really strenuously, and for a million reasons, A, that I don't know exactly what they are, B, that the police are now involved. Shall I read you the statement? Yes. That he's put out. This is from I'm disappointed but not surprised to read reform's untrue and false allegations. Let me be abundantly clear this investigation is based on zero credible evidence against me, as has been repeatedly stated by the neutral investigator. None has been provided. Allegations of physical threats are outrageous and entirely untrue. I've never made any derogatory comments about women or those with disabilities. This is a lie. These allegations are not even referring to me. I will be seeking legal advice immediately. Good heavens. I was thinking, when I first started in journalism, people used to be encouraged to cheat on their expenses because they wanted an excuse to get rid of you without having to go through all the process.

So it was a Built in, you can just get fired when we want to fire you. And I think, is that how reform chose its candidates? They chose a huge number of candidates against which they could launch any amount of accusations when the time came, thinking that they were the straight-talking people who probably had done something and probably would slink away quietly. If that was their thinking, it hasn't worked, plainly. Rupert Lowe is not slinking away quietly, and a And a number of things he said about Nigel Farage and the reform party, generally, that it has no real identity. It just has this king who made himself and walks around being king. I think they're observably correct. So whatever So whatever the guy has done, the ensuing row is going to be interesting to watch. Ben, is it? Yeah. It's curious that Nigel Farage has now managed to pick fights with, I suppose if you wanted to say the ideological underpinning of reform in Ben Habib He's managed to kick him out of the party, and now he's gone after Rupert Lowe, who you'd have to say is an interesting one in that he can actually...

What I think the major threat he poses is that, as Zoe says, Farage is reform, and reform is Farage. But Rupert Butlow can stand on his own two feet. He's done this revolutionary thing since he was elected, where he's gone in and he's actually behaved how a constituency MP is meant to. He's pointed out issues in legislation. He's written questions to different departments. He's published the responses. He's also raised questions of his own party. He's behaved generally how most people would quite like their MPs to behave. He's managed to become quite popular off the back of that. And that is a threat. And he has been praised by Elon Musk. We'll have to leave it there, Benedict and Zoe for the moment. Thank you. A bright start and always a warm welcome. The weather, sponsored by Qatar Airways. Well, it will stay mild this weekend. However, things are set to turn much colder next week with some wintry showers. It's a mild start to Saturday morning with thicker cloud and overnight rain clearing northwards across Scotland. Meanwhile, the breeze will pick up across the southwest. That leads into a bright and breezy day with plenty of sunny spells.

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