Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging Britons to leave Lebanon

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has issued a warning for Britons in Lebanon amid escalating conflict.

The Ministry of Defence is sending 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for the possible evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon and the Government has advised against travel to the region.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says it's a clear indication the Government believes this situation will get worse.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gavin Gray, UK correspondent with US. Now, Hey, Gevin, hi there,
I'm just gonna make you listen to this again.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
I call again from immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return
of the sausages, the hostages.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Givin, how do you how? How how does hostages become sausages?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I don't know. And what's more, he was quick to
spot it. I can only think that he was thinking
of dinner. Maybe that's uh, definitely a slip of the
tongue in what was supposed to be one of the
crucial parts of his speech. It's been something Labour's really
been criticized for their stance on Gaza in Israel by
some within the party. So perhaps he was anticipating a

(00:41):
potential heckler or something. But either way, yeah, a little
bit of a Freudian slip there.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
I think it's going to define him. It's going to
define him. It's going to define his Prime ministership for years, unfortunately,
I think Givin. Other than that, I mean, look serious
message in it, but geez, he's boring, isn't he.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
He's not one of the most I mean, when you
compare it with someone like Boris Johnson. He certainly is
Boris Johnson used to call him a snooze fest was
his name for him. But look, you know he's always said, yeah,
I'm not the most interesting guy. I'm not the most
sort of lively guy. But who do you want to charge?
Do you want a politician who's lively but might not

(01:21):
be very good or do you want somebody who's going
to be good and his earnest and caring, etc. Etc.
And that's kind of his message. But in today's media,
with social media and the media in the news playing
such a part in both election and success, he's got
some hurdles to climb. And incidentally, his popularity rating in
the first ninety days or so of his premiership has

(01:43):
really taken a significant hit.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Has he done enough to satisfy both sides of the
debate on the Gaza situation here?

Speaker 2 (01:51):
No, I don't think, But because I don't think anyone
actually could, Labor, particularly I think many in Labor leaning
towards supporting ours, are much more They think this government
should be much tougher against Israel, and they're wanting to
see action, whereas the only action we're now hearing is
that overn Id has been saying that he wants some

(02:12):
all Britons to get out of Lebanon. It's a clear
indication that the government here thinks this is going to
get a lot worse before it gets better, with sending
seven hundred troops to nearby Cyprus for the possible evacuation
of British nationals from Lebanon. I think they're also very aware,
of course, about what a mess it was trying to
get people out of Afghanistan and car Ball and that

(02:34):
is seared in the memory of so many of so
saw those awful pictures of people trying to jump on
the aircraft as it was taking off, and I think
they're just desperate to avoid something like that.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Gevin, So you have got the case of a police
officer who pulled a SICKI and then actually gets a rested,
which feels like I'm a wild overreaction.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, I think potentially, but I guess you just you know,
can't have these things happen. This is an officer from
the force in Leicestershire and the Midlands. He reported sick
while on arrest day. It was two days before his
next shift. But then having reported sick, he virtually flew
out to his standbul within a matter of a couple

(03:13):
of hours. The Independent Office for Police Conduct said suspicions
have been raised when he reported sick. Police were waiting
for him when he landed back at Stanstad Airport and
arrested him. A disciplinary hearing has ruled that the officer,
Rajan Khan would have been dismissed had he still serving,
because we now understand he resigned from the force, so

(03:35):
it has customed his job. It is something that I
know the police are very very keen to stanpout any
kind of dishonesty or wrongdoing in order to show that
they are fit for the role. But I don't know
and overreaction. Some would argue that, but I think his
time with the force would have been pretty limited had
he not resigned. Anyway.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Yeah, interesting, Hey, Gvin as always really appreciated. We'll talk
to you in a couple of days. It's Kevin Gray,
are UK correspondent.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
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