Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on UK forces being involved in response to Iran attacks on Israel

UK forces were found to be involved in supporting Israel's response after Iran launched a missile attack on the country.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says the UK 'stands with Israel' and recognises its right to self-defence.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says other MPs will be very disappointed with this revelation.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, thank you very much for your texts.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Jack.

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Remote inspections when it comes to buildings won't work where
complex and multiple details need to be reviewed. I've been
building twenty years. The downside is simply that details will
be missed by inspectors and hidden by the builder. Where
reworks are required, the inspectors need to be on site
to discuss with the builder. There are big limitations with
all of this, and lets us not forget the leaky

(00:22):
building crisis in the past. Thank you for that, Sam, Jack.
Project time might be money, but failures to detect issues
can be extremely costly to repair. Good planning negates issues
with scheduling, inspections and work programs ninety two ninety two.
If you want to send us a message, time to
catch up with our UK correspondent, Gavin Gray Good evening,
Gavin either Jack so UK forces were involved in supporting

(00:46):
Israel and the conflict in the Middle East after Iran
launched the missile attack on the country. What do they do?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
That's right? Yep, that's right, Jack, and the Prime Minister
making a statement that was broadcast quite quickly and we're
not really being given very many details. The Defense Minister
has said and I quote this evening, the UK played
their part in attempts to prevent further escalation. What does
that mean? We think it means that UK fighter jets
were involved. This isn't the first time in this sort

(01:15):
of whole Middle Eastern crisis of this year. They were
back in April under a different government when Iran last
attack to Israel with missiles. The interesting thing is the
two main parties are backing one another. So back in April,
Labour back the Conservatives the party of government then, and
vice versa. In this most recent attack. Now the Prime
Minister is stressing that the UK stands with Israel and

(01:38):
recognizing its right to self defense. That many in this country,
many in the Labor Party of government, will be very
uncomfortable that Britain had anything to do with this.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, it's an interesting decision, isn't it. Because I mean,
Kiyostama has faced a lot of apprecia from protests who
think that Israel's response to Hamas and that the bombardment
of Gaza has been wholly inappropriate, and of course the
Labor Party itself has faced criticisms in the past for
being anti Semitics. So how is he personally trying to

(02:08):
navigate this.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, I think it's going to be very difficult for him.
He's not obviously going to please all his party all
the time, but this is this has been a pretty
explosive issue for him and it comes to the time. Incidentally,
with six thousand British nationals in Lebanon. The first government
chartered flight is due to leave a little later today,
but of course we're just talking to three hundred on that.

(02:31):
So there's a lot of work for the government to
do and it's going to be difficult for them to
navigate their way withness. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
A Chinese woman has been arrested in Germany and accused
of passing on information to Chinese intelligence. What's happened.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah, this is at Leipzig Airport, or Leipzig Halla Airport
as it's called, and it's been alleged that this thirty
eight year old woman who'd been working for a company
providing logistics services at the airport, has sent repeatedly details
on flights, passengers and cargo to anafig who worked for
China's secret services. Those allegations. Why does this matter because

(03:08):
Leipzig Airport is a real key transport hub for the
German defense industry. Indeed, often that airport is used to
send military equipment, for instance, to Ukraine, and German sources
are saying the defense company involved in transferring a lot
of this military equipment is a company called Rhine Mattal,

(03:30):
Germany's biggest defense firm that's been involved in supplying Ukraine
with weapons, armored vehicles and military equipment. And this is
potentially this arrest linked with another arrest of another person
a few months earlier, and they were said to be
working for a member of the European Parliament for Germany's
far right party, and it was said that they had

(03:52):
been receiving details of the transport of military equipment.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
So why is Leipzig input of interest?

Speaker 2 (04:00):
I think it's just because of its position in the country,
the fact that a lot of the heavy industrial manufacturers
of defense equipment are based around there. The airport is
used by them to export their goods and as we know,
export their goods in this case, mostly to Ukraine at
the moment. So I think it's of interest to Russia
what's being flown out by whom and when?

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, right now, workers in the UK should receive all
tips from customers under a new law which bends firms
from withholding the payments.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, that's right, Jack, I mean there are three million
people in the UK, England, Scotland, Wales, that is not
Northern Ireland who basically could benefit from this law. We're
talking restaurant workers, cafe workers, those in bars, pubs, hairdressers
and indeed taxi drivers. And under the new law, all
tips must be passed through employees by the end of

(04:50):
the following month when they were received. And there has
been a real issue here that often tips are added
onto the credit card bill and the star simply don't
receive it. It's taken by the employer, or a large
portion of it is taken by the employer. That's what
legislation is aiming to stop. And the only sting in
the tale here, Jack, is that workers will still need

(05:13):
to pay tax on their tips as currently the law stack.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
I mean, how much is tipping culture thing in the
UK these days? It was always kind of similar to
New Zealand, pretty muted, especially compared to the UE's.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Oh absolutely in comparison to the US. But you know,
I guess if you're working in a restaurant, now, restaurant
prices have gone up, and if you're adding say ten
or fifteen percent, which I think a lot of people do,
then over the course of a day, that probably adds up,
particularly if your initial salary actually isn't that great.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, all right, Hey, Thanksgivin, appreciate your time. That is
UK correspondent Devin Gray seven to seven. You're with News Talks.
He'd be for more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive Listen
live to News Talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays,
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