New RAJAR figures have dropped for the third quarter of this year. It’s more happy reading for GB News…

GB News Radio, which is just a simulcast of GB News TV, has now managed to overtake Talk Radio with a weekly audience of 611,000. It overtook Times Radio last quarter and has just clinched the spot for fastest growing radio brand..

GB’s audience is up a whopping 54% in the last twelve months – 18% higher than August. Listeners are staying tuned for 30% more hours – in particular to Good Afternoon Britain with Emily Carver and Guido alumnus Tom Harwood, which is up 95%. LBC still rules the non-BBC roost while the weekly reach of the BBC’s regional and local stations is down 14% year-on-year and 6% compared with last quarter. People are voting with their ears…

Everyone has followed Guido’s story yesterday revealing that Downing Street is still locked in a bitter row over Sue Gray. She’s demanding a mega severance payout and salary…

Veteran Pat McFadden was sent out on the morning round to face questions over whether Gray will be grabbing a golden goodbye after leaving Number 10. After much probing, McFadden eventually told Times Radio that she probably would be entitled to severance pay:

“Whatever contractually is there, I’m sure she would be but, you know, I can’t comment on anybody’s individual circumstances.”

Gray had been on a probationary contract for four months, just like the other SpAds, though it’s unclear whether her departure qualifies for a golden goodbye. Meanwhile, she’s already giving her new “made-up job” the cold shoulder, skipping the first Council of Nations and Regions meeting in Scotland today…

LibDem MP Roz Savage endured a car-crash interview on Times Radio last night. Quizzed by Peter Cardwell on a seemingly straightforward question, “What would the Liberal Democrats do on social care?”, Savage floundered, unable to find an answer. Not like it’s one of her party’s flagship policies…

“Well um we know the system is broken…I actually have quite a different view on this from the party line I think that for too long we have, um, I’m not saying this is not the party line it’s very certainly very different from the Labour line…I’m feeling like this is a policy exam…I’m just going to hold my hands up here and say that um as I think you may know that I have been in politics for less than two years.”

It doesn’t take a Westminster veteran to skim the opening pages of the LibDem manifesto and find out exactly what they’ve promised on social care. Guido thought he’d help her out for the next time she’s asked the question. Here are some of the LibDem’s pledges on social care:

• Introduce a new £2-an-hour higher Care Worker’s Minimum Wage.
• Raise Carer’s Allowance and expanding it to more carers.
• Establishing a cross-party commission to forge a long-term agreement on sustainable funding for social care in England.
• The plan would cost £2.7 billion a year by 2028-29, “fully funded” by reversing tax cuts handed by the Conservative party to the big banks.

A savage four minutes for the LibDumb…

UPDATE: Savage has missed out on snagging a spot on the new LibDem frontbench. Shock…

Border Security Minister Angela Eagle had the morning round for the government. She deployed the ‘snark and spite’ strategy for dealing with questions about Starmer’s snowballing Passes for Glasses scandal…

Eagle decided to instantly snap when asked why Starmer shouldn’t buy his own glasses when he earns £166,000 a year, repeatedly saying: “Well why don’t you ask him.“ She added that she wasn’t “responsible for decisions the Prime Minister made” and doesn’t have an opinion. This comms strategy just gets better and better…

Stig Abell pressed the point:

“I’ll tell you why you might have an opinion because Angela Rayner had an opinion when Boris Johnson was getting money from donors. She tweeted: ‘What right does a man who complains he can’t live on £150,000 a year and asks Tory donors to fund his luxury wallpaper habit have to lecture someone trying to survive on £80 a week?’ that’s what Labour attacked Boris Johnson for doing.”

Eagle’s reply?

“OK you’ve had your rant.“

That’s sure to get the public on side…

New RAJAR figures for the second quarter of the year make happy reading for GB News. Their upwards trajectory shows no sign of stopping…

GB News Radio, which is just a simulcast of GB News TV, has now overtaken Times Radio on weekly reach for the first time. GB’s year-on-year growth has reached a whopping 63% and is 14% higher than last quarter…

Last quarter GB News overtook LBC London and is continuing full steam ahead. TalkRadio, the last surviving linear branch of YouTube-ified TalkTV, sees its reach go down 9% from last quarter and 5% from last year. You either have momentum, or you don’t..

Labour have spent the week saying the Tories should pay back the £10 million they received from someone who they say said something racist. Similarly long time Labour Party donor Dale Vince has given Starmer’s party at least £2.5 million to date, including a £1 million cheque late last year. He’s recently launched an initiative calling for the youth of Britain to vote Labour. Well and truly in the fold of Labour’s funding class…

While we’re on the subject of extremist donors and returning their donations…https://t.co/rkaxVMJqZR pic.twitter.com/NxHEgrBKKz

— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) March 13, 2024

If Labour thinks donors’ cash donations should be returned when they say extreme things, what do they make of Vince’s views? Late last year on Times Radio, after saying that Hamas should be able to defend itself, Vince stated that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter“. When challenged on the fact that saying Hamas are freedom fighters isn’t the official Labour position, Vince said: “This is my view, this is how I feel“. When can we expect Starmer to announce that the £2.5 million will be returned?

UPDATE:   On Friday 4, April, 2024 lawyers acting for Dale Vince contacted us objecting to the above article claiming it would be understood to mean, that “our client supports a proscribed terrorist group”. We replied on Monday 8, April 2024 inviting Mr Vince to “to put on the record unambiguously that he does not think Hamas are freedom fighters” in which case “we will be happy to withdraw and/or amend our previous reports accordingly.” Through his lawyers Mr Vince declined so to do. They stated he had previously condemned terrorism on the record. We accept and never claimed otherwise that Mr Vince has previously condemned terrorism including saying of the specific acts of Hamas terrorism on the weekend of October 7, 2023 “I don’t support what they did”. We remain baffled therefore why he won’t even through his lawyers confirm that he does not think Hamas are, in the words he used, “freedom fighters”.