Saturday Morning Live | Saturday 14th February

Saturday Morning Live, Saturday 14th February, from GB News, running about two hours. Presented by Olivia Utley and Charlie Peters, this packed Saturday morning show is dominated by Keir Starmer's Munich Security Conference speech, which triggers a cascade of political debate about defence spending, Brexit, Reform UK, and whether the prime minister is using the world stage to fight domestic battles. The show also covers Marco Rubio's much warmer tone at Munich, Zelenskyy's address, the Home Office reportedly saying it cannot deliver Reform's deportation plans, Lord Mandelson's Epstein summons, Six Nations rugby, road safety campaigning, and Valentine's Day.

Section 1. Starmer at Munich and the Immediate Reaction

The show opens with Starmer's speech at the Munich Security Conference already delivered, and it is clear from the first minute that the presenters and their correspondents think it was a curious performance. Chief political correspondent Katherine Forster is live in Munich and reports that the prime minister declared Britain is not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore and insisted there is no British security without Europe and no European security without Britain. He called on Europe to stand on its own two feet, to be bolder, to put away petty politics and short-term concerns, and to build a stronger Europe and a more European NATO. He warned that Russia could attack a NATO ally within the decade and said Europe must be ready to fight. Forster says there were some concrete announcements: an aircraft carrier would be deployed to the high north, the North Sea and North Atlantic, later this year, clearly reacting to the pressure Donald Trump has put on Greenland. Britain would also double the number of Royal Marines on exercise in Norway from about 1,000 to 2,000. But the big question hanging over everything was money. Charlie Peters puts it bluntly: this is a prime minister who cannot convince his backbenches to cut welfare spending. How on earth is he going to find the cash? You know, the tens of billions of pounds that are needed to rebuild a military that has just 70,000 regular soldiers. That is not a military fit for war, he says. Olivia Utley agrees, noting that the armed forces need 3 percent of GDP, not the 2.5 percent Starmer is promising by 2027, and they need it right now, not in two years.

Section 2. The Pop at Reform and the Greens

What generates the most heat is Starmer's decision to use the Munich stage to take direct shots at Reform UK and the Green Party. He described both parties as soft on Russia and weak on NATO. The commentators are almost universally puzzled by this. Katherine Forster says she was surprised it led the front page of the Times, wondering whether this was really the key takeaway from a speech at a major international security conference. Charlie Peters calls it parochial, a word he says their colleague Mark White used, noting how odd it was that while the entire conference was focused on the existential threat from Russia, the British prime minister was using it to point jabs at Reform. Jennifer Powers, the political commentator, is even more cutting: she says the speech was the wrong message to the wrong audience and it belied a lack of confidence. It was as if he was trying to repeat what he does in the Commons chamber and on domestic media, painting the bogeyman of the far right and the far left. She acknowledges the criticism of the Greens is legitimate, given their policies on scrapping Trident and removing US bases from British soil, but says this was not the place for it. Nigel Farage responds during the show, saying that in a desperate attempt to save his job, Starmer is attacking Reform UK, adding that the prime minister is on borrowed time.

Section 3. Marco Rubio and the Transatlantic Tone Shift

In sharp contrast to the drama around Starmer, the show covers US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's speech at Munich, which struck a dramatically more diplomatic tone than Vice President JD Vance's address the previous year. Katherine Forster reports from Munich that there was massive relief in the conference hall. Vance had rocked up and basically told Europeans they were letting their countries go to the dogs with too many immigrants and suppressing free speech. Rubio delivered a similar message but wrapped in warmth and respect. He spoke about revitalising an old friendship and renewing the greatest civilisation in human history. He said the United States and Europe belong together. But he also made clear that America has no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline. He said we want Europe to be strong. Forster interprets this as Europe finally receiving loud and clear the message that it must stand on its own two feet. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU Commission, said it had taken some shock therapy. Forster lists the shocks: Russia invading Ukraine, then Trump demanding 5 percent defence spending, then Trump going after Greenland, all of which have finally woken Europe up.

Section 4. The Brexit Line and Closer European Ties

One of the most politically charged lines in Starmer's speech is his declaration that we are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore, a statement that Olivia Utley notes he would not have had the guts to make a couple of years ago when he was trying to paint himself as a bit of a Brexiteer. There is a genuine question about whether the country has moved on enough to have this conversation. Andy Williams says he wishes the Brexit wars were buried but the fact that Reform are topping the polls shows they are not. He then says what many in the political commentariat have been saying more quietly: most people, most sensible, logical, rational people can see that Brexit has been a disaster. Economically, it absolutely has. There is no doubt about it. He concedes it has not been unequivocally bad, mentioning the trade deal with the US and elsewhere, but fundamentally it has been a bad thing. Jennifer Powers pushes back firmly, saying one has to take a very long-term view and we will not really know for 50 or 100 years whether Brexit was a success. She also argues it was never just about economics but about sovereignty and power. Charlie Peters makes his own intervention, noting that Reform is ahead in the polls not because of Brexit but because of the challenges the country faces and the lack of answers from the establishment parties. The exchange captures the ongoing tension in British political debate between those who see Brexit as settled history and those who see the European question as still very much alive, particularly now that defence cooperation with Europe has become an urgent practical necessity rather than an abstract principle.

Section 5. Defence Analysis with Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford

The show brings in former British Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford for a military perspective, and he does not mince words. He applies a Chinese proverb: loud thunder but few raindrops. The rhetoric has been impressive, he says, but the actual practical implications have yet to be addressed. He states that Britain's armed forces have been underfunded for decades and argues the country needs 3 percent of GDP now and 5 percent by 2030. He flatly says he does not think the Labour government under Starmer is prepared to take the radical steps required. On the question of where the money comes from, Crawford is blunt: either you raid the welfare budget, which is between five and six times the annual UK defence budget, or you increase taxation. Without either of those measures, he cannot see how Britain's armed forces will be rebuilt. He agrees with Starmer on one point, though, that European armed forces need more standardisation, saying he has argued for 20 years that Britain should have been fielding the German Leopard 2 tank rather than its own domestically produced alternatives. On the broader question of the US relationship, Crawford says America is right to expect Europe to do more in its own defence and security, but the USA is not thinking of abandoning Europe altogether.

Section 5. Robert Fox on Defence Reality

The show also speaks to Robert Fox, defence editor at the Evening Standard, who delivers perhaps the most brutal assessment of Starmer's speech. He calls it astonishing, but not in a good way. It was a Churchillian village, he says, meaning a facade with very little substance. A lot of abstract nouns, a lot of which they had heard before. He says Starmer does not like defence, does not like military matters, and it is not his natural milieu. But he is under pressure behind the scenes at events like Munich and the latest NATO summit because Britain is very deficient in deterrence. Fox says Britain has roughly enough equipment to equip an army of 20,000, not the 70,000 regular soldiers they officially have. He reveals that they have said they found 5 billion more for defence over the next year or so, but 3.5 billion of that has already gone on housing alone. There has been no ammunition restocking. He says there is something in Starmer's Whitehall that is so reluctant to push the button and actually go ahead and innovate. On Zelenskyy's address, Fox says the Ukrainian president is a natural communicator who looks exhausted but is not giving up. What he is pointing to is the flexibility of the war machine he has to confront and the need for the same powers of innovation and agility.

Section 6. Zelenskyy at Munich and the GB News Cut-Away

The show dips in and out of Zelenskyy's live address at Munich, carrying portions where he describes the scale of Russian drone attacks, the 6,000 attack drones in January alone, the evolution of Shahed drones which now have jet engines and can use Starlink, and his emotional appeal that Ukrainians are people, not terminators. The presenters note what they find interesting: there is no reference to any of this in Starmer's speech. Charlie Peters specifically asks whether Western militaries are actually learning the lessons of the war in Ukraine about drone technology and electronic warfare. Robert Fox responds that they should be, because whatever Russia is threatening is going to come with the same flexibility at European nations.

Section 7. Andy Williams on Trump, Global Instability, and Spending

There is a fascinating and revealing exchange when political commentator Andy Williams describes Donald Trump as having created more global instability than many world leaders for a long time. Charlie Peters pushes back hard: war in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, destabilised Syria, war in Ukraine, none of that happened or started under Donald Trump's watch. It is a moment where the presenters' editorial perspective clashes even with a sympathetic guest. Williams also says he does not think Reform is serious about defence and does not really know where they stand apart from the fact they have been a bit friendly to Putin. On the Labour side, Williams agrees entirely with the criticism that Starmer is all talk. The first thing is that we have to get our house in order economically, he says, and the failure to cut spending is an enormous failure. He concedes this is inherited, saying there were 14 years of disaster and overspending created by the Tories, but Labour has failed to go anywhere near far enough. Even trying to cut 5 billion on welfare, they could not do it. They need to go way way way further and really tackle the bloated state. Taxes are going up and up. There is actually no plan to deliver on the spending numbers they are throwing out. Jennifer Powers makes a sharp observation about what is missing from the speech: instead of attacking domestic rivals, what is his view of how Britain maintains and promotes our national interests in this new geopolitical reality? She heard a lot of rhetoric and not a lot of specifics. The two commentators agree that Starmer has not laid the groundwork domestically for making the case for defence spending, having not developed the narrative about the threats facing Britain.

Section 8. The Home Office and Reform's Deportation Plans

In a story that clearly delights the presenters, GB News reports that Home Office insiders have told the channel that the department does not have the resources to deliver Nigel Farage's pledge to deport half a million illegal migrants if Reform formed a government. The party has vowed to identify, detain, and remove up to 600,000 asylum seekers and illegal migrants within five years. Olivia Utley is incredulous: the Home Office has 51,000 staff, she says, and they are hinting that they would not be able to carry out the agenda of an elected party. What is the point of a civil service? That is literally their one job. Charlie Peters points out that this country has pulled off extraordinary feats in the past, but apparently deporting illegal immigrants is one step too far. Former immigration minister Kevin Foster joins the discussion and provides a more nuanced take. He says the Home Office already removes about 35,000 to 40,000 people per year, so they would be talking about upping this by about 50 to 60 percent, which is significant but not impossible. The real challenges, he says, are about the choices Reform would need to make: where to put detention centres, because there are only so many former airfields available, and at the same time local Reform campaigners are telling everyone those sites would not be used for illegal migrants. The political choices need to be made explicit.

Section 9. Lord Mandelson Summoned to Congress over Epstein

The show covers the news that Lord Mandelson has been summoned by two Democratic members of the US House Oversight Committee to testify about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The letter says it is clear he possessed extensive social and business ties to Epstein and holds critical information. US journalist Chapman Bell joins the discussion and explains that Congress has no legal power to compel Mandelson as a foreigner living overseas, but if he were ever to travel to the United States, they could issue a subpoena. Bell notes the interesting pattern that so far the people who have fallen due to their Epstein relationship are all Brits: Ghislaine Maxwell, Prince Andrew, and now Mandelson. Bell says the investigation is no longer just about sex trafficking. There is potential financial criminality being investigated, including the possible leaking of sensitive intelligence or information about financial markets and upcoming political decisions. Jennifer Powers notes that Mandelson has already almost brought down the prime minister as it is. The show reflects that if Starmer was hoping the Mandelson problem was going away, he has another thing coming, with the congressional deadline for a response set for February 27th.

Section 10. Starmer's Survival and the Labour Crisis

The political commentary throughout the show keeps circling back to Starmer's precarious position. Andy Williams says only a true short-term thinker could claim to end the week stronger than he started it. He says Starmer is safe only until May, and he is pretty convinced that on May 8th, the day after the local elections, it will be game over for the prime minister. He says Starmer has lost his brain, Morgan McSweeney, the man who had the policy thinking and direction of travel. Jennifer Powers says Starmer has lost his chief of staff, his director of communications, sacked the head of the civil service at great expense, and lost collective solidarity among the cabinet because noise is coming off from right, left, and centre. Williams says that Starmer has had four prime ministers since 2022 and that level of churn makes it impossible to have any coherent defence policy, and he suspects that is the subtle argument Starmer is trying to make: keep me in charge and at least I will be able to do something. There is a lively exchange about whether Starmer's backbenchers are the real problem. Williams says that in an ideal world Starmer would have won a smaller majority, because the massive Labour caucus includes a huge contingent of the left and hard left who are holding him to ransom. He compares it unfavourably to Tony Blair, who had the same situation but just made the argument and bulldozed through.

Section 11. The Six Nations and Kolkata Cup

The show features a lively rugby preview of the Scotland versus England Six Nations match at Murrayfield. Former Scotland international Craig Chalmers joins to discuss the Kolkata Cup. He says Scotland are smarting from last week's defeat in Rome against Italy and notes that only two current England players, Jamie George and Ellis Genge, have ever won at Murrayfield. He praises George Ford at number 10 for his coolness and kicking game, though he admits he is disappointed that Finn Smith from Northampton is not playing. Craig says the match will be won and lost up front, where England are a little bit stronger and more physical. He predicts a Scotland victory, 25 to 23, saying he cannot see them playing anywhere nearly as bad as they did against Italy.

Section 12. Sarah Hope and Road Safety

In one of the more moving segments of the show, Sarah Hope, a road crash campaigner and wife of GB News political editor Christopher Hope, joins the studio to discuss her work. In April 2007, she, her mother Elizabeth, and her two-year-old daughter Poliana were hit by a bus in Mortlake, South London, when the driver ploughed onto the pavement in a road rage incident. Her mother did not survive, her daughter lost her leg, and Sarah herself was trapped under the bus with terrible injuries. She went on to launch the TfL Sarah Hope Line, which provides immediate support for road crash victims, funded by Transport for London. The line, which marks its 10th anniversary on Monday, provides private counselling so people do not have to wait months, short-term financial support, repatriation of bodies, and funeral costs. Sarah makes an impassioned case that road crime needs to be treated as real crime, noting that four or five people die on UK roads every single day, with hundreds more suffering life-changing injuries. She says sentences for dangerous driving are woefully short and there is no real deterrent. She calls for the government to spend much more on policing roads because drivers need to be scared of being caught. Her daughter Poliana, now 20, has gone on to become a dancer with a prosthetic ballet limb.

Section 13. Valentine's Day and Lighter Moments

The show wraps up with its lighter segments for the day. There is discussion of a Daily Mail poll saying 44 percent of people fake their delight with Valentine's Day gifts. Celebrity couple chef Robert Walton and designer Donna Ida join from their car with their chihuahuas, describing their Valentine's plans of a picnic and a home-cooked steak and chips dinner rather than going out to a restaurant with a set menu. There is also an amusing discussion of a commemorative coin the Australian mint has produced of the late Queen Elizabeth, which viewers text in to say looks more like Hyacinth Bucket than the monarch.

Key Takeaways

Starmer's Munich speech generated far more debate about what it revealed about his domestic weakness than about any substantive defence commitments. The central criticism from virtually every commentator was that it was rhetoric without resources, promising rearmament while being unable to cut welfare spending or find the money for defence. His jab at Reform and the Greens was seen as desperate and parochial by most panellists. Marco Rubio's softer tone compared to JD Vance was welcomed as a relief but the core American message remains the same: Europe must stand on its own feet. Defence experts are clear that Britain needs 3 to 5 percent of GDP spent on defence immediately, not 2.5 percent by 2027, and the armed forces have enough equipment for perhaps 20,000 soldiers, not the 70,000 on paper. The Home Office immigration story suggests serious institutional resistance to any radical reform agenda. And the Mandelson Epstein story shows no sign of going away, with the congressional deadline looming at the end of February.