Good evening and welcome to the Independent Republic of Mike Graham. You're with talk. We're on TV. We're on radio, we're online and of course we're on your smart speaker as well. Coming out, rumours that a snap general election could be called as early as may do persist,

but Talk TV can reveal that not one major government department has been asked for manifesto ideas.

Probably a good thing.

Birmingham Council has voted four massive cuts to local services in the last few minutes

and a record 21% height in council tax.

Plus, Labor's shadow culture secretary says singing Royal Britannia is alienating.

Good evening, Britain and welcome to the Independent Republican Mike Graham, right here at Talk TV.

So apparently singing Royal Britannia is alienating. That's according to the woman

who Kier Stara thinks should be Secretary of State for Culture in Britain. Really?

I'll just take a slight pause there and take a deep breath and feel the music washing over me.

It's Real Britannia. How is it in any way alienating?

Who gets alienated while listening to this?

What sort of plank would say they don't like it?

You don't feel like going out and massacring anybody, do you?

You don't feel like taking over the world.

You just feel warm, fuzzy.

I'm going to go out and maybe shake hands with somebody, a kiss on the cheek, perhaps, buy somebody a pint of spitfire, you know, that kind of thing.

For heaven's sake, it's not alienating. This is the Independent Republican Mike Graham.

Let's get the band back together.

And now, Rishi Soonak's praying that Jeremy Hunt can push out a crowd-pleasing budget tomorrow,

as the polls predict complete electoral devastation for the Tories,

but nobody seems to have a clue when that election will take place

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