“It’s down, but it’s down not very much.” says UK Correspondent Gavin Grey in this morning’s immigration discussion with Ryan Bridge.

The UK Government is spending $4.4billion on hotel bills housing migrants. Although this is down from $4.6billion the previous year, Grey says it isn’t enough.

Money to fund this is coming from the overseas development fund, a system that Grey calls, “unsustainable.”

Arrests for immigrants working illegally in the UK have increased, but Grey says the hotel bill continues to get longer with no end in sight.

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A packed weekend for Kiwi and international sport this weekend, and Andrew Alderson joined Ryan Bridge to talk about it.

Today’s fill includes Coco Gauff’s victory at the French Open, the latest from the world of Golf and this weekend’s main event: The Blues vs. The Chiefs.

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Rodney local board member and road safety campaigner Geoff Upson join Ryan Bridge to talk about the safety of young people on the road.

Upson says that although road fatality rates are declining, there is more work to do when it comes to educating first-time drivers.

He said that professional driver training alongside more time in the car with Mum and Dad could make all the difference tomake sure teenagers know how to conduct themselves on the road.

Upson also said that education about the car itself is also lacking, with misunderstandings in tire grip capacity leading to more accidents in the rain.

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A new 'Parent Boost' visa will make it easier for some migrants' parents to visit the country.

From September, it will grant parents of citizens multi-entry access for five years, with the opportunity for renewal once - meaning they could hold the visa for 10 years.

Applicants will also need to meet specific health, income, and insurance requirements.

Act Party Immigration Spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar told Ryan Bridge it's hard to know how many people will apply.

She says it could be between two and ten thousand.

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She was a chilly weekend.

Even in Auckland it was only 5 degrees.

We had the heat pump cranking the entire weekend. I spoke to a friend in Marlborough who had the fire going all weekend. They had a proper frost there.

It's right about now you start thinking... how much is all this going to cost me?

The answer $250 for May for a house of two persons, one dog.

Already we've spent $70 for June.

This is one of the few bills I pay in our household so it's one of the few I notice.

It's not going through the roof... and is tracking roughly the same as last year.

And disclaimer... our place is old and cold, poorly ventilated and you basically need either air con or heat all the time.

There is good news on the energy front for 2025, not that it directly affects us as much, more the big industrial users.

Forsyth Barr released an energy note on Friday... they reckon we'll avoid another big energy crunch this winter. The next one is due 2026.

That means no risk of blackouts.

The reason we've avoided this is because electricity producers did a deal with Methanex. And we've had rain - so the hydro lakes have been given a top up.

To avoid future blackouts, we'll need to cut industrial demand and burn more coal.

And that brings us to gas - a shortage of which caused last year's energy price crunch.

Forsyth Barr reckons the government's push for gas is unlikely to solve out problems.

It takes two to three years to get a gas field up and running. First you have to find it. Right now, nobody's even looking. No fields are being explored.

By the time you get gas out of the government's $200-million budget buy-in, the energy shortages will likely have passed.

It's one thing to let the producers go it alone, it's another to put our money on the line to develop these fields.

There's a genuine question about whether this is smart investment in our future or if taxpayer money is being wasted.

A bit like the heat escaping from my old house.

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Winston Peters is accusing Don Brash and Helen Clark of "relevance deprivation syndrome", after their criticism of his approach to China.

The former National and Labour leaders are warning the Government that it could be putting our largest trading relationship at risk by aligning too closely with the US.

Brash believes that it is unwise to shift priority from China to the US given the current tension between the two superpowers.

Peters says he stands by the government's independent foreign policy, and he sees no value in indulging in tired arguments from former politicians.

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UK and Europe Correspondent Vincent McAviney spoke to Ryan Bridge about German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to the White House.

The chancellor presented President Donald Trump with a gift: The birth certificate of President Trump’s German grandfather, which seemed to go down well with the President.

Despite the positivity on the outside, McAviney said that the difference between the two nations’ approach to the war in Ukraine has led negotiations to continue behind closed doors.

McAviney also said that Germany is likely aiming to secure a deal with the US that will reduce the effects of Trump’s tariffs.

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