19/07/2012 Newsnight

Tonight a strike by border guards on the eve of the Olympics. It

threatens chaos at Heathrow on what's expected to be the airport's

busiest day ever with more than a 100,000 people arriving. The Home

Secretary says it's "shameful." The union says it's a "last resort."

We'll debate the rights and wrongs in yet another operational setback

for the Government. The millions of malnourished children in an

epidemic of hunger in Yemen. It's an Arab Spring country gone

unnoticed and now starving. Little Abdullah here is typical of so many

of the kids we've been seeing - if you look at his arms there is no

body fat on him at all. Who will be the new Sheriff of Nottingham and

towns and cities across England and Wales? Police Commissioners will be

elected in November - but will anyone turn out to vote? What

difference will they make? And should they be politicians like

John Prescott or perhaps former police officers - we'll ask two

candidates for the posts plus the current head of ACPO. Don't do this

at home - the BBC's paid a lot to play with these Olympic rings - but

there are some things even we can't say. During the summer bleep, being

that according to a law, the... Had imposed upon them. Good evening,

for years, campaigners of various sorts tried to use the Olympics to

make a political point. Next week on the eve. The Games, PCS the

union representing border officers, and representative staff are in a

long standing strike about rows. Thousands of travellers expected

that day, there's potential of chaos at the start of what should

be one of the greatest sporting events everyone witnessed. But is

the union following others in senting a good day to make a point

or as the union suggests is will no attempt to disrupt the Games.

up Sod's Law in the dictionary and it says if someone can go wrong and

turn out inappropriately it will. Just ask this Government t could

stand for Serwotka's Olympic Disaster Scheme scheme, striking

border guards on potentially the busiest day in Heathrow, could

leave the coalition more red-faced on the biggest stage of them all.

First it was the weather, torrential rain so unseasonal it

threatened to extinguish the Olympics flame. Then athletes on

four hours of bus journeys using games less. And G4, lots of staff

haven't turned up to work, leaving it to the army and police which

haven't yet been outsourced. But G4 is over a crate of champagne, to

deflecting the public's wrath on them on to border staff. I hope the

people understand the issues, because I hope they struggle to

understand why for 18 months the Government refused to ingauge on

any of the issues. I hope they'd understand one day of disruption is

regrettable but better than having 365 days a year, where people are

comeing to this country and queuing for three or four years, where they

can't get a passport or proper service. The backlash has been

swift and angry. Well I think that is shameful, frankly, they are

holding a strike on what is the key days for people coming into this

country, for the Olympic Games. think the immigration officers are

deeply patriotic but to threaten us is totally inappropriate. The mayor

was adopting a comecal alley stance. I don't think they'll succeed in

disrupting the Olympics. Ironically it was Boris Johnson who agreed to

massive payoffs to avoid strikes in the Olympics. Tube drivers are

getting �750 on top of the usual overtime payments and robust

salaries. London bus drivers secured an extra �577 for their

workload, while Heathrow Express drivers negotiateed �700. The

Docklands light rail stach will be getting �900 even though they don't

have any drivers. 450 ASLEF workers will still be going out on strike

between August 67th and 8th in a disput over pension contributions.

On an ordinary summer's day, Heathrow can process up to 100,000

passports. But July, 6th is no ordinary day. It is potentially the

airport's busiest ever, as thousands of extra athletes,

dignitaries and ordinary passengers, arrive ahead of the Olympics

Opening Ceremony. The US Border Agency say they've trained up 500

staff to help out and that things went smoothly, the last time there

was a strike, two months ago. Then there's the issue of strike

ballots, 20% border staff took part in a bat lot, meaning 11% voted for

the walkout. With issues like this, may force the balloting laws back

in the agenda. We're joined by Liverpool, by Paul O'Connor, Mr

O'Connor why is your union trying to disrupt the Olympics? We're not

trying to disrupt the Olympics. These are issues live for a long

time. Sorry, excuse me, they have been for a long time, so you could

have picked any day, any of the 365 days to have this action, you know

it will cause maximum disruption? We table the demands to the

Government and employer 18 months ago, since that date, they've done

nothing, they've been intransigent in the extreme. What they've been

engaged is a further staff... are going to disrupt. Chaos at the

borders and passport officers, this is the shambles the Government is

presiding over. You are prepared to disrupt the Olympics for 18 months

they haven't talked to you, that's why? This isn't about the Olympics

for us. It is for all the people arriving. This is a disrut going on

for 18 months, our members are clear this is a plan, that could go

on, until the Autumn, there could be action. You could have action

then. So you don't need action next week. The problem is the Government

is whipping up hysteria around the Olympics. It seemed to have woken

up to the fact the issues are on the table. Jobs are going, chaos at

the borders and it needs sorting out. Which I'm ready to negotiate a

settlement with them, all they need to do is come to the table rather

engaging in this damaging talk. don't think in any way it damages

your case, serious case about jobs and conditions, that on the biggest

sporting event most of us have ever witnessed, when people are coming

to this country and we want to put on a good show, one in ten members

voted in favour of this, and you think you have a man date to

disrupt the Olympics? We have been making our case for 18 months, it

is the Government that is intransigent in the negotiations.

They need to come to the table with us, over the next week. We don't

want to see a strike go ahead there. Is time to avoid that. But the

Government needs to negotiate, seriously on the issues that matter.

Which is public service delivery, that the people of this country

deserve, 365 days a year. So it is blackmail really? It is not

blackmail at all. Our members care very, very profoundly about the

public services, they deliver, they want safe and secure borders. They

want people to be able to go in a passport office and not be told in

London they need a appointment in Belfast. It is in the Government's

best interests to man and staff those public services, properly,

and they need to come to the table and negotiate with us. Thank you

very much. Damian Green, why have you been caught up with this

hysteria, when Boris Johnson is saying it won't disrupt the

Olympics at all? I'm not caught up with hysteria at all. I had a

meeting with Paul two weeks ago, he sat opposite across my table,

talking to me. But he didn't get anywhere? Our officials at the hofs

is negotiating all the time. That line is wrong. The most important

thing is PCS members don't want the strike to happen. Some do, the

majority who voted. Seven out of eight didn't vote for a strike,

they don't want to go on strike, as Jeremy Hunt said they're patriotic

and care about the reputation of the country, it is a small group in

the leadership, that is behaving disgracefully, trying to make

capital out of the Olympics, when it should be a great celebration.

Will it result in a mess? It need not to, we called two strikes in

the past year, which haven't caused too much disruption to Heathrow.

And, as, the report said, we have got continge Genesis in place.

is the contingency Olympics. You have the volunteers and army. It is

not the professionals. We trained people for months, we've got 500 of

them extra working at the borders,00 at Heathrow. And anyone

who is travelling through Heathrow knows, it is working extremely

smoothly, it is a huge success the operation at Heathrow. The big

bulge of people arriving hasn't happened and it will happen that

day. You can't guarantee next Thursday will be a big problem?

don't know, what level, first of all of people from the PCS will go

on strike, I hope they don't. They're not enthusiastic for this

strike. Members of other unions won't be striking and we do have a

large number of civil servants from other parts of Whitehall already

trained and working there. Why did the Home Secretary tell us that she

first became aware the G4 fiasco on July 211th and she knew two weeks

earlier? What happened on 27th of June, G4 said they were behind and

confident they would, have the numbers they promotioned, it was

only on July 11th that G4 said we're not going to get the numbers

we wanted, which plans that had been put in place in advance were

put into action. The chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee

isn't taking that view, and says there must be concerns, because 75

personnel were deployed. G4 came to the Government and said we might

not make our numbers. The Government sensibly said, OK, fine,

let's make sure we've got military Pec knell in reserve. It wasn't the

first you knew about it, the 11th of July. It crystalised on July 119.

What they were saying up to then, is they were going to make their

numbers, they will make it up, what happened on July 11, is G4 said

they're not going to make their numbers. What will make to the

amendment fee, what will happen to what they're paid, how much will

the taxpayer be paying? That will be sorting out after the Olympics.

They have already the 57 million. There will clearly need to be a big

investigation into what happened inside G4S. You might want to claw

some money back? That will happen after the Olympics. Thank you very

much. Now, there's the beginings of a humanitarian catastrophe in one

of the countries touched of the Arab Spring. Yemen has been racked

by political turmoil. Millions are going hungry and worse. According

to the United Nations, nearly half the population, on ten million

people have limited or no access to sufficient food and 47% of children

under five years old are malnurished. The worse area is in

the west of the country. The face This baby is clinging to

consciousness, barely clinging to life. A one-year-old who weighs as

much as a newborn baby. You don't need the scales to know

this child needs help, now. Like so many young victims of Yemen's

hunger epidemic, his health is failing, he is rushed to the ward.

He is struggling to breathe, his body weakened by chronic

TRANSLATION: There are a lot of cases, a lot of cases. Yes they

really are in danger of dying. the next bed, Marem another of the

250 million children who are so malnurished, they could die. So we

head out into a country which has a long history of poverty and

hardship. What's happening today away from the eyes of the outside

world, is something different. In the remote village, the evidence is

And as always, it is the very youngest in this tiny community who

are the most vulnerable. The most at risk. For this woman, watching

her eighth month old suffer is agony.

TRANSLATION: I'm really scared. I would die if it he dies.

I'm sick with worry, it makes me so sad to see my son in pain.

Little Abdullah is typical of so many of the kids we've been seeing.

His arms there's no body fat on him at all. And the reason is

absolutely a simple one, the mums are telling us, they just don't

have enough food in their homes to keep their children healthy. And in

some cases to keep kids like Abdullah, alive. I go to visit

Abdullah's family, it is clear they're dirt poor. Is it OK to come

This cramped place is where six people live and two children have

died of malnutrition. Across generations hunger is part of what

passes for daily life. If tonight they look and there's no food, what

can they do?. TRANSLATION: We sleep and we pray.

What else can we do? Force God to feed us, so we sleep. On the edge

of the village the graves of Abdullah a's brother and sister,

just a few rocks and soon it will be hard to tell there's anything

here at all. But there will be more graves in villages across Yemen.

That's what these mothers are desperate to prevent. They crowd

into the sweltering district hospital looking for food, looking

for medicine. In a country, where poverty is regarded as shameful,

where women are veiled and withdrawn, the mothers here surgeon

forward holding up their emaciated babies. This may not look like the

classic images we see from trick Africa but what better illustration

there is hunger here and now in this country. There is some help

here, but not enough. Last week, supplies of specialist baby food

ran out. There was no money for fuel to pick up more. The aid

operation, such as it is, is running on empty. You're a doctor,

it is your job to look after children, does this make you sad

and angry? TRANSLATION: Very sad and very

angry. TRANSLATION: I never imagine we

would face a crisis like this, and it is only getting worse. Why does

it make you angry? TRANSLATION: Because we can't help

all of them. What we can do is really limited. We can't reach all

the poor people. We don't have the support, it makes us sad and

ashamed. What's hard to deal with here, is that just down the road

from the hospital there is food. But prices have gone through the

roof and still rising. The poor, simply can't afford it. Imagine,

having to walk past all of this, while your child is at home,

desperately hungry. Ask anyone here, old or young, what's driving the

hung hunger, and they'll hell you it is poverty. For some this is a

solution of sorts. Oxfam has a programme of cash

handouts. The heat may be off the scale, you may have to wait in line

for hours, but really, there's not much else to do for farm workers

when crops have failed. If you don't get this money, is there any

other way of getting income, have you any other way of getting money?

TRANSLATION: No. If there's rain we can work, otherwise, there's no

work. For so many, this is the last, the only option. And the rains

haven't come. April's harvest was a disaster, and

that was a severe limit on Yemen's capacity for self-help. It is true,

that not all of the productive land in this impoverished country is

used to produce food. Instead, they choose to grow this stuff, Kat, a

narcotic leaf that is chewed daily by every adult in Yemen. Is it good,

do you chew it? The whole thing. It is an acquireed taste. Along

with Islam, it is at the centre of the culture, millions of bags of it

are solid every day Akmed is a huge Khat fan, and says he spends more

money on it than food. What does your wife says? She chews too, he

tells me. They say it is a way of life, would be an understatement.

Amid the hunger and desperation, everyone here is still chewing Some

things here then, remain constant. But these are also times of

upheaval, turmoil and change. The Yemeni Arab Spring shifted the

political landscape and delivered the first new President in more

than three decades. It was hardly a revolution and hardly a happy

ending. Hunger levels have doubleed but the new Government is more

The battle is on. These troops training to take on the Islamist

mill tapts, many who are foreign fighters, arriving in Yemen, after

driven out of former strongholds. The new recruits are part of the

military bolstered by American funding and training.

But the money spent on this, must surely mean there's less to tackle

chronic malnutrition Military commanders, insist, there's no

choice. TRANSLATION: We have to focus all

our efficiencies on safety and security in Yemen, because that

will solve the economic problems. If we don't secure the country,

nothing will improve and the suffering and starvation will get

worse. Security first. Which leaves the hungry, still hungry. And with

hardly any good news on the horizon. The next harvest is months away,

the international aid agencies, struggling to raise funds. And in

the middle of it all, this baby, for him help can't arrive soon

enough. TRANSLATION: If he lives he lives,

if he dies, what can I do, I've tried my best, I've done he was I

can for his health. I can't afford to do more, now it is in the hands

of the Gods. The Conservative Government unveiled the list of

candidates for the new role of police commissioners. Labour

candidates have been put into the same jobs. All of England and Wales

will get the chance to vote are to The Commissioner, some critics fear

politiciseed figures, whose arrival won't do any to help crime. First

our political editor reports from The blue line is struggling not to

get thinner, squeezed by budget cuts and soon to be tuged by a new

musclar hand. In the Autumn there will be big election toss a new

position - chief puller of the thin blue line. But, sheriffs are not

the talk of Nottingham town. There are electionness November, you know

about them? Yes. What are they for? I don't know. It doesn't really, it

is not really something I think about to be fair. It is for a new

police chaefs? I didn't know about that. You not heard of elections in

November? Not really. It is not the talk of Nottingham town, and the

man currently its most senior police officer knows it.

We walked along that street now, do you think Butching into any

stranger if they knew about the elections, would they knew? Current

awareness of the police and crime police officer process isn't what

it might be, that is considered and looked at within Government and

decisions how to deal with that. I'm sure they will do so. This man

is Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire, he is accountable

to the Police Authority but after the election, that accountability

becomes to another individual, perhaps with little or no policing

experience, but whose diverting manifesto won them election, and so

the area of policing budget. For the Chief Constable, a group of

bosses has become one. Police and crime commissioners, write the plan,

chief constables figure out how to implement it. The people who go for

the pail, saying having one individual makes the difference?

will see that when it comes in. I understand the argument, I've seen

the arguments on both sides, I appreciate the strength of

arguments present by all-party, prospectus that comes around it,

from my prospective, the debate has stopped, the Government has spoken,

we have an election process, my job is make sure it works. Whoever she

and he is, I will work with. There is no model to look for, it is the

same as and so it will work as well. Today, Theresa May launched the

Conservatives' candidates. Police authorities are invisible to the

public. Most people don't even know they exist, let alone who does the

job. Instead, police and crime commissioners, will be highly

visible, chosen directly by the people, and accountable to the

people The success of the people elected police and crime

commissioners will also reflect on the Prime Minister. Was he able to

attract the calibre of person to a role that is close to his heart?

Many of the ideas championed within Government, don't think right now,

the Prime Minister, has put his full heft behind it. So, in

November, and close to bomb fire night, what is supposed to be a Big

Bang of accountability, might end up being like a firework left out

in the summer downpours. Which is why the premium is on

quality, and funds are asked for to raise the profile. They have until

October to up the quality, so people, think the turnout. We'll

see a variety of policing varieties, set up and down the country, by

locally elected police and crime commissioners. In one part of the

country, gang crime may be the main problem. Elsewhere, it may be

burglary, or antisocial behaviour or rural crime or street robberies

or drug related crime or drink related crime. Police and crime

commissioners, we can have the full set. A few years ago, in this area

here, there was a drive-by shooting, and there was a murder. And that is

the sort of experience that people over here, have to deal with, quite

oven. Don't you think anyone who runs to be a PCC knows they need to

deal with murder, why do they need to live with murder on their

doorstep to get it? In order to find solutions, one has to get

close to the communities, to find out how best they can deal with it.

If you're living somewhere in the outer sticks in a rural area, you

got no experience of places like inner-city Nottingham, where we

have, drugs, gang crime, we have murders, we have gun-related crime.

My argument is what have you got, or bringing to the table?

police hope they reached the end of the year, still faithful to their

founder, Sir Robert's peel, that officers should not panneder to

public opinion. Peel had a hand in creating, the officers, are under

pressure to make sure crime commissioners are not elected on a

low turnout. It hangs by a thin lead. The former Deputy Prime

Minister, Lord Prescott is here, and Ian Johnston is standing an an

independent, and Sir Hugh Orde is President of the Association of

Chief Police Officers. You thought the reforms were a bad idea

originally, why are you standing Yes I think they were a bad idea,

because I'm afraid police and politics don't mix in my view.

However, having said that, the Government of the day, has spoken.

We are going to have police and crime commissioners, and

independent candidates with the right background, can ensure that

politics doesn't, spoil a way we police in this country. Is it more

difficult for you, because you don't have party political backing,

no apparatus to get on with this? There are two ways of looking at it,

in terms of funding and organising it, it is incredibly difficult as

an independent. The public have spoken in recent polls, and quite

frankly, they've said they're fed up with politicians, 7% think the

politicians would make a good police and crime commissioner, 6%:.

They shouldn't be disqualified. They're excellent politicians.

you Seymour yirt in the argument that politics and police shouldn't

mix, it is difficult for good independence, a couple of people.

We voted against this, because we sooner kept the police rather the

expense of an election, in October, very few people know about it, and

very few people will vote. There are to be that vote and we will

take part. Whether it is a politician or policeman, in all the

candidates in both party, they have a combination, some politicianss

some ex-police people, they play that part. But, you know, there are

two separate functions here, the Chief Constable's job is to get on

with the job and implement the policy. What this policy is saying,

the community should decide the priorities of those policies, that

means you need a community voice. That's what the commissioners are

about, how do you develop that view? Is a politician a good

community voice, or better to have somebody who has experience of the

police force? And keep the political parties out of it A Chief

Constable said to me, we don't like politicians, Robert peel was a

politician three times a Prime Minister, so, basically, the

politician, we brought in the policy of community policing, it

wasn't policing, it wasn't liked by the police, they told us they

didn't like it. It is a xinks, policy was policies by discussion,

imp theed by the police, you do separate them, let the politicians

and people who become commissioners, Voice of the community. Do you

think most police officers care one way or the other, presumably you

work with civil control you work with, but I'm sure they weren't

beating on the door a for the change? It is entirely right and

proper, how they're held to account. Service has to have clarity how

this will work. These gentlemen have been talking about local

policing, chief police officers are responsible for right up to things

like Olympics, riots last year, cyber crime, drug dealing, it is

better dealt nationallyly by linked with the local service. It is the

continueium that is critical. do you worry about, there's a lack

of clarity, you're not sure, exactly how it works, you're trying

to make it work but not sure? secured a clear, unequivocal

agreement, that operationally independent chiefs will deliver the

service, held to account by police and crime commissioners. So it is a

clear distinction there. But difficulty becomes, stark, when for

example we have to mobilise across the country. If every police and

crime commissioner, does not sign up to the national agreement is, we

have severe difficulty in times of severe crisis. I can imagine

somebody in Gwent responding to the local community, saying, actually

what we're interested in is burglary or whatever the particular

thing is there, and the national priority which is different, no, we

need your officers to do something else, there could be an obvious

tension there, if you were the face of the police in Gwent? That

tension is there, and we've experienced it, in the last week,

when we needed more officers, to replace the G4 staff, who decided

not to turn up for whatever reason. And Chief Constable said, we

recognise the national need as well as the local need. If you were

elected you may be responsive to what local people say, in a day

wairch way to a Chief Constable? That's why the newly elected, PCCs

may need to know what the national call is as well. My fear is, and

there's disript to Lord Prescott, there's a danger, for the last two

years, for any term of office, some PCCs will be concerned with re-

elected instead of getting on with it. That's community. That person

on The Commissioner, we didn't agree with the policy, we want to

convince the community he's acting in their interest. Let's be hear,

the implementation of the policy, whether it is for the Olympics, or

the collapsing, G4 is, we're not challenging, that, although we

worry the new crime agency, brought in, the abolition of the

appropriate coprincipal seems the Government is strengthening its own

position and not takeing into account the community so. There

will be a bit of tension, bound to be when you have it, but we'll have

to see how it works. I believe a good policeman who, could work as

commissioner, or policeman, as it may be their responsibility. The

two can be distinct. The liebs have to be clear, but let's be clear, it

is not too clear in the past, in some things the role of the Chief

Constable. Would you like a local face, that is responsible, you

could go to for strategic guidance, as you sort out what the

operational priorities, and say we need more people or whatever it is,

your priorities happen to be? strength of police service is it is

rooted in community, and every police officer is signed up to

local commuting. They speak to the police authorities and many play

add critical role, calming down the communities because they knew them.

They will have to build a new relationship with a individual.

police officers, he is the power, he has the arrest powers, those who

are the community police, were opposed by the police and community,

but now work with it, because it is shown, it is improved the

relationship between the police and the community. And we're all

working that together. That goes back to 1829, established by Robert

Peel. The healthy tension will be around how you deploy the shrinking

resource we have, that's why we have to collaborate and work

closely together and transform policing so we can maintain front

line service. Taken over by G4 is. Do you think

people, clearly we care about law and order, but do you think people

will turn out to vote? It is difficult. We're looking at 15%, 0%

tops, and we need greater help from the Government and greater help

from the media to get people out. Democracy, it chooses in November,

which everyone says is the worst time to have an election, it is not

providing the information about the candidates which every candidate in

other elections normally get. They're makeing it difficult. Any

independence got to find �5,000 for the deposit, so have we, we're not

getting money from the party, we have to find it out, we have the

same difficulties as you as taking part. On that moment, we'll leave

it there. Now, here's a list of banned words,

none of which happens to be the F word, Olympics, Olympian, Games,

2012, 201. Using the law, using thoo words in advertise something

forbidden without the permission of organisers, LOCOG. It is hardly

surprising what people want to cash in what will be the biggest

opportunity in the summer. We have been investigating whether that

Nobody messes with the Olympic brands.

We're getting in on the act too. Hold it Grahams, just one second,

that's beautiful, but do you mind popping this on for us. It is

That's a nice look for you. If Big Grey here were to lose

concentration for a moment, the rings he's juggleling could

inadvertently fall into a well known configuration, and Seb Coe

could be shutting down this report before you know it. Look what

happened is, a party North website, run by the Duchess Cambridge's

family, came under fire. Were the Middletons coming in under fire for

the Olympics. You build your business up, through nothing from

the sweat of your brow, and then the Olympics come along, now any

half decent entrepreneur might think, this is a time to offer

people tomorrow at that time, amean quality products s that a crime.

would be concerned about it. The one thing that Trading Standards

and LOCOG are most interested in are references toss the rings. And

I think, I've only seen a couple of snaps, but the snaps I've seen

references the ring, not the specific five-ring device, but

certainly eludes to that. How are we fixed ourselves, if we entertain

the viewers with a juggle letter? You may be OK, because it is not

for commercial gain. The Middleton example, are using references toss

the rings, possibly, to create further sales. Your juggle letter

is here to entertain, so there wouldn't be a commercial connection.

LOCOG said they have no issue with the Middletons products, no

infringement has taken place, says a spokeswoman. But we may have to

ask them to make a tweak to the copy. The Culture Secretary was

relaxed. He claimed to notice only modest branding where the Games

were concerned. The Olympics, does more than pretty much any other

international sports event to reduce branding. It is the only

event which doesn't allow commercial branding inside sports

venues, and sponsors, who have been a bit maligned recently, are

playing for half the cost of hosting the Games in London. Games,

2012: Apparently inknock with us words, read for us by Radio 4's

Corrie could fall foul for combinations for so-called ambush

marketing. # You can't touch this #

So here's how the classic account are f of the ancient Olympic Games,

would sound today as reacted under Newsnight the programme that

censureed. We asked as we do on a daily basis if LOCOG in charge of

running the Olympics want to come and speak to us about running the

Olympics, but like Usain Bolt they keep running away. Here we have

Clegg Clegg, and Kate Robertson chair of the international

advertising firm, Euro RSCG. What do you think is the problem here?

do understand that brands have to be protected, that the rings, and

the Olympics assets have to be looked after. That the money of the

sponsors is huge. What I think is a problem, that is there's an

unimaginative approach to this. The rules are old, you know they are.

They are very, very rigid. Consumers are not idiots, in the

social media world, there are lots of things that could be done

differently. There are 101 ideas. The thing that's wrong is

understanding enthusiastic stic policing bit. Sometimes and a lot

of the stuff around the Olympics for the sponsor brands and Olympics

brand are actually harming both. And then I think that's imaginative

and stupid. Do you take the point that some of this seems to be silly

and makes a little bit of the leadup of the Games silly. Perhaps

we forget after they start but it seems odd, McDonald chip police

come out and say you can't call it chips, that's the coverage you're

getting? It is all to do with the spwrerms of the law. They want a

degree of grainous in the law, - greyness in the law, you get black

and white. There have been some in the country who have over zealous,

there would be no Olympic Games without the sponsors. As part of

the bidding progress, we needed legally binding, unlimited

guarantee for the staging of the Games, so the British taxpayer

would fund any shortfall, if LOCOG is unable to deliver the

substantial money they need to raise. People will understand that.

But they need to understand a corner shop, with rings in the

window, celebrating this national event is not going to bring down

Coca-Cola? That's fair, it is when people are trying to make profit,

commercial gain out of the Games when they have not invested money

into supporting the Games in the first instance. LOCOG want to

celebrate the Olympic Games but it's got absolutely rightly and

properly to protect the commercial interest fundsing the Games.

seem to be imemploying they're not doing that, it could back fire?

is clearly back firing, I tell you what is wrong in the corner shop

example, is it is tough for the Games and big sponsors who put in

millions to think, OK, now these precious Olympic assets could be

used by God only knows who. So, at some point I would see LOCOG seems

to be IOC first, you know why, why can't a corner shop, who wants to

say, yea, London welcomes the Games, have the stuff, and if you want to,

say underNeath, thank you to all the Olympic part nerts, and they

allowed this. It is a pain in the neck, because you have to vet those.

But it back fires, and gets worse, when you get into the Olympics

assets and the big sponsors. So the visa exclues sift lock down is

insane for the visa brand. It is bad for visa. Everybody hates them.

Because you get there, and you go oh. We've seen commercial creep,

over various owe limb pee yads, four year periods, commercial creep

to ensure there is clear blue waert between the individuals sponsors.

And those rights need to be protected, not only for the future

of the Games, but because of the staging of the Games in London for

the British taxpayer. There's the British sense of humour, saying you

can't buy British beer, you have to buy behind Ken beer. - behind kin

beer. If you paid �40-50 million on the rights, you want a return on

the rights. This is the way it works. It is not a return on the

investment, and you know Y because that's such an expensive

sponsorship and lots of money, it is not about the behind kin or

Coca-Cola or McDonald's or visa useage in the park during the two

weeks. It is about the global impact on the brand and on the

brand is not good. So, those contracts need to be looked at,

each one and Madgeive solutions come up with. McDonald's should

support local food traders. There's room for more imagination? There is

that scope. But I recognise that people want to play in the grey

area, because you get in there, people will abuse it. So it has to

be black and white. That's all from us, we want us to leave news from

north corea, where you might thought being supreme leader was

big enough. But now another accolade has been declared on Kim

Jong Un, naturally thousands of troops expressed their genuine

delight. Here they are accompanied by the track, Excellent Horse-Like

Lady Hyoth Song-wol wol, who is supposedly his girl frepd. Good

Still showers to come on Friday, stl start the day dry and bright.

But central and southern parts of England, this is where showers get

going. Brighter conditions across the north. Things should improve

for the golfers after a wet start. But threat of storms, in and around

the Oval area, but those afternoon storms across the Midlands, central,

southern and South Eastern England that could cause problems. Light

showers here, many will stay dry and sunny throughout. Mid-to high

teens across southern and western Wales, but should stay dry.

Isolated light showers, eastern and Northern Ireland. Chilly start in

Scotland, but fewer showers to come, with Friday, compared to Thursday,

and most will see spells of sunshine. Difference between Friday

and sat, well there's going to be two-fold. Slight increase in

temperature and brightening of the skies. We will see sunshine develop,