18/03/2016 Newsnight

Ian Duncan Smith has resigned from the government this evening,

over benefit cuts, the end of his six years reign as work

At the last Budget he'd cheered government policy

So, is his exit a full-blown crisis for the government,

Five arrested in Brussels - Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam among

We'll piece together today's events, and ask whether the authorities can

And on tonight's Artsnight - artist Ryan Gander explores the art

Art isn't a stronghold of the elite, it's everywhere. It surrounds us.

It was at 9:00pm this evening, the news dropped without warning.

Iain Duncan Smith has resigned from the cabinet.

His resignation letter stuck the knife into George Osborne,

and indeed, twisted it around a bit too.

Now it had obviously been a fraught day,

earlier in the evening, there had been signs

of a significant U-turn on those unpopular cuts to benefits

for people with disabilities - the personal independence

The cuts were meant to make a ?1.3 billion saving.

But according to Mr Duncan Smith's resignation letter,

He didn't like them, and didn't like them even more

for the fact they were accompanied by tax cuts for the better off.

That have a brief chat to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg,

who is in Downing Street. Take us through the letter, what you make of

it, the substance and tone. Well, it's an absolute zinger of a

resignation letter. He believed very strongly in the changes being made

in welfare under his leadership at the DWP over the last six years, but

in his view, these latest proposed cuts to the payments for many

disabled people were simply a step too far. They were, in his view, the

wrong balance, striking the wrong balance. He makes a very interesting

point. Politically this will hurt. He suggests the government now has

the balance of cuts the wrong way round, they are looking in the wrong

places and hitting the wrong people. He dares the government to explain

why they've been hitting people at the bottom end and the younger

generation instead, protecting pensioners at the top end. The most

striking and damaging line of all in this letter is saved for the very,

very end. He casts doubt on the government's main assertion they've

made time and time again since they've been in charge in 2010, he

questions whether or not we are really all in this together. That is

a senior figure in government walking out in protest and,

essentially, questioning the government's main motivation. Every

line is almost full of some bitterness. There has been bad blood

between him and George Osborne for some time now. Very briefly, that is

what he said, is there anything unsaid that is going on tonight?

Naz of course there always is in politics. In this case there is

something glaringly missing from the resignation letter. Iain Duncan

Smith is one of the most prominent Eurosceptics, he has a big role in

obtaining for us to leave the European Union. For some people

inside government, they are pointing very much to that as part of his

motivation. This will pour fuel on the already fiery debate inside the

Conservative Party over whether or not we should stay or leave the EU.

Senior MPs I've spoken to close to Iain Duncan Smith say, however, it's

just not the case. He feels he was forced into these reforms he was

then feeling he was being forced to defend them. When it emerged today

the government was going to jump the reforms altogether, you felt it was

a step too far. This will make a difference to the bad blood already

there over the EU. That think that anger, that's David Cameron has been

struggling to contain inside his party. No question, the timing of

the debate around the EU referendum is absolutely part of this, too.

Well to discuss all of this is Tim Montgomerie, from the Times

newspaper, who was a speech writer for Iain Duncan Smith and founded

the Centre for Social Justice with him, and also Jonathan

Freedland, columnist from the Guardian, and Anne McElvoy

Good evening to you all. Tim, what is going through his mind tonight? I

think you have to judge it by the content of the letter that he wrote

to the Prime Minister. He has been struggling for a long time with an

imbalance of cuts that he's being asked to make. Huge part of the

welfare budget, particularly for pensioners, said in universal

benefits like child benefit have been ruled out of being touched by

the Prime Minister and by the Chancellor. I think Iain Duncan

Smith has, as he says, been a team player, tried to make cuts on the

working poor and younger families. He feels it has gone on too far.

It's one thing to make cuts for deficit reduction, but as his letter

said, it's completely different if you are making those cuts to fund

tax cuts for the better off or capital gains tax. You are taking

the letter at face value. I think we have to, there may be other reasons,

but there is a lot of moral force to this letter and it chimes with a lot

of people who feel, to quote the letter, the promise was, we are all

in this together. And, actually, it is working age families at the

bottom of the pile who are yet again been asked to bear the brunt of

posterity. It's interesting, a lot of critics to the left, who've grown

to not like him very much over the last six years of his reign there,

they will say, why are you going this way? There's been a lot of this

over the last six years and you suddenly popped out, particularly

just in the run-up to an EU referendum, which will make them

suspicious if something about Brexit. You could easily make the

argument he could have gone over other cuts, over tax credits last

year. I think that the difference is the use of these cuts to help fund

cuts for better off people. That really is a step too far. The others

like detail is this is the day the policy he is resigning over was

going to be junked. It's very odd to resign over policy the government

has abandoned. The timing perhaps wasn't completely ideal in that

respect. But I think the wider point of the letter, that cuts are still

coming down the pipeline and are focused on the working age, young

families, that is still very resonant. IQ taking the letter at

face value or do you think there is something else going on? -- are you

taking. It's what Iain Duncan Smith really believes, I don't think there

is any sort of hokum, trying to cover something up. There is a

permissive environment in the Conservative Party as a result of

the referendum and a deep split in the Conservative Party which goes

back... Pretty much forever... But Iain Duncan Smith is one of those

people from the 90s onwards who has been a great Eurosceptic. This is

their moment in the run-up to a possible Brexit. All sorts of things

that maybe would have just about held together, got patched together,

like those family rows. Once you start one, the others tend to come

up. That's really what is going on here. People say what he's trying to

do... The letter is so barbed comment doesn't mention George

Osborne particularly, but it's so obviously aimed at him. People say

he's trying to betray himself as the nice guy, for exit, the Chancellor,

who wants to remain, as the evil... People will find it rich of Iain

Duncan Smith to criticise Osborne from the left. They will say, you

are the person who has been implementing these cuts, some of

them very severe. The test of fitness to work imposed on the

disabled. He's been seen as extremely harsh by disability

groups. They find that now of all times he discovers it's too much for

him. He is shocked to discover there is this harsh policy from the

government and he's quitting just as it's dropped. Of course people are

going to be sceptical and ask that because Dean you always ask in

politics, why now? Is tolerated lots before now. Now three months ahead

of the referendum he feels it's time to really launch an exit at the man

who is leading the outcome pain. Is this full-blown crisis or

containable to one policy over this benefit cut, which has been junked?

And one man? It feels like, judging from the tweets of all the people

coming out in support of him, the usual suspects on the Brexit side of

the party, it feels like it's igniting something, is that right?

This is an historic time for the Conservative Party. I don't want to

make a prediction in a world where Donald Trump could be the next

president, it's a world full of surprises. I think the Conservative

Party could easily split over this Brexit bait, not just because of the

nature of the huge divide it represents philosophically, but the

way it is being fought. -- Brexit debate. There is unhappiness on both

sides at the emphasis the Prime Minister is putting on fear, for

example. Other people on the site that supports staying in the EU

worries about the tactics of some of the people wanting to come out.

There is also a sense, this is why this letter is imported, the

weakness of the leading party means the Conservative Party could be in

government for a long time. -- weakness of the Labour Party. Iain

Duncan Smith says unless the Conservative Party is a truly one

nation party that balances the cuts and tax policy so they are fair to

everyone in society, it risks squandering that opportunity to be

the natural party of government again. The difficulty with that is,

it's such a complex landscape within the Conservative Party. When Iain

Duncan Smith says, in the letter, he could just about have gone along

with this if it hadn't been for the fact he thought the budget was too

nice to high earners... This is someone on the right of the party.

Where are we? That's another question. We've gone through the

looking Glass of it. It's going to be a bit of a problem. I feel you

should put in some word of defence for George Osborne here. It's easy

on a night like this to say, you see what happens, you put on these

disability cuts, now look. We've heard a rising bill on this.

Governments, going back to new Labour... Disability benefit cuts to

fund tax cuts for the well of. It was because for the top rate of tax

to come down from 50p to 45 D. E tolerated that before. We've got a

figure on the right attacking the figure associated with compassionate

conservatism and modernisation, saying, this is too much for me.

That is why you feel it's about Brexit. You've got this odd thing

going on, partly to do with the weakness of labour. Government and

opposition are happening within the Conservative Party. It's the sort of

thing George Osborne could have got away with before but half the people

behind him as he gave the budget wanted him to fail, wanted him to

trip up, because he is the leader of In. Is this schism in the party at

the end of the road is it repairable the referendum... Is, David

Cameron's departure date will have to come forward, is not in the

position, if it is likely he wins the Brexit election, he will not be

able to heal this. The Chancellor is toxic on lots of these issues. I

think a new leader will be necessary to heal divisions. Inside of the

party? Early in the parliament. Polls suggest it wouldn't be risk he

couldn't do a healing role. Cameron has allowed Osborne to be the

lightning rod and hate figure of In. Cameron isn't even here, playing the

statesman figure. This attack goes to Cameron as well as Osborne. I

mean, he's put up his hands and said, there are a lot of people.

They recently have want to do continue with the Cameron- Osborne

duo at the top of the Conservative Party. This is an extremely

significant moment for them. Geoffrey Howe, the attack on

Margaret Thatcher, these things come round, teams to be an eternal

recurrence. It begins to look like the beginning of an endgame, doesn't

it? Osborne has had the most appalling week. This has to be worse

than omnishambles. He was going to be all right after the budget! And

now look. Again, is it what you would call the tin ear, he doesn't

get 1 billion pounds from disabled people is a lot of money. It's like

the disabled tax credit row from last, the fact he has repeated it

with an even more vulnerable group. People feel the disabled are the one

group, most of all, that deserve help from the welfare state. Taking

from the poor to give to the rich is one thing, but even the Sheriff of

Nottingham didn't take from the disabled and sick to give to the

rich. Capital gains tax sounded so bad. People were selling their

shares in Osborne as soon as he sat down on Wednesday. It's got much

worse. You can't keep making mistakes like this. If you are the

great strategic genius as he presenting cells politically, his

image has been, I may not look like that popular figure on TV but I am a

strategic wizard. Yet he's done the tax credit reversal, similar to...

Praising the Google tax deal, another humiliation. He's running

out of lives. Your luck does run out as Chancellor. Remember, he's been

an absolutely commanding figure in this period, an architect of the

Tory election victory. Your luck does run out as Chancellor. It

hinges on the Office for Budget Responsibility. When it goes well

his stock rises. Not only that, the OBE are as a life of its own in

national politics. -- the OBR. Tim was reflecting, that absolutely

driven feeling Osborne has that he has to at least prove he is right in

the long run, it's now beginning to trip him up. Does it make any

difference to the referendum itself? Does it bolster the leave camp,

possibly even the remain camp? It does matter how much standing

David Cameron has in the country. He is the lead person selling EU

membership to the people. If this makes a difference, every time he

tries to sell the EU, people look at him slightly differently. It is not

helpful... I think the damage is around George Osborne. He is the

toxic figure, the hard-faced man. He was booed at the Paralympics, he is

having another go at this table people now. I don't think much of

that rubs off on Cameron. That is all we have time for. Thank you.

Just over four months since the Paris attacks,

Salah Abdesalm Europe's most wanted man, for his role in those

Along with an accomplice, and three people in a family who had

Right in a flat in Molenbeek, Abdesalm's home

Secunder Kermani has been in Molenbeek in recent days,

Dramatic scenes on the streets of Molenbeek in Brussels,

as authorities closed in on one of Europe's's most wanted men.

as authorities closed in on one of Europe's most wanted men.

Salah Abdeslam was reportedly shot in the leg and arrested along

with an alleged accomplice and three members

Police had been searching for him ever since the attacks in Paris last

November and he is now likely to be extradited to France.

In the past, some there had accused Belgian

security services of intelligence failures.

This evening the French president praised their work

TRANSLATION: I have a special thought for the victims

of the attacks on the 13th of November in Paris.

Because Salah Abdeslam is directly connected to the preparation,

organisation and, I have to say, the perpetration of these attacks.

I also think of the families who have been looking

Salah Abdeslam was a former petty criminal from the Brussels district

He drove the attackers to Paris and, according to some reports,

took an active part in what had happened there.

His brother was one of those firing at people in the bars and cafes

He was picked up by two friends, who drove

Incredibly, they were stopped three times at police

checkpoints, but were allowed to continue.

The next day, those two friends who had picked him up were arrested

in dramatic fashion, despite an international manhunt

Until a raid earlier this week in Brussels

suburb where police found his fingerprints.

One man was killed, two others escaped.

One may have been Salah, but today he was finally

Clearly, catching someone like this alive,

who was involved in the plot against Paris, who was probably

meant to die giving that attack, which means he was really a key part

of the fabric of the operation means he will have

a real insight into the broader networks around them,

into the people who supplied them with

weapons, the people who helped them make the bombs,

From an intelligence perspective, this is a huge victory.

Salah had been a childhood friend of the organiser of the Paris

Who else in IS, whether in Europe or Syria, was involved

in the attacks, will be a key question to explore.

As will the network who helped Salah hideout for so long.

Molenbeek where he grew up and where he was captured has gained

what many residents see as an unfair reputation as a centre of extremism.

This man runs one of the oldest youth centres. He said with a Distin

fries population, it is the perfect place to hide. You should know that

there is a high density population. 8000 new inhabitants every year. And

8000 leaving. There were tense scenes in Molenbeek to light. Most

oppose extremism, but also many have a troubled relationship with the

police. These raids were a success for the Belgian authorities, but as

they discover more behind the Paris attacks, they will be looking to

prevent other attacks happening. What was his role on November the

13th? I have spent quite a bit of time in Molenbeek and I have met

many of Salah Abdesalm's friends. They cannot comprehend his role in

the attacks. His brother said he had seen him watching jihad videos. But

his friends, it had been a shock to them. They would say the fact he

didn't end up dead on the night of the attack shows he had second

thoughts about his involvement. But he played a key role in the

logistics, he rented cars, rented one of the safe houses that was used

to manufacture the suicide belts that were detonated. One of the most

interesting aspects is the anger in Molenbeek tonight. Interpret that,

it is not complicit with Isis, what is going on? Molenbeek has a high

Muslim population. They resent the presence of the international media

been camped out there portraying it as the Jihadi capital of Europe.

That is what explains that. To discuss the wider

implications of today's events, we're joined by Professor Peter

Neumann from King's College's Centre for the study of Radicalisation

and Political Violence. To what extent does capturing him

alive help the authorities? Potentially he might talk, but we

don't know that yet. There is a potential disadvantage because of

course, Isis has an incentive to perhaps even try to blackmail

Belgium to release him. It is absolutely unpredictable what will

happen in the next days and weeks. If he talks, it will be a huge

opportunity, but there is no guarantee he will. What does this

say about ice is that he was in Molenbeek. He could have gone to

Syria, the big network, but he hadn't? It is interesting, because

his brother died in the attacks. One of his school friends was the

mastermind of the attacks. Despite this being such a transnational

phenomenon, it is also a very small local phenomenon. A lot of people

are closely related to each other. The fact he stayed in that place for

four months. If you were the most wanted man in Europe, maybe you

would enqueue shouldn't be in the obvious place. The fact he stayed

there proves how provincial and local some of this movement can be.

The fact he was under their noses, what does that tell us about the

authorities? Was it a success they got him, but a failure because he

was always in Molenbeek? It is a success. Well Jim is the most effect

that country relative to population size in Europe. Its security

agencies were not built for the numbers of people they now have to

deal with. Second point, this was a part of Brussels that had been

abandoned by the state, by the Muslim communities and it is clear

that the authorities did not penetrate that part of their own

city at all. What about the European authorities, are they working

together a love? Are they able to deal with what is going on? After

Paris, something 's happened. But there are still some big things that

need to be fixed. To this day there isn't a single database accessible

to every European country that contains the names of every foreign

fighter, every potential terrorist. It is still possible, even after

Paris, for people to come back from Syria, returned to their own

countries are via other countries, because their countries don't have a

proper way of exchanging information. Peter, thank you very

much. Latin America is having

an extraordinary year - socialism in that continent has

been in the ascendancy, Venezuela in economic crisis,

Socialist Cuba coming And, a socialist government

in Brazil in the midst The Brazil crisis is the one

that is reaching fever Demonstrations and

counter-demonstrations, The scandal concerns construction

company bribes paid to the state oil company, finding their way

to senior political figures. It's now ensnared the revered former

President, Lula da Silva. An extraordinary tale -

Gabriel Gatehouse reports. Lula da Silva, seventh son of a

literate farm workers, a former shoeshine boy turned president.

Credited with lifting millions of people out of poverty. He left

office five years ago with an approval rating of 90%. In Brazil

Lula said in the 1980s, when up for man steals, he goes to jail. When a

rich man steals, he becomes a minister. Now, the man himself

stands accused of doing exactly that, falling foul of his own savage

critique of the system. Last Sunday, more than a million people across

Brazil came out onto the streets to demonstrate against the government

of Lula successor. At the heart of this story is a giant corruption

scandal. Allegations of billions of dollars of Ribes involving senior

officials and politicians. Now, Lula himself has been implicated. He has

denied charges of money-laundering and fraud, but the allegations have

set off a chain reaction. Secretly taped phone calls released to the

media, appeared to show the president offering Lula a

ministerial post which would shield him from prosecution.

The appointment was announced and Lula was sworn in yesterday. The

president herself is facing impeachment over allegations she

misused public fronts to boost spending during an election

campaign, warned of attempts to overthrow her government.

TRANSLATION: Convulsing Brazilian society with lies and reprehensible

practices, violates constitutional rights and the rights of citizens.

It sets serious precedents. Kuwas begin this way. Under President

Lula, Brazil was on the up. Bids to host the World Cup and the 2016 Rio

Paralympics. In 2010, the economy grew by 7.5%, but since then things

have gone wrong. Last year, GDP fell by 3.8%, leading to perhaps the

worst recession since records began. There are all sorts of reasons for

Brazil's economic woes, not all of them the government's fault.

Constant stories in the media about waste and corruption surrounding the

World Cup and the Olympics have feel the anger, especially among

middle-class voters. The upper middle class has suffered a very

significant, economic and political losses in the period of

Administration in the past 13, 14 years. On the economic side, jobs

for the other middle-class, paying between the minimum wages have

declined by 4.5 million in this period. It is very difficult for

children to do better than their parents did. The government does

have its supporters, drawn chiefly from the working class. Today, they

came out in force to save they are backing Lula and the president.

TRANSLATION: For the first time workers have rights and benefits and

the elite don't like this because they no longer have a cheap labour

force and slaves. The anti-government protests might have

begun as a middle-class movement. One of its leaders is a former hedge

front manager. Today he told us their appeal is broadening. Over the

last few days you could see absolutely everyone coming to the

streets, because the outrage is penetrating all of society. It

doesn't matter the social or economic level. Barack Obama once

called Lula the most popular politician on earth. Now

demonstrators are willing to face water canons to demand he go on

trial and his hand-picked successor stand out. Brazilians are coming to

the conclusion their political culture is rotten. So rotten, even

their most revered heroes seem not to be immune.

That's it from Newsnight, but now for Artsnight.

In the last episode in this run of the series, artist Ryan Gander

looks at the links between everyday life and creativity,

and travels to Berlin to meet Olafur Eliasson,

who famously created a giant sun in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.

Everyone has the capacity to be creative.

We all do things in our lives that are artistic, whether we realise