03/05/2016 Newsnight

On Thursday, Britain goes to the polls, after perhaps the most

bonkers build up to a vote that anyone can remember.

Labour has to deal with rows over anti-semitism and maybe

Each of the parties is in a bit of trouble themselves.

The Conservatives are divided over Europe.

Labour are divided over the Corbyn leadership.

No one really knows if the Lib Dems are divided or not,

there are so few of them that nobody is really paying attention any more.

And Ukip are having trouble really finding a role in the post-EU

We'll be looking at how to judge the results,

and examining Labour's prospects in particular

The grand vision of a united continent.

Is this theme park what it's reduced to?

Have the EU's founding fathers' visions has been delivered.

Maybe it was a bit naive, but we thought we were

in the position to change European history.

Sounds a bit stupid, but we believed in that.

The Newsnight take on Leicester's success: we hear from a City

If you look at many of the great successes of our time it's because

other people underestimated them. The day after tomorrow,

everybody in the country Parliaments or Assemblies

in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,

councils across England and Wales, mayors in London and three other

big cities, and Police and Crime Commissioners in much

of England and Wales too. It is a British Super-Thursday,

a rare comprehensive test of the voter's views away

from a general election. But politics is in a

weird place right now. Who'd have thought the Conservatives

would be running close And that there could be as much

fighting within the big parties For Labour, this is

a particularly awkward time, So all in all, a good moment

for our new political editor, He'll tell us not just what,

but how and why as well. You've been on the campaign trail,

what news, what noise? Yes, I've been focusing today mainly on the

Labour Party. What I've learned tonight is that Sadiq Khan, who may

well achieve Labour's only real success on Thursday in the London

mayor or contest, his plan if he wins is that he will mark that

victory without Jeremy Corbyn by his side. Sadiq Khan is taking nothing

for granted, those votes have not been passed yet and nothing is

inevitable. But the plan is that in the immediate aftermath of a

victory, we would not see Jeremy Corbyn by his side. When Boris

Johnson won in 2008, and 2012, there was David Cameron by his side,

getting a mandate only bettered in Europe by the president of France.

Sadiq Khan has run his own campaign and he wants to show that if he

wins. So he has some reservations about how much of an asset Jeremy

Corbyn is to him. More generally, how far do those concerns go? These

concerns do run through the Shadow Cabinet. I was speaking to one

member to Julia Day who said that Sadiq Khan has shown how you win by

building coalitions, and Jeremy Corbyn is showing how you lose.

There are concerns about the election poster launched today. It

was felt that was a little bit divisive, a little bit harsh. What

that means, on everyone's lips in the Labour Party at the moment is

the future leadership of their party.

The May sunshine brought out a mood of optimism among Jeremy Corbyn

supporters this morning as the Labour Party unveiled its English

council election post in Southwark. After a rocky week for the

leadership, Labour's director of strategy and communications was on

hand to reinforce the message of party unity. Thursday's vote will be

the first national test of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. No official

opposition has lost seats in English local election outside a general

election year since 1985 and today he insisted he would not be breaking

the record. We will not lose seats, we are looking to gain seats where

we can. These elections are being fought on the issues of every

different community around the country and a record of what this

government is about. Politics is throwing up all sorts of unusual

conundrums. Net gains from Labour are unlikely but not out of the

question. If Labour lose more than 150 seats, that is bad news for

them. If they gain more than 150, that's really good news. If they

hold onto what they've got at the moment that's a perfectly fine day

at the office. It is a year to the day since Ed Miliband unveiled what

came to be known as the Ed Stone. The party's poor result in 2015

ended his leadership. Could a bad showing on Thursday do the same for

Corbyn? There are many, possibly even a majority of Labour MPs who

would dearly like to see Jeremy Corbyn go, but there are notes and

there are divisions. Nerves that Jeremy Corbyn's overwhelming mandate

means he could emerge even stronger from a challenge, and divisions over

the trigger for a contest. Some say it would take a vote to leave in the

EU referendum. Even if die-hard critics say that three conditions

would have to be met. First, five members of the Shadow Cabinet would

have to resign. Secondly, deputy leader Tom Watson would have to

offer his tacit support. Thirdly the chief Rip must not stand in the way.

All in all that looks like a pretty tall order at the moment. The ultras

who would like to see Corbyn removed immediately have confident to

Newsnight a Sun report that the veteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge

would be an ideal candidate to challenge the Labour leader. But all

eyes are on Corbyn's long-standing ally John McDonnell. Senior

backbenchers say privately they think he is sizing up his chances.

But he insists he is standing by his friends. Although allies are leaving

no one in any doubt that he believes Corbyn was slow off the mark in

dealing with the crisis over alleged anti-Semitism in the party. It looks

like Sadiq Khan may provide the only prospect of good news for Jeremy

Corbyn on super Thursday. The Labour leader will be hoping he wins

because of rejection by voters in London or a wing by the Leave side

are likely to be the only triggers for a challenge this side of the

Labour conference. Jonathan Ashworth,

Labour's Shadow Minister Your leader said we are not going to

lose any seats. Do you agree? Of course I share Jeremy's confidence

and enthusiasm about the elections this Thursday. I have been on lots

of programmes like these in the past and I'm afraid I don't make any

predictions about what we will win or lose ahead of the polls opening.

I don't want you to make a prediction, there are other people

who can do that. I guess I'm trying to work out what would constitute

success or failure. Presumably if you lost seats, that would be quite

a disaster? I don't want to see us losing seats and I don't think any

Labour Party member wants to see us losing seats. I know that Labour

Party councillors and Labour Party parliamentarians in the assembly and

the parliament that are fighting for real action do a tremendous job

serving their constituents and I don't want to seek any of them fail

to be returned to office. Said that would be a bad place for Labour?

Some predictions are that they would lose 150, that would clearly be a

crisis? As I say, I've been plenty of programmes ahead of elections.

Your leader says you will not lose any seats. We in the Labour Party

are running a positive campaign, out there on the doorstep over time,

talking to people about issues as I have been quite a lot recently, and

when I talk to people about the issues, they want to talk about the

state of their local hospital, schools, the services that council

delivers. You cannot make an optimistic prediction and not then

say it's disappointing if we don't make it on the day. Is the evidence

at this point that the party is struggling to break through? Let me

put this to you: Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership, and many argued that

he would connect with some Labour voters better than some of the other

candidates. I'm just wondering whether you think that has actually

happened? Well, Jeremy Corbyn did win the leadership quite handsomely,

and he has a mandate from the Labour Party members to get us back into

power. We all want to see us winning elections. I'm detecting a bit of

resistance to the proposition that he has connected with voters. In

Scotland tilting left will win voters, they said, but now you are

computing with the Tories for second or third place, is that narrative

working, that Corbyn connects? Lets do the post-match analysis when the

match has actually been played. The one election we have had was the old

by-election last autumn. I remember coming on some other programmes like

this where similar questions were asked and we ended up winning that

by-election with a substantial majority. The Tories have had a

pretty torrid time, crises over tax, steel, tax credits, all these

things. And yet it doesn't feel as though Labour are where they should

be, let alone with a leader who has this special power of connection.

The Labour Party suffered quite a catastrophic defeat at the general

election last year. I think the Labour Party has a mountain to climb

to win an election in 2020. I want to see us making progress but I

don't think anybody would expect us to completely turn things around in

12 months. The key thing is the Tories are having a torrid time.

When I'm talking to people on the doorstep as I am every week and

indeed if we weren't celebrating Leicester's great victory in my

constituency, we would have been talking to them today. The issues

always come down to tax credit cuts, schools, which people are deeply

concerned about, the fact that you can hardly get to see a GP and

waiting lists are going up, these are the issues people are generally

raising with us on the doorstep. Leadership challenge, what would be

your message to people briefing papers, talking up Margaret Hodge as

a candidate, what is your message? It's not going to happen, is it?

It's off. I think it was Tom Watson who said people should just come

down. I don't think anything like this will happen. Party members have

given Jeremy and mandate to get us back into power, that's what they

want to do. OK. Just got to go to the anti-Semitism row. I'm not clear

what the narrative is. Is it that there is not an anti-Semitism

problem? And it is a smear? To try to undermine the leader? Or is it

that there is an anti-Semitism problem? I've been a member of the

Labour Party for 22 years since I was 15, we are not anti-Semitic

party, we abhor anti-Semitism. We are resolute against it. Individuals

have been posting disgusting things on social media, one high-profile

individual saying outrageous ins. When we are presented with that

evidence, we suspend them. There is no place for those views in the

Labour Party and we are clear on that. In the last few days there has

been a problem which is why Jeremy Corbyn stepped in. Overall the

Labour Party is not an anti-Semitic party, but where we are confronted

with these problems we deal with them and send the message that they

are not welcome. You tried to draw a line under it by setting up the

panel, and there have been murmurings and rows about the

composition of that panel, there is one Jewish member who some say has

already said that these charges of anti-Semitism are baseless, I

believe the president of the board of British Jews has told us about

that. He is worried about that. I wonder whether there is still a row

on going on this whole thing. Let me say this, I am a member of the

Labour Party's National executive committee, I am disgusted by

anti-Semitism and I am resolute in my opposition to it. I will do all I

can as a member of the National executive committee to ensure that

these various enquiries are conducted in a way which meets the

confidence of the people concerned. Jonathan Ashworth, thanks very much

indeed. Well we all know that while this

Thursday is important, there is another vote coming along

on Thursday, June 23rd, which will have a big shape

on party politics too. To help you think about the EU,

we're taking a step back this week, with three films that look

at the grand vision of the EU founding fathers,

and what has been achieved. The themes of peace and prosperity

were to be delivered by among other things,

ever closer union, free movement of people

and monetary union. Well, we sent our reporter

Gabriel Gatehouse in search If the European Union has

a birthplace, then it is here. In this little cottage in a woodland

west of Paris. If the EU has a founding father then

it is this man. In the broken remains

of post-war Europe, together with a trusted circle of advisers,

over coffee and cognac and fireside chats, they dreamed of a continent

prosperous and at peace. Jean Monnet had

a vision in this house. And from here he set the whole

European project in motion. But what has become

of that original vision? Over the next three nights we're

going to be asking what state of health is the European

dream in today? To bind the economies

of Europe so tightly that war He took his plan to

the French Foreign Minister. Together they formulated the Schuman

Declaration. Those early Europe builders began

by pooling production of coal and steel, it was the first step

towards that de facto solidarity. It would lead, they hoped,

to a federation of Europe. There are not many of that

generation left today, but in an apartment in the 17th

arrondissement of Georges Berthoin is the last

surviving member of Jean Monnet's original cabinet at the European

Coal and Steel Community. It was the first institution

out of which would grow The dream was to make peace

among European countries Then there was another element,

the element was prosperity. So the problem was not only

to rebuild Europe but to modernise Europe and in this respect

we were looking at the example of the United States

of America and especially Peace and prosperity,

that was the goal. Five years later, six countries

would sign the Treaty of Rome, establishing

the European Economic Community. The ambition was for

a much closer union. The Schuman Declaration

was the first step towards When we started, we thought

we were going to start something and we thought at the time

that we were going to accede to all things including political

development, within ten years. And so it happened that France

and Germany formed the central And they enjoyed decades

of peace and prosperity. A de facto solidarity

among member nations. This is Breisach on

the Rhine in Germany. Across the river, Neuf-Brisach in

France. The French built these

fortifications to guard against These two towns that saw three wars

in 70 years are now the heartland Here then are two towns

from opposite banks of the Rhine. They are living together in peace,

their citizens can travel freely backwards and forwards

across this bridge. And whatever side they happen

to find themselves on, they can pay for stuff

in a common currency. In so many ways this is exactly

what the European project has Over the decades Europe brought

with it all sorts of benefits. Jobs, common rights and protections

for workers, but you don't have to dig very deep here to discover

that the river still divides. On the French side,

around Neuf-Brisach, This one used to produce pistons

for the European car industry. But in 2013 high labour costs forced

it to close. Unemployment in this part of France

is around 10% and rising. GDP is well below

the European average. For these French workers overseeing

the demolition of their own factory, the EU today means seeing their jobs

move to new member states in Eastern There was a dream, a European dream,

in the 1950s, 1960s, Do you think that

dream is still alive? I think no, peace is here in Europe,

but prosperity I think no. In Germany I think a little

prosperity but here in France, no. Indeed, back across the river

in German Breisach, The citizens of this region,

Baden Wurtenberg, are among Just up the road from Breisach,

we stumble across what appears to be the most pro-European place

on the continent. Is this the stuff that

dreams are made of? Meet Euro Mouse, the mascot of this

Europe in microcosm. Nestled among the roller-coasters

are many of the member states. Scandinavia, Portugal, Greece,

which includes Pegasus, Cassandra's curse,

and the flight of Icarus. Black cabs, fast-food,

and Shakespeare. Who knew the EU could

be such family fun? Which is your favourite

bit of the park? Our favourite bit is Scandinavia,

I think. I like England, but the thing

is you haven't got a lot of variety. The history of Europa Park reads

like a sort of German It was founded by the Mack family,

stalwarts of German manufacturing The park opened its doors in 1975,

inspired by the vision We chose Europe and we think

it was the best way to go, even though nobody believed that

that time Europe would be As much of Europe struggles

with an economic crisis, in Germany the dream of prosperity

still burns brightly. Today nearly half the park's workers

are from other EU nations. We are about to open

a water park in 2018. We need another 700 employees,

so it is quite difficult because the unemployment rate

is so low in this area. Despite Europe's economies pulling

in different directions its nations Back on the road, we drive through

Verdun. Verdun is to the French

what The Somme is to the British. 100 years ago hundreds of thousands

of young men lost their Along the roads that wind

through Europe's heartland, history lurks

around every bend. It is now at the heart

of the European project. Throughout the EU's development,

from its beginnings in coal and steel, through the Treaty

of Rome, the single European act, the Maastricht Treaty,

the direction of travel Maybe it was a bit naive

but we thought we were in a position You know, at that time,

we had the backing of public Because the experience

and the tragedy of the war I use the expression,

but it was not one we used at that time, to build a kind

of United States of Europe. These days, if you say you support

a United States of Europe, you might These young activists are handing

out leaflets for a by-election Last time around they took

a third of the votes. And it was the year

of the Treaty of Maastricht. And so we have not known

this European dream. All we have known is only

unemployment, taxes, and all the disadvantages

of this European Union. We have not known

this European dream. A year from now, its leader

Marine Le Pen could become She has promised to follow

Britain's lead and hold We need to find back our

borders, our sovereignty, To respect our own laws,

which are not the same as in Germany Some people worry that a party

like yours is leading Europe back towards nationalism,

back towards the place You're right, the European Union

is leading us back. It is the European Union that

creates unemployment and insecurity. The original founders

of the EU had a dream. Of creating peace and prosperity

through an ever closer union of nation states,

based on common interests The thing about ever closer union

is that it presupposes a corresponding weakening

of individual national identity. Now it may be that the founders

of the European Union thought that by the time we got to the second

decade of the 21st century, the nation state would be a concept

that had had its day. Across Europe the politics

of identity is on the rise. Tomorrow night we will be

looking at borders. How the fall of the Iron Curtain led

to a Europe more united than ever and how a quarter of a century

later, the continent is in crisis over one of the cornerstones

of the European dream, Gabriel Gatehouse there,

Europe past and present. But on the specifics

of freedom of movement, in the here and now,

the EU, faces a problem. The story is that Turkey has helped

cut the number of migrants sailing to Greece, giving

Europe some respite But Turkey has driven

a hard bargain for that - above all, it expects the Schengen

zone to allow visa free travel Tomorrow

the European Commission is set However, it is controversial,

and will still have to go Earlier I spoke to Ilnur Cevik,

who is senior advisor I asked him if Turkey would pull out

of the deal if not granted Visa free travel.

You see, the visa agreement is not a concession.

Turkey has been given this right through EU-Turkey

And if the EU reneges on this deal, then all the other

There are 72 conditions which the EU says Turkey must meet before it can

Are you saying you've met all 72 of those conditions?

Nearly all of them have been met and the EU is going to report that

whether we have or we have not in the following days.

But if the EU says, look, you haven't met them all,

you've only met 62 of them, then it will say you can't

have your visa-free travel yet, will you still say the deal doesn't

hold and you'll come out of the migrant deal?

If some of the clauses have not been met, they will be completed by June.

But after that, if we have completed all the deal,

and they still say we are not going to have free travel for Turks

in the European Union countries in the Schengen area, of course,

barring the United Kingdom and Ireland, then the deal is off.

But look, one of the things the EU says you have to do

is align your legal framework with protocols set out

in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Protocol seven for example, on crime in the family,

article five provides for equality between spouses.

You can't arrange for equality between spouses in your legal code

between now and the end of June, that would be quite a big thing for

But at the moment most of these have been fulfilled.

But not all of them and the EU shouldn't let you in if you haven't

It says you've got to meet them all, that's the deal.

Take it this way, Turkey has fulfilled its obligations

of stopping illegal immigrants to the Greek islands.

Today there is a dismal amount of people going through.

We still continue carrying this burden.

Plus, you see, the EU agreement with Turkey is not a concession.

What they are giving us as a concession,

what they are portraying as a concession on the visa question

Look, let me just ask one last question, back to the issue

What is your view as to how the European Union has

And whether you think it has been effective or not?

The European Union is still shutting its eyes to the realities

The European Union has created a big mess in Syria,

along with the Americans, and they should have known that

by ruining and messing up in Syria, all these refugees would be leaving

the country, because, when I say this, we should have

Turkey, the European Union, the Americans altogether.

We should have got rid of Assad but we didn't.

3 million people, Turkey has spent $10 billion for them.

Now, what has the European Union done?

What kind of European values are we talking about here?

The European Union has given a very bad test, they have

Thank you very much, thank you.

The big winner of the English Premier League this season?

It's looking super competive, and more interesting than its rivals.

In the last four years it has had four different champions -

in France, Italy and Scotland, they've had the same

It's not been a bad season for Leicester City either.

Everybody is trying to work out what it was that made

Leicester's table-topping performance.

Matthew Syed writes about sport, business and success.

If anyone can crack it, he surely can.

Tonight Leicester City have to sit, watch, and to listen. Yes! And

that's it. It has finished 2-2. And we can say now Leicester City are

the Premier League champions. How on earth did Leicester City win the

Premier League? What does their victory tell us about how to win in

the world beyond sport? Here are five possible takeaway is. Football

is fatigued. It is deciding what to do in response to what the

opposition is doing. Many teams playing Leicester decided to attack,

they were the minnows destined for a relegation. That gave them a

priceless opportunity to play on the counterattack. Like so many

successful underdogs in corporate and political worlds, they found the

perfect tactical niche. Look at what happened with Nokia, somebody who

made gumboots, nobody thought they would be a mobile phone company.

Nobody was really paying attention to what Apple was doing with phones.

The idea that you can get your opponents to underestimate you is

one of the great advantages in the world.

The modus operandi of modern football is the Galacticos signing.

You get a team made up of paycheque players.

Soloists, who never really learn to play as an orchestra.

The Leicester fans have a new group of heroes. But this is a group of

disparate men, many of whom have been plucked from obscurity.

In the 1890s a French engineer asked his students to pull on a rope

Pulling alone, they managed 85 kilos.

When they combined as a team, the individual contribution

This is still considered a seminal experiment because it showed that

teams do not always add up to more than the sum of their parts.

People allow others to take the burden.

One of the engines behind the early success of Apple was the passion of

its consumers. For them it wasn't just the brand, but the community.

One of the most complex managerial challenges has been to sustain a

sense of intimacy as the company has grown into a global giant. The same

problem manifests itself in football. For example many of the

traditional fan base of Manchester United have come to feel alienated

from the club as it has grown into a global franchise.

Leicester City is small enough as a club to retain

a sense of intimacy, a real sense of community ownership.

If you are going to have your best season ever, do it when your main

rivals are failing to deliver. What is interesting, if you remember a

American retailing, these huge giants, Sears Roebuck, they spent

the whole time focused on each other, just as Manchester United

worrying about Manchester city, or Chelsea worrying about Arsenal. They

did not notice a small company called Amazon coming in from the

outside. Everybody in football is trying to deconstruct the Leicester

miracle, and their role wide lessons outside of the sport. The beauty of

the greatest of sporting upsets is that they cannot be fully explained.

That is ultimately what differentiates sport from pure

science. John Mickelson wait had put a bet on

them winning the Premier League year after year, but he did not do it

this year. The film director Stephen Frears -

who made My Beautiful Launderette, Philomena, High Fidelity,

among many others - is from Good evening. Did you keep the faith

with Leicester City? I heard Julian Barnes on the radio this morning, he

left Leicester when he was six weeks old and he still supports them. I

did up until my 20s. Who do you support now? Arsenal. I'm a tragic

figure, yes. It's got worse. The interesting thing is there is a

story, and isn't that what football is really about? Of course. You are

a journalist, so you would say that. But isn't that really the story?

Would make a great film, wouldn't it? Wove you should never try to

make a film about soccer. But all that has happened is a provincial

club has beaten metropolitan clubs, that is always satisfying. A club

run by a highly eccentric intelligent Italian has done well,

those are values I support. You don't seem quite as excited about it

as the rest of the nation. Perhaps I'm a party Bupa. All you want to

say is well done, and it's great for the people of Leicester. Great for

Ranieri and all his players, that's terrific. Reflect on the appeal of

an underdog. What is it in the past that makes us so happy? We all

believe in Hollywood. I'm more sceptical about the Hollywood bit.

But you like an underdog, don't you? And trying to think. Of course I do.

They are the best movies, aren't they? I'm not as sentimental as you

are, I can feel a sob, a lump in your throat. People had already

started thinking about the movie, but that would not interest you? I

don't know how you show soccer on the screen. It is so good to watch.

The match Spurs played was so incredible, so violent, amongst

other things. You'd never get that on films. One of the things people

say about football, it was much nicer in the old day when players

were paid 6p, and it was very different. Are you on the point of

saying capitalism has destroyed soccer? People keep saying that, but

don't they really want the best players in the world. On the one

hand you see gains you never dreamt about, the quality now is

phenomenal. But you lose the partisanship, you lose the modesty.

And yesterday was a day for modesty. So I hope that lesson has been

learnt. I'd be very surprised if it has. Key question, you are not going

to give up Arsenal and go back to Leicester, are you? No, no. Football

has a tragic quality. And the people of Leicester will be in despair next

season, I'm afraid. I wonder whether that's true. That's because you are

sentimental. Actually there are much more interesting lessons to be

learned from Spurs and West Ham. It's a miracle they've won, and you

can only be consumed with admiration, up to appoint. Stephen

Frears, thanks much indeed. That's almost it. Flash photography, as we

leave you with the London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith who ran into

trouble in an interview for saying he was a Bollywood fan.

The intrepid reporter from Red Carpet News TV

smelled his opportunity and went full Paxman.

If you look very hard, you can almost see what's

I'm a Bollywood fan, so anything with a Bollywood

Do you have a favourite actor, a favourite Bollywood film?

You can't think of a single Bollywood film or actor?

I date my Oxford life from my first meeting with Sebastien.

I love almost everything about Bollywood.

I love the atmosphere, I love the colour, I love the