08/11/2015 The Papers

With me are are Mihir Bose from the London Evening Standard

Welcome to you both. We will plunge and in a moment, but first, let's

take a look at the headlines. The Independent says Jeremy Corbyn has

gone to war with the head of the military. It reports on the row

between the Labour leader and the Chief of defence staff. The Metro

has the same story as its lead. The Telegraph also covers the row, says

Sir Nicholas Cornton launched a stinging attack on Mr Corbyn. The

express says millions of people could get a tax windfall. The FT

leads on Saudi Arabia's oil policy, saying the country is determined to

protect its share of the global market. The eye says airlines are

defying the Foreign Office by offering holidays to Sharma will

shake, despite government advice. The Times focuses on Europe,

reporting that the Prime Minister might be prepared to hold a

referendum on Britain's's ownership of the EU in June next year. And the

Guardian also looks at Mr Cameron's EU demands and warns top diplomats

are warning that Britain is losing its clout.

Let's begin with the Independent, a very striking picture. Absolutely. I

wonder if Tony Blair has got a knife. I really do. What a wonderful

photograph. That is serious disgust. It's a beautifully framed picture.

You wonder if this might end up on Private eye. It is made for Private

eye. Look at Blair's face, looking at the back of Corbyn, and wondering

what has happened. We wonder whether he could striking down. He didn't

striking down. What about the story that this photograph is

illustrating? Corbyn goes to war with the head of the military. I

think Corbyn in this sense, what the head of the military says is right,

if you say you're not going to have a deterrent, you are destroying the

basis of it. But for him to go public, an unelected person, the

most important defence man we have, to publicly criticise a potential

reply minister or a Leader of the Opposition in this fashion, I think

Corbyn is right to say he shouldn't be doing it. He should have rung me

up and said, you know, you are the Leader of the Opposition, entitled

to know what the defence think and not go on Andrew Marr and say you

are wrong. I think on this question, must dash we must have simply for

Corbyn. It's more than simply. Should a serving officer, a senior

officer, go on television on such a specific day to make this case? It

is not what he said was wrong but I think that should have happened in a

briefing with Corbyn. I think we should be looking at the fence is

not a party political issue. And yet on that same programme, Maria

Eagle, Labour's defence spokeswoman in the Shadow Cabinet, said there

was nothing wrong with what he said. The issue isn't that there is

anything wrong with the content of what he said... It's choosing the

television to deliver the message. Yeah. We have a long tradition of

civilian control. So let's be very clear. The idea of a man in uniform

suddenly intervening in this manner is quite significant. Normally,

defence chiefs say this as they are about to retire, their final speech.

At some point, they make a speech about what is happening in the world

and their worries. That is when they have a final say and by then they've

retired, are taking their pension and can play golf. It's a bit

worrying, unless he is on his way out. He might be if Jeremy Corbyn

becomes Prime Minister. Let's leave that one and moves on to the times.

This very interesting. This will get them jittery in Westminster and

maybe elsewhere as well. An EU referendum as soon as June next

year. Clearly, David Cameron is ratcheting this up. First of all,

and we've already heard this, that if the EU turn a deaf ear, he would

advise the British electorate to vote on opting out and secondly, we

are going to have his letter for the first time specifying what the

demands are. There has been debate about what the demands are. What

is setting out is his position and saying, yes, the referendum is

quick. This like, but a check on the Tories who

want to leave. Including some members of his own Cabinet. We have

been told that the Foreign Secretary and others might campaign for

Britain to leave. Last week, there was a story about Theresa May. He is

taking a risk and the times has it right, it's a gamble. Their argument

or the suggestion is some people might be pushing him in this

direction. The Times thinks this is the option being pushed by George

Robson -- Osborne. Given what might happen... This summer's migration

crisis has intensified the pressure. If you don't renegotiate on the

freedom of movement of labour which is at the heart of the Treaty of

Rome, we have to leave and Cameron has to find a way around that. I

think I am worried that so much of this will be conflated and should it

not go his way, I think he is possibly going to sleepwalk Britain

out of Europe, the EU, without realising. That is a serious gamble

and I wonder if that has been debated. I welcome this because it

is time that serious things were set up. There is this kind of jingoistic

idea. It would be good to have the run-up. Let's go for June. Even the

Foreign Secretary said only a month or so ago on BBC News that it's been

shadow-boxing up until now. Hasn't been a real negotiation. If we go in

June and if Cameron loses, let's say, then surely his opposition

would become very difficult. Who knows, we might find ourselves in an

Osborne fight against Boris Johnson in June. Let's look at the front of

the Financial Times and the suggestion that George Osborne might

have found a way out of his self imposed over tax credits. They might

be more recalled room than planned. It's an interesting one. Always

think that he has locked himself into a strange position because of

the idea of austerity not as a policy but as an ideological stance.

It is not given him much manoeuvre space. This was a battle he chose

and it was an unnecessary one. It will be interesting to see if he

gets some wriggle room and how he takes a Ford. The suggestion is that

he could have found about ?2 billion down the back of the sofa, by

lowering interest rates payments. Because of the low interest rates,

the debt service charge falls and he could reduce that to reduce the tax

credits. If he does that, it does mean that he is doing a bit of a

U-turn. So far, George Osborne is a man who doesn't do you terms. He is

the next great leader. He is the next great leader and I think

whatever he does, he is in a position where I think his light

will dim little bit. Yeah, and I think that idea of austerity as his

ideological stance will take a real beating, regardless of what he does

with this one. It's interesting. With other developed punts happening

in Europe and it seems certain now that the Portuguese government will

fall and an alliance from the left will take power. The environment

around Britain is shifting potentially and therefore that

presumably makes the choice that George Osborne has to make even more

politically delicate for him. And I wonder if this story hasn't come

from a Treasury leak, suggesting that he has room for manoeuvre.

Between now and the Autumn Statement, there will be a Treasury

leak, suggesting that he has room for manoeuvre. Between now and the

Autumn Statement, there will be lots of maybe a complete U-turn but.

Let's move on and talk about the story. This is the back page of the

Guardian, the sports section of the Guardian. It's talking about what

looks like could a pretty grim day for athletics. Yes. What is

interesting is the Guardian has given some detail about the

reporting out tomorrow, from Dick Pound, the first head of the world

anti-doping agency. It's looking into allegations that the

international athletics Federation covered up doping allegations,

particularly in relation to Russia. What interesting, Pound has always

been a believer that there is a lot of doping that goes on in sport.

This is a man who believed Lance Armstrong was a man who took drugs

and he turned out to be true. If any of these... If there is one man who

can say X happened, it will come out. OK, we've had all sorts of

corruption crises in sport, Fever and so on, but this is different.

This is corruption on the field of play. If you are watching something

and cannot believe the man who has won the gold medal has done it

through his own sweat and tears and what have you,... It's hugely

corrosive. The fact it hit such a vast area, I think, with Fever you

could kind of say, you know, I'm a cricket fan. You could kind of walk

away from it. Here, you have very little way of walking away from it.

But I think there is another problem for Sebastian Kehl, because how much

did he know? He's literally just arrived in August. His predecessor

has been arrested by the French police. Sebastien Coe has been given

a very difficult inheritance here. What is interesting is it involves

Russia. We will wonder what a certain Mr Putin will say. We should

move on before we get into dangerous territory. I have to declare an

interest in this story. My dad was a postman for 40 years. I like this

story. I'm glad you to suggest that, not me. Go ahead. I love big dogs so

this is a major story. I am completely on the side of this

village and the mastiff. It's a lovely name, this Welsh town.

Apparently, the Royal Mail has stopped delivering to an entire

street because of one mastiff, which has attacked postwoman. This is a

form of collective punishment and contravenes the Geneva Convention.

The mastiff might be looking after the entire street! Thank you both

very much. We will see you in an hour. Thank you for being with us.

Don't forget, we would be back in our's time. I will be back at the

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