26/02/2017 The Papers

Hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be

With me are the journalist, James Rampton, and Martin Bentham,

Home Affairs Editor at The London Evening Standard.

Good evening to you both. Good evening.

Tomorrow's front pages, starting with this.

The Metro leads with a story about five people who were injured

when they were hit by a car in South London.

The paper also marks this year's Oscars with a picture of actress

The Times says the Scottish Government may be

preparing to call a second independence referendum.

It also features a photo of Carnival-goers in Venice.

The Financial Times reports on the tensions between some

American banks, who employ thousands of people outside the US,

and the new President, who's promised to bring jobs back

Theresa May could put an end to free movement

That's according to The Daily Telegraph.

The paper also features a photo of British actress,

Naomi Harris, ahead of the Oscars.

The Sun carries the same photo of Ms Harris,

but leads with the story that a British man who was jailed

in the US for murder has returned to the UK.

And the Guardian has an exclusive report on claims

that the NHS has lost the data of thousands of patients.

Right. OK. Let us get started. James. The Telegraph. A curb on

migrants will start in a few weeks. Very interesting. Was it Chairman

Mao who said we are cursed to live in interesting times. I believe it

was Confucius. Misquoted by Donald Trump. I think we are in interesting

times. Every day there is an extraordinary story, especially

coming out of America. This is an interesting development. It was

spread around this would happen. But there are good sources for this. The

cut-off date for EU migrants in this country is likely to be around the

15th of March once the Article 50 bill has gone through Parliament.

That means that those EU people who are here already will be allowed to

stay but anyone arriving after that point will have much tougher visa

restrictions and will have restricted access to benefits. It

will mark a massive change in the way that migrants are treated by

this country. This is a very contentious issue indeed. The point

is that the government, if it is going to end free movement as part

of the Brexit process, has to have a cut-off date at some point. It will

be legally, I think, practically, very difficult to do it before

Article 50 is triggered. It could be... It could be that the line is

drawn when we actually leave the EU. There is a quote here from an

unnamed source saying there is a great surge of half of Bulgaria and

Romania coming we have to be quick. The fear is that many people will

want to come in quickly to get under the wire if we take too long. There

is a legal point at which you say people who are here already can

stay, as you said, they have the absolute right to be here, anyone

you will have to be subject to these examinations abide Smith, a

Eurosceptic, says Theresa May will give clarity while the EU looks

muddled and mean-spirited. A good old battle to have over that. That

might apply more to Brexiteers. I think there is definitely an

intriguing battle ahead. Part of what Theresa May will have to do is

make sure there is finesse with the EU to make sure the hundreds of

thousands of Brits abroad have a similar right to stay there. That

will be the central part to deal with. This is where I don't think it

has been mean-spirited at all on this issue. The government is clear

they want to allow the EU citizens here the right is it. The only

reason they have not guarantee that is the House of Lords wanting to

make sure the European countries that we are negotiating with give us

the same rights to do so at the moment. Some are happy to do that.

Others say that should be put further down the line in the

negotiations. The government has been clear it want s to give them

that right. I just want to say muddled and mean-spirited. Scots to

demand new referendum. Number 10 fears. Theresa May writing in a

Scottish magazine to persuade them to send a signal to the SNP. I

thought the referendum had thought of gone away in Scotland. There is a

fear. Although the opinion polls show the Scottish people will not

vote against like they did in the 2014 referendum, of course, it is

something the government does not want to happen. Nicola Sturgeon is

trying to threaten the government with the risk of a referendum. So,

Downing Street is understandably concerned there will be another

distraction and a major potential change. And so she wants, the Prime

Minister, she wants to send a message to the SNP to say that you

should not vote for them and we want to stay. Whether or not that happens

and they have the courage to go for the referendum, I am quite

sceptical. They won't do it unless they think they will win. In this

piece it says that Mrs May faces a double headed devolution risk with

Northern Ireland. Many think this is the biggest concern within

government about Brexit. Although there is the potential of a huge

amount of chaos over another Scottish Referendum, also, there is

great uncertainty gripping Northern Ireland at the moment. That

uncertainty comes from disbanding a couple of months ago. They have

elections this Friday. Does look unlikely to resolve this crisis.

There is still a heck of a long way to go to bring the two sides

together. There is huge uncertainty spreading throughout the UK. And I

just hope that over because the next few months, we can sort it out.

Because it looks quite chaotic at the moment. OK, let's go to the

guardian now. Jeremy Corbyn reeling, as newspapers would say. On the

ropes. Here he is. The headline says gives me time to develop policies.

Off you go, I just think it is extraordinary. Last week John

MacDonald was blaming Tony Blair. And then the weather. Storm Doris.

What on Earth has she ever done to Labour? A lack of cars. The public

services are wrong. The demographic has changed. It is really an

unbelievable failure to face up to their own responsibility. And I

speak as someone who might under different circumstances well be a

Labour supporter. It is a catastrophe what is happening to the

Labour Party at the moment. Jeremy Corbyn has been extremely bad for

democracy. This is, I believe, a terrible government. It is an open

goal. Jeremy Corbyn is running towards the goal but he has his

shoelaces tied together. You cannot hit that open goal. If there was a

fairly capable opposition leader this government would be in better

shape in this country would be in better shape. Jeremy Corbyn is quite

clear. He got voted in twice and had eight bigger authority the second

time. Why should he not stay in? He says give him time. Things could

change with Brexit. That is where the problem is. He was elected again

very recently with an enhanced majority, he still has grassroots

support. The problem for the Labour Party is, if Jeremy Corbyn is

replaced, who would replace in? They have the same political mindset, and

so on. That would not necessarily assist them. The moderates of the

Labour Party, A, have no credible candidate and no obvious candidate,

and, B, a clear policy at this stage. Jeremy Corbyn is not the

problem. The Labour Party is in a state of flux. It does not know what

it stands for. Go back to the Copeland by-election. The NHS is a

clear message of the Labour Party. They are talking about maternity

hospitals. That did not resonate. Part of the issue is that, again,

there is mistrust in their ability to deliver. Part of the problem is

they have not got enough support among the public with people

believing they can deliver. People like what they want to do, though.

There is a fascinating quote in The Guardian. I haven't heard it

elsewhere. I do my best to reach out to people, he said, but clearly,

persuading our wonderful media in Britain to report on our policy

would be a big achievement. We have been doing that! Jeremy Corbyn will

not be speaking at the Martin Couture-Rouleau. -- Correspondents'

Dinner. It is ridiculous. He has been loud about his criticism of

nuclear power. People in Copeland do not like that. It is extraordinary

that he cannot face up to these responsibilities. To blame the

media! It is a problem. But on the other hand, you cannot always say

our message would be popular if it wasn't for other distracting

factors. Sometimes people understand the message but don't quite like it.

Let us move on to something rather different. This is the Daily Mirror.

A front-page story. Maarten. Schools face a worse squeeze. This is very

much a Labour story. There are cuts to come in education and rather

serious ones. It is a serious problem for the government. It is a

nagging headache. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, not a left-wing

institute, it is independent and respected, a financial think tank.

They say there will be a funding plunge of 6.5%. Of course, the

government has got this austerity programme. There is pressure on

public finances. And, of course, things like education are a very big

part of public finances and that gets squeezed. But of course it gets

let it be very difficult because when you have your local schools,

teachers having their wages being cut, that has a huge impact on

people. Certain parts of the country are going to be losing out because,

London, for example, there is a highlighting that London schools

have good funding relative to other parts of the country. A double hit

for some schools. It says heating turned off and clubs cancelled. This

story is warring. My three girls just had a letter saying can you

help us with some money? They don't have enough funding to keep their

very high standards up. Trips cancelled. Possibly much bigger

class sizes. I mean, one former cabinet minister says successive

generations are being let down. I could not agree more. I said heat

turned down with a pinch of salt. I don't think they are sitting their

freezing. The Financial Times. They are leading into stories inside.

Interesting. Donald Trump roofs comedy gold on TV. Why is this? --

proves. He is such a good target for satirists. Sunday Night Live is

enjoying its best ratings for 20 years. Alec Baldwin does a brilliant

impersonation of Donald Trump. Alicia McCarthy does a great Sean

Spicer. Last seen attacking journalists with the podium in the

media room. I loved that sketch. But the proof for me that they are

hitting the tough it is that Donald Trump and Spicer are watching and

complaining. You know you are hitting home when targets complain.

On the other hand, the people who voted for Donald Trump and support

him would agree with him, wouldn't they? It is good to talk about

comedy gold and audience is going up, but his Republican support is

enormous! That is true. He seems to have still got the support of his

core supporters to get in the White House. Some of them are probably

having a bit of a laugh as well, because he is quiet, you know, on a

serious level, he is quite an alarming character, but on the other

hand, he is very easy, as you say, to lampoon. He has some character

traits which are kind of entertaining when they are not

worrying you. He is good material for any comedy sketch. One of my

favourite moments in the rugby in Scotland and Wales, the character

went in on three very, very Orangemen. I wondered what they were

doing, then I realised they were dressing up as Donald Trump. --

Orangemen. He is right for satire. It is easier to laugh at someone

than cry, perhaps. We have delivered there. James and Martin, thank you

very much indeed. Just before we go, we have just had some bad news. Sir

Jeremy Kaufman, the Labour MP, Father of the House of Commons, has

died at the age of 86. That news is just coming to us. But that is it.

That bit of news was not in the papers. Thank you to both of them.

Coming up next, it is the Film Review.