12/03/2017 The Papers

Lionel Shriver, about her work, and whether Donald Trump's America is

represented in her latest book. Hello and welcome to our look ahead

to what the the papers will be With me are Robert Fox,

Defence Editor of the London Evening Standard, and Esther McVey,

former Conservative And not a single Donald Trump story

tonight. I'm in mourning! I am sure it is just a momentary hiatus.

The FT says Theresa May is on the brink of formally

launching Britain's exit from the European Union, after rebel

Tory MPs admitted they were unlikely to have the power to block the move

when the bill returns to Commons tomorrow.

The i says Tory veteran Lord Hestletine, who was sacked over

Brexit, has accused Mrs May of treating colleagues

For the Metro, it's "March madness", as strikes over driver-only trains

spread to three parts of the country.

The Telegraph has a picture of a serious-faced Nicola Sturgeon

behind Theresa May - it says the Scottish leader

is threatening to derail Article 50, the formal notice of the UK leaving

the EU, with plans for a second independence referendum.

Brexit preoccupies the Express again - it says MPs have been urged

not to wreck the bill's progress through Parliament.

And The Times says the heads of 35 Oxford colleges

have signed a letter, pleading with MPs to allow EU

citizens already resident in Britain the right to stay after Brexit.

The Guardian focuses on the possible trade implications of Britain

post-Bragg said. The photograph is of Murray Black, Britain's youngest

MP, who says she hates parliament and may stand down at the next

election. It will be a sorrier place without her, probably. Let's starred

with Brexit. It's on many of the front pages. The likelihood it could

be treated -- triggered this week. Tories into a mile ahead of Article

50, it says. Five big Tory names on the front page. The Chancellor and

the Prime Minister's relationship said to be under strain. The

referendum was supposed to be the end of Conservative divisions on

Europe. It hasn't worked out that way? I wouldn't say the Tories are

in turmoil. Yes there are tensions and fundamentally it's more to do

with the budget last week, I would say, and people coming forward

saying, you have broken a manifesto pledge by increasing national

insurance to be and is for the self-employed. That would be the

issue. But Theresa May deftly shifted that away, leaving it to a

vote in the autumn, saying, let's have a look at self-employed, the

Devon -- the definition of it. As for Michael Heseltine, who is saying

she is treating colleagues as performing fleas, what happened here

is, and he knows, and anybody who is a member of the government voting

against the government, and he has been in government for many years,

knew he would be sacked for what he did because that is going against

the very nature of collective responsibility. So he wasn't treated

unusually. It would have been unusual to have allowed him to have

carried on. I think this is making a story out of not too much. But

obviously every party has got differing views on differing things.

I don't think this is big. Do you think it is as big as the front page

would have it? I must say, reading the article, it is a storm in a

store -- Tory teacup. Lord Heseltine got a lot of praise for saying the

House of Lords is and to get the government to think again. And also,

we want a unilateral declaration that EU residents will have their

rights guaranteed. Theresa May agrees with that. There isn't one MP

who doesn't agree. There is something running behind this, isn't

there? If we are to ignore entirely what the House of Lords did or said

and voted upon in the deliberations on Brexit, and Article 50, as Mr

Davies is inviting his party, Parliament and the country to do,

what on earth is the point of parliament? This is the real

question of what I would now call, seeing what is going on in the

Netherlands, the nativist part of the right-wing of Tory party, part

of their claim for Brexit was to return sovereignty, national

sovereignty, to the country. The instrument of sovereignty, which

they seem to be playing in and out with, is Parliament. They keep

saying the people have spoken and that's it. Are they really saying

that uniquely a referendum is the only thing that you cannot rescind,

abrogate, alter, moderate? Anything you say in Parliament, including a

motion to shoot all redheads tomorrow morning, can be rescinded.

That is her statute law works. This idea that this thing is set in

stone, I think they are driving themselves into a big trap. The

daily express saying MPs are told not to sabotage EU exit. That is not

going to happen, is it? They will win the vote. It will be triggered

this week. Of course. We are constantly talking about it. There

will be pressure from the public. There is pressure from the media.

They are constantly talking about it in the House. Parliament is

actually, you know, in charge of what's going on. Everybody is having

a say. All they are saying is it was a referendum, so what we have to

make sure is that is seen through. Everybody is having a say. The Daily

Telegraph headline talks about Nicola Sturgeon's last ditch attempt

to stop Brexit. It is not go to happen. We are going to leave. What

is Nicola Sturgeon doing? She is trying to get a Scottish boys at the

table in the negotiations. -- voice. This has been her problem. Some of

the more extreme suggestions, including in this story, that

Scotland can go it alone because, by the time that the Brexit

negotiations are finished in two years, March 2019, they could be out

of the United Kingdom, that is brinkmanship of the most

extraordinary order. The suggestion again in the Telegraph piece is that

she may be forced to go for another referendum for the independence of

Scotland. Well, the opinion polls at the moment say she won't win it. And

with a declining economy. She's looking weaker all the time. She

keeps coming back to this, we are having another referendum. She has

marched her voters to the top of the hill, she now has nowhere to go and

she is sounding very weak. There is the possibility of the break-up of

her party, too. Look at DfT. Rebel MPs except likely defeat. The

Commons expected to pass the bill. The story we are going to look at is

at the top. Anger rises as President Erdogan calls the Dutch Nazis. This

is a complicated story. The opposition in Turkey have been able

to campaign ahead of the vote this week. The ruling party feel that

they have not been given the same opportunities to speak to their

electorate in the Netherlands. This is ineptitude on both sides. As a

DfT is reporting it. What appears to have happened is this. -- as the

financial Times is reporting. How began's ruling party asked for two

senior figures. To come to the Netherlands to hold a rally to

persuade Turks, those that might have the vote and were not sure --

we are not sure how many there are in the Netherlands, to vote for

greater powers for President Erdogan come June, or whenever the election

is. It is much earlier. It is not this week. That is the Dutch general

election. Sorry. You have let the cat out of the bag. That is the

point. They asked them not to do it this weekend because of the run-up

to the Dutch, very toxic, general election, where nativism and the

presence of Muslims in their country is an issue. I really think it is

about timing from their point of view. President Erdogan's reaction

has been so hyper, I would even call it absurd, to call them Nazis is

inept, it is completely wrong. What he has done easy has got the

headlines around the world. He was trying to get the 5 million Turks in

Europe to vote for him to have extended powers in Turkey. It isn't

only the Netherlands that have said they don't want these rallies.

Germany have said they don't want them because of the agitation on the

ground. More importantly for the Netherlands, it is because there

election is this week. March madness, says the Metro. A million

hit by train strikes. We saw the disruption on Southern trains. No

more will be hit this week. My hometown is coming out. This is the

RMT making sure 2000 guards walk out. At the end of the day everybody

has got to get to the nub of what these strikes are about. They keep

going back. Is it about safety of the passenger? Is it about these

driver only operated trains? No, it's not. We have had them for 30

years. 60% of trains are run on them. We know they are safe. This is

about RMT having power, flexing its muscle and really not thinking about

the people they are causing so much strive to. It is about a union

protecting members and their jobs, isn't it? It is completely wrong. It

is not about that. They are not losing their jobs. They are getting

the guards to do other things. They are opening -- opening and closing

the door is not the most important thing on a train. It could be

checking whether there is anti-social behaviour on the train,

checking whether people are safe, it could be about telling them where

they need to get off or payment about a train tickets. It is not

about just opening and closing the door. I want to return to the

Telegraph. Foreign aid wasted on green energy plans. ?2 billion. This

is an old theme. I don't mean old story. The Telegraph are going in on

the enormous aid budget. ?12 million. -- ?12 billion. 0.7% of

GDP. Cameron pledged to support the millennium goals of the UN and they

can't account for a lot of it. The Telegraph has dug out to schemes

which have not yielded anything. -- two. A solar power scheme in Kenya

and a wind in Ethiopia which has provided energy for barely 100

households at a cost of half a billion between them. One of these

things is that it is very difficult to audit a lot of what Dhif it is

doing. -- divot. Plus it is becoming a tremendous political football

because anything from defence through to welfare says, why are we

spending 12 billion? They want to repatriated. -- to repatriate it.

But they really don't will know, and the civil service don't know, how to

disentangle this. Year after year there is an awful lot of money

wasted. I have witnessed a tremendous waste of money in

Afghanistan, for example, where we spent 3 billion of aid. I wonder how

much of that is yielding at the moment? I think Mrs May, the Prime

Minister, will have to deal with this in this term because it has

been building. And the money is going up. By 2020 it will be 16

billion. When at home people are saying, we need several billion for

other things, whether it is social care, it shouldn't be a sacred cow,

foreign aid, that we can't look at and say, is this money being spent

wisely? If it is not, could it be better spent at home? You read my

body language. I want to do one more story. The RSPCA in a dogfight with

Crofts over dog leads. You have no interest in this. I have no dog in

this fight! The argument is these dogs are held to tightly on their

leads. Crofts say this is nonsense. I have two agree with Crofts. I love

dogs. I have several of my own. Very naughty. But I think in this

instance, they are not your regular run of the mill dog, they are

performing dogs. These are more performing dogs. Doesn't mean to say

they want to be kept on a tight league and have their heads held up?

We are overemphasising the point. They are going around a ring. They

have been doing it for many years. The Kennel Club says it is a silly

nonissue. If you don't agree with Crofts, it could be a different

issue altogether. For the RSPCA -- for the dogs to do what they have

been trained to do, leave them be. It is part of posture as well. This

is a problem with fine thoroughbreds. Over breeding dogs, I

do believe, is wrong. There ears aren't right, their eyes right.

That's it for now. There you go. You have to fight your corner. You can't

get a word in edgewise. Don't forget, the front pages are online.

You can read a detailed review of the papers. We will be back at half

past 11. Don't leave us yet. Robert and Esther will be back.

Now its time for Meet the Author with Rebecca Jones.

For much of her career, Lionel Shriver scribbled