:00:36. > :00:44.Unaccompanied child migrants already in Europe will be given refuge
:00:45. > :00:47.in Britain as David Cameron performs a U-turn ahead
:00:48. > :00:53.But could the move encourage more to come?
:00:54. > :00:59.The EU gives its conditional backing for a deal that allows 77 million
:01:00. > :01:01.Turks visa-free travel to Europe's passport-free Schengen zone.
:01:02. > :01:06.Is this a step closer for EU membership for Turkey?
:01:07. > :01:17.Donald Trump's almost certain to be the Republican
:01:18. > :01:19.presidential candidate, but how would he square up against the
:01:20. > :01:26.# Say you don't believe in signs from up above.
:01:27. > :01:28.And why has the Welsh Flag been banned from the
:01:29. > :01:45.All the big issues of our time on this election day broadcast.
:01:46. > :01:50.Diplomatic Editor of Sky who now edits a website called
:01:51. > :02:00.As opposed to the loo. Not, the who. Welcome back to the programme. As we
:02:01. > :02:06.came near, a development in the junior doctors dispute. Let's go
:02:07. > :02:10.straight to Hugh Pym. I understand that the government is now doing
:02:11. > :02:15.something with the contract it said it was going to impose this summer?
:02:16. > :02:20.That's right. Never mind a week being a long time, three hours as
:02:21. > :02:28.long time in politics. In essence, a proposal was put the medical
:02:29. > :02:31.leadership, backed up by senior management, to put aside for a week
:02:32. > :02:35.of their main issues. The government will suspend for a week the idea of
:02:36. > :02:39.imposing the contract. In return, the BMA will suspend for a week or
:02:40. > :02:43.five days the idea of pursuing further strike action. The BMA
:02:44. > :02:46.immediately said this looked promising but the initial government
:02:47. > :02:51.reaction earlier this morning was that this was not possible because
:02:52. > :02:55.it was not possible to suspend the work being done on the new contract.
:02:56. > :02:59.They were prepared to have other talks. But literally half an hour
:03:00. > :03:05.ago, the Health Minister told the Lords that Jeremy Hunt would be
:03:06. > :03:09.writing to the Academy of royal colleges saying that he would be
:03:10. > :03:12.willing to enter into talks on Monday and agree to this temporary
:03:13. > :03:16.suspension, as long as the BMA agreed to talk about what they feel
:03:17. > :03:20.are the key issues, working hours and pay. We have not yet had a
:03:21. > :03:26.formal reaction to this from the BMA, but certainly very interesting,
:03:27. > :03:30.a change in the whole story. So the BMA has blinked, to use the language
:03:31. > :03:34.of these industrial disputes. And the government has blinked in its
:03:35. > :03:38.own way. They must be a hope, I put it no higher than that, but at least
:03:39. > :03:43.a hope that we could see some kind of resolution in the week ahead?
:03:44. > :03:47.That is possible. There have not been any talks at all since February
:03:48. > :03:51.when Jeremy Hunt decided to press on and introduce this new contract. He
:03:52. > :03:57.felt he had made a lot of concessions already and the BMA
:03:58. > :04:01.refused to negotiate. They formerly disputed that. In addition to the
:04:02. > :04:06.contract being announced, he pressed on. At least this is the prospect of
:04:07. > :04:08.talks and getting them back around a table which is what the senior
:04:09. > :04:12.leadership of the medical profession really wanted to see. There is a
:04:13. > :04:16.chance of that happening now. Whether it can be resolved in five
:04:17. > :04:19.days, it has taken them to match or three years to get to this point. A
:04:20. > :04:24.tall order but things seem to be changing. And you will be on the
:04:25. > :04:29.story for the BBC. Thank you for joining us. Quite a development
:04:30. > :04:32.there. Turning now to another issue of dispute.
:04:33. > :04:34.The U-turn began yesterday at Prime Minister's Questions.
:04:35. > :04:36.Having insisted that Britain was doing more than any other
:04:37. > :04:39.European country to help refugees, David Cameron bowed to pressure
:04:40. > :04:41.and said Britain would take in unaccompanied child
:04:42. > :04:50.Yesterday David Cameron announced a U-turn on the government's policy
:04:51. > :04:52.on the UK accepting more unaccompanied child
:04:53. > :05:00.The government currently takes children from camps in Syria
:05:01. > :05:02.and its neighbours as part of its pledge to take 20,000
:05:03. > :05:15.And in January, they agreed to take some additional child
:05:16. > :05:18.refugees directly from North Africa and the Middle East.
:05:19. > :05:22.But before yesterday, the PM had ruled out taking children
:05:23. > :05:25.directly from mainland Europe, saying it would create a pull factor
:05:26. > :05:28.The climb down came as Conservative backbenchers, including
:05:29. > :05:36.Heidi Allen and Will Quince, threatened to rebel on the issue
:05:37. > :05:40.Downing Street have not said how many children will be given
:05:41. > :05:44.the right to live in Britain, but officials are working
:05:45. > :05:47.on an assumption that it will be between 1,000 and 2,000.
:05:48. > :05:51.Only unaccompanied children registered
:05:52. > :05:54.as refugees in Greece, Italy and France before March 20th
:05:55. > :06:00.We're joined now from Stoke by UKIP's deputy leader,
:06:01. > :06:03.Paul Nuttall, and here in the studio by the Conservative MP,
:06:04. > :06:05.Steven Phillips, who has just retuned from visiting refugee camps
:06:06. > :06:14.Welcome to both of you. Stephen Phillips, you have any idea, as you
:06:15. > :06:19.had any indication how many child refugees coming to Britain we're
:06:20. > :06:25.talking about? No is the short answer. The government is consulting
:06:26. > :06:33.with local authorities. The numbers being bandied around by ministers
:06:34. > :06:37.look like between one and 3000. -- 1000 and 3000. You have to take into
:06:38. > :06:41.account the ability of local authorities to look after these
:06:42. > :06:45.children properly. And that, I think, is one of the good amendments
:06:46. > :06:49.that was made when the Lords sent the amendment back to us, which the
:06:50. > :06:53.government has now accepted, and I think they would probably have been
:06:54. > :06:56.defeated next week if they had not. According to Eurostat, there are
:06:57. > :07:01.almost 90,000 unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Europe last year
:07:02. > :07:08.alone. Would it not be fair to say that the figure that we are taking,
:07:09. > :07:15.if it is as low as 1000 it is a token gesture? I don't think it is.
:07:16. > :07:18.1000 out of 90,000? There are other countries in Europe that can help
:07:19. > :07:23.aside from us and if everybody plays their part, we can deal with these
:07:24. > :07:28.unaccompanied children. Well, if everyone of them took 1000, that
:07:29. > :07:32.would only be 27,000 out of 90,000. I met with the Greek Home Secretary
:07:33. > :07:36.yesterday and Greece is in a to accept, even with its austerity and
:07:37. > :07:41.everything else in forced upon it, they say they are in a position to
:07:42. > :07:45.take 50,000 refugees, some of whom will be unaccompanied children. So
:07:46. > :07:52.Greece will perhaps be taking up to 50 times as many as we are taking?
:07:53. > :07:58.Greece, as you know, is a country whose GDP is 30% smaller than it was
:07:59. > :08:00.six years ago, where living standards have collapsed, and even
:08:01. > :08:05.middle-class people can be found rummaging for food. That is refugees
:08:06. > :08:09.generally, that is what they said they can cope with. That is what I
:08:10. > :08:12.was told yesterday when I visited with Yvette Cooper. Some of those
:08:13. > :08:16.will be unaccompanied children and a lot of those are not. They are
:08:17. > :08:19.families forced to flee Syria and other places as well. If everybody
:08:20. > :08:24.plays their part, the important thing is that Britain will do its
:08:25. > :08:28.bit, as we always have done. Paul Nuttall, should we be doing our bit
:08:29. > :08:33.with these unaccompanied children, many of them just disappearing
:08:34. > :08:38.altogether? We fear that they are prey to people traffickers, and they
:08:39. > :08:44.end up in child abuse, perhaps child prostitution. Should we be doing our
:08:45. > :08:48.bit to help, even at -- even if it is only on the margins? Firstly,
:08:49. > :08:51.none of us want to see children in camps and children destitute on the
:08:52. > :08:56.streets. Of course we should be doing our bit, but my problem is
:08:57. > :09:01.that I think we are doing a grand job out in Jordan and Lebanon, with
:09:02. > :09:06.charities telling us that for every one person we bring to Britain, we
:09:07. > :09:10.can help 20 or 30 out in the camps already. The other issue we have is
:09:11. > :09:14.that there are 40,000 children in this country now awaiting foster
:09:15. > :09:18.homes. Will they be pushed to the back of the queue? I hope not. And
:09:19. > :09:22.we do not know the numbers that will come back. At the same time, I think
:09:23. > :09:26.Cameron is generally getting this right in the sense that he is asking
:09:27. > :09:31.local councils first to see what they can cope with in terms of
:09:32. > :09:34.school places, in terms of foster homes, so he is getting it right on
:09:35. > :09:38.this point but equally I would like to see the money spent in the camps
:09:39. > :09:42.which exist already. But we are already spending money on the camps.
:09:43. > :09:46.The government tells us endlessly that we are spending more than any
:09:47. > :09:49.other country except the United States, which means that per capita
:09:50. > :09:53.we are spending more than any other country. I am unclear if you think
:09:54. > :09:56.we should make any contribution to the plight of the unaccompanied
:09:57. > :10:03.children already in the European Union, that some of them should be
:10:04. > :10:09.taken in by this country or not? My fear is that we will be encouraging
:10:10. > :10:12.even more traffic. It could be a pull factor. I think the Prime
:10:13. > :10:16.Minister was probably right on his point before at this decision was
:10:17. > :10:21.taken. We do not want to see more children being brought through
:10:22. > :10:32.Turkey and the GMC, forced across Europe, because it puts money into
:10:33. > :10:37.the pockets of the traffickers. -- through Turkey and the Aegean Sea.
:10:38. > :10:41.So that is a no? Well, it is a caveat. I would like to see how many
:10:42. > :10:44.are going to come and I do not want to see British children already
:10:45. > :10:48.waiting for foster homes pushed to the back of the queue. Moreover,
:10:49. > :10:53.last night there were 100,000 children in Britain who either slept
:10:54. > :10:57.homeless or were in homeless accommodation. I do not think it is
:10:58. > :11:01.wrong to say that I want British children pushed to the front of the
:11:02. > :11:04.queue. What do you say to Steven Phillips, who says there are a
:11:05. > :11:08.number of kids waiting for foster homes, a number of children
:11:09. > :11:15.effectively homeless because their families are homeless, and that they
:11:16. > :11:20.risk being pushed to the back of the queue as Paul Nuttall said? That is
:11:21. > :11:23.the important thing about consulting with local authorities. It is
:11:24. > :11:28.important that those children are not pushed to the back of the queue,
:11:29. > :11:31.that what the government does is to consult with local authorities to
:11:32. > :11:36.see what capacity they have. And I am afraid I disagree with Paul that
:11:37. > :11:41.this is some sort of cool factor. The evidence that unaccompanied
:11:42. > :11:43.children will leave their homes and make their way to Europe because
:11:44. > :11:49.Britain is going to take some of these kids is nonexistent. -- this
:11:50. > :11:55.is some sort of cool factor. It is no example at all. Like the children
:11:56. > :11:59.I met yesterday, who is here without parents looking after her sister. It
:12:00. > :12:04.is no answer to those kids to say that we are not going to do
:12:05. > :12:07.anything. But if this government consults the local authorities and
:12:08. > :12:14.combined they say we have room for 3000 in various ways surely the next
:12:15. > :12:20.question is, well why are you not making room for the 3000 already on
:12:21. > :12:25.the list needing foster homes? Well, that is really a question for the
:12:26. > :12:29.local authorities. But isn't that a decent question? It is a decent
:12:30. > :12:31.question and it is a question that the government will have to put a
:12:32. > :12:36.local authorities when it writes to them next week or this week to
:12:37. > :12:41.assess how they can help. The other thing I want to see is some of our
:12:42. > :12:44.massive aid budget used to help bring these children not only from
:12:45. > :12:48.the camps in the region, but to help the children already in Europe on
:12:49. > :12:54.their own, called, frightened, alone and hungry too often, and very
:12:55. > :12:59.vulnerable to people traffickers. I want to see some of that money used
:13:00. > :13:05.to fund local authorities to help those kids. And is it not the case,
:13:06. > :13:09.Paul Nuttall, that what ever conditions many of our children are
:13:10. > :13:13.already in, in this country, children born in this country,
:13:14. > :13:17.whatever bad conditions they are in, and some are in bad conditions, no
:13:18. > :13:22.doubt about that, but they are not as bad, they cannot be as bad as the
:13:23. > :13:29.plight of some of these unaccompanied refugee kids? You are
:13:30. > :13:34.quite right. And many of these refugees are coming from war-torn
:13:35. > :13:42.areas. But let me pick up one point. It was said that maybe it was a
:13:43. > :13:47.children shifting west because of the result of the doors opening to
:13:48. > :13:50.child traffickers. It wouldn't be, it would be the traffickers who
:13:51. > :13:54.pluck them from their communities and then extract money from the
:13:55. > :13:58.wider family. That is my fear, that what we will be doing is encouraging
:13:59. > :14:04.trafficking. It is a fair point but you are shaking your head. Paul
:14:05. > :14:08.needs to go and talk to some of these children in Athens or Rome or
:14:09. > :14:11.the camps in Calais and Dunkirk. They have often been separated from
:14:12. > :14:14.their families because during the long passage to Europe they are
:14:15. > :14:18.making different journeys. Traffickers will only have the
:14:19. > :14:21.ability... They are given to an uncle or something and they
:14:22. > :14:27.accompany the uncle while the parents stay behind. Some of these
:14:28. > :14:31.kids have lost their parents. Whose hands are they now in? Are they in
:14:32. > :14:37.camps? Some of them are in camps. Those are the ones we know about. Of
:14:38. > :14:40.the 90,000 figure, that is an estimate, and a lot of those are
:14:41. > :14:45.unregistered and we do not know about them. Are they in the hands of
:14:46. > :14:50.or are they vulnerable to people traffickers? Yes. Some of them go
:14:51. > :14:55.missing. I visited a shelter where children frequently go missing
:14:56. > :15:02.yesterday. There was a report yesterday saying that 10,000 of
:15:03. > :15:05.those have simply gone missing. Returning to the point that Paul
:15:06. > :15:11.Nuttall was making, how will we not know that it will be the people
:15:12. > :15:16.traffickers who identify the kids that will come here? The answer is
:15:17. > :15:19.that we do not know. There is no evidence that unaccompanied children
:15:20. > :15:24.find themselves in Europe because we or anybody else is prepared to offer
:15:25. > :15:31.than century. That was not my question. -- offer them sanctuary.
:15:32. > :15:34.My question was, if these children are currently vulnerable, and some
:15:35. > :15:39.of them are disappearing, and we say we are going to take between 1000
:15:40. > :15:42.and 3000, is there a danger that people traffickers will go around
:15:43. > :15:46.and say, we can get you to Britain, officially to Britain but how much
:15:47. > :15:50.money have you got or how much money have your relatives got, and they do
:15:51. > :15:54.the picking. These kids generally do not have a lot of money, and they
:15:55. > :15:57.are not able to pay the traffickers. So there is a practical problem for
:15:58. > :15:59.those who would seek to exploit them in this way. What do you make of
:16:00. > :16:10.this, the Marshall? They won't be watching this. It goes
:16:11. > :16:15.back down the line of, well, Britain has made a decision. It gets mixed
:16:16. > :16:21.up down the line, they think, they will take 3000 children, I will push
:16:22. > :16:26.my 14-year-old forward here. When the introduction was made, use of
:16:27. > :16:32.March the 20th, because that was the EU Turkey deal. -- you said. The
:16:33. > :16:38.Prime Minister is trying to block the Paul factor. We will deal with
:16:39. > :16:42.the people in the EU countries, the children, now, but that message also
:16:43. > :16:46.needs to go back down the line. -- pull factor. But I'm not sure the
:16:47. > :17:00.clarity of that message will reach all the way to the Syrian camps. One
:17:01. > :17:02.final question. References and comparisons are sometimes made
:17:03. > :17:07.between getting the Jewish kids out of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. But
:17:08. > :17:12.surely there is one major difference. Even by then we knew if
:17:13. > :17:17.these kids stayed in Nazi Germany they could end up in concentration
:17:18. > :17:22.camps and perhaps even at some stage extermination camps. The children we
:17:23. > :17:29.are talking about and living, are in liberal Western democracies. Two
:17:30. > :17:33.points. I don't think when the decision was made to go ahead with
:17:34. > :17:38.the candid transports was the fate awaiting them. We didn't know about
:17:39. > :17:48.the extermination camps but we knew that German Jews were being rounded
:17:49. > :17:52.up. -- kinder transports. We knew later that the Jewish population in
:17:53. > :17:59.Germany and German occupied Europe was under threat. That's one reason
:18:00. > :18:03.why the kinder transport, no doubt, went ahead. But they are relatively
:18:04. > :18:07.safe, they are in civil democracies. But they are not, it isn't that a
:18:08. > :18:12.problem for Paris, Berlin, and Athens? The reason they are not
:18:13. > :18:16.safe, which I saw in Greece and Italy and to a less extent in
:18:17. > :18:28.France, is that the system in place to deal with the refugees and the
:18:29. > :18:35.children is overwhelmed by the people coming. We will now pick up
:18:36. > :18:36.on the deal being made with Turkey, that is to return migrants making
:18:37. > :18:42.their journey from there to Greece. It seems to have stemmed
:18:43. > :18:44.the flow of people In return for their co-operation
:18:45. > :18:48.Turkey has been promised visa free travel to the EU's Schengen zone
:18:49. > :18:51.for their 77 million citizens. Yesterday the European Commission
:18:52. > :18:52.gave its conditional backing to the deal -
:18:53. > :18:55.which some see as a stepping stone David Cameron was asked
:18:56. > :18:59.about the prospects for Turkish Frankly, I don't think the accession
:19:00. > :19:05.of Turkey to the European Union I don't think it will
:19:06. > :19:14.happen for decades. If you look at the facts,
:19:15. > :19:17.the facts are it requires unanimity The French, for instance,
:19:18. > :19:20.have said they would So I would say very clearly
:19:21. > :19:24.to people, if your vote in this referendum is being influenced
:19:25. > :19:26.by considerations about Turkish membership of the EU,
:19:27. > :19:28.don't think about it. It's not an issue
:19:29. > :19:44.in this referendum. A change of stance from the last
:19:45. > :19:45.time he was Arc -- he was asked about it.
:19:46. > :19:48.We're joined now by the Lib Dem Peer, Merel Ece and UKIP's
:19:49. > :19:50.Paul Nuttall is still with us from Stoke.
:19:51. > :19:57.Paul, what is your view on this? I think we are rewarding Turkey for
:19:58. > :20:03.bad behaviour in the past. They've pretty much done nothing about
:20:04. > :20:06.people traffickers. If you look at the things President at a gun has
:20:07. > :20:10.been doing in recent years in terms of shutting down freedom of speech,
:20:11. > :20:15.newspapers, opposition TV channels, looking at journalists, these are
:20:16. > :20:21.the people we are making this deal with. -- president Erdogan. If we do
:20:22. > :20:26.this in effect Turkey has already got one that matter within the EU.
:20:27. > :20:32.Then the EU border goes all the way to Syria, Iraq, Iran. And when we
:20:33. > :20:40.are being told by the head of Europol there are already 5000
:20:41. > :20:48.jihadis in Europe wanting to do us harm, I think this will make Europe
:20:49. > :20:54.a less safe place a -- if we reward Turkey. But are you expecting Turkey
:20:55. > :20:58.to do something for nothing here after all the work they have done to
:20:59. > :21:04.stem the flow of migrants coming over? The fact we will be giving
:21:05. > :21:08.money to Turkey over the next few years the doing this deal is pretty
:21:09. > :21:13.good for Turkey. Is it pretty good for us? They are opening the next
:21:14. > :21:17.chapter towards Turkey's accession to the EU. Turkey has no place
:21:18. > :21:22.within the EU. Even if Turkey doesn't join to the next five or ten
:21:23. > :21:26.years, if we vote to stay, it shows you the direction in which the EU is
:21:27. > :21:32.travelling. That is towards Turkish access on. Only 3% of Turkey is
:21:33. > :21:37.actually in Europe. It will be the poorest country in Europe. When it
:21:38. > :21:40.joined it is estimated that within the first decade 15 million Turks
:21:41. > :21:45.will drift west onto the European continent. Therefore I think that is
:21:46. > :21:50.a dangerous prospect. Although, of course, the PM said, in his view,
:21:51. > :21:55.that Turkey would not be joining for decades. Let's pick up on what Paul
:21:56. > :22:00.said about Turkey, that we are rewarding Turkey, a country that
:22:01. > :22:03.does not deserve it because of allegations of corruption and
:22:04. > :22:08.controlling the press. Basically a regime we should not be doing a deal
:22:09. > :22:14.with, what is your view? I have concerns about the deal. The choice
:22:15. > :22:18.of words is interesting, rewarding... Let's not forget,
:22:19. > :22:22.Turkey has the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, 3
:22:23. > :22:28.million, which has destabilise the country in many ways and put strain
:22:29. > :22:29.on it. Paul talks about a Haddins and terrorists, well, Turkey has had
:22:30. > :22:44.to deal with that. -- about Jack -- about jihadis. Well, there have
:22:45. > :22:49.been many attacks on the capital and other places, as well. They have
:22:50. > :22:54.already said that it has cost them more than $10 billion of their own
:22:55. > :22:59.money that they have spent. And Turkey is a fairly affluent and
:23:00. > :23:05.economically strong country. It is a dynamic country. The idea that Paul
:23:06. > :23:09.Nuttall is saying this is somehow a reward, it is a deal. I have
:23:10. > :23:13.concerns about the deal in terms of Turkey's ability to deal with the
:23:14. > :23:16.refugees it will be containing. And those that will be sent back.
:23:17. > :23:23.Because only a small percentage of those are in camps. The rest of free
:23:24. > :23:26.to move around the country. Some are given vouchers. They are in rented
:23:27. > :23:32.accommodation. Some are working, some are sleeping rough, some are
:23:33. > :23:36.begging on the streets. Is this EU Turkey deal sustainable? It seems to
:23:37. > :23:40.be working in the broader sense that there are refugees getting back into
:23:41. > :23:45.Turkey who failed with their asylum. And I presume the refugees are
:23:46. > :23:52.legitimately coming into the EU. But will it work in the long term? It is
:23:53. > :23:56.a stopgap. They have flailed around looking for work. It has partially
:23:57. > :24:04.worked. It hasn't stopped, it has simply reduced. That deal is agreed,
:24:05. > :24:07.but this Visa deal is not yet agreed. There is a lot of stumbling
:24:08. > :24:12.blocks in the way. Because the European Parliament has to agree.
:24:13. > :24:18.They haven't done all of the deals. Including giving working visas to
:24:19. > :24:23.Syrians in Turkey. I think they have kicked it into the medium length
:24:24. > :24:27.grass. They were not going to make a decision before the referendum. We
:24:28. > :24:32.will know for sure after that. Do you think it might not happen?
:24:33. > :24:42.Possibly it might not because they're stumbling blocks. Their only
:24:43. > :24:45.7 million passport holders. -- there are stumbling blocks. You will not
:24:46. > :24:49.see an immediate flood if the deal goes through, but you will see an
:24:50. > :24:58.increase in numbers. If we look at the numbers now, yes, 77.6 million
:24:59. > :25:01.Turks, but 7 million passport holders. The biometric testing
:25:02. > :25:06.probably isn't going to happen or be completed until the end of the year.
:25:07. > :25:09.We are talking about a slow process. That is when it has been ratified by
:25:10. > :25:16.the European Parliament and no doubt the individual member states. I
:25:17. > :25:19.leave the biggest British delegation in the European Parliament and we
:25:20. > :25:25.will vote against this deal. Whether we are successful I doubt it and it
:25:26. > :25:29.probably will go through. You say that Turkey is bearing the brunt of
:25:30. > :25:35.terrorism in Syria, actually, Turkey is promoting terrorism in Syria,
:25:36. > :25:43.covertly or averted. It has been alleged that they have been helping
:25:44. > :25:48.the Islamic State. -- or overtly. They were standing by when the Kurds
:25:49. > :25:53.were routed only a few years ago. We should be stepping away from Turkey,
:25:54. > :25:58.not promoting them to join the EU, we shouldn't be helping them. Are
:25:59. > :26:04.you happy to work with Turkey in terms of dealing with the migrant
:26:05. > :26:11.issue as it stands, for people to take 3 million Syrian refugees, are
:26:12. > :26:16.you saying you want to scrap that? Turkey has basically encouraged what
:26:17. > :26:20.has gone on. That isn't my question. Would you be prepared to say to
:26:21. > :26:25.Turkey, have an open border, and those refugees can come across?
:26:26. > :26:28.Sometimes in politics you have to make deals. I just believe that this
:26:29. > :26:32.deal, which includes a Visa free access and opening the next chapter
:26:33. > :26:41.to Turkish access and into the EU simply goes too far. -- accession
:26:42. > :26:48.into the EU. In 2013 the pro Minister said Turkey deserves top
:26:49. > :26:53.place in European politics and that is what I will fight for. -- the
:26:54. > :26:58.Prime Minister. And yesterday he said that it will not happen for
:26:59. > :27:03.decades, don't think about it around the referendum vote, has he changed
:27:04. > :27:09.his mind? He has. But Britain has always supported Turkey's access
:27:10. > :27:14.into the EU and has always been an official candidate since 1999. Talks
:27:15. > :27:18.were put on track. Turkey has a long way to go. Cameron is right on that.
:27:19. > :27:23.It will not happen tomorrow, or next Tuesday which Paul seems to be
:27:24. > :27:27.indicating, that millions of Turks will be heading this way. That is
:27:28. > :27:31.nonsense. There are hurdles to overcome. There are many sanctions
:27:32. > :27:36.Turkey needs to satisfy. A country like Turkey is firmly anchored in
:27:37. > :27:40.Europe. We should encourage it to reform. There are huge problems with
:27:41. > :27:44.freedom of speech, freedom of expression. These things have to be
:27:45. > :27:53.done. It has gone the other way at the moment. Yes. Quite rapidly. It
:27:54. > :27:56.is. Some years ago when Turkey was going in the right direction that
:27:57. > :28:00.you closed its doors and said go away, no thank you, and it has gone
:28:01. > :28:05.the other way. In order to keep on track I think it is important that
:28:06. > :28:09.those chapters should be opened at some point and Turkey is forced to
:28:10. > :28:13.reform its judiciary and all of its other political systems. But there
:28:14. > :28:19.is no sign of that. It is just whistling in the wind. I agree.
:28:20. > :28:22.Everything is going in the other direction. The biggest newspaper has
:28:23. > :28:29.just been nationalised by the government. The Turkish judiciary,
:28:30. > :28:34.which used to be by the standards of that part of the world quite
:28:35. > :28:40.independent, but that has all gone. And we have a developing story this
:28:41. > :28:47.morning. I know about this. The Turkish Prime Minister is about to
:28:48. > :28:50.resign. I am in dismay. I had many friends -- I have many friends who
:28:51. > :28:55.are politicians and journalists over there and they are dismayed about
:28:56. > :28:59.what is going on. However, if we say to Turkey, push it away further, one
:29:00. > :29:06.of the criticism I have is that this deal is not including, it is not
:29:07. > :29:13.asking Turkey to reform a step back from the teller Terry and is. It
:29:14. > :29:22.would not do that. -- totalitarianism. He was always going
:29:23. > :29:26.to lose. Erdogan Is trying to get power around him in a single
:29:27. > :29:30.structure. The Prime Minister was unsure about it because he is more
:29:31. > :29:38.liberal. They have a battle. He has lost. Erdogan Is still on track to
:29:39. > :29:43.be an ultimate power of Turkey. You are right, it is not part of the
:29:44. > :29:52.refugee deal with the EU, but it is part of entering the U. That is what
:29:53. > :29:58.I meant. -- entering the EU. France is completely against it. We have
:29:59. > :30:04.got to finish that there. Thank you to all of you.
:30:05. > :30:08.Now they said that he had about as much chance of becoming
:30:09. > :30:14.president as Leicester City winning the Premiership.
:30:15. > :30:23.Or Jeremy Corbyn becoming Labour leader.
:30:24. > :30:26.And he's not there yet of course - but it's almost certain Donald Trump
:30:27. > :30:28.will be the Republican nominee for President
:30:29. > :30:32.In a moment we'll discuss what that contest might look like -
:30:33. > :30:34.first let's just remind ourselves of how Mr Trump managed
:30:35. > :30:49.When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best.
:30:50. > :30:56.They're bringing drugs, they're bringing
:30:57. > :30:59.crime, their rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.
:31:00. > :31:01.We are gonna have our borders nice and strong.
:31:02. > :31:07.I'm gonna build a wall and Mexico's gonna pay for it, right?
:31:08. > :31:10.# I heard trouble's come to your town
:31:11. > :31:13.# I've got a little something guaranteed to ease your mind #.
:31:14. > :31:16.Written by a nice reporter, now the poor guy, you got
:31:17. > :31:26.He's a war hero because he was captured.
:31:27. > :31:27.I like people that weren't captured, OK?
:31:28. > :31:34.Are you ready for a commander-in-chief who will let
:31:35. > :31:37.our warriors do their job and kick Isis's ass?
:31:38. > :31:40.Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of
:31:41. > :31:42.Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives
:31:43. > :31:50.can figure out what the hell is going on.
:31:51. > :31:54.You know what they used to do to guys
:31:55. > :31:58.like that when they were in a place like this?
:31:59. > :32:01.They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks.
:32:02. > :32:14.You will be so proud of this country very, very soon.
:32:15. > :32:24.We're joined now by the US talk show host and former republican advisor,
:32:25. > :32:26.Charlie Woolf, and the Conservative MP and Hillary Clinton
:32:27. > :32:41.Are in also. I have just promoted you. We're working on the
:32:42. > :32:44.assumption, it seems to me a fairly bankable assumption, that it is
:32:45. > :32:50.Trump versus Clinton for the general election in November. But how does
:32:51. > :32:58.Mr Trump make up lost ground at the moment? Hillary Clinton has a 25
:32:59. > :33:04.point lead among women voters at the moment. Among non-white voters, she
:33:05. > :33:10.has a 67% lead. How do you overcome that? I think there is a lot of work
:33:11. > :33:12.to be done but remember when you get into a general election, the
:33:13. > :33:17.candidate gets a better introduction. And also I think there
:33:18. > :33:21.was a lot of dislike for Hillary as well. Hillary is not a strong
:33:22. > :33:26.candidate. Look at the fact that Trump has taken on 16 seasoned
:33:27. > :33:34.opponents and knock them down one by one. And here is Hillary, who was
:33:35. > :33:38.supposed to be the successor to the throne, battling it out against a
:33:39. > :33:44.74-year-old socialist. Simon Burns, we know that when you get away from
:33:45. > :33:49.the Republican primary process, Mr Trump's ratings are very poor, with
:33:50. > :33:52.the electorate as a whole so far. But Hillary Clinton's ratings are
:33:53. > :33:57.not that great either. Indeed she has the worst negative ratings of
:33:58. > :34:03.any democratic frontrunner since the 1960s. But what she has going for
:34:04. > :34:11.her which people recognise, is experience, confidence and a
:34:12. > :34:14.lifetime commitment to record vote. -- experience, competent.
:34:15. > :34:19.African-Americans, Hispanics and Latinos. And she has proven her
:34:20. > :34:26.track record. There have been 58 opinion polls in this cycle, where
:34:27. > :34:31.it was Clinton versus Trump. And as you said in your introduction, she
:34:32. > :34:35.is miles ahead, even yesterday, with the latest poll that came out, she
:34:36. > :34:39.was 13 points ahead. That is true, but here is the issue. Everything
:34:40. > :34:43.you have said makes the establishment candidate. It makes
:34:44. > :34:48.the candidate of the status quo. And you cannot get more establishment
:34:49. > :34:52.than that. In an America where antiestablishment, on the left and
:34:53. > :34:58.right, is running rampage, how does she overcome that? By appealing to
:34:59. > :35:03.the vote. She, more than Bernie Sanders, is the air to Barack Obama.
:35:04. > :35:08.Barack Obama is more popular than he was a year ago, and if you look at
:35:09. > :35:12.the democratics in the United States, it is moving towards the
:35:13. > :35:17.Democratic party. Telefonica, the large estate with the most Electoral
:35:18. > :35:22.College votes, it is no more than 50% non-white voters. Texas, in 20
:35:23. > :35:26.years, I expect it will be a Democrat, not a Republican state.
:35:27. > :35:31.And because those people will come out in a determined way, like they
:35:32. > :35:37.did for Barack Obama, to protect his legacy, and because of what Hillary
:35:38. > :35:42.has two offer, she will... What do you say to that? They want. They are
:35:43. > :35:46.not getting the millennials. The millennials will not come out for
:35:47. > :35:49.history. You mean that Hispanic millennials will stay home? And
:35:50. > :35:57.Amanda says he will build a wall with Mexico, they will stay home? In
:35:58. > :36:01.a lot of the exit polling, Latinos, he won that group. Among Republican
:36:02. > :36:06.voters. And there are not that many Republican Hispanics. We are talking
:36:07. > :36:11.about Hillary is serving this audience. The audience has moved on.
:36:12. > :36:14.If you look at feminism, hers is a sort of dinosaur version of
:36:15. > :36:21.feminism. We have Madeline Albright doing the thing, there is a place in
:36:22. > :36:25.hell for a woman that does not support another woman. That is
:36:26. > :36:29.yesterday's news. You have conceded that he has ground to make up, but
:36:30. > :36:34.it does not mean he cannot do it. But here is the issue, the Clinton
:36:35. > :36:41.campaign will be stocked full of cash. It will be incredibly well
:36:42. > :36:45.financed. So far Donald Trump has spent ?36 million of his own money.
:36:46. > :36:55.-- 30 $6 million. Either in grants or loans to his campaign, and he has
:36:56. > :37:00.raised $12 million. In British terms, that is tuppence. How does he
:37:01. > :37:10.raise the money, when even the Cork brothers have said that they will
:37:11. > :37:15.probably rather have Mrs Clinton? -- Coch brothers. This is a man who
:37:16. > :37:19.raises cash for a living. I think things will change. Actually, he
:37:20. > :37:25.borrows cash for a living. That is how he built his property empire. I
:37:26. > :37:29.will concede that is his biggest obstacle, getting the money and the
:37:30. > :37:36.machinery. But remember, this is a movement that he has created, and
:37:37. > :37:40.that is very strong. And this is taking off like wildfire. We have
:37:41. > :37:42.yet to see that but it is certainly true in the Republican primaries.
:37:43. > :37:49.Commentators like me should be careful what we see weight say
:37:50. > :37:53.because we have called a lot of this -- careful what we say because we
:37:54. > :37:57.have called a lot of these things wrong in the past. You wear that the
:37:58. > :38:02.two living Republican former presidents are likely not to endorse
:38:03. > :38:05.him? But then again, George Dubya Bush did not get involved in the
:38:06. > :38:09.last election either. They are staying out of it. But it does not
:38:10. > :38:15.help when it comes to raising money. And your candidate is going to be
:38:16. > :38:18.bankrolled by Wall Street. But I suspect that this year, despite the
:38:19. > :38:23.surprises so far, it is going to be like 1972 for the Democrats with the
:38:24. > :38:28.governed, and 1964 for Goldwater. You can always see -- you can
:38:29. > :38:33.already see with the Cork brothers and others, there are congressmen up
:38:34. > :38:38.for re-election. -- the Koch brothers. They do not want to be
:38:39. > :38:41.dragged down by Trump and many of them will distance themselves from
:38:42. > :38:49.supporting Trump in the hope that they will save their own heights.
:38:50. > :38:53.You saying that it is to be as bad for the Republicans as with the
:38:54. > :38:56.governing? I am saying that the Republican hierarchy are those who
:38:57. > :39:00.are standing for office and think that they have tight races, they
:39:01. > :39:04.will distance themselves from the party nominee because he is going to
:39:05. > :39:11.be a drag on the ticket, all the way down. That is an interesting point,
:39:12. > :39:16.Charles, because I have seen over the past two months three sets of
:39:17. > :39:23.major Republican strategists, seniors, who have fought and won at
:39:24. > :39:26.the core of every presidential campaign for 40 years and all of
:39:27. > :39:30.them said that if Trump leads the ticket, they will almost certainly
:39:31. > :39:34.lose the Senate and they might even lose the house. I think things have
:39:35. > :39:38.changed now that he is leading the party. He will have to verify it.
:39:39. > :39:41.The question I would put the these different senators and voters who
:39:42. > :39:47.say they will not vote for him is why would you vote for Hillary
:39:48. > :39:53.Clinton, who is going to change the Supreme Court, and could damage the
:39:54. > :39:59.second Amendment? I would say to Trump... She can only change the
:40:00. > :40:05.Supreme Court if she has a majority in the two and she might have that.
:40:06. > :40:11.If you really want to risk that, for me, that is lunacy. Trump is not my
:40:12. > :40:18.first choice. Who was? I was probably looking at Rubio initially.
:40:19. > :40:23.But that ship sailed along time ago. He has probably reached his
:40:24. > :40:28.domination. Is he prone Nato? Can we count on him for our defence? He has
:40:29. > :40:33.not said anything like that. He is not talking to us, isn't it? David
:40:34. > :40:38.Cameron fended them. He has not spoken to the outside world. --
:40:39. > :40:42.offended him. He gives to say there were no votes in Britain, so they do
:40:43. > :40:47.not care about us. I understand that but every candidate has a policy and
:40:48. > :40:52.it is clear that Hillary Clinton, she will probably be even more prone
:40:53. > :40:56.Nato than Mr Obama. We have spent five minutes talking about things we
:40:57. > :41:03.always talk about, but he is talking about something else. These are new
:41:04. > :41:06.times, different times. The European audience watches this buffoon, and
:41:07. > :41:10.the things that come out of his mouth, and they hear it with a
:41:11. > :41:13.European elite here. You have to put yourself in the years of
:41:14. > :41:19.steelworkers in Pittsburgh, and realise that he is talking about
:41:20. > :41:23.protectionism, putting tariffs on. People in Pittsburgh who are worried
:41:24. > :41:27.about steel jobs, they are not hearing an orange buffoon, they are
:41:28. > :41:30.thinking, yeah. I'm not talking about the rights and wrongs, but the
:41:31. > :41:37.single most important thing Ronald Reagan ever did that was -- did to
:41:38. > :41:41.get elected was having an advert that ended with, it is summarised in
:41:42. > :41:46.America. He punches through and this guy punches through. The phrase was
:41:47. > :41:54.morning in America. But we have run out of time. You have a great memory
:41:55. > :41:57.for the adverts of Ronald Reagan! I need to get out more. I am just
:41:58. > :42:01.disappointed that will not be a contested election. The amount of
:42:02. > :42:04.work I have done to cover that. Save it for next time. Next to both of
:42:05. > :42:12.you. Now the Americans have they are
:42:13. > :42:13.Super Tuesday and we have our super Thursday. In America they talk of
:42:14. > :42:15.little else. Voters in every part of the UK
:42:16. > :42:18.are going to the polls today. Here's Adam's guide to keeping up
:42:19. > :42:26.with all the results. Make sure you are back from the pub
:42:27. > :42:30.by 11:45pm because that is when the BBC One election programme starts.
:42:31. > :42:34.And we are in for a crazy three days of results. By 3am, we will be in
:42:35. > :42:38.full flow with declarations from many of the seeds of the Scottish
:42:39. > :42:43.Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. Around eight -ish English councils
:42:44. > :42:48.are tempting overnight. -- around 80 English councils are tempting
:42:49. > :42:52.overnight. By mid-morning, more English councils will be declaring.
:42:53. > :42:56.And will be some results from Police And Crime Commissioner is in England
:42:57. > :42:59.and Wales. Crack open your favourite beverage at about five on Friday
:43:00. > :43:05.when we will have information about the votes in Northern Ireland. Might
:43:06. > :43:08.news from City Hall about the London assembly and the blockbuster contest
:43:09. > :43:14.to become the mayor. But don't bet on it. Last time we hung around for
:43:15. > :43:18.hours thanks to a power cut. On Saturday morning, I will be heading
:43:19. > :43:22.out for a run, I promise. In the afternoon, we will get the last few
:43:23. > :43:25.English council results and later on, the results for mayor of
:43:26. > :43:31.Bristol. On Sunday morning it will be time to tune in to your favourite
:43:32. > :43:34.political programmes. But there is still the results to go -- but there
:43:35. > :43:42.are still if you results to go. The final tally for the Northern Ireland
:43:43. > :43:47.tally, and the last count for Bristol. Apparently someone called
:43:48. > :43:49.Robert Preston has a new show on another channel. A shame I can't
:43:50. > :43:51.find the remote. And if you missed any
:43:52. > :43:55.of that, don't worry! We have created our very own handy
:43:56. > :43:59.cut-out-and-keep guide to the election results
:44:00. > :44:01.which will be coming Just to go to our twitter feed
:44:02. > :44:11.or the programme website. In Syria, a temporary
:44:12. > :44:13.ceasefire has been extended A nationwide "cessation
:44:14. > :44:16.of hostilities" was in theory agreed in February but,
:44:17. > :44:18.since then, the violence It's hoped that interested parties
:44:19. > :44:27.will return to Geneva later this month to try and thrash out some
:44:28. > :44:31.sort of lasting settlement. Joining me now is Crispin Blunt,
:44:32. > :44:33.Chairman of the Foreign and Muzna al-Naib from
:44:34. > :44:46.the anti-Assad pressure group Welcome to both of you. Do you think
:44:47. > :44:55.the ceasefire is going to hold? I don't know. The signs are not great.
:44:56. > :44:59.There are reports of barrel bombs today outside of Aleppo. But we have
:45:00. > :45:04.to put the maximum pressure on through the Russians, to make sure
:45:05. > :45:07.that it does hold. There is no alternative here. This has to end
:45:08. > :45:15.with politics. And that means looking at the French proposals to
:45:16. > :45:19.try to bring together the anti-Assad coalition, that needs to be looked
:45:20. > :45:25.at so that they do not fall apart and start fighting each other. There
:45:26. > :45:29.have been reports of vicious biting fighting between those groups. --
:45:30. > :45:33.reports of vicious fighting between those groups. We need to engage with
:45:34. > :45:36.the Russians, the key decision-makers here. They have a
:45:37. > :45:39.decision about how much they are prepared to engage. If they
:45:40. > :45:44.overcommit to resident Assad, they will be in there for a long time.
:45:45. > :45:47.With a scale of commitment that I do not think they want. So they need a
:45:48. > :45:51.deal as much as the rest of us. We will talk about the Russians and how
:45:52. > :45:56.much influence they had two have on the regime but returning to Aleppo,
:45:57. > :46:01.let's talk about the images and pictures, which have been horrendous
:46:02. > :46:06.throughout this conflict. In terms of holding that ceasefire, even
:46:07. > :46:11.though it is very short, there are stories that the regime is still
:46:12. > :46:14.using the fact that they can attack the al-Nusra front, or Islamic
:46:15. > :46:15.State, and actually the violence has not ceased in the way it should have
:46:16. > :46:27.done. Just leaving the ceasefire to
:46:28. > :46:30.President Assad and Russia is a mistake. Opposition groups have been
:46:31. > :46:35.saying for a long time no ceasefire no political solution is going to
:46:36. > :46:39.work without the protection of civilians. If you don't force them
:46:40. > :46:43.to protect the civilians they will not. You are talking to people who
:46:44. > :46:48.are expert in playing games and in killing people. Isn't that the
:46:49. > :46:52.problem that while President Assad is still in play, and while the
:46:53. > :46:56.Russians are the critical players here, there isn't going to be a
:46:57. > :47:00.proper cessation of violence. More civilians will be killed. In a way
:47:01. > :47:05.you were putting pressure on perhaps the only people you can, but not
:47:06. > :47:10.right ones. The Russians have the capacity to put the pressure on
:47:11. > :47:15.President Assad. Do they still have that influence on him? If the
:47:16. > :47:19.Russians decide to depart then he is backing the trouble he was back in
:47:20. > :47:22.last September with his regime teetering on the brink of collapse.
:47:23. > :47:30.That is what brought the Russians and the Iranians in in a way they
:47:31. > :47:34.hadn't been in that conflict before. There has to be a negotiated way out
:47:35. > :47:43.of this. We got quite close to this in November. A mechanism was set up
:47:44. > :47:50.by which there was a route to an end of this. That route actually still
:47:51. > :47:54.exists. Do you agree with that? No, it is not a question about capacity,
:47:55. > :48:00.it is a question of them not being willing to do that. They are being
:48:01. > :48:04.allowed to get away with it. It isn't a question of negotiation. The
:48:05. > :48:08.people on the ground want to negotiate. Even though they are
:48:09. > :48:12.negotiating with killers. The main issue is the killers are not
:48:13. > :48:16.stopping their killing. We are not negotiating and our children are
:48:17. > :48:23.being killed. We want a guarantee from our family from around the
:48:24. > :48:26.world that they will protect us. We are not going to offer ourselves to
:48:27. > :48:37.be killed. We are not going to offer our children to be killed. This is
:48:38. > :48:41.just going over everything that is logical in Syria and simply playing
:48:42. > :48:47.the Russian game. But what does that mean? Because President Assad needs
:48:48. > :48:52.to be moved. He cannot stay in place if there is to be any lasting
:48:53. > :48:58.settlement. As Britain and the US and other Western powers are not
:48:59. > :49:04.willing to commit with the Russians and Iranians around President Assad.
:49:05. > :49:09.That is the reality. How do you protect the civilians? We need to
:49:10. > :49:13.identify our common interests with the Russians who have the capacity
:49:14. > :49:19.to put pressure on President Assad's government. There are common
:49:20. > :49:24.interests. The fight against IS is a common interest. It is a common
:49:25. > :49:28.interest with the non-Islamist resistance in Syria, as it is with
:49:29. > :49:33.all of the people who have turned to President Assad for protection. Is
:49:34. > :49:39.that a common goal that you share, the destruction of the so-called
:49:40. > :49:44.Islamic State? No, because President Assad is coordinating with Isis and
:49:45. > :49:48.we have documents to prove that. And Russia is back in President Assad.
:49:49. > :49:54.How will that work? You are backing the person working with Isis, how
:49:55. > :50:00.will that stop Isis? Don't look at this from what is good for Syria is,
:50:01. > :50:04.have a look at what is good for the British people in defeating Isis. Is
:50:05. > :50:08.backing President Assad going to stop Isis in any way? No, if you
:50:09. > :50:16.want to stop then you have to protect those fighting both Isis and
:50:17. > :50:23.President Assad. -- if you want to stop them. For people like her
:50:24. > :50:27.President Assad is the problem. Yes happened as a result of the
:50:28. > :50:37.brutality. -- of -- Islamic State happened as a
:50:38. > :50:40.result of the brutality. There is a ceasefire in Aleppo, less violence,
:50:41. > :50:47.but people are still being killed. I gave evidence on the subject
:50:48. > :50:51.yesterday. I argued that you have to talk to the Russians. Because they
:50:52. > :50:55.have made themselves a player in this. It is pointless not engaging
:50:56. > :51:00.with them. The rights and wrongs of it have to be sorted out. The second
:51:01. > :51:15.thing I was arguing for was made monetarily in front. -- was for the
:51:16. > :51:19.military front. Anthony Lloyd of the Times was next to me in the
:51:20. > :51:22.committee. He said something I hadn't thought of, the said you have
:51:23. > :51:27.to negotiate with the Russians to get humanitarian aid in. But even
:51:28. > :51:33.people on the ground might shoot at it because they are so angry with us
:51:34. > :51:37.for abandoning them. Are the Russians minded to put pressure on
:51:38. > :51:44.President Assad soon to step down? How much longer? When it suits them.
:51:45. > :51:48.They have already safeguarded their interest, the port in the region. It
:51:49. > :51:53.cannot win but it cannot lose. At some point they will settle. We've
:51:54. > :51:57.been here before. At some point they will settle but it will become
:51:58. > :52:03.placated. The last thing that must be put on the agenda is the arming
:52:04. > :52:06.of the Kurds. We've given them machine guns. We cannot get
:52:07. > :52:09.ammunition to them because it goes through Baghdad. We are not really
:52:10. > :52:12.supporting the Kurds and they are the boots on the ground everybody
:52:13. > :52:16.talks about. Thank you both very much.
:52:17. > :52:20.It has just been confirmed that the Turkish Foreign Minister will be
:52:21. > :52:25.stepping down at his party's conference. That will have
:52:26. > :52:28.ramifications for everybody, including the European Union.
:52:29. > :52:30.Now to the vote that's dominating thoughts in Europe.
:52:31. > :52:33.but Eurovision, which is now just nine days away.
:52:34. > :52:36.And is already beset by controversy, after organisers decided
:52:37. > :52:45.They have linked it to those of ISIS, the Crimea
:52:46. > :52:48.and the Basque Country as states not recognised by the United Nations.
:52:49. > :52:51.Bad enough - especially when you consider one of the duo
:52:52. > :52:54.singing for Britain this year is Welsh.
:52:55. > :52:56.But first, let's take you back to happier times,
:52:57. > :52:59.when Bonnie Tyler was belting out Believe in Me in 2013.
:53:00. > :53:02.See if you can spot the Welsh flag in the audience!
:53:03. > :53:05.# In the dark of the night, in the middle of the fight
:53:06. > :53:08.# When you're reaching out for something and there's nothing
:53:09. > :53:20.# Yeah, believe in the way I look at you
:53:21. > :53:24.# The way I speak the truth I'd never lie to you
:53:25. > :53:27.# If you'd just believe in the things your eyes can see
:53:28. > :53:41.We asked for a representative from Eurovision to come on but they
:53:42. > :53:50.declined. They told us they aimed to keep your vision free from political
:53:51. > :54:01.statement and only allowed National flags and rainbow flags.
:54:02. > :54:14.French was our representatives in 2000. How did feel about having the
:54:15. > :54:14.Welsh flag banned? It is a real downer.
:54:15. > :54:18.CHUCKLES I thought you might say that. We
:54:19. > :54:24.rarely achieved the big-time in Wales. And here we are, representing
:54:25. > :54:29.the UK, and they are lumping us in with Isis, Northern Cyprus,
:54:30. > :54:35.Palestine, and other politically sensitive areas. What is interesting
:54:36. > :54:39.is they are allowing the EU flag. Given what is going on in this
:54:40. > :54:43.country at the moment, is there anything more political than the
:54:44. > :54:51.youth flag? This is a personal slight to the people of Wales, isn't
:54:52. > :54:54.it? It is a snub to the people of Wales. Nicki French, how important
:54:55. > :55:01.is it to see your country's flag-waving when you are performing?
:55:02. > :55:13.I still remember the day of the contest. It is being held in the
:55:14. > :55:22.same place where I performed. The global arena is in the same place as
:55:23. > :55:26.your Hotel. It is all the same complex. As soon as people start
:55:27. > :55:32.waving flags, and suddenly when I saw the union Jack it very special.
:55:33. > :55:37.You and your countrymen and women will not have that facility, what
:55:38. > :55:42.will you do instead? This will be the first occasion that I will
:55:43. > :55:43.actually watch the Eurovision Song contest.
:55:44. > :55:50.CHUCKLES And I will be waving my red Dragon,
:55:51. > :55:56.as will everybody else across Wales. What about the guys performing?
:55:57. > :56:02.There are loads of flags in that audience nowadays. There have been
:56:03. > :56:07.problems with flags over the years. In 2000 the Israelis wanted to wave
:56:08. > :56:11.a Syrian flag at the end of their performance. That all came to blows.
:56:12. > :56:13.CHUCKLES The Israeli delegation almost
:56:14. > :56:22.boycotted them because they did not want it happening. In the end they
:56:23. > :56:26.compromised. It does not fit the criteria, the Welsh flag, from what
:56:27. > :56:31.I understand, but it is not officially banned. The result is the
:56:32. > :56:36.same, I think, even if the semantics are slightly different. Your next
:56:37. > :56:43.book is about flags, Tim, it is a sensitive issue, politically, isn't
:56:44. > :56:49.it? My next book is called Worth Dying For because people think it
:56:50. > :56:55.is. And's introduction talked about the Welsh flag and Isis flag and
:56:56. > :57:04.made no mention of the Scottish Saltire. But it isn't in the Song
:57:05. > :57:10.contest. Neither is Wales. The red Dragon is our national flag and it
:57:11. > :57:18.should be there. But they are not singing for Wales. It should be
:57:19. > :57:23.represented. Moving on. Somebody will try and smuggle in an offensive
:57:24. > :57:26.flag now the story is out there. I have the rules. Confiscated flags
:57:27. > :57:31.and banners will not be returned, so don't turn up with one because you
:57:32. > :57:36.will not get it back. Anyone bringing in an offensive flag, not
:57:37. > :57:39.my criteria, may be removed. So there could be more controversy at
:57:40. > :57:44.the Song contest. What will you do to remedy this? I have already
:57:45. > :57:46.tabled a question to John Whittingdale, so I am looking
:57:47. > :57:51.forward to a reply. CHUCKLES
:57:52. > :57:58.He should take an interest. This is one of our national flags. I think
:57:59. > :58:07.it is quite disgraceful that it is not being recognised by the European
:58:08. > :58:11.broadcasters. We have to leave it now. I will be watching, Andrew,
:58:12. > :58:13.will you be watching? Are you mad?
:58:14. > :58:20.LAUGHTER Thanks to all of our guests. The one
:58:21. > :58:36.o'clock news will be starting over on BBC One now.
:58:37. > :58:43.Daily Politics will not be on tomorrow. I shall be returning on
:58:44. > :58:47.Sunday on BBC One. Hopefully we can give you a more considered, rounded
:58:48. > :58:52.picture, with all of the results in. I hope you can join all of us for
:58:53. > :58:55.the BBC coverage. Goodbye.