:00:27. > :00:28.Hello and welcome to Dateline London.
:00:29. > :00:32.With Brexit talks about to restart, has the blizzard of British
:00:33. > :00:34.policy papers dazzled or dazed the Europeans?
:00:35. > :00:36.Is China open to discussion or is the mood darkening
:00:37. > :00:40.And could there be regime change in the Gulf state of Qatar?
:00:41. > :00:44.Henry Chu, international editor of Variety,
:00:45. > :00:48.the writer and broadcaster Isabel Hilton, editor of China Dialogue,
:00:49. > :00:49.the Portuguese writer Eunice Goes,
:00:50. > :00:57.and Abdel Bari Atwan, writer on Arab affairs.
:00:58. > :00:59.A warm welcome and thanks for being with us.
:01:00. > :01:01.British laws made by British judges -
:01:02. > :01:03.one of the themes those who wanted Britain out
:01:04. > :01:07.Yet, the Government said this week it may not be quite
:01:08. > :01:09.so straightforward to free us from the European Court
:01:10. > :01:13.When the negotiators reconvene in a few days' time
:01:14. > :01:15.after their summer break, they'll have before them
:01:16. > :01:17.a series of position papers from the British team to absorb,
:01:18. > :01:20.on subjects including immigration, the Irish border and the Court.
:01:21. > :01:26.Eunice, have the Europeans been impressed?
:01:27. > :01:35.Well, they have been somehow optimistic about a sudden outbreak
:01:36. > :01:38.of realism from the British Government. On the other hand, these
:01:39. > :01:44.position papers were strange because they were dismal position papers
:01:45. > :01:48.without positions, just kind of scenarios and the British Government
:01:49. > :01:53.has no position. But there are some signs of well, realism, in the sense
:01:54. > :01:56.that the British Government is ready to continue to contribute to the
:01:57. > :02:01.budget of the European union for as long as it is a member of the EU.
:02:02. > :02:04.There has also been movement, welcome movement in the area of the
:02:05. > :02:09.authority of the European Court of Justice, and I think it is going to
:02:10. > :02:15.be arranged. There are also interesting noises about Britain
:02:16. > :02:18.wanting to have a deep and special relationship with the European
:02:19. > :02:23.Union, wanting to have also a special and deep relationship, a
:02:24. > :02:26.trade relationship with the EU. Wanting to replicate the customs
:02:27. > :02:32.union and so on. The noises pointer a kind of membership of the single
:02:33. > :02:38.market but this also happens at the same time as the Home Office sending
:02:39. > :02:42.deportation letters to European citizens, so the studies of European
:02:43. > :02:45.citizens has not yet been sorted. And the European Union and Britain
:02:46. > :02:52.have not yet agreed about the process of the negotiations. The
:02:53. > :02:58.European union would like to start with finding a solution for the
:02:59. > :03:02.budget, and the status of European citizens and the Irish border and
:03:03. > :03:05.the British Government wants to negotiate the future of the
:03:06. > :03:08.relationship. This business of the Irish border is
:03:09. > :03:11.interesting because one of the things that Britain was talking
:03:12. > :03:14.about in that context was how goods and people and services might be
:03:15. > :03:18.traded across the border once Britain is out of the European Union
:03:19. > :03:22.and of course the Republic of Ireland remains in because there is
:03:23. > :03:25.that land border. And the Europeans said we are not talking about that
:03:26. > :03:29.because it is about the trade relationship. Any sense, there are
:03:30. > :03:32.distinction is artificial and bit and we must talk about the divorce
:03:33. > :03:36.before we talk about what comes after.
:03:37. > :03:40.Let's not pretend either side is a paragon of virtue in this
:03:41. > :03:44.discussion. Both sides are perhaps also trying to stake out maximalist
:03:45. > :03:49.positions, which is part and parcel of a negotiating process. This
:03:50. > :03:54.remains me in some ways of backing the presidential campaign in the US,
:03:55. > :03:57.when people said, we shouldn't take trouble literally but figuratively
:03:58. > :04:00.or make the mistake of doing it the other way about. Sometimes with
:04:01. > :04:05.negotiations like this we can get stuck on literal statements that
:04:06. > :04:10.perhaps figuratively mean something else, and so I agree with Younis
:04:11. > :04:17.that there is a sign of moderation of more realistic notions of what
:04:18. > :04:22.the relationship should be. In terms of Ireland, you know, that is such a
:04:23. > :04:26.vexed situation from its political and religious sectarian history, and
:04:27. > :04:31.that has to be grappled with by both the EU and Britain. It is not in the
:04:32. > :04:36.EU interest that there should be any friction among that border or any
:04:37. > :04:41.outbreak of unrest that could jeopardise the piece that has been
:04:42. > :04:45.fragile. And both sides need to be really realistic when they come to
:04:46. > :04:50.questions like that. Isabel Hilton, do you hear realism
:04:51. > :04:52.in the political debate back in the UK?
:04:53. > :04:56.And observation that the position papers are without positions is spot
:04:57. > :05:00.on, because we know the Government has great difficulty in arriving at
:05:01. > :05:06.a position. And the trajectory by which we got here was a series of
:05:07. > :05:11.promises of opportunity and little discussion of who bears what pain?
:05:12. > :05:15.And we are in negotiations, what the pain is and how big it is going to
:05:16. > :05:20.be and how it is shared will be the big political issue, done by a weak
:05:21. > :05:24.Prime Minister with a slim majority and divided Cabinet. I think we are
:05:25. > :05:28.going to hear a lot of magical thinking, still, on the domestic
:05:29. > :05:32.British front, because she... The Prime Minister is not ready to have
:05:33. > :05:36.that conversation, and it will be a tough one.
:05:37. > :05:39.So, notwithstanding the negotiations themselves, in terms of domestic
:05:40. > :05:43.British politics, it could be fractious.
:05:44. > :05:46.It could be fractious and I think we will go on seeing this ball kicked
:05:47. > :05:52.down the road, this can take down the road. We have roughly a year and
:05:53. > :05:56.it will not happen. The most important thing is the lack
:05:57. > :06:00.of trust between this Government and the European Union. The people of
:06:01. > :06:09.Brussels don't trust Theresa May at all. And it was absolutely right to
:06:10. > :06:14.say this is a weak Government. They lost the majority in the parliament.
:06:15. > :06:18.The pound is losing its ground, about 25%. Britain is actually about
:06:19. > :06:21.to lose its greatest trade partner. So I believe it is the curse of
:06:22. > :06:25.Brexit... Are we going to lose a? B point
:06:26. > :06:28.Brexiteers make is that in the end the trading relationship is so
:06:29. > :06:31.strong and well established that it is in no interest to jeopardise
:06:32. > :06:36.that. But you have to keep the good
:06:37. > :06:39.relations. The problem now, when it's a lack trust, Europeans say,
:06:40. > :06:46.let us talk about the cost this divorce. It is ?74 million. Let's
:06:47. > :06:53.agree on it. Billion.
:06:54. > :06:57.Sorry, billion. 74 billion. Briton shot itself in the foot by
:06:58. > :07:02.saying it does not want to be part of the single market or a part of
:07:03. > :07:05.the customs union. When you are outside these aspects of the
:07:06. > :07:10.European integration project, you are essentially killing of business
:07:11. > :07:14.opportunities, but also creating problems in Ireland. The question
:07:15. > :07:18.with the Irish border, the problem is created by the British position,
:07:19. > :07:23.the British stance. Yes, we want a fresh in this border but we are out
:07:24. > :07:26.of the single market and out of the customs union... It is not possible.
:07:27. > :07:31.Like as you said, trying to create a new potential customs union between
:07:32. > :07:34.just as and the EU, and this issue of direct jurisdiction of the
:07:35. > :07:41.European Court of Justice, that will end with some role for the court
:07:42. > :07:46.remaining? You talk about a bunch, but these blurring things, could
:07:47. > :07:51.they be enough to get us do it? They have such emotional resonance
:07:52. > :07:55.amongst the Brexiteers here that this is the problem. If you have a
:07:56. > :07:59.major trading relationship with a block like the European Union, you
:08:00. > :08:03.need some means of arbitrating disputes. You can't have it. If you
:08:04. > :08:09.and I were to do a contract, we would agree who would arbitrate and
:08:10. > :08:12.if there was a dispute, so depending European Court of Justice as a great
:08:13. > :08:15.imposing dominant thing which imposes laws is nonsense, but you
:08:16. > :08:19.can't rule that back with the group that Theresa May as the biggest
:08:20. > :08:25.problem with, the hardline Brexiteers in her own Cabinet.
:08:26. > :08:28.Some have been making a bit of noise in a mollified direction saying
:08:29. > :08:33.that, look, it is not direct jurisdiction. There will be some
:08:34. > :08:36.kind of dispute resolution mechanism and European judges will perhaps be
:08:37. > :08:40.involved, but not the same as being under the thumb of... I agree the
:08:41. > :08:44.rhetoric has been so strident that to get anything that seems to climb
:08:45. > :08:49.away from that position is dangerous ground, but in the end, as you say,
:08:50. > :08:54.politics is the art of compromise. Some of this is going to have to be
:08:55. > :08:56.compromised, eight fudge or compromise.
:08:57. > :08:57.We will stay on the question of compromise...
:08:58. > :08:59.The world's oldest publisher, Cambridge University Press,
:09:00. > :09:02.found itself caught between the lure of entering China and the rigour
:09:03. > :09:05.Earlier this month, it accepted a request from Beijing that
:09:06. > :09:07.politically sensitive articles on its "China Quarterly"
:09:08. > :09:10.A few days a go, it reversed that decision.
:09:11. > :09:12.Taken with other instances of a Government crackdown on free
:09:13. > :09:17.Isabel, tell us about the press case and why people are worried
:09:18. > :09:23.that it may be a harbinger of things to come.
:09:24. > :09:27.Tell us about the other things perhaps beginning to make people
:09:28. > :09:31.notice. Cambridge University press the
:09:32. > :09:34.publisher of the China Quarterly, a respected academic journal which
:09:35. > :09:39.actually comes out of the School of Oriental and African studies. They
:09:40. > :09:43.are the publisher but the content is produced elsewhere. When they
:09:44. > :09:47.announced as a big company they had removed 300 articles from the
:09:48. > :09:49.website at the request of the Chinese authorities, still not
:09:50. > :09:56.absolutely clear which authorities... Also 1000 e-books had
:09:57. > :10:01.been removed. This was a major purge. There was a howl of outrage
:10:02. > :10:06.from the academic community. But this is, you know, a row that has
:10:07. > :10:10.broken out in four or five years into a tightening in China,
:10:11. > :10:13.increasing censorship, increasing ideological control from the Chinese
:10:14. > :10:17.authority, and an increasing boldness from the Chinese
:10:18. > :10:22.Government. As China gets stronger, not only is the party capable of
:10:23. > :10:28.imposing its view of history, its narrow ideological intellectual
:10:29. > :10:33.traditions on China, but it can impose them on the rest of the
:10:34. > :10:37.world. So, if you want to publish in China, as newspapers have found, you
:10:38. > :10:40.have to weigh your international reputation against what you see as
:10:41. > :10:45.your market opportunity. The New York Times, for example, when they
:10:46. > :10:49.publish those big takeout on the corruption and the Private Wealth of
:10:50. > :10:53.the leading members of the party, immediately blocked in China. At the
:10:54. > :10:55.backed down, they would have suffered a tremendous loss to their
:10:56. > :11:00.international reputation, and that was what Cambridge University press
:11:01. > :11:05.was facing. They made the wrong call, as it turned out, and have
:11:06. > :11:12.suffered a lot of reputational damage. It goes further. Chinese
:11:13. > :11:15.authorities routinely out academics from international conferences, not
:11:16. > :11:20.only in China, but they try to stop them presenting papers in
:11:21. > :11:26.conferences elsewhere, and in the academic community there has been
:11:27. > :11:29.mounting alarm that the Chinese commerce party is attempting to
:11:30. > :11:35.impose one view of history to completely exclude a whole bunch of
:11:36. > :11:39.topics like Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen Square, cultural Revolution, because
:11:40. > :11:46.the party has to maintain its position in China which says, we are
:11:47. > :11:52.going to rule China forever and this is why. And that means excluding all
:11:53. > :11:56.negative past his story, and everyone is expected to swallow it.
:11:57. > :12:00.What the West must decide is, are we going to swallow this?
:12:01. > :12:05.I find troubling about this Cambridge University Press case that
:12:06. > :12:09.even blocking western media, whether the New York Times or the other
:12:10. > :12:13.publications, that has been ongoing for years, so nothing new, but when
:12:14. > :12:17.I lived in China 15 years ago those sites were blocked. 15 years ago
:12:18. > :12:19.academic freedom is beginning to actually flower. This was an area
:12:20. > :12:25.where it seemed that there could be real cooperation and real delving
:12:26. > :12:31.into issues between China and outside. With that taken in, that it
:12:32. > :12:36.real sign that this new regime is not blocking any kind of dissent or
:12:37. > :12:40.different view than what it wants to put forward. -- it is not allowing
:12:41. > :12:44.any kind of dissent. The fact there is this kind of party conference,
:12:45. > :12:49.the 90th anniversary of the funding of the liberation Army, all that is
:12:50. > :12:52.contributing to this ideological construction, that some people are
:12:53. > :12:56.hopefully saying will then be loosened after this is over. I don't
:12:57. > :13:01.think so. They have a regime that does insist on ideological purity
:13:02. > :13:06.and we will see more of it. You set for five years, which more
:13:07. > :13:10.or less put us at the time when the president they took office. It is
:13:11. > :13:17.very much driven by his perspective. There have been leaks of documents,
:13:18. > :13:20.the notorious document nine which somebody went to jail for a licking,
:13:21. > :13:26.and explicit rejection of Western values, as they call it. But
:13:27. > :13:28.included rule of law, and the nihilistic view of history, a
:13:29. > :13:35.freedom to explore history from any angle. It included freedom of
:13:36. > :13:41.speech. You know, those are explicit enemies of the party, as the party
:13:42. > :13:44.sees it. It is returning to, kind of, some principles in a bizarre
:13:45. > :13:48.way. One area where this has perhaps
:13:49. > :13:51.caused consternation is in Hong Kong, and there has always been a
:13:52. > :13:56.debate about how one country chooses to function. Britain is supposed to
:13:57. > :14:00.be a cold guarantor of Hong Kong's freedom, and that it continues to
:14:01. > :14:04.cooperate under this system. Is Britain making enough of that role,
:14:05. > :14:08.do you think? Is Britain's picking up enough on these issues? A lot of
:14:09. > :14:11.the dissidents there can complain they can't even get a spate of
:14:12. > :14:15.British ministers even if they come to Britain.
:14:16. > :14:19.I believe it is not. I don't believe Britain is doing it all here. I
:14:20. > :14:24.believe they are staying away gradually from Hong Kong and even
:14:25. > :14:28.China. Now China is a strong power, it is the second-biggest economy in
:14:29. > :14:31.the world, and they are gaining confidence now. They would like to
:14:32. > :14:39.send a message, look, here we are. For the first time, China used the
:14:40. > :14:45.Security Council its times. So, before... Tens of years ago they
:14:46. > :14:50.never involved themselves in any international crisis. They stayed
:14:51. > :14:57.away, either abstained or even not to take any action at all. So now
:14:58. > :15:00.the message is very clear. We are not a Western democracy. We don't
:15:01. > :15:04.believe in western democracy. We have our own way to handle things.
:15:05. > :15:08.And either you respect that or go to hell. That is the message, very
:15:09. > :15:16.clear. I have had experience with them, they published, Beijing
:15:17. > :15:19.University press publish my book. And they don't care. After ten years
:15:20. > :15:24.of publishing the book, now they realise that there is this book...
:15:25. > :15:28.Maybe they like it already... I don't know about the message is very
:15:29. > :15:34.clear. We are not democracy. We are not Western democracy. It worked for
:15:35. > :15:37.us, now we are the second biggest power on earth so why not? That is
:15:38. > :15:43.the message. This nervousness is to do with their
:15:44. > :15:47.not clear what they are. Are they a commune is party state? They don't
:15:48. > :15:51.look like a Communist Party. Redistribution of wealth upwards and
:15:52. > :15:55.downwards? There are kind of state capitalist so they have we Birgitta
:15:56. > :15:59.a lot of imperial traditions they used to denigrate and despise. --
:16:00. > :16:01.they have reverted to imperial traditions anyway.
:16:02. > :16:04.A long history that predates the Communist Party. If there is a big
:16:05. > :16:10.cultural that we in the West have not fully grasped? Or is that an
:16:11. > :16:13.excuse? It is about modernity and
:16:14. > :16:17.modernisation. For 100 years China has been arguing with itself about
:16:18. > :16:23.who owns the state, ever since the 1911 Revolution. On the streets in
:16:24. > :16:28.1911 people were calling for Mr science and Mr democracy and they
:16:29. > :16:32.still are 100 years later. The other interesting and perhaps
:16:33. > :16:36.worrying aspect of all of this is that since China joined the WTO,
:16:37. > :16:39.there was a great hope that very soon China would become a democracy
:16:40. > :16:43.and capitalism would bring democracy and so on. Actually what is
:16:44. > :16:47.happening is that China is transforming the West. The West is
:16:48. > :16:48.not very assertive in its dealings with China.
:16:49. > :16:52.We are allowing ourselves to be transformed by China?
:16:53. > :16:57.We are and it is shocking the number of media companies who have not only
:16:58. > :17:00.bowed to the requests of censorship coming from the Chinese Government,
:17:01. > :17:06.but actually have helped the Chinese Government to arrest dissidents.
:17:07. > :17:10.Yahoo is a case in point. It is worrying where an academic
:17:11. > :17:15.publisher, who is supposed to be a little bit above profit-making,
:17:16. > :17:24.which they are clearly not, is ready to read Vogue any claims to be a
:17:25. > :17:27.defender of academic freedom -- it is ready to revoke any claims to be
:17:28. > :17:34.a defender of academic freedom. The economy plays a major role. Look
:17:35. > :17:37.at Shanghai or other cities, prospering, a huge market. Many
:17:38. > :17:41.people think twice before taking any steps which... Even the British
:17:42. > :17:46.Government here know it is a dictatorship and they are banning
:17:47. > :17:50.the press. They know they are arresting dissidents but despite
:17:51. > :17:55.that they would like to do business. I would not actually be surprised
:17:56. > :17:59.if, for example, Cambridge University and we have good business
:18:00. > :18:01.with them, I am not surprised... The governments are doing the
:18:02. > :18:09.universities do so. The reality is if you read up on
:18:10. > :18:12.this from now on there will be less access to that market for foreign
:18:13. > :18:16.companies. The dream of the Chinese market, which the Chinese have used
:18:17. > :18:25.to devastating effect, to get their way, is actually fading. We sell
:18:26. > :18:30.three times as much to Ireland as China. Let's kowtow to Ireland
:18:31. > :18:33.instead. China's economic development is undeniable, and
:18:34. > :18:35.because of the place it is around the world, it has been able to
:18:36. > :18:39.marking are just as economic model but its political model as well. You
:18:40. > :18:42.say it has been influencing the Western also influencing other
:18:43. > :18:47.countries, whether it is to hear other part of Asia who say, look, we
:18:48. > :18:50.can become economic prosperity without liberalisation and that is
:18:51. > :18:53.dangerous. A massive role in Africa.
:18:54. > :18:57.Do take that long view you were talking about, China loves to go on
:18:58. > :19:01.about its 5000 year history, even to take the last 100 years that Isabel
:19:02. > :19:06.was pointing out, from 1911 onwards. Anyone who studies China knows that
:19:07. > :19:08.there are periods of tightening and periods of liberalising and periods
:19:09. > :19:12.of tightening. I don't know that I would feel very confident in making
:19:13. > :19:15.any kind of production in 20 years from now where we will be. Will it
:19:16. > :19:19.have tightened further or will it have undergone another
:19:20. > :19:22.liberalisation? Hard to say. And maybe that's it becomes the mind
:19:23. > :19:25.about the Chinese politician who was asked about the outcome of the
:19:26. > :19:28.French Revolution, it's too soon to say. We talked
:19:29. > :19:30.We've talked before on Dateline London about
:19:31. > :19:33.the standoff between a number of Gulf States and Qatar.
:19:34. > :19:35.Abdel Bari has been watching this closely for us.
:19:36. > :19:37.You're detecting signs of regime change -
:19:38. > :19:43.who wants to bring that about, and why?
:19:44. > :19:48.It is very dangerous. Now the conflict started with a media war
:19:49. > :19:53.between Saudi Arabia and its allies against Qatar. They presented about
:19:54. > :19:58.13 demands for Qatar to apply or else. One of them, closing
:19:59. > :20:03.al-Jazeera, the other to stop financing and supporting the Muslim
:20:04. > :20:09.Terrorism. Terrorism. There is a huge step now
:20:10. > :20:14.for word for a regime change in Qatar. It seems that all mediation
:20:15. > :20:26.between the two sides held completely, so now the arena is
:20:27. > :20:31.grooming another prince from the royal family, and they have another
:20:32. > :20:33.prince and they think he should replace the Royal family. This is
:20:34. > :20:39.the most dangerous things. This happens, how they will sink into
:20:40. > :20:43.power, for example, reinstate him in power? Because he belongs to the
:20:44. > :20:50.founder of Qatar... The Royal family, he is part of it. How they
:20:51. > :20:53.are going to do it? Either planning for an internal military coup or
:20:54. > :21:01.political revolution a popular revolution? Are going to carry him
:21:02. > :21:05.to go higher, for example, to rule the country. We don't know yet. The
:21:06. > :21:10.most important thing, the Saudi are furious and very serious and now
:21:11. > :21:17.they are giving this man of the authority. They are creating, you
:21:18. > :21:20.know, a parallel Government... So it is extremely dangerous.
:21:21. > :21:25.How well Qataris respond to that? There were reports after this,
:21:26. > :21:28.dictation began that the emir was becoming like a pop star on the
:21:29. > :21:33.streets of the capital, that people were putting up his portrait and
:21:34. > :21:38.singing his praises, that they admired him, and taking a stand
:21:39. > :21:41.against this pressure from outside. Has that changed?
:21:42. > :21:47.It has not changed. There are no traces of changes but we have to
:21:48. > :21:52.remember that it is a tribal society, a tribal country, and these
:21:53. > :21:54.tribes are divided, between Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the Emirates
:21:55. > :22:00.and they have roots there. They could play on the tribal nerve here
:22:01. > :22:04.and it could also split, as I said, the Royal family. There are always
:22:05. > :22:10.disputes in these royal families. There is another one outside power.
:22:11. > :22:14.And Qatar, for example, witnessed more than three or four military
:22:15. > :22:19.coups or political coups, so we don't know what will happen. So it
:22:20. > :22:22.is really deadly serious. Qatar is now under blockade and Al Jazeera is
:22:23. > :22:28.now launching a huge war against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
:22:29. > :22:33.Emirates and Egypt also. Whether they succeed are not, we don't know,
:22:34. > :22:38.but the outcome is a mess. This part of the world is to be the most
:22:39. > :22:46.stable part. It is very well become a very... The people are the same
:22:47. > :22:50.attitudes, the same attitudes, the same background, but for the first
:22:51. > :22:53.time there is an earthquake hitting the whole area and where it will
:22:54. > :23:05.last we don't know. I will give you one example. If you tweet
:23:06. > :23:08.sympathising with Qatar, if you are in United Arab Emirates you could be
:23:09. > :23:13.imprisoned for ten or 15 years, with a huge fine, maybe a million. Things
:23:14. > :23:18.are really developing to the worst. Short of actually developing a
:23:19. > :23:20.Government in exile, or preparing a Government takeover, there are other
:23:21. > :23:25.things these four countries can do which they have not done yet. For
:23:26. > :23:29.example, imposing formal sanctions are going further. They have not yet
:23:30. > :23:33.taken that route. It seems it is a stand-off at the moment, that there
:23:34. > :23:36.is no upper hand on either side. I don't know that there is a good
:23:37. > :23:42.outcome necessarily, but it hasn't escalated to the point yet, it
:23:43. > :23:46.seems, where... Will it come to terrorism? All these
:23:47. > :23:51.countries actually were financing and supporting some kind of
:23:52. > :23:56.terrorism in Iraq, in Syria, Libya. This is not the problem... The real
:23:57. > :24:01.problem which is facing them, you know, Qatar is a small nation,
:24:02. > :24:04.300,000. The population of Qatar 's 300,000, and one of the richest
:24:05. > :24:10.countries on earth. A wealth fund which spends huge
:24:11. > :24:13.amount of money in European countries.
:24:14. > :24:16.They have about $320 billion in their sovereign funds they are rich
:24:17. > :24:20.and they know how to buy their own people to make them happy. The
:24:21. > :24:27.problem is the blockade is starting to hurt... It is starting change and
:24:28. > :24:33.people are now saying, OK, why shall we be besieged? Saudi Arabia and its
:24:34. > :24:38.allies, Egypt and Bahrain and Arab Emirates, they are saying, we have
:24:39. > :24:43.time. We are well established and we have also... Qatar is besieged...
:24:44. > :24:48.I think we have to be a bit careful with all this talk, because the
:24:49. > :24:52.potential of instability, it is absolutely huge. There is no
:24:53. > :24:54.guarantee whatsoever, at least perhaps what the Saudis have to dig
:24:55. > :25:00.about, that the population of Qatar is going to support it brings that
:25:01. > :25:04.is a stooge of the Saudis. It is likely that actually the actual
:25:05. > :25:08.population will support the current in the year. On the other aspect of
:25:09. > :25:13.all of this is the original implications... Of this instability.
:25:14. > :25:18.We have on one hand Qatar being supported by Turkey, Iran, there is
:25:19. > :25:23.a strengthening of the relationship with Iran. And Israel is on the side
:25:24. > :25:31.more or less of the Saudis, but there were previous relationships
:25:32. > :25:32.with Qatar, so it is cutely contradicted the potential for
:25:33. > :25:38.instability. Be sure effect has driven Qatar
:25:39. > :25:43.closer into the arms of restoring diplomatic relations... I wonder,
:25:44. > :25:47.had President John's visit to Saudi Arabia not given such explicit
:25:48. > :25:53.encouragement to this action, whether we might not... -- President
:25:54. > :25:59.John's visit to Saudi Arabia... I believe they gave the green light.
:26:00. > :26:05.-- President Trump. He said, I have got jobs for you...
:26:06. > :26:07.We'll must leave it there. Thank you all very much.
:26:08. > :26:09.Do join us again next week, same time, same place,
:26:10. > :26:33.but, for now, thank you for watching and goodbye.
:26:34. > :26:35.Now let's take a look at the weather.
:26:36. > :26:39.There may be a few showers, a few splashes of rain in the UK
:26:40. > :26:43.over the next few days, but given the fact it is the weekend
:26:44. > :26:46.and an extended weekend and what we've had so far this