:00:13. > :00:16.Is today the day the coalition started to fall apart. Nick Clegg
:00:16. > :00:21.accuses the Conservatives of breaking the contract between the
:00:21. > :00:25.two parties over House of Lords reform, and freezes MPs to go ahead
:00:25. > :00:29.and scupper Tory plans for boundary changes. In this tit for tat war,
:00:29. > :00:33.has whatever trust there once was now gone for good. The deputy
:00:33. > :00:38.leader of the Lib Dems, a story MP and a Labour Lord will tell us
:00:38. > :00:45.whether they think the coalition has hit the skids.
:00:45. > :00:50.Assad sad forces pound Aleppo, a Sunni Prime Minister defects and
:00:50. > :00:58.joins the rebellion. Diplomacy asphaltered, the indications on the
:00:58. > :01:04.ground -- has faltered and the indications on the ground is things
:01:04. > :01:08.are getting worse. A year ago the sound of breaking
:01:08. > :01:14.glass, now the sound of medals, are we living in a different kind of
:01:14. > :01:20.country a year on? Indignant, slighted, sulky, there
:01:20. > :01:27.was lots of ways to interp pret Nick Clegg today, faul calling a
:01:27. > :01:31.mere lover'sive is not one of them. This is a big falling out. The
:01:31. > :01:35.deputy PM is angry that David Cameron won't coral his
:01:35. > :01:39.backbenchers, and he lashed out and said the Tories had broken their
:01:39. > :01:42.coalition contract, and said Liberal Democrats will turn their
:01:42. > :01:47.back on legislation to cut the number of MPs in parliament. Our we
:01:47. > :01:57.report, the fight, the timing and the territory all point to a deeper
:01:57. > :01:58.
:01:58. > :02:02.political malaise. They have been learning at the feet of masters
:02:02. > :02:05.this summer, despite ring side seats for them all, the coalition
:02:05. > :02:09.Government seem not to have absorbed the olympian ethos, it is
:02:09. > :02:16.not the winning that counts, but the taking part, right? This summer
:02:16. > :02:19.Tories and Lib Dems have unwittingly turned the max sim
:02:20. > :02:25.upside down, for coalition politics now, it doesn't seem the taking
:02:25. > :02:32.part in Government that counts, but winning with your own party.
:02:32. > :02:38.Elegant gold rooms, backed with journalism's Usain Bolt, are rarely
:02:38. > :02:43.convened in the summer. But David Cameron' shelfing of Lords reform
:02:43. > :02:47.weeks ahead of schedule heralded a new day in the coalition. After two
:02:47. > :02:51.years we don't have the Commons majority to ensure this bill
:02:51. > :02:54.progresses through parliament. It is obvious the bill's opponents
:02:54. > :02:57.would now seek to inflict on it a slow death. The coalition partners
:02:58. > :03:02.have been miffed by each other before, but it was what he went on
:03:02. > :03:07.to say that is materially new. Liberal Democrats are proving
:03:07. > :03:11.ourselves to be a mature and competent party of Government. But
:03:11. > :03:18.the Conservative Party is not honouring the commitment to Lords
:03:18. > :03:21.reform. As a result part of our contract has now been broken.
:03:21. > :03:27.Clearly, I cannot permit a situation where Conservative rebels
:03:27. > :03:31.can pick and choose the parts of the contract they like, while
:03:31. > :03:36.Liberal Democrat MPs are bound to the entire agreement. So I have
:03:36. > :03:41.told the Prime Minister that when, in due course, parliament votes on
:03:41. > :03:45.boundary changes for the 2015 election, Liberal Democrats in
:03:45. > :03:48.parliament will oppose them. Blocking boundary reforms, the
:03:48. > :03:52.moves that reduce constituency numbers and reshape Britain's
:03:52. > :03:56.political map now makes it harder for the Conservatives to win a
:03:56. > :04:01.majority. But the tit for tat is more about how the coalition works
:04:01. > :04:04.than the policy that now looks like it has died. No sooner had Nick
:04:04. > :04:08.Clegg pronounced, than Conservative MPs pointed out that his new
:04:08. > :04:11.settlement allowed his ministers to break the Code of Conduct,
:04:11. > :04:15.something their ministers had not been allowed to do. I think that
:04:15. > :04:20.people will be drawing conclusions about the principles that the
:04:20. > :04:25.liberals are operating on. On the Lords reform rebellion, which was
:04:25. > :04:29.obviously smaller than the liberal rebellion on tuition fees, our PPS
:04:29. > :04:32.has resigned -- resigned, they did that on principle, they thought it
:04:32. > :04:35.was the right thing to do, they couldn't go through the coalition
:04:35. > :04:39.lobby on that night. The liberals are not really getting that. They
:04:39. > :04:43.are part of this coalition Government, they need to support
:04:43. > :04:46.the coalition Government, so their behaviour is, yes, very odd.
:04:46. > :04:51.The Deputy Prime Minister does not operate in a vacuum, or if he does
:04:51. > :04:53.it is one sucking him towards the annual gathering of his
:04:53. > :04:58.increasingly depressed activists at party conference. Figureheads on
:04:58. > :05:00.the left are clear what he must do. Boundaries are the bare minimum,
:05:00. > :05:03.nobody should be surprised that Liberal Democrats won't support the
:05:03. > :05:07.boundary reforms now, they were part of a package that included
:05:07. > :05:10.House of Lords reform. Yeah, this is just the beginning. The
:05:10. > :05:14.coalition agreement has been broken, it is an historic moment. It is the
:05:14. > :05:18.first time that the coalition agreement has been challenged, and
:05:18. > :05:21.it is by the Conservatives, they are the one that is have failed to
:05:21. > :05:24.deliver on what was supposed to be a programme for Government. Now,
:05:25. > :05:29.all gloves are off. The Liberal Democrats can choose what they want
:05:29. > :05:32.and what they don't want, and I think you could see some issues
:05:32. > :05:36.which we thought had been passed, for example, the NHS bill, there is
:05:36. > :05:40.still secondary legislation to come. No reason why we can't oppose that
:05:40. > :05:45.now if we choose to. You will eLiberal Democrats putting forward
:05:45. > :05:47.new ideas which weren't in the coalition agreement much more. And
:05:47. > :05:51.selecting bits of the coalition agreement they like and saying, you
:05:51. > :05:55.know what, we don't have to do what you ask us to any more, because you
:05:55. > :05:59.haven't kept your side of the bargain. What about that general
:05:59. > :06:03.election? Any sooner? It's still something that both sides try to
:06:03. > :06:07.warn each other off. The Tories say to their Lib Dem colleagues that if
:06:07. > :06:10.they go to the polls any time soon, they are likely to face a drubbing,
:06:11. > :06:13.equally the Lib Dems say to their Tory colleagues, that actually, if
:06:13. > :06:16.it is anyone likely to be in Government after the next election,
:06:16. > :06:20.it is them. They can form a coalition with Labour, it is
:06:21. > :06:26.unlikely the Tories would ever countenance that. The party base
:06:26. > :06:30.may be bellicose, but the high command hope the extraordinary
:06:30. > :06:33.voting arrangement initiated today, doesn't become ordinary. Perilously
:06:33. > :06:41.close to being half out of Government. While you were dazzled
:06:41. > :06:44.by the gold medals rising in the east, in the west a new dawn was
:06:44. > :06:50.settling in. Both will deny the importance of it, saying they are
:06:50. > :06:53.graciously taking part in Government, not want to go win over
:06:53. > :06:57.backbenches both coalitions leaders are diminished today, unable to get
:06:57. > :07:00.their way. With me are Simon Hughes, the
:07:01. > :07:06.deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative MP, and
:07:06. > :07:10.Cameron loyalist, Nick Boles, and Lord Falconer. If the gloves are
:07:10. > :07:16.really off, just to be clear, Lib Dem MPs, and ministers, are going
:07:16. > :07:20.to vote against boundary reform, is that the case? If an order is
:07:20. > :07:23.brought forward, which it doesn't have to be. David Cameron has made
:07:23. > :07:28.it clear it will happen? I haven't heard him say that today. The
:07:28. > :07:31.answer to your question is yes, if it is brought forward we will vote
:07:31. > :07:38.against it. All Liberal Democrat ministers, 19 of them, will vote
:07:39. > :07:46.against. Of course, when Tory PPS s voted against House of Lords reform,
:07:46. > :07:51.they resigned or were sacked. You will expect all Lib Dem ministers
:07:51. > :07:54.to be sacked? I don't expect that. Forethe first time since the
:07:54. > :07:58.coalition was formed one of the two parties has not honoured the
:07:58. > :08:01.agreement. It was the Conservative Party who went off after the very
:08:01. > :08:04.large vote in favour of the House of Lords in the Commons in July, he
:08:04. > :08:07.had to address the rebellion, the Prime Minister said he had to talk
:08:07. > :08:10.to backbenchers, he has come back to the Deputy Prime Minister and
:08:10. > :08:14.said I cannot deliver my party on the coalition agreement. So, in
:08:14. > :08:18.fact, David Cameron is the one who has failed, and he is the one who
:08:18. > :08:21.has broken the agreement? I voted for House of Lords reform, as did
:08:21. > :08:26.the vast majority of Conservative MPs, and all Conservative minutes
:08:26. > :08:30.tirs and PPSs. The fact is they are there were a lot of backbench
:08:30. > :08:33.members, and they make up their own mind about legislation. David
:08:33. > :08:37.Cameron cannot control his backbench? Party leaders can never
:08:38. > :08:42.control, they can win the support and approval, on the vast majority
:08:42. > :08:47.of issues, every single other item that has come before the House, the
:08:47. > :08:53.party, broadly, with a few exceptions, has supported it. This
:08:53. > :08:57.one, not strictly in terms in the coalition agreement. That is the
:08:57. > :08:59.basis of the Government the coalition agreement? It was
:08:59. > :09:02.negotiated after Members of Parliament were elected, there are
:09:02. > :09:06.a lot of Conservative MPs, I disagree with them. I regret what
:09:06. > :09:10.they did. They felt, they felt that they had not made a pledge to the
:09:10. > :09:14.people who voted them into office to put forward this piece of
:09:14. > :09:19.legislation. They had very genuine constitutional kefrs concerns about
:09:19. > :09:23.it. Do you think the coalition has been broken? It has been broken, I
:09:23. > :09:29.don't think Nick is denying that. None of us went to the electorate
:09:29. > :09:32.on the coalition agreement, we went on three manifestos, all three
:09:32. > :09:37.party's leaderships agreed there needed to be a House of Lords that
:09:37. > :09:40.was not hereditary, but elected. We did a deal, both sides, the
:09:40. > :09:46.leadership signed it, it was both parties, and it included House of
:09:46. > :09:49.Lords reform. What do you think of the idea that Lib Dem MPs, but
:09:49. > :09:52.ministers, Liberal Democrat ministers, who vote against the
:09:52. > :09:56.boundary changes, reducing the number of MPs, should they be
:09:56. > :10:01.sacked? I hope they don't do it. It would be a very odd thing to do.
:10:01. > :10:08.They should be sacked if they do? It is an odd thing to. Do there are
:10:08. > :10:13.seats in this country, my seat, Simon's seat have 76,000 electorate
:10:13. > :10:21.in it, and other MPs have under 60,000. It would be odd for a
:10:21. > :10:24.Liberal Democrat to decide a fair democracy is based on seats of such
:10:24. > :10:27.unequal size. They will make their minds up as we did on House of
:10:28. > :10:31.Lords reform. He expects ministers to vote against it, Nick Clegg
:10:31. > :10:35.expects them to vote against it. They are part of this coalition
:10:35. > :10:39.Government, they are going to vote against the Government, should they
:10:39. > :10:42.be sacked? I would reget that just as much as I regret the fact that
:10:42. > :10:46.my colleagues voted against House of Lords reform. The British people
:10:46. > :10:50.would look pretty oddly at both of us, if either of us looked like we
:10:50. > :10:52.would jeopardise the stability of the Government, for the sake of a
:10:52. > :10:56.row over parliamentary constituencies, or the House of
:10:56. > :10:59.Lords. When we have got important bills, we have important bills on
:10:59. > :11:04.special needs education, on enterprise reform, on banking
:11:04. > :11:08.reform, these are vital national issues, on which we agree, we have
:11:08. > :11:11.a lot of work to do, and the British people do not want us to
:11:11. > :11:18.fall out over constituency boundaries which, frankly, benefit
:11:18. > :11:23.only us. That might be true. Tory MPs. That might be true, but let me
:11:23. > :11:26.ask you this, you are entirely in contradiction to what Simon Hughes
:11:26. > :11:31.is saying. He's saying Liberal Democrat ministers will vote
:11:31. > :11:37.against boundary changes if it comes back to the House? Should
:11:37. > :11:40.they be sacked? If Tory PPSs are sacked for voting against the
:11:41. > :11:44.Government, should Liberal Democrat MPs be sacked, yes or no? I would
:11:44. > :11:48.regret if they did that, I'm not the Prime Minister and in charge of
:11:48. > :11:51.sacking people. Let me make a point, there is lodge
:11:51. > :11:55.nick our position, the whole idea of the reform of parliament would
:11:55. > :11:59.make it more democratic, including the Lords, that is now not going to
:11:59. > :12:03.happen. Part of the reason, let me just. To end up with fewer Members
:12:03. > :12:07.of Parliament in the Commons, and no reform in the Lords would
:12:07. > :12:11.clearly be illogical. Feel no obligation to ask me any questions
:12:11. > :12:14.at all. I will say this, there is a bit of dirty work for Labour here,
:12:14. > :12:19.you are all about the principle, and Lords reform, that would be the
:12:19. > :12:22.most important thing, of this the new politics under Ed Miliband, you
:12:22. > :12:25.are not supporting it either? never said it was the most
:12:25. > :12:29.important thing, everybody agreed it was a terrible bill. The
:12:29. > :12:33.obligation of parliamentarians was to say, that we said T we supported
:12:33. > :12:37.the principle, but said we would improve it. It was so bad that it
:12:37. > :12:41.couldn't even get 91 of his own backbenchers to support it. So
:12:41. > :12:46.don't say to me they were obliged to support a bill as bad as that.
:12:46. > :12:50.We made it clear we supported Lords reform, but not that bill. Surely
:12:50. > :12:55.the point is, that you should move towards Lords reform, and therefore,
:12:55. > :12:59.rather than just blocading? No, no, no, we should support a bill that
:12:59. > :13:04.is worthwhile, we made it clear we supported the principle, not that
:13:04. > :13:10.bill. Who did we have? 91 Tory MPs supporting it. It was very clear
:13:10. > :13:16.from Nick Clegg's tone today that he was coriscating Labour's role in
:13:16. > :13:19.this? Why do you think that is, he produced a bill he never did any
:13:19. > :13:21.work today, that said that members of the House of Lords could stay
:13:21. > :13:27.for 15 years and not be re-elected. That was said to be accountability.
:13:27. > :13:32.He didn't do the work, and he got his come up pans. That is true, you
:13:32. > :13:35.would agree with that. You were in power all the time u tried to get
:13:35. > :13:38.Lords reform through and didn't deliver. We tried to get it through,
:13:38. > :13:41.the reason was because people like you said we hadn't dealt with the
:13:41. > :13:46.powers, and rightly so. The Labour Party, meant to be progressive,
:13:46. > :13:51.when it comes to this bill, is unwilling to help a progressive
:13:51. > :14:01.bill go through to the reform of the Lords. Only in principle.
:14:01. > :14:05.talk about rebellion now, If Nick Clegg is giving Liberal Democrat
:14:05. > :14:08.ministers the green light to rebel on the boundary changes, why not
:14:08. > :14:12.let them rebel all the time. What exactly are they going to be loyal
:14:12. > :14:15.about in this coalition. It seems to me, surely, this is a central
:14:15. > :14:20.plank of the coalition, Lords reform is very much at the heart,
:14:20. > :14:23.if you can't get this through, what is the point of the coalition?
:14:23. > :14:27.agree with Nick about these things. The coalition was formed, not
:14:27. > :14:32.because we wanted Lords reform, but because the country was in a mess
:14:32. > :14:36.and we decided in the national interest to form a coalition. It is
:14:36. > :14:40.a five-year deal, in the time up to now everything has been delivered,
:14:40. > :14:45.and one thing cannot be delivered. Why the big fuss on the 6th of
:14:45. > :14:50.August? It was clear last week that the Prime Minister said he couldn't
:14:50. > :14:56.deliver the troops to the Deputy Prime Minister, there was rumbling,
:14:56. > :14:59.and while most people want us to talk about jobs, growth and
:14:59. > :15:03.apprenticeships and jobs. Where will it end, if you are saying
:15:03. > :15:06.there will be no more accommodation. You have Liberal Democrat activists
:15:07. > :15:12.very angry about the coalition and Tory backbenchers angry about the
:15:12. > :15:15.coalition, how will it deliver? heard my friend David Hall Matthews
:15:15. > :15:18.express a view, we have signed up to a five-year coalition agreement.
:15:18. > :15:21.This is the first thing that hasn't been delivered, everything else has
:15:21. > :15:25.been delivered, we haven't liked all of it, the Tories haven't liked
:15:25. > :15:29.all of it, they should have delivered on this, that is their
:15:29. > :15:33.problem, they need to sort out that problem. It just isn't their
:15:33. > :15:40.problem, the electorate must look at it and say this is about
:15:40. > :15:43.politicing, although it wasn't a 50-50 on the Lords reform ver rus
:15:43. > :15:48.boundary changes, you are taking the opportunity -- versus boundary
:15:48. > :15:50.changes, you are taking the opportunity. What should we do?
:15:50. > :15:53.it is a better system for the country, you should work for the
:15:53. > :15:58.good of the country? If the Tories can't deliver, what do you expect
:15:58. > :16:01.us to do, say it is all very sad, sorry about this. You can't allow a
:16:01. > :16:04.coalition to go ahead if both sides don't deliver. The message to the
:16:04. > :16:09.Tories is they must deliver. Because they haven't, we can't do
:16:09. > :16:16.the deal on boundary changes. a threat? They are an independent
:16:16. > :16:19.party, they went into this, and we couldn't deliver it, it is
:16:19. > :16:22.regretable, and it is regretable they won't deliver another part.
:16:22. > :16:26.That is life. We will put it behind us, there are far more important
:16:26. > :16:29.issues to work on. That is true. agree on those issues, we have a
:16:29. > :16:32.plan to actually deal with those issues, unlike the last Government
:16:32. > :16:37.which put us into this mess. We will get back to that serious work
:16:38. > :16:40.and put this behind us. Thank you all very much indeed.
:16:41. > :16:45.The Syrian city of Aleppo continues to be pounded by Government
:16:45. > :16:48.artillery from the ground and air as the regime tries to dislodge
:16:48. > :16:52.fighters from rebel held areas. But the morale of the free Syrian
:16:52. > :16:57.Armley will have been boosted with the highest-level defection
:16:57. > :17:04.yesterday from the Assad regime. The newly appointed Prime Minister,
:17:04. > :17:08.Riad Hijab, a brutal law enforcer, has now been reported to have
:17:08. > :17:12.crossed the border. TRANSLATION: Today I announce my defection from
:17:12. > :17:17.killing and terrorism, join the ranks of the revolution and freedom
:17:17. > :17:21.and dignity. From today I announce I'm a soldier serving this blessed
:17:22. > :17:26.revolution, long live Syria free and pure, long live our free Syrian
:17:26. > :17:31.people, long live our heroic Free Syrian Army.
:17:31. > :17:34.I'm joined by our diplomatic editor, how widespread is the violence now
:17:35. > :17:40.in Syria? It is very widespread. I think the key aspect of what's
:17:40. > :17:44.happened in the last few weeks are escalation in terms of the military
:17:44. > :17:50.conflict, and fragmentation of the country. In many senses, if we look
:17:50. > :17:55.at the maps, we can plot it out geographically. The Free Syrian
:17:55. > :17:59.Army, very strong now in the east of the country. Some people say the
:17:59. > :18:04.Government's pretty much given up there. Pretty much given up
:18:04. > :18:10.everything to the east or right of that line. But the Free Syrian Army
:18:10. > :18:14.have also been very active in recent days around Damascus, Deraa,
:18:14. > :18:18.Idlib, where they have been before, pushing into Aleppo, Homs has been
:18:18. > :18:23.a strong point of their's, they are back in the town. We get the idea
:18:23. > :18:28.increasingly of Government troops, with their garrisons in a sea of
:18:28. > :18:38.incertificate rex of insurgecy. When that happens, -- incertificate
:18:38. > :18:39.
:18:39. > :18:43.rex of insurgency They are going up there and being blocked by the
:18:43. > :18:50.guerrillas, 20 miles north of Homs, we see the response escalate in
:18:50. > :18:53.terms of the weaponry. This is video we have got, taken today,
:18:53. > :18:58.near Rastan, this is what happens when men with guns block the
:18:58. > :19:02.highway. The Syrian army, deploying ever-heavier fire power. Now, we
:19:02. > :19:07.have frozen the image there, in order to just spotlight this. This
:19:07. > :19:12.is one of two objects that flies down towards this town, it is
:19:12. > :19:17.actually, in my assessment, a small ballistic missile, a heavy
:19:17. > :19:24.artillery system, it could possibly be an air-dropped bomb. It is the
:19:24. > :19:29.type of weaponry that the regime had stockpiled for action against
:19:29. > :19:34.Israel or other people, it is used now. This is what happens when the
:19:34. > :19:37.missiles hit the town. With a lot of called collateral damage. Let's
:19:37. > :19:41.talk about Aleppo in detail in a minute, what about Damascus?
:19:41. > :19:45.point to make, although there is a lot of attention on Aleppo, because
:19:45. > :19:49.of the nature of the challenge to the regime. Just collating the
:19:49. > :19:53.figures today, from the Syrian human rights observatory and
:19:53. > :19:59.opposition group, based in London, they talk about loss of life almost
:19:59. > :20:02.as high as in Aleppo in the places I have put here. Several of them
:20:02. > :20:06.key roads, again, where in order to operate the regime has to try to
:20:06. > :20:11.clear the roads. In the process they have killed nearly two dozen
:20:11. > :20:16.people today, according to that observers group. Once again, the
:20:16. > :20:21.impression is of outposts of authority surrounded by a sea of
:20:21. > :20:24.insurgency. Aleppo now is the focus for what's going to be, apparently,
:20:25. > :20:28.a major attack? Absolutely, the Government has been left in a
:20:28. > :20:34.wretched position there, really. Perhaps they took their eye off the
:20:34. > :20:38.ball, several days ago. The insurge gents who had been moving into the
:20:38. > :20:42.north-east of the -- insurgents who had been moving into the north-east
:20:42. > :20:45.of the city, swept down into the centre into this area there. We
:20:45. > :20:48.will put a Free Syrian Army symbol will put a Free Syrian Army symbol
:20:48. > :20:52.on there. That is where they are, and where most of the fighting has
:20:52. > :20:57.been in the last few days. They are also in the centre of the town and,
:20:57. > :21:00.of course, in the north, and north- east, where they have extensive
:21:00. > :21:04.positions. The Government today, air strikes. We have information
:21:04. > :21:08.about three. All in this area, where they believe, it is a route
:21:08. > :21:13.down. Meanwhile, their forces, concentrated at a military base to
:21:13. > :21:17.the south, and building up there. It is a major garrison, and in a
:21:17. > :21:21.suburb there. And some of them, in the centre of the town, beleaguered,
:21:21. > :21:26.not knowing what to do. The real question, in Aleppo, is does the
:21:26. > :21:30.Government have the will to fight its way in, and will the army
:21:30. > :21:33.crumble in such a major urban centre as it tries to do so? Some
:21:33. > :21:39.of that would be down to the weaponry that the resistance has?
:21:39. > :21:42.Absolutely. There has been a lot of discussion recently about are they
:21:42. > :21:46.getting weapons from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, a lot of journalists saying
:21:46. > :21:51.they don't see signs of it. Clearly in many places this war is still
:21:51. > :21:54.about mens with Kalashnikovs and throwing pieces taking on the
:21:54. > :21:58.Syrian army. There are interesting signs of change, particularly of
:21:58. > :22:04.greater organisation. We have video what you might call a complex
:22:04. > :22:08.attack that was mounted, quite cleverly, a couple of weeks near
:22:08. > :22:13.all leppo. The first tank hits a land mine planted in the soft
:22:14. > :22:21.ground across the tarmac, the rest of the column are in heavy gunfire,
:22:21. > :22:25.that is why they are closed down and not above the hatch, their
:22:25. > :22:30.situation awareness is poor. Having pinned them down, they engage the
:22:30. > :22:36.second tank with an anti-tank missile. That may have come from
:22:36. > :22:39.outside, of course. They have hit the second tank, it appears the
:22:39. > :22:43.crew of that second vehicle survived and reversed out of
:22:43. > :22:47.trouble. The key point is the complex nature of that attack,
:22:47. > :22:50.mines, gunfire, anti-tank missiles, superior organisation, that could
:22:50. > :22:55.make a major difference. What about the response of the international
:22:55. > :23:01.community now? In the wake of Kofi Annan's resignation as the mediator,
:23:01. > :23:05.diplomacy really is in trouble. That all helps the hawks on both
:23:05. > :23:08.sides, who want to feed the escalation. And frankly, the terms
:23:08. > :23:10.in which the various outside powers have tried to engage with the
:23:10. > :23:14.country, you don't see hope there either. Having mapped out the
:23:14. > :23:20.situation on the ground. It is worth considering the degree to
:23:20. > :23:24.which it is becoming a rojal cockpit for escalation. -- regional
:23:25. > :23:28.cockpit for escalation. As Syria slides deeper into violence, there
:23:28. > :23:33.are a host of countries who feel they have a stake. Starting with
:23:33. > :23:40.allies. Iran, Russia and Lebanon, or its Hezbollah leadership, at
:23:40. > :23:43.least, you might even add Iraq to the list. The kidnap of dozens of
:23:43. > :23:49.Iranian religious pilgrims over the weekend by the opposition, shows
:23:49. > :23:54.how deeply many Syrians resent the role of these outside actors.
:23:54. > :23:59.Whether Iranian troops are on the ground or not, Iran is backing up
:23:59. > :24:03.Assad. It sees Assad as an integral part of its power network in the
:24:03. > :24:07.Middle East. The ability to project power in the region is based on
:24:07. > :24:12.Assad, on Hezbollah and Hamas. External support for the regime has
:24:12. > :24:16.been evident for a long time. But the opposition is benefiting from
:24:16. > :24:26.growing quantities of cash and weaponry given by those who back
:24:26. > :24:32.the country's Sunni majority. Saud dough Arabia, Qatar, and -- Saudi
:24:32. > :24:40.Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have formed a loose alliance to support
:24:40. > :24:44.the groups. It is the sul laughist and Jihadi groups which show
:24:44. > :24:50.another sign of the fragmentation of the country. British councilist,
:24:50. > :24:55.John Cantlie and a gellian -- journalist John Cantlie and a
:24:55. > :24:59.Belgian colleague were kidnapped by fighters. They were not from Syria,
:24:59. > :25:03.they were from other places, Pakistan, the UK, Chechnya, the
:25:03. > :25:07.Caucasus, a real mix. international community should
:25:07. > :25:12.worry not only about Assad, but the after Assad falling, what happens
:25:12. > :25:18.to these groups, are they likely to organise an attack on the west.
:25:18. > :25:22.Will they challenge pro-American Governments elsewhere.
:25:22. > :25:32.If the regional picture isn't already complicated enough, what
:25:32. > :25:35.about western countries? The US, UK and France, have they played a
:25:35. > :25:38.constructive role diplomatically in slamming the Assad regime, but
:25:38. > :25:41.putting negligible pressure on the opposition to join a political
:25:41. > :25:46.process. For now I think the international community has played
:25:46. > :25:51.a rather negative role in terms of enabling the conflict, supporting
:25:51. > :25:57.the parties to the conflict in ways that made it possible for them to
:25:57. > :26:00.continue the fight, and not seek political solutions. The current
:26:01. > :26:06.situation is one in which there is precious little hope of a
:26:06. > :26:12.resumption of meaningful diplomacy. Not least because as Kofi Annan
:26:12. > :26:16.made clear, neither opposition, nor Government really wanted.
:26:16. > :26:22.With foreign backers fuelling the fires of conflict, the regional
:26:22. > :26:25.implications of this crisis grow more serious by the week. I think
:26:25. > :26:29.the real point at the end of this, is with Kofi Annan no longer in
:26:29. > :26:34.position, there is a talk of a search for successor, but what
:26:34. > :26:41.could such a person meaningfully do Thank you very much, that is one of
:26:41. > :26:46.the questions I will be putting to our guest. A senior spokesman for
:26:46. > :26:50.the senior National Council, an opposition group with a base in
:26:50. > :26:55.Turkey. The most high-level defection has been Riad Hijab. Tell
:26:55. > :27:00.me how that evolved, what happened? Since he was asked to form a
:27:00. > :27:05.Government, Bashar Al-Assad, he knew that, I mean, he has to find
:27:05. > :27:09.an escape or way out. The plan for his defection started since then.
:27:09. > :27:13.So more than two months ago? It is about two months ago. Through the
:27:13. > :27:18.co-ordination with some of the battalions of the Free Syrian Army,
:27:18. > :27:23.his family and sisters and brothers and their families have been
:27:23. > :27:29.escorted to the border area, all in one night, and they spent the night
:27:29. > :27:32.close to the Jordanian boarder, then he fled to Jordan, and a--
:27:32. > :27:37.Jordanian border and he fled to Jordan and announced his defection.
:27:37. > :27:41.Where is he now? Jordan. Will he go on from Jordan or what will happen?
:27:41. > :27:45.That is yet to be seen. Discussion is to take place and see the best
:27:45. > :27:50.role he can play. He was no saint, he was a brutal member of the Assad
:27:50. > :27:55.regime, so what part can he play with the Syrian National Council?
:27:55. > :28:00.He was from the Ba'ath Party, I'm not sure we can use the word
:28:00. > :28:04."brutal" or not, not all people from that party are part of the
:28:04. > :28:10.regime, they number two million. He was part of the regime, and
:28:10. > :28:13.governor, and Secretary of State for Agriculture and then praem. We
:28:13. > :28:18.-- Prime Minister. We encourage the defection of everyone in this
:28:18. > :28:21.regime to jump this sinking ship. He is the highest-ranking position
:28:21. > :28:26.of authority, after the President himself in the country, this is a
:28:26. > :28:31.huge blow to the Assad regime F it shows anything, it shows the -- if
:28:31. > :28:33.it shows anything, it shows the regime is decaying and crumbling.
:28:34. > :28:39.Now we have Kofi Annan's resignation, part of the problem
:28:39. > :28:42.was, under the Kofi Annan plan, not only had Assad to talk, the
:28:42. > :28:46.opposition had to talk and find some kind of diplomatic solution.
:28:46. > :28:52.But you wouldn't talk to the Assad regime? Point one in the Annan Plan
:28:52. > :28:57.was to stop the shelling of cities, towns and villages, point two is
:28:57. > :29:01.release political prisoner and allow Syrians to demonstrate
:29:01. > :29:04.politically freely. None of that happened. There will have to be a
:29:04. > :29:09.diplomatic solution? Assad is taking the conflict into an area
:29:09. > :29:14.where there is no other solution. He's taking himself to the same
:29:14. > :29:17.destiny as Gadaffi. The same, killed in Syria? Perhaps or left or
:29:17. > :29:22.fled the last minute. There has been so many opportunities to solve
:29:22. > :29:26.this conflict in a different way, it has been wasted by this regime.
:29:26. > :29:30.They have been determined to treat the Syrians as subjects, the whole
:29:30. > :29:33.country as their asset, that is why we haven't any movement forward.
:29:33. > :29:38.Part of the way the international community will respond and look at
:29:38. > :29:44.Syria is in terms of the behaviour of the resistance groups. Being
:29:44. > :29:48.held now are more than 20 Iranian pilgrims. Yes. I think there is a
:29:48. > :29:51.dispute, obviously with the resistance as to whether or not
:29:51. > :29:56.they are pilgrims, will they receive a fair trial? Number one,
:29:56. > :29:58.they are being treated fairly and respectfully, and no harassment or
:29:58. > :30:03.torture or ill treatment has taken torture or ill treatment has taken
:30:04. > :30:10.place. Number two we are not yet sure if they were really pilgrims,
:30:10. > :30:14.making this kind of religious trip into a very flaming situation or
:30:14. > :30:19.warzone, basically, or they are Iranian agents that have been
:30:19. > :30:24.captured in the past, snipers and troops and advisers. So, that's
:30:24. > :30:29.been said, these are being treated fairly. Finally, we know, we think
:30:29. > :30:34.there will be a big push on Aleppo, that might be decisive for the
:30:34. > :30:38.future of Assad himself. Do you think he's making plans to leave?
:30:38. > :30:42.think he is considering leaving, but not at this stage. He would
:30:42. > :30:48.maybe leave, I would say, as a last resort, really, when he thinks
:30:48. > :30:51.there is no way for him to maintain grip on Damascus itself. Aleppo is
:30:51. > :30:57.so significant because they cannot really send a lot of troops there,
:30:57. > :30:59.weakening the rest of the presence in their country. And if they let
:30:59. > :31:05.it be, it will be another Benghazi situation in Syria.
:31:05. > :31:10.Thank you very much. It's hard to believe that a year
:31:10. > :31:14.ago today, on August 6th, 2011, five days of riots in cities and
:31:14. > :31:19.towns in England kicked off, causing millions of pounds of
:31:19. > :31:24.damage, weeks of soul searching. Fast forward 12 months and the
:31:24. > :31:29.Olympics seems to have had an halo effect. The UK struck by the
:31:29. > :31:32.success of GB, and more triumph today. Are the riots a distant
:31:32. > :31:37.memory, or are the Olympics a mere distraction from the true state of
:31:37. > :31:40.our inner cities. Before we discuss that, here is Paul Mason.
:31:40. > :31:48.Mo Farah for Great Britain, it's gold.
:31:48. > :31:54.This is what it looks like when a Briton wins.
:31:54. > :31:59.And the weekend was a medal fest for British athletes.
:31:59. > :32:02.This was, in your face, multiethnic Britain, comprehensive school
:32:02. > :32:09.Britain, and even when somebody else's runner won, parts of Britain
:32:09. > :32:12.claimed him as their own. In Brixton, London, they are
:32:12. > :32:18.celebrating Jamaican independence, on top of everything else, all too
:32:18. > :32:22.aware of the contrast to events a year ago. With some cultural events,
:32:22. > :32:26.it is complex, it is hard to work out what the zeitgeist is trying to
:32:26. > :32:31.tell you. But with the Olympics, ever since the Opening Ceremony,
:32:31. > :32:35.it's been about class, race, and who we are as a people, this
:32:35. > :32:41.weekend, maybe something big changed. As the Sun Newspaper puts
:32:41. > :32:50.it, the far right, are wasting their time. We're a multiethnic
:32:50. > :32:54.country, and they have lost. But can two weeks of Olympic mania
:32:54. > :32:57.offset a year of angst about what happened in England's poor
:32:57. > :33:04.communities. Can streets like these really start to believe in a
:33:04. > :33:08.different story. At the public tennis courts in Clapham, sport
:33:08. > :33:12.doesn't get more grass roots. This is a youth scheme, paid for by the
:33:12. > :33:16.council, run by volunteers, they are not short of tennis balls, they
:33:16. > :33:20.are short of tennis coaches. Is this the first time most of you
:33:21. > :33:26.have actually had a got at coached tennis? Yeah. What do you think of
:33:26. > :33:30.it? When I was younger I used to think, I never want to do tennis,
:33:30. > :33:34.now I have seen Andy Murray play, I want to try to learn tennis now and
:33:34. > :33:37.get better at it. It doesn't matter where you come from, as long as you
:33:37. > :33:42.are good at what you are doing, and try lots of stuff to see what you
:33:42. > :33:46.are good at, and to be able to show people, even if you are in a
:33:46. > :33:53.backstreet with a basketball court, if you can do it good then you
:33:53. > :33:59.should do it. For these young people, memories of the riots are
:33:59. > :34:05.vivid. It was just chaos. All crowds fighting, burntdown
:34:05. > :34:08.buildings, that is me and my Primary School. It is not over Mark
:34:08. > :34:11.Duggan, and the cuts and all that, it was just something that you
:34:11. > :34:18.really wanted, I think it was temptation. Do you think something
:34:18. > :34:23.like the Olympics will help avoid repeating it? Well, I really think
:34:23. > :34:30.it would. It should. Some people who are from rundown areas, yeah,
:34:31. > :34:37.they can have a chance as well. Because it shows that the Olympics
:34:37. > :34:45.is like and as a variety of people that come, that come together and
:34:45. > :34:50.do sports, and no chaos. Nice shot, back you go. The fact is,
:34:50. > :34:56.aspirations like these cost money. It would normally cost �8 to be
:34:56. > :35:02.taught tennis in a group of six, �40 an hour for one-on-one, �600 a
:35:02. > :35:05.month at a private tennis academy. For all these children, these are
:35:05. > :35:09.unattainable sums. Last week British Olympic chief, Lord
:35:09. > :35:13.Moynihan complained that half our medal winners last time went to
:35:13. > :35:18.private schools. The past 72 hours have done a lot to redress the
:35:18. > :35:24.balance. We have seen comprehensive gold for
:35:24. > :35:34.Andy Murray, Bradley Wiggins, Helen Glover, Victoria Pendleton, Jessica
:35:34. > :35:34.
:35:34. > :35:39.Ennis, long jumper Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah. But, says this
:35:39. > :35:44.academic, the social divisions that caused cities to erupt last summer
:35:44. > :35:48.are still there. We haven't dealt with any of the root causes of the
:35:48. > :35:51.riots, and actually, young people are still going to have problems
:35:51. > :35:54.finding work. Mark Duggan's family is still waiting for justice. And
:35:54. > :35:58.we still have this massive difference between the rich and
:35:58. > :36:04.poor in this city. Until we can actually tackle those, the Olympics
:36:04. > :36:08.can't really have this long-lasting halo effect. Tonight, as every
:36:08. > :36:15.night, London's Hyde Park attracted a crowd mess merised by the sudden
:36:15. > :36:19.success of people they have never heard of. Before the Olympic,
:36:19. > :36:24.politicians were worried they might be seen too close to the at lots,
:36:24. > :36:28.trying to own the games. -- athletes, trying to own the games.
:36:28. > :36:31.What nobody realised was British people would shamelessly own the
:36:31. > :36:37.games themselves. Night after night they will sing The National Anthem,
:36:37. > :36:42.they will eat the national dish, if this is some kind of political
:36:42. > :36:52.movement, it is very eared -- political moment, it is very weird
:36:52. > :36:55.
:36:55. > :37:01.and very British. # God save our Queen
:37:01. > :37:05.Joining us to discuss the issue are my guests. A young Mayor of
:37:05. > :37:09.Lewisham, and a commentator on the Times. You are charged with
:37:09. > :37:14.inclusiveity and making sure that the halo-effect got to the
:37:14. > :37:17.advantaged and disadvantaged alike. But will what you are doing have
:37:17. > :37:21.any lasting difference to the country, do you think? Well, it is
:37:21. > :37:25.a big question, isn't it. Of course we hope that many, many young
:37:25. > :37:29.people, who have already taken part, and learned creative skills, will
:37:29. > :37:32.take that creativity further, and that everyone who has already had
:37:32. > :37:38.the chance to see world class artists has had a great time. I
:37:38. > :37:43.think that we have got here a vision of, a country that welcomes
:37:43. > :37:46.artists and athletes from around the world, and celebrates and
:37:46. > :37:50.embraces them. We cheer all the athletes in the stadium, not just
:37:50. > :37:54.the British athletes. That is a really important thing about us.
:37:54. > :37:59.welcome and reveer them, and think they are doing a wonderful job,
:37:59. > :38:02.does it make our lives different? One year ago, I walked down
:38:02. > :38:09.Tottenham High Road with my daughter from the Tottenham
:38:09. > :38:12.Tottenham Hotspur friendly we saw the people gathering outside
:38:13. > :38:16.Tottenham Police Station, and how ominous it felt under those
:38:16. > :38:20.circumstances. We had the eruption, and a year later we have something
:38:20. > :38:23.like the Olympics. What we are seeing is two very different types
:38:23. > :38:26.of people. There are several countries contained within our
:38:26. > :38:32.nation. It overlaps at certain times. What do you mean different
:38:32. > :38:35.kinds of people? By and large, I think the we estimated about 20,000
:38:36. > :38:41.people were involved in rioting. That's fewer people than you would
:38:41. > :38:48.have had for one of the women's football matches in Cardiff.
:38:48. > :38:50.Nevertheless, because of what it represented, what we understood
:38:50. > :38:53.about underprivileged, disadvantaged, lawlessness in
:38:53. > :38:56.certain parts of our cities, we could see it was a very big problem,
:38:56. > :39:00.even if it didn't have that many people involved in it. The Olympic
:39:00. > :39:03.Games is much, much bigger in terms of the number of people actively
:39:03. > :39:07.involved in doing something or thinking something about it.
:39:07. > :39:09.example, for those 20,000 that were involved, will the Olympics
:39:09. > :39:13.actually make any lasting difference? I think the Olympics is
:39:13. > :39:17.a great opportunity for the UK to host the Olympics in the first
:39:17. > :39:19.place, but I do think that it shouldn't overlap the idea of the
:39:19. > :39:24.reason why the riots happened. And those people are still being
:39:24. > :39:28.affected by it. I think being a young person myself, I'm still on a
:39:28. > :39:32.day-to-day basis dealing with those struggles itself. How many people
:39:32. > :39:35.can say if they let their child out in the morning time, that they can
:39:35. > :39:38.guarantee their child will come home safe at night. How many people
:39:38. > :39:43.can guarantee they can feed their children for the rest of the week
:39:43. > :39:48.or take care of their family. Those are the things we should look at in
:39:48. > :39:52.terms of deprivation. Fundamentally we can celebrate the Olympics, but
:39:52. > :39:56.underneath, has changed? It is �2,000 for an Opening Ceremony
:39:56. > :40:01.ticket. What was that about? think we should say, children could
:40:01. > :40:04.go for tickets that cost the same as their age. We in our London 2012
:40:04. > :40:09.festival, we have 12 million free tickets that we have been offering.
:40:09. > :40:14.I think we should say an important thing. Let's talk about sport for a
:40:14. > :40:17.minute. What was the cheapest ticket �30? Children can go for
:40:17. > :40:21.their able. You can see a lot of the sport in the Olympics for free.
:40:21. > :40:26.You could see the marathon free, some of the cycling free. But I
:40:26. > :40:29.think a really good point in your film is aspiration costs money. And
:40:29. > :40:33.that is true. What every young person needs is the chance to dream,
:40:33. > :40:37.and the chance to develop their dreams. And both arts and sport,
:40:37. > :40:41.and of course you would expect me to be pushing the art, alongside
:40:41. > :40:44.the sport, are the stuff of dreams. We have got to make sure that what
:40:44. > :40:47.we have built on during these games in this summer is something we
:40:47. > :40:51.carry on with. You have been involved in the Cultural Olympiad
:40:51. > :40:55.for some time, after the riots did you have a re-think about the
:40:55. > :40:58.direction in which you wanted to take things? The Cultural Olympiad
:40:58. > :41:02.have put young people and developing their skills at the
:41:02. > :41:06.start. As you remember we opened the London 2012 festival with young
:41:06. > :41:11.people in sterling, and with young people in Hackney, for the radio --
:41:11. > :41:17.Stirling, and with young people in Hackney for the concert, free
:41:17. > :41:21.ticket to see Jay-Z and Rihanna and learn skills. We have always had
:41:21. > :41:26.skills learning there and free tickets, that is really important.
:41:26. > :41:30.I might be misquoting Mark Hunter, saying there is enough money in the
:41:31. > :41:34.pot -- Jeremy Hunt, saying there is enough money in the pot for sport.
:41:34. > :41:38.A lot of people will be inspired and they will go out and there
:41:38. > :41:45.won't be the gym, sport facilities? That will always be a problem.
:41:45. > :41:49.There is a significant amount of money going into kids school sports
:41:49. > :41:55.activities than 40 years ago. We have done an incredible job through
:41:55. > :41:58.the lottery, in some of these very schools, in Lewisham, in Tottenham,
:41:58. > :42:01.the fact it hasn't solved our underlying social problems, I don't
:42:01. > :42:05.think it should be an immense surprise. It isn't because people
:42:05. > :42:09.haven't been trying to do it. It is because it doesn't actually tackle
:42:09. > :42:11.some of the very specific problems these communities have. Then there
:42:11. > :42:17.are other problems about division in society which we know about,
:42:17. > :42:20.which have something to do about the fact that the very wealthiest
:42:20. > :42:23.people are incredibly wealthy compared with everybody else, it is
:42:23. > :42:28.like talking to people who live on another planet. That is an issue we
:42:28. > :42:32.have to deal with. The idea of the Olympic is something that no-one
:42:32. > :42:36.wants to be cynical about, it is a great chance to see what athletes
:42:36. > :42:39.can do and inspire a generation. People like Andy Murray and Jessica
:42:39. > :42:43.Ennis, Mo Farah, when I was watching the Olympics I felt
:42:43. > :42:47.inspired. But at the same time, how do we get to a point where we can
:42:47. > :42:50.have people in deprived areas aspiring to be those successful
:42:50. > :42:54.people. It starts in the community. The Government needs to come down
:42:54. > :42:59.to a lower level and speak to people. The idea of Boris Johnson
:42:59. > :43:03.going to Clapham, talking about cleaning up the area. Let's be real
:43:03. > :43:08.about it, forget the PR stunts, Britain has to wake up and hold
:43:08. > :43:12.politicians to account, that doesn't mean voting, it is active
:43:12. > :43:17.throughout the year and years to come. Boris Johnson has said many
:43:17. > :43:22.things, one thing he did say, is what he felt in a society of
:43:22. > :43:25.instant gratification, seeing the endeavour, the long, long years
:43:25. > :43:29.that you put in, Beth Tweddle, gives the idea that something takes
:43:29. > :43:33.a long time to come back for you? think that actually everyone with
:43:33. > :43:37.talent knows that. They know that it's about determination and hard
:43:37. > :43:41.work. But it is also about support, it is about coaching, it is about
:43:41. > :43:46.facilities and it is about a long- term policy. It is not an accident
:43:46. > :43:49.that we are winning so many medals now it is not an accident we are so
:43:49. > :43:53.brilliant at music around the world and creative industry. It is about
:43:53. > :43:56.long-term policy and support. there something about raising the
:43:56. > :43:59.national spirit? I think this has come at a really important moment.
:43:59. > :44:03.I think there was a real danger, before the Olympics and the Jubilee,
:44:03. > :44:06.that the country was beginning to turn in on itself, very negative
:44:06. > :44:10.about things like immigration, very negative about other people in the
:44:10. > :44:16.society. One of the things I think the Olympics may have done, and it
:44:16. > :44:21.is too early to tell, judging by the mood, is it has turned us back
:44:21. > :44:24.outwards, we are not looking inwards or beating ourselves up, we
:44:24. > :44:27.are looking outwards to the rest of the world. That is where we have to
:44:27. > :44:30.be. The future of the kids in Lewisham is about taking on the
:44:31. > :44:34.rest of the world, it is not smacking ourselves down. Do you
:44:34. > :44:40.think that, or is it a more middle- class idea, do you think that is
:44:40. > :44:43.actual low true? I believe in a lot of things. Last week my brother's
:44:43. > :44:48.best friend was murdered, now that's something that's really
:44:48. > :44:51.personal towards me, my family, it affected a lot of people in my area.
:44:51. > :44:56.It is a ricochet effect, if we are talking about the Olympics at a
:44:56. > :44:59.national level, it is great talking about the Olympics, but when we
:44:59. > :45:03.have issues like that happening to normal families, people trying to
:45:03. > :45:07.live their lives day-to-day, people are going through a lot, people
:45:07. > :45:10.don't have the time to sit in front of the television and enjoy the
:45:10. > :45:14.Olympics. People don't have the money. Although it is �30, some
:45:14. > :45:17.people have to use that money to feed their family, those are the
:45:17. > :45:21.people we need to sort out to get everyone to the point where we will
:45:21. > :45:24.see we will get those young people to play sports. There is no point
:45:24. > :45:28.inspiring young people if you are not going to give them the right
:45:28. > :45:31.facilities to nurture their talent long-term. Well, of course I
:45:31. > :45:35.couldn't disagree with a word of that. But I would say that
:45:35. > :45:37.inspiration is something to seize, we can seize the moment, and
:45:37. > :45:41.actually this is a great moment for us, there is an opportunity for us
:45:41. > :45:47.to build on this. We should do so, we really should. I think
:45:47. > :45:49.personally, someone like Ruth is inspiring, definitely, I incourage
:45:49. > :45:53.everything you are doing. But I think in terms of Government and
:45:53. > :45:57.people we see in the media all the time. We need to hear those same
:45:57. > :46:00.things, we need to hear them say it and say we are going to do this
:46:00. > :46:03.together, forget politic, let's talk about the real thing, people
:46:03. > :46:08.need to hear more about it. Thank you very much.
:46:08. > :46:18.A quick run around tomorrow's front pages. There is the equestrian team
:46:18. > :46:38.
:46:38. > :46:42.That's just about all from Newsnight. I'm here tomorrow with
:46:42. > :46:52.more. Team GB won the first show jumping medal for 28 years today,
:46:52. > :47:20.
:47:20. > :47:24.and yes, it was a gold. From of us Good evening. We have more
:47:24. > :47:27.unsettled weather to come for a couple of days. Things will turn
:47:27. > :47:30.dryer, warmer and sunnier for the end of the week. A fairly cloudy
:47:30. > :47:33.start to things on Tuesday morning. We have some rain moving towards
:47:33. > :47:36.south-west England and parts of South Wales. To the north of that a
:47:36. > :47:41.mixture of sunshine and showers. Not too many showers across parts
:47:41. > :47:45.of the Midlands, here it will be mainly dry and bright. We have a
:47:45. > :47:49.lot of cloud through Sussex and along the south coast. The rain is
:47:49. > :47:53.with us through the afternoon, stretching into the Isle of Wight
:47:53. > :47:56.and down towards parts of Devon. Cornwall beginning to dry out. The
:47:56. > :48:00.rain clearing away as it moves into South Wales. For North Wales
:48:00. > :48:03.through the afternoon it should be dry and fine with sunny spells. We
:48:03. > :48:07.have some sunshine for Northern Ireland. I can't rule out the odd
:48:07. > :48:12.shower, but for the most part it should be dry. The showers isolated
:48:12. > :48:16.across parts of Northern Ireland, much more scattered across parts of
:48:16. > :48:21.Scotland, a few heavy ones through central Scotland. You can see
:48:21. > :48:25.plenty of wet weather to come on Tuesday, temperatures in Edinburgh,
:48:25. > :48:28.19. The showers start to clear through Wednesday, as pressure
:48:28. > :48:32.begins to climb across the country t does become dryer. A little bit
:48:32. > :48:35.of brightness, lifting temperatures into the low 20s. We have a very