11/03/2014 Newsnight

Ed Miliband will not be matching David Cameron's pledge of a

referendum on Europe in 2017. Is there now a clear line between them?

On one of the most contentious issues in contemporary politics.

Labour say it would take a significant transfer of powers to

offer an in-out referendum. Is this political bravery to stay away from

the Tory line or will they pay for it at the European elections.

How did a father from Crawley end up suicide bombing a Syrian jail? If my

brother had been a British soldier, the British people, in that prison,

and the act he did, the act of heroism or bravery he did, I know he

would have been awarded the posthumous Victoria Cross. Requiem

for a union boss outside a tube station, did we all secretly love

Bob Crow. One of these two is less than entirely sure. Not even the

greatest fans of the European Union claim that it's exactly popular at

present. And this country's relationship with the EU is

confidently expected to be a major battle ground in the next election.

The Conservatives have already promised that they will try to

renegotiate the relationship, and that the British people will be

given the chance to vote in a referendum on whether to stay in or

leave. Tomorrow Ed Miliband will announce that while Labour wants to

stay in, there will be no more transfer of powers from London to

Brussels, without a referendum. Similar words, very different

meanings. Emily explains. The key thing is not what Ed Miliband is

saying he will do, I guess what he's implicitly saying he won't do. We

have learned tonight he won't be matching David Cameron's pledge, as

you describe it, to hold a referendum on Europe in 2017. What

Labour calls an arbitary timetable about an issue that doesn't really

resonate with the voters. Neither will he give the Tories the

satisfaction of ruling out a referendum all together. So tomorrow

Ed Miliband will announce that they are legislating a new lock, forgive

that it is Brussels speak, he is promising there will be no transfer

of powers from the UK to the EU without a referendum, a clear

referendum on our continued membership of the EU. Now he says

this is not a scenario that he thinks is likely, it is not even a

at all likely, but he says it is not impossible. Has anyone reacted yet?

We have heard via Twitter from David Cameron, who has put only the

Conservative Party can guarantee and deliver that in-out referendum. But

perhaps what is fascinating about this story is the way the same line

is running in diametrically opposite directions. You can either hear it

as a pledge he will offer a referendum in that particular

scenario, or he has ruled it out. Before I came on air I talked to

Labour heavy-hitter, and they said the big deal is Ed Miliband has

bitten the bullet and won't fall in behind the PM's referendum. David

Cameron and George Osborne are desperate for Ed Miliband to fall in

behind the issue and neutralise the issue and stop the damage done so it

is two sides of the same coin. If they could have Ed Miliband on side

and David Cameron could point and say what did he get out of the

referendum commitment, nothing. It didn't stop UKIP, it didn't make

Angela Merkel fall at his feet or silence his own backbench critics.

Perhaps Ed Miliband is playing a shrewd game here. If Ed Miliband is

right, then voters put Europe about 13th on the list of things that

really matter to them. In other words, it shouldn't be something

that any of the parties take that seriously. But if it wasn't that

much of a worry, well perhaps we wouldn't be hearing quite so much

about it. And certainly for all their talk of the significance of

the cost of living crisis and jobs, tomorrow the Labour leader will

tackle the Europe issue head on. With a concession that Europe, as

they might say, isn't working. I know the reputation of the EU is

with reason at a low-ebb he might say:

SGLLT he will be writing in the FT newspaper and go on to say:

Where do the stories stand? David Cameron made that clear a year ago?

We will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or

out choice, to stay in the European Union on these new terms or to come

out all together. It will be an in-out referendum. Of course there

are plenty in his party that would wish him to go further and indeed

quicker. But a private members' bill, representing the Cameron

position was defeated by Labour and the Lib Dem peers in January. The

Tories will attempt to bring back the legislation later this year.

UKIP have one of the clearest positions on Europe, they just want

to leave the EU all together. They question the number of jobs that

come from the union, and indeed how dependant the British economy is on

Europe. Last week one UKIP MEP admitted the transition couldn't and

wouldn't happen in fewer than five years. Be more in, vote Lib Dem.

Just this weekend Nick Clegg announced that the choice at the

European elections would be between them and UKIP. He would take on what

he called "backwards-looking politics", he said they would be the

party of "in" and UKIP would be the party of "out". Everyone else he

intimated was ssing around in the middle, threatening to pull up the

draw bridge. John Man wrote to Ed Miliband asking him to pledge:

Some's speech won't go anywhere near as far, but perhaps it may offer a

small crumb or two or all those campaigning on the doorstep in the

weeks and months to come. Did he have anything else to say? If you

read the speech carefully, there are interesting concessions. He says in

it Britain needs to work more effectively to change within the EU.

He lists things that he's going to go out and seek change on. He says a

longer time between new countries joining and their citizens being

eligible for rights. He wants to make it easier to deport criminals

from overseas, a longer wait before doling out Child Tax Credit when

children live abroad. If you are listening to this, you are hearing

the voice and echo of David Cameron. This is classic, isn't it, Tory

territory that Ed Miliband is moving on to. The key difference being that

Ed Miliband has committed himself to only offering this referendum if

those powers are already being transferred. But this will also, I

suggest, go some way towards reassuring the business community

who has felt quite forgotten of late, quite isolated, all the talk

of energy freezes, or banks being split up o the bankers' bonuses

leaving businesses in a slightly shaky position. Does he offer any

apology for giving away all those powers in the Lisbon Treaty? That

wasn't him directly I guess, but maybe one for him next time he's

here. To discuss Ed Miliband's proposal we have John Mann, who has

written to Mr Ed Miliband today to call for an in-out referendum in the

first 12 months of the next parliament, and Mr Rudd head of

Business for New Europe. Do you think this promise meets what you

believe to be the public mood? Not fully, but it is certainly a

significant move in the right direction. The public mood isn't

specifically about a referendum, the public mood is about sorting out

what they see as the injustice and inequity within the European Union.

Until that is addressed this issue is going to resonate very, very

strongly. This is classic Ed Miliband isn't t it's clear as mud

in many ways? I think it's pretty clear, if there is a transfer of

powers to Brussels, there has to be an in-out referendum. I think the

likelihood of that transfer is extremely unlikely because you have

seen Germany, you have seen France, you have seen the positions of these

major European powers, there isn't going to be treaty change, not for

the foreseeable future. So you think it is showing the public mood? I

think it is very unlikely there will be a major treaty change, but I

think it is right if there was one that transferred powers to Brussels,

there should be a referendum on in-out, that is fair, I don't see

why you pick a particular date and time to pacify euro-sceptics who are

never going to be pass satisfied because they want to leave the

European Union. There would be an advantage to picking a deadline

wouldn't there? The advantage is that as leverage in negotiating,

David Cameron wants more flexible labour markets, that is not what the

public is telling me they want. They want the opposite. This is about

jobs and about some powers coming back into this country. And that

word that people don't like talking about in Westminster, "immigration".

What do you feel will be the reaction among the people that you

have been speaking to in the light of Labour's experience in

Government? People want to see, and what they are saying, Labour voters,

not least, want to see their voice being heard. They want to be trusted

and what they want is a significant reduction in the powers of the

European Union, particularly over jobs. If that doesn't happen then

people are not going to be happy. That is not what is being promised

is it? Not yet, but it is in the right direction. You have got

Cameron going one way, saying he wants more flexible labour markets,

agency workers is a good example of where Ed Miliband, I think, will go

next and saying we need stronger laws that in essence outmanoeuvre

the European Union and their flexible labour market mentality on

agencies. If that happens that would be hugely popular in the country.

You are rather chuffed aren't you? I think it is rather good move because

I would like to see Britain remain in the European Union. I don't want

to see an arbitary date in terms of referendum. It is right to have one

when there is a transfer of powers. Despite the fact as Emily has

pointed out, he's talking much of Cameron's language here? Well he is

a little bit on immigration, and I don't particularly necessary agree

with all of that. I think allowing the accession aid in 2004 was a good

move. Other things like not allowing child benefit for people who work

here from the European Union is perfectly acceptable. There are

sensible reforms, we do need Europe reformed and there is a real

possibility in getting more reform from Europe. But perhaps where I

would disagree with John is I think you are much more likely to get that

reform if you are seen to be somebody who wants to remain in

Europe and who doesn't threaten to leave at arbitary dates. What does

it do to the position of UKIP in the elections do you think? Well, you

know, UKIP are going to continue to argue that we should leave and we

need to leave immediately. Obviously the Conservatives will say we're the

only party which you can rely on to have a referendum early on in this.

And in some ways we have seen it with the Immigration Minister and

Conservatives, they will try to out-UKIP, UKIP on some issues.

Ultimately that is dangerous because if you are worried about immigration

and decide you want to stop it at all costs you will vote for UKIP not

a pale imitation. That gives you a problem doesn't it? UKIP, if they

weren't a bunch of fruitcakes then UKIP would be getting somewhere.

Let's hold the abuse aside for a second? That is how the public sees

them, not just me, and therefore UKIP, they will do better at the

European elections, there are other elections. But this isn't about

UKIP. They are still voting for these fruitcakes. If you want a

referendum on Europe the only people to guarantee it are UKIP and Tories?

The agenda in Europe will change when you get extreme parties in the

right and left anti-European Union, in other countries, particularly the

south and Eastern Europe, you get them elected to the European

Parliament, that is the earthquake that is coming. What Ed Miliband

needs to do when that happens is take the big issues, such as agency

workers, such as jobs, and ensure that the Labour Party is speaking

for its own voters on that. If it does, it will be the right position

in British politics. We will get more jobs if we remain in the

European Union. We extend the European market and push hard on

trade agreements and make sure it is the capital city of Europe. Those

are the areas we will ensure greater job production than we will by

threatening to leave or fighting on single issues that could actually

jeopardise our membership. Thank you very much both of you. It is a

little over a month since a man from Sussex became the first British

person to die carrying out a suicide bomb attack in the Syrian Civil War.

He left behind three children. There are said to be hundreds of British

men who may have become involved in that war about whom the security

forces say they have significant worries. It boils down to this,

could someone who travels to fight in a foreign war return to Britain

so hardened that they are willing to use violence here to advance their

beliefs? We report. This is Britain's first suicide

bomber killed in Syria. Filmed moments before he blew himself up,

at the gates of Aleppo Prison. Abdul Majid is the tenth man from Britain

known to have died on the Mirrian battlefield. He has been portrayed

as dang us fanatic, adding to the authorities' fears that this will

bring bloodshed back home. They may be radicalised and brutalised by

some of the experiences they see. Syria has become the Jihadi

destination of choice. But to his family, friends and some Muslims

Majid was something else entirely. My brother was not a terrorist. My

brother was a hero. He made the ultimate sacrifice to save the

Syrian people. We have spoken exclusively to his closest friend,

who travelled to Syria with him. I don't see how he is in any way

promoting the idea of returning back to any western country to carry out

acts of terrorism. His journey started in Crawley West Sussex, but

ended thousands of miles from home. When he got behind the wheel of this

struck bomb. This is the story of the man from Martyres Avenue. He's

in the camp and putting on a show for the children here. It was days

before his family realised he had been involved. He had gone to Syria

six months earlier with a nationwide aid convoy. My heart sank, my mum

and dad's hearts san We were extremely grief-striken when we saw

the moment, extremely shocked and deeply, deeply worried. Majeed was a

married man with three children. He had a steady job with the Highways

Agency. His brother said Majeed went to Syria to make a difference. He

saw there was people being oppressed, people with no food,

people being torn apart from their families, people being put in prison

and he just thought this was a great injustice. His friend went with him,

he says that they maintained refugee camps along the Turkey-Syria border,

Mr Mahmood returned in January but his friend stayed on. We put down

panels for channels for generators to be set up. Cables to be tied to

poles. These kinds of ideas to improve the situation in a

particular campsite. Did he ever fight? No, no. Did he ever talk

about fighting? No. Very, very busy with the work he was doing. There

was periods of time when we were apart. Wren When we were together it

was the might of the people, how we were assisting and helping them.

Majeed's family and friends believe he launched an attack to free

prisoners after reports of appalling treatment in the jails. His friend

said he had been deeply affected by the war. You would see the glaze in

his eye, and tears, these stories are shocking what these people have

gone through. My's Majeed's attack was carried out by one of several

affiliated to Al-Qaeda groups. The BBC has been unable to verify

claims. Afterwards there were reports that Majeed, who lived on

the improbably named In the at thes Avenue. As man he had attended talks

of a group. It is claimed the leader drove him to regular meetings in the

town. Some of the men were convicted in Operation Crevice, a massive

operation that thwarted plots to blow up targets in Britain. Majeed

was not implicated and he had left Al Majhagaroon. He had been in touch

with them and they didn't marry with his beliefs. He stayed with them for

a short time and moved on. This man's brother was jailed for his

part in a plot but neither he nor his brother were Jihadists he says.

While Majeed's final days are unclear, other men are clear about

their intentions. Such talk has triggered alarm back home, police

have arrested more than 30 people this year in investigations related

to Syria, including four people today. The former Quan tan Mo bay

detainee Begg is one of those arrested. There is mounting concern

in Whitehall, one official says Syria is the biggest security

challenge since 9/11. MI5 is looking at hundreds of men in Syria. They

could return battle hardened prepared to bring terrorism to the

streets of Britain. I understand the desire for people to want to help,

to give humanitarian assistance. But that puts them at risk going out

there, and they may come into contact with extremist

organisations, sometimes linked to Al-Qaeda, the al-Nusra front, the so

called Islamic state of Iraq and Levant, how they might be

radicalised or brutalised by some of the experiences they see. At

Crawley's main mosque some worshippers are sceptical that

anyone fighting to bring down Syria's corrupt regime could be a

threat to Britain. As far as I'm aware no innocents were targeted.

You could question what he did, but I wouldn't say he's terrorising

anyone the people say it is an act of terrorism, who is he terrorising.

Mosque leaders say Muslims feel an obligation to help the Syrians, they

now fear if they do they will be criminalised. It is very confusing,

the message is not clear. Every day new messages come up and they came

too late. Ministers deny any confusion, for them it is quite

clear. People should not travel to Syria. Because of the risk that it

poses to them and how actually it makes matters worse, it does not

assist in terms of the Syrian people who have said clearly they don't

want foreign fighters but humanitarian aid. Black in Crawley,

Majeed's family are coming to terms with his death. For them he died

trying to do good, no matter how shocking it would appear to others.

A lot of people would struggle to understand how driving a truck full

of explosives into a target would help anybody If I can put it like

this, and if my brother had been a soldier and the people in that

prison. And the act of bravery he did, I know he would have been

awarded the posthumous Victoria Cross. My brother was not a

terrorist but a hero, he was not a threat to the British public and

never has been a threat to the British public. They can feed you,

lend you money and bury you, but the Co-Op apparently cannot run itself

efficiently. The man appointed to sort it all out resigned saying more

or less it was ungovernable. The poor old Co-Op, once a name for

non-conformist probity, had a leader in a drugs sting, another leader

walk out and apparent hedge funds with expensive suits. The latest man

to go, jumped or pushed. What he was trying to do was clear out the

maze-like structure of the Co-Op, as well as slim it down. He was going

to take power from members, they have a strange, unusual democracy in

the business, he made enemies trying to do that, not least that people

didn't like the fact he was going to be paid ?3 million to do so. I'm

told a small but disruptive group on the board essentially made it

impossible for him to stay. This afternoon he walked, having

threatened to resign. What is interesting is there are seven

different inquiries going on into what went wrong at the Co-Op, seven

of them. And I'm told that for some people his departure is seen as

having been a semi-deliberate move to cover the back sides of those who

may be discredits when what really went wrong goes public. Let's not be

inhibited by the seven inquiries, what has gone wrong at the Co-Op? A

group founded on 19th century ethics of graft, saving and looking after

your neighbours really got a bit greedy. In the last ten years they

started buying up lots of businesses, most notably taking on

the Britannia, with lots of bad debt. You ended up with a business

built around a democratic committee structure trying to run a sprawling

group owing lots of money to lots of people. I think there was a culture

clash and they couldn't cope with the business. They do now have a

financial plan to shore up the business, but there are still lots

of whispers in the city that they could end up on the brink again. We

expect them toy a nouns ?2 billion worth of losses in the next couple

of weeks. Their group's revenue last year was only -- to announce a ?2

billion worth of losses in the next couple of weeks, they can't really

withstand more losses stemming the flow. The death of one of the best

known trade union leaders in Britain was announced today, last month Bob

Crow was vilified for taking a holiday in Brazil just before a

planned strike on the London Underground. Today even his enemies

were naming him a man of Prince penal and determination. The respect

for the dead is as old as the hills, but today there seemed to be

something else going o Joining Paul Merton tonight is the transport

leader who boasts he uses public transport every day, not if some

idiot calls a strike, please welcome Bob Crow. He may not have led the

biggest of trade unions but he had a name known the envy of some party

leaders. He was painted as a Boeing Yeoman and he loved it. We have to

stop now, because Bob has negotiated a ten-minute tea break! He He wasn't

a man of half measures or compromise, not what you would call

a mincer of words. I feel absolutely betrayed by this new Labour

Government, for not renationalising this rail network and stealing ahead

with the privatisation of London Underground. They called him

variously a dinosaur, a firebrand, a communist, no insult to him, frozen

commuters on strike bound railway platforms called him much worse. Yet

his unexpected death drew near universal acknowledgement he did his

job well. I didn't always agree with what he had to say. I will say this,

together with other union members Bob Crow unquestionably helped to

drive forward huge progress on London Underground and he leaves a

massive legacy behind. Other unions might wither, but during his dozen

years at the RMT, membership significantly increased. It wasn't

that he was unafraid, it was that he could start a fight in an empty

room. This was mere days before the last tube strike. Sit round a table,

explain about the new technology. I'm sorry Bob, there is a table to

be sat round by you and your team. But we can't do it with a gun to our

head. Yet for all his reputation as an old-style union prize fighter,

Bob Crow was media savvy and politically quite acute. All you

normally need to do in length land to become a national treasure sure

is to live long enough, he didn't get the chance. But in his death he

seems to have become one any way. Here to discuss Bob Crow's legacy is

the former Mayor of London, Ken Livingston, and with him the Times

columnist and Danny Finkelstein, Lord Fink

The strategy We admire people on the public stage

who stand up for the things they believe in and people are saying

nice things about him. Everyone has their own views, I didn't agree with

his politics and thought he was wrong-headed. On the day he dies

naturally people are respecting him, that is the good thing about this

country, people are decent to each other in these sorts of situations.

Part of it is being compute off in your prime, isn't it? It is, if he

hadn't died today he would be vilified for the stance he took. But

the big thing about Bob Crow is I can't think of any other group of

people in working-class jobs whose pay and conditions and pension

haven't been degraded over recent years. He fought to keep them with a

decent standard of living. He succeeded, and I think it is a

strong lesson to other trade unionists, it is no good pandering

to the establishment or trying to suck up, or hoping you will get a

deal. At the end of the day you have to stand up and fight or your

members' living standard will be degraded. Are you nodding there? I

thought it was He was an unusual figure. Bob Crow understood

capitalism, he cornered the market in railway workers and exploited the

monopoly he created. When he argued towards the end of his life he was

worth the money he was paid, he was quite right. But that was at

variance with the principle of equity. The money he was getting for

railway workers had to come from other workers travelling on the

tube. So that tension actually was one of the things that bedevilled

the Labour Party in the 1960s and 1970s, as they began to realise that

trade unionism pushing for wages for less well off people and vulnerable

people, a very good thing, is at variance of the broader principle of

equity, because it involves fighting for a sectional interest. Crow was a

really interesting figure and he will be analysed for a long time,

partly when people die shocking deaths and they are young that leads

sort of people to assess their careers when they are in mid-flight

I suppose that will happen. What did you make of the fact that Boris

Johnson sought out the first television camera he could in order

to say what a wonderful chap Bob Crow was? Having basically

disparaged him for several years and refusing to meet him. Bob Crow was

one of my supporters when I was running as an independent against

the new Labour machine. We had a joint campaign against Gordon

Brown's attempt to partially privatise the underground. Once I

had become the mayor and I had to negotiate we had rows and

disagreements. What I found good about Bob is he would come into the

room and tell you exactly what he wanted, there was never any

dissellbling, and dishonesty. We had some terrible rows but at the end of

the day the number of days lost under strikes in the six years I was

running the underground were cut by 98%, we did a fair deal. Stop

blowing your own trumpet, let's deal with the terrain of why people rush

out to be nice? It may be an element of hypocrisy, but it is benign. A

desire, you know, he has got a young family, he has died at a tragically

young age. I think of course an element of triumph for him because

he lived his life absolutely to full and all the way to the end. That is

the sort of triumph and strategy I'm sure he wouldn't want to be seen as

a tragic figure. It's a benign hypocrisy, I wouldn't want to live

in a society, I think Nigel Farage included an attack on the EU on his

tweet on Bob Crow. You know you don't want to be the first person to

make a minor political point when someone has just died. When Mrs

Thatcher died I was fairly moderate in my criticism, I stand remind

people every time she was re-elected the suicide rate doubled in the

following month. Because they have got relatives and family around. It

was classy to wait until now, I thought. I did write it up about 20

years ago. The other thing about him he was personally very charming

wasn't he. He had a charisma and a reasonableness? I think lots of

people have said, that I didn't meet him for very long, you have to

preach to that. To me speaking as a middle-class Jew from Pinner, he was

quite aggressive, I suspect that was part of how he got what he wanted

from people. I found him personally sort of bristling with a bit of

menace. But I can imagine he was charming. You can't get to the top

of a union like that and make the kind of strong appeal, he was in

some tough fights. I do have to say I didn't think they were always

well-picked fights and they were in favour of a sectional interest on

behalf of which he did very well. But I, I would say this, and he

would expect me to say this I think that was at the expense of a broader

interest. What is so striking about Bob Crow, there are so few

working-class people still in leading positions in Britain. Years

ago in parliament and business there were. We have had a middle-class,

everyone has to be a graduate and all that, the good thing about Bob

Crow, having got that position he carried on living his life as he had

before. He didn't leave his council flat to buy a house in Hampstead or

have a chauffeur-driven car and use transport, he was confident and

happy in his working-class culture. We have seen the working-class

culture being demonised, it is all Benefits Street, and the respect

that post-war generation of politicians had for the

working-class because they had fought with them in the Second World

War and they saw their courage, that has been striped out of society.

There is lots of conservatism to admire in someone who has an

appreciation of their identity and see it as a position. I can't agree

with him living in a council house, this is not the moment for beige

argument about that. I think there was more to it than simply an

identity issue. But nevertheless, his private in his identity and

willingness to exemptionify was obviously part of why he will be

well known and highly thought of by lots of people and controversial to

lots of others. Thank you very much. The Malaysian airliner that

disappeared four days ago still hasn't been found. Despite the area

of the search being doubled. The plain fact is no-one has any idea

where the aircraft and the 239 human beings on board are. Flying is such

an intrinsic part of modern life, many of us prefer to ignore that

nagging anxiety. How do I know that this thing I'm sitting inside won't

just fall out of the sky. Simply not being controlled is troubling

enough, leaving aside the possibility that you might suddenly

disappear without a trace. The My guest is here. You are writer in

residence at Heathrow weren't you? I spent a good month at Heathrow. Long

enough I would have said! Have you any idea as to why this is so

troubling, this idea of a plane and all its passengers disappearing? I

think we are recalibrating risk. We assume, largely because of

smartphones, that wherever we go we are being watched by satellite in

the sky. That is not true. We are being flattered by our mobile

technology. The earth remains vast, there are lots of mysteries, and

what happens to this plane is what happens in lots of areas of medical

science and other areas of science where there are still mysteries, not

everything is answerable or under our control. It is a terribly

humiliating event for human beings who like to feel they have mastered

the map, they know where stuff is, this is worse than the marry sell

lest, -- Marie Celeste, it is a lesson in hubris and had you malty.

How much -- humility. How much is it to do with the fact of flight? There

is no doubt flying remains an imaginatively extraordinary thing to

do. We are earth bound creatures to take to the skies is a daunting and

hubrisistic thing to do. Why do we buy all the duty-free and the

rigmarole and shows on planes. It remains for humans a daunting thing.

We have erased a lot of the risk, but some risk still remains. We feel

some of that risk just intuitively. There is nothing more natural than

the fear of flying, it is not warranted by accident statistics,

but by the sheer implausibilty of being at 35,000 feet. So we feel an

echo of that when we feel anxious, trapped in one of those tubes. Sheer

peculiarity of a plane disappearing though, that is really weird isn't

it? The news wants answers immediately. It hasn't disappeared,

we just don't know the answer yet. There are lots of things to which we

don't yet know the answer. Because we are so telescoped in and want

answers to everything immediately. We think a couple of days is a

momentous amount of time. 20, 30 years ago, when things disappeared,

ships, planes, one waited, and it might be a week. It is not that

long, it will show up. It hasn't disappeared, all traces can't be

gone, it will be found. It will just take longer than the news cycle. It

is a measure of how much we generally know. We know a lot and a

lot of questions are answered for us on the hour. This one is going to

take a lot long Tory resolve. That is deeply puzzling, but we need to

be more modest about our capacities: It is also putting yourself in the

hands of somebody else. You are up there and some people understand why

a plane flies and some don't, but you are not at the controls? I found

out the more you know about flying the scarier it gets. The less you

know you think it is done by machines and whatever, what you

realise is when you read pilots' forums it is a heavy and physical

business. Landing a plane. Pilots will talk about a "difficult

landing". That is scary for a passenger, what is a very difficult

landing? It remains a challenging job. It is extraordinary that

tonight in western Europe some 2,000 planes landed without incident at

airports across the land mass. We don't give those a second thought.

Very owe cruellyly something like this goes wrong. The stairs remain

much riskier, the shower much more deadly than any Malaysian airliner.

At the end of the day this is a giant momento, it is reminding us,

life is brief, death can come suddenly, you could die of a stroke

standing up in a studio, we don't expect it because we have such faith

in our machines. Our machines do not guarantee us total immunity from

death. It may come this evening. We need to be cautious, kind to one

another while we are alive and modest about our capacities. Thank

you very much, thanks. Scarcely a day goes by without one melancholy

bulletin or another from Iraq, another killing or suicide bombing.

But there is one corner of the country to which people are heading

to get away from it all. The city of Urbil, capital of Iraqi consider

disstand is famed for night life. Since it is within striking distance

of the border with the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is something of

a magnet for young Iranians desperate for forbidden fruit like

dancing and distilled liquor. For young Iranians desperate for

forbidden fruit like dancing and distilled liquor. Nothing tastes

sweeter than freedom, even for a few days. Far from the eyes of the

Iranian morality police, young Iranians flock to Urbil. It is a

quiet corner of northern Iraq, close to the Iranian border. And there has

been an explosion of shopping malles and nightclubs. This is Iraq, but

not as we know it. Here there are more cranes than Minerates, more

buildings than mosques. This has become the fun place in the region,

especially for young Iranians who live a few hours away over the

border. It is very easy for those Iranians to come here. It is not

far, and they don't need a visa. When the sun goes down the young

Iranians come out. Nasila, not her real name is from Tehran. She comes

here frequently. The Iranians who come to Kurdistan, they drink too

much, because they can find even in the desert alcohol, they show

themselves with the short dress and they just think freedom is only

that. This is something between me and cousins when we came to

Kurdistan, I wrote "what you want might make you cry, but what you

need might pass you by". She's going to one of the most exclusive

nightclubs to join her Iranian friends. It is around $10 a drink.

Hamid is from Iran, he's a DJ. He has been in many underground parties

in Iran, but likes to come to Urbil where he can party

These young Iranians are doing something that many in the west take

for granted, but for them it is a big deal. A lot of people from Iran

are joining us in the past year or so, more and more have been

visiting. Especially in the holidays, on the national holidays.

And it is not just Iranians who are flocking to Iraqi Kurdistan, with

its rapid construction and liberal ethos it is attracting visitors from

all over the world. But Hamed is worried his Government might prevent

Iranians from coming here in the future.

Hamed and Nasila represent a new generation of young Iranians, they

won't accept strict Islamic rules of the clerics.

Well that's just about it for tonight. Let's have a quick look at

some of tomorrow morning's front pages. As expected Ed Miliband's

announcement on the EU referendum which may or may not be promised is

on the front page of the Financial Times.

That's almost all for tonight, before we go the latest evidence

that comedy is shouldering out journalism. The American spoof chat

show presenter Zag Galofiniakas, won an exclusive interview with Barack

Obama, it appears in the Funny or Die website. You know what I would

do if I was President, Mr President. I would make same-sex divorce

illegal, and then see how bad they want it? I think that's not why you

are President, that is a good thing. You said if you had a son you

wouldn't let him play football. What makes you think he would want to

play football, what if he was a nerd like you. Do you think a woman like

Michelle would marry a nerd, why don't you ask her whether she thinks

I'm a nerd. Can I? No, I'm not going to let her near you. Which country

were you rooting for in the winter Olympics? Seriously?

Pretty cold out there in northern areas with patches of fog around, a

grey start further south. I'm hopeful the cloud will get nibbled

away by the sunshine. Most of us can look forward