:00:08. > :00:10.Returning to Britain tomorrow: the not-so-secret weapon
:00:11. > :00:20.President Obama and Americans of all political colours say
:00:21. > :00:27.So why exactly does the US seem to care so much about it?
:00:28. > :00:31.The UK is an important part of being part of the solution.
:00:32. > :00:37.If it, however, quits the EU, it will be part of the problem.
:00:38. > :00:39.But is it right for the Americans to butt into the campaign?
:00:40. > :01:03.Also tonight, we remember Victoria Wood.
:01:04. > :01:06.My jacket needed cleaning, so I had to whip it
:01:07. > :01:08.round to the while-you-wait cleaners around the corner,
:01:09. > :01:11.and it actually had Pot Noodle all the way down one sleeve.
:01:12. > :01:14.I didn't like to admit that I ate Pot Noodle,
:01:15. > :01:28.Maureen Lipman will be with us to share her thoughts.
:01:29. > :01:34.According to a poll last year, 76% of us in this country have
:01:35. > :01:39.confidence in President Obama when it comes to world affairs.
:01:40. > :01:43.His ratings here much higher than at home.
:01:44. > :01:45.His ratings here also generally higher than those of
:01:46. > :01:49.So, will he move the dial when he arrives in the UK tomorrow,
:01:50. > :01:54.and intervenes in our national deliberations on EU membership?
:01:55. > :01:57.The usual rule when it comes to a ballot is that
:01:58. > :01:59.foreigners' views are either ignored or counter-productive.
:02:00. > :02:01.So the question is, why would President Obama feel it
:02:02. > :02:03.necessary to pronounce on the issue at all?
:02:04. > :02:05.And let's face it, it's not just him.
:02:06. > :02:09.Eight out of ten former US Treasury Secretaries want us in too.
:02:10. > :02:13.A group of Republican and Democrat ones have written for the Times
:02:14. > :02:16.arguing that Brexit would be risky for Britain and bad for Europe.
:02:17. > :02:18.It turns out, the Americans think they have interests
:02:19. > :02:28.at stake in our referendum, as Mark Urban explains.
:02:29. > :02:34.We all know it's special, or supposed to be, but does this
:02:35. > :02:44.particular relationship demand public honesty or Serena discretion?
:02:45. > :02:50.Barack Obama flies in tomorrow, and he has already raised red flags
:02:51. > :02:55.about Brexit, even some of those campaigning for Britain to stay in
:02:56. > :02:59.the EU would rather he didn't weigh in. This is fundamentally a matter
:03:00. > :03:08.for the people of the United Kingdom to decide, and the people will make
:03:09. > :03:13.up their own minds, which is important for us to make a positive
:03:14. > :03:18.case as to why being part of the EU will make us healthier, wealthier,
:03:19. > :03:22.fairer and greener, and most importantly, I hopes everybody takes
:03:23. > :03:37.of this, that we have to avoid the fear stealth tax X. -- tactics.
:03:38. > :03:42.President Obama spoke up, but there is no doubt about what he thinks
:03:43. > :03:47.about the prospect of Britain leaving the EU. Having been added
:03:48. > :03:53.King in the European Union gives us much greater confidence about the
:03:54. > :03:56.strength of the transatlantic union. The president was in Saudi Arabia
:03:57. > :04:00.today on the first leg of his trip, so how will he balances desire to
:04:01. > :04:06.speak out on Brexit with his knowledge that it could be
:04:07. > :04:13.counter-productive with many voters? Obviously all of us who are not
:04:14. > :04:17.lucky enough to be British citizens are respectful of the right of the
:04:18. > :04:22.British people to make this decision. We understand what the
:04:23. > :04:26.referendum is about, it is part of a democratic process that the Prime
:04:27. > :04:32.Minister put in place a number of years ago. But our president, as
:04:33. > :04:39.others, feels that we have a right, and even an obligation, to be candid
:04:40. > :04:45.with the citizens and the leaders of a country with whom we have a
:04:46. > :04:49.special relationship. Among the concerns cited are the old Kissinger
:04:50. > :04:55.question, who does the US call if it wants to talk to Europe? There is no
:04:56. > :05:02.easy answer still, but Britain leaving the EU would make it harder.
:05:03. > :05:05.Good morning, all. There are possible economic concerns, and
:05:06. > :05:13.there is the worry that Britain's voice would no longer be there in EU
:05:14. > :05:20.Summits. If the UK through this referendum were to pull out of the
:05:21. > :05:25.EU, the chances of the EU getting passed its current troubles, which
:05:26. > :05:34.are many, would be less, in other words, if there are solutions to the
:05:35. > :05:39.strains and stresses that the EU is under, the UK is an important part
:05:40. > :05:45.of being part of the solution. If it however quits the EU, it will be
:05:46. > :05:52.part of the problem, if I can put it that way. South of the Thames, a new
:05:53. > :05:58.US embassy is taking shape. It's a ?600 million investment in the
:05:59. > :06:03.future relationship. Given the depth of US/ UK ties on the scale of this
:06:04. > :06:07.investment, you might wonder why President Obama would violate the
:06:08. > :06:14.principal that Democratic leaders don't comment on one another's
:06:15. > :06:18.elections or referenda. Well, the White House believed the stakes
:06:19. > :06:23.involved in this UK vote are so big, they say it is the duty of Britain's
:06:24. > :06:26.friends to make their views clear, and I've heard that similar
:06:27. > :06:34.statements will be coming from the French and German leaders in the
:06:35. > :06:37.next few weeks. Around the new embassy, whole neighbourhood of
:06:38. > :06:43.buildings is taking shape. It's an investment in a new home for that
:06:44. > :06:51.loving relationship, and both the US and other European allies want to
:06:52. > :06:53.influence its shape. Mark Hoban there.
:06:54. > :06:56.I'm joined now by Vote Leave's Suzanne Evans and by Anne Applebaum,
:06:57. > :07:00.an author and columnist for the Washington Post.
:07:01. > :07:05.Suzanne, what do you make of the argument you have heard there.
:07:06. > :07:08.Clearly the Americans think us leaving is going to create
:07:09. > :07:14.instability and problems from the beginning. Identity stand that, and
:07:15. > :07:23.we had a special relationship with the Americans long before we joined
:07:24. > :07:26.the EU, and we could still have it if we left. We could perhaps take
:07:27. > :07:30.this intervention are little more seriously if America opened its
:07:31. > :07:34.border with Mexico, if it accepted the judicial supremacy of the
:07:35. > :07:39.organisation of American States, and perhaps even allowed the free
:07:40. > :07:42.movement of people. It wouldn't dream of doing that, but it is
:07:43. > :07:47.asking us to consider doing something similar in the EU, and the
:07:48. > :07:52.UK would never dream of suggesting that America did that. You listened
:07:53. > :07:55.to others in that report, their interest is not our interest, their
:07:56. > :07:59.interest is the European interest, it might be good for Europe for
:08:00. > :08:05.Britain staying, but is your point that it is not about Europe, it is
:08:06. > :08:08.about us? I think America is over estimated the influence we have
:08:09. > :08:13.within the European Union. We know that every time Britain has voted no
:08:14. > :08:16.to a proposal, it has been overruled, and I don't think we have
:08:17. > :08:32.the fluids that America things we have. And commie you have written
:08:33. > :08:37.for the Spectator this week -- Anne, you have written to the Spectator
:08:38. > :08:39.this week. This is about whether Britain will go on being Great
:08:40. > :08:45.Britain, whether it will go on being a world power. We want to Britain in
:08:46. > :08:48.the centre of world events, inside Europe, influencing Europe, and it
:08:49. > :08:55.is not true at all that Britain has no influence. Britain has shaped the
:08:56. > :09:01.common market, created, pushed for competition policy, made the Anne a
:09:02. > :09:13.more open place, a better place for British and American businesses, and
:09:14. > :09:18.we want Britain to stay. But we want a British interest in the corridors
:09:19. > :09:21.of American power? Americans feel, they feel that Americans and the
:09:22. > :09:27.British share values, have similar views about the world, markets,
:09:28. > :09:30.democracy, and we want our shared values to be part of Europe, and we
:09:31. > :09:35.want to push Europe in that direction. And you agree with that?
:09:36. > :09:39.You are putting the Americans at the centre of your campaign? I love what
:09:40. > :09:43.she said about wanting Britain to be at the centre of the world, that is
:09:44. > :09:47.what we want as well which is why we don't want to be shackled to a
:09:48. > :09:50.failing European Union. We will have more influence if we can take back
:09:51. > :09:59.our seat at the World Trade Center, and have more say on world trade and
:10:00. > :10:03.inward investment. President Obama has some interest telling us the
:10:04. > :10:06.truth on that, doesn't eat? You say we will a better trade relations,
:10:07. > :10:10.continue with the special relationship, they will continue
:10:11. > :10:14.giving us our security through Nato, but if the guy you're pinning all of
:10:15. > :10:18.that on says, please, don't do it, is that really not a legitimate
:10:19. > :10:24.thing for him to say? He is perfectly entitled to say it if he
:10:25. > :10:28.wants to, but is he really going to end that special relationship if we
:10:29. > :10:32.leave the European Union? Of course not. If there is one lesson we can
:10:33. > :10:34.learn from America in this it is the way in which America is fiercely
:10:35. > :10:39.protective is democratic sovereignty, and that is what we
:10:40. > :10:42.want to do here, too. And a new Spectator piece, you had an
:10:43. > :10:45.interesting argument which is that we shouldn't be worried about
:10:46. > :10:48.Americans expressing an opinion, there are a lot of Americans
:10:49. > :10:55.including presidential candidate who really couldn't care less. What we
:10:56. > :10:58.really need to worry about now, what we should all be worried about and
:10:59. > :11:03.fighting against our isolationist who want to pull apart the Western
:11:04. > :11:06.alliance, wants to end the relationships, the trans-Atlantic
:11:07. > :11:14.relationship, and don't care at all, and we should be together, we, the
:11:15. > :11:18.British, the EU, should be together as a Western alliance working
:11:19. > :11:21.together, and the problem is that there are now very strong voices in
:11:22. > :11:27.the United States and across Europe... Donald Trump basically
:11:28. > :11:31.said, if Nato goes, so be it. Donald Trump is not interested in Nato,
:11:32. > :11:35.there are plenty of people in the United States who are not, and we
:11:36. > :11:41.should keep that in mind. We have every intention of staying within
:11:42. > :11:46.Nato, and another issue is that outside the European Union, we have
:11:47. > :11:49.more ability to control our own national security and work more
:11:50. > :11:54.closely with America and Nato. Is it going to backfire? Is President
:11:55. > :12:02.Obama above being a foreigner Divina? He does rate highly in our
:12:03. > :12:10.polls, but will people say, but out, or will they be glad of his counsel?
:12:11. > :12:14.He has a right to speak. This is one of the things that affect us. The
:12:15. > :12:18.things that others me about the Leave campaign is that they think
:12:19. > :12:21.this ends at their borders, but it affects all of us. And what you
:12:22. > :12:28.think? I think most people will think that he should stay out. Your
:12:29. > :12:35.leader, Nigel Farage, called him the most anti-British American president
:12:36. > :12:40.in history. But we do seem to quite like him, do you like him? I think
:12:41. > :12:44.we do have a stronger relationship with America than the EU. We all
:12:45. > :12:49.know who leads America, do we know who the EU presents are? Let's leave
:12:50. > :12:51.it there. Let's stay on the EU referendum
:12:52. > :12:54.theme for another couple of minutes. Because we are going to roll out
:12:55. > :12:58.the first in a series of short These are particularly
:12:59. > :13:02.for the undecideds among you. What we've done is ask a number
:13:03. > :13:05.of people to take us through their thinking as they've
:13:06. > :13:08.made up their mind how to vote; these are folks who are not taking
:13:09. > :13:11.a role in the campaigns. Tonight, it's the novelist,
:13:12. > :13:12.broadcaster and journalist, I'm quite open to talking
:13:13. > :13:29.about, you know, I'd But that inevitably aligns me
:13:30. > :13:35.with other politicians that I wouldn't vote
:13:36. > :13:37.for in a million years. I think that's sometimes
:13:38. > :13:41.why people are shocked. No, I didn't really
:13:42. > :13:46.listen to anyone. I just saw what was on the news,
:13:47. > :13:50.I went off and did my own reading. Recently, we had the tampon tax
:13:51. > :13:58.and I was really shocked that we have to go to Brussels
:13:59. > :14:03.to get an agreement about getting VAT scrapped on a tax that we feel
:14:04. > :14:06.quite strongly about, It got me starting to think
:14:07. > :14:12.about the notion of democracy. If you've got elected
:14:13. > :14:15.politicians in this country, we have elected them at the ballot
:14:16. > :14:26.box, why are they going to Brussels? It is not about migration to me at
:14:27. > :14:36.all, which I think shocks people. Because I'm black
:14:37. > :14:38.and when I say, oh no, I think we should leave the EU,
:14:39. > :14:41.I think people have taken that I'm making
:14:42. > :14:43.a statement about migration. I'm not making a statement
:14:44. > :14:45.about migration. Actually, what I'm making
:14:46. > :14:46.a statement about is It is not that I'm not saying
:14:47. > :14:50.we can't have a relationship I think if you really think
:14:51. > :14:57.about Britain at the moment, we do have a bit of a semi-detached
:14:58. > :15:00.relationship with the EU. We're not part of the eurozone,
:15:01. > :15:03.which is another story, There's the treaty around borders
:15:04. > :15:08.and passports and we actually were not part of that
:15:09. > :15:10.so we do check our passports So we do have a bit
:15:11. > :15:14.of a semi-detached relationship with Europe, so why don't we -
:15:15. > :15:17.we have opted out a bit - so why don't we just opt out
:15:18. > :15:23.completely, I think? We will have more of those films
:15:24. > :15:28.over the next few weeks. Funny, but also poignant
:15:29. > :15:29.and deeply serious. A great performer, but also
:15:30. > :15:31.an award-winning writer. Victoria Wood sadly died
:15:32. > :15:33.today at the age of 62, A giant in entertainment herself,
:15:34. > :15:36.her skill was in capturing the characters and concerns
:15:37. > :15:39.of ordinary people. It's quite a feat to take dinner
:15:40. > :15:42.ladies, or characters called Barry and Freda,
:15:43. > :15:45.and to make comedy out of them, And that perhaps reflected her
:15:46. > :15:51.own self-effacing personality. She had a somewhat solitary
:15:52. > :15:54.childhood and for her, the sun came out when discovered
:15:55. > :15:57.that she was more comfortable Stephen Smith looks
:15:58. > :16:08.back at her career. He did have a sad life when you
:16:09. > :16:14.think about it, Shakespeare. He did die before he could collaborate with
:16:15. > :16:20.Andrew Lloyd-Webber! I hate watching Shakespeare in the theatre. I hate
:16:21. > :16:24.sitting there with those people going, "She used to be in Juliet
:16:25. > :16:37.Bravo!" Ready to order, Sir? Jane? What is
:16:38. > :16:42.the soup of the day, please? I'll go and find out.
:16:43. > :16:51.Where would British comedy be without dire hotels and restaurants?
:16:52. > :16:52.What time is your train? Or Victoria Wood and Julie Walters for that
:16:53. > :17:23.matter. Two soups! Everything comes down to
:17:24. > :17:27.meeting Julie in that summer of '78. It was like somebody banging a gong,
:17:28. > :17:34.I wrote this sentence and it was constructed in such a way that it
:17:35. > :17:38.was funny, everything I had written before was nearly funny. This was
:17:39. > :17:43.properly funny. Ladies and gentlemen, Victoria Wood. They make
:17:44. > :17:48.all this fuss about a Northern Powerhouse, but there has always
:17:49. > :17:52.been one for humour. Victoria Wood was a solitary child, in love with
:17:53. > :17:57.TV and alert in eccentricity, a recipe for comedy gold. I was
:17:58. > :18:01.obsessed with the television. It was a disappointment when it went back
:18:02. > :18:05.to the shop in the summer. My father bought one so we could watch it all
:18:06. > :18:13.year-round. If anything happened in the summer, I never saw it. One
:18:14. > :18:20.year, after he bought a set, I think it was when I was doing my O levels,
:18:21. > :18:27.he decided I was watching too much television, instead of saying
:18:28. > :18:33.anything, he wrapped it up in a Mac. There was a package with a belt
:18:34. > :18:39.around the middle! One of her best-loved creations was Acorn
:18:40. > :18:44.Antiques. How do you say in the English, to marry you? It was a
:18:45. > :18:52.spoof of a long-running shambolic show lucky to stay on the air. I was
:18:53. > :18:56.sitting in the garden by a hedge when I was four in our house in
:18:57. > :19:01.Bury. I remember thinking, I want to be famous. That was it. It came to
:19:02. > :19:06.you out of the blue? I wanted to make my mark. In what way? I knew I
:19:07. > :19:09.was funny. I could play the piano and I thought somehow I would do
:19:10. > :19:15.something with this. I didn't know what it would be. I had a feeling
:19:16. > :19:27.inside that I could do it. # Children be nice to your father
:19:28. > :19:31.# He is still alive at 35... # I saw her when she was a complete
:19:32. > :19:35.unknown and didn't recognise her talent at all, which she used to
:19:36. > :19:39.tease me about. She had a struggle being a woman and being accepted
:19:40. > :19:44.because it wasn't the fashion in those days, nobody believed that
:19:45. > :19:48.women could be as funny as men and she proved them wrong. And laid the
:19:49. > :19:52.ground work and the spade work for all the great, brilliant women
:19:53. > :19:56.talent, comediennes that we have today.
:19:57. > :20:07.I give you Miss Victoria Wood. The girl from Bury who wanted to be
:20:08. > :20:22.famous won Celebrity Bake Off. I don't like it. There is only ever
:20:23. > :20:26.one at a time and it was Thora Hird. # Beat me on the bottom with
:20:27. > :20:45.# The Woman's Weekly # I'm joined now by actor, comedian,
:20:46. > :20:55.columnist, Maureen Lipman. What was funny about her? What wasn't funny
:20:56. > :21:00.about Vic? She was a technician. But you could see from that clip that
:21:01. > :21:10.she was having an absolute ball. I think she was a brilliant writer and
:21:11. > :21:15.had the personality of a true comedian, which was introverted and
:21:16. > :21:21.happy when she was out there. She clicked on something that turned
:21:22. > :21:26.things, and she's talked about that on other occasions. You don't know
:21:27. > :21:32.what it was? She is so pretty. She never knew that. She had such style.
:21:33. > :21:37.In a sort of way, she reminded me of Peter Kay, there is a great,
:21:38. > :21:41.formidable strength there. I did one show once, which she wrote. One
:21:42. > :21:47.monologue. In the studio, I remember doing it, she sat there, where you
:21:48. > :21:53.are, and I thought, oh no. Go away! Don't judge me. She just was part of
:21:54. > :22:09.the process. She was producing, directing and she was a very strong
:22:10. > :22:14.woman model for all of us... You performed that production and that
:22:15. > :22:19.is the thing, it is the character, it is the observation of ordinary
:22:20. > :22:24.lives and seeing funny things, whether it is a school teacher or
:22:25. > :22:27.someone washing up, or anything? And retaining her northern roots. The
:22:28. > :22:33.rhythm of everything she wrote is northern. It is a bit like, she
:22:34. > :22:43.admired my late husband and we got together over egg and chips and she
:22:44. > :22:47.had the same genius, which was to take the ordinary, just distort it a
:22:48. > :22:52.little bit, you know, in its proportions and it was hilarious
:22:53. > :22:57.whatever she did. There's been a little debate - she was not sneering
:22:58. > :23:03.about ordinary people? It was always quite sympathetic? I don't know. I
:23:04. > :23:06.think she was waspish. You have to be for comedy. You can't be
:23:07. > :23:10.pleasant, you know. That is interesting. I thought she was
:23:11. > :23:15.rather pleasant. She was quite edgy. Edgy. She would talk about issues,
:23:16. > :23:26.you could imagine people sitting in front of the telly being embarrassed
:23:27. > :23:29.about? . Beat me on the bottom with a Woman's Weekly was very much a
:23:30. > :23:34.National Anthem. She was a great example of how if you want something
:23:35. > :23:42.done well, get a comedian. Let's talk about the women in comedy
:23:43. > :23:46.point. We heard Michael Grade saying it, it was assumed women weren't
:23:47. > :23:52.funny, particularly in stand-up? You had to be grotesque in a way. You
:23:53. > :23:58.had to be Hilda Baker. Of course, it happens. Beryl Reid was another
:23:59. > :24:03.heroine of Victoria's. She was a great actress. It wasn't until
:24:04. > :24:08.Smiley's People that we knew she was a great actress. That character she
:24:09. > :24:17.played of the Birmingham... It was the same kind of talent, you know,
:24:18. > :24:21.it just was a colour that and an observation and a delineation which
:24:22. > :24:26.was slightly bigger than reality, you know. Last question, she was a
:24:27. > :24:30.generous and warm personality as well, correct? She would write lines
:24:31. > :24:35.that were for other people as well as for herself. She would give other
:24:36. > :24:42.people good lines. Does that work in showbiz? Well, she was on the
:24:43. > :24:46.outside and on the inside, she was a performer, a director and a writer.
:24:47. > :24:53.There was a triple threat. It is such a shock. This year... Today, I
:24:54. > :24:57.got a message which said Victoria Wood on my phone and I thought she's
:24:58. > :25:01.coming to see the show. I left a message on the phone saying, don't
:25:02. > :25:06.come tonight because we have an actress off. I read... I just... And
:25:07. > :25:11.in fact, because there was an actress off, I spoke to the audience
:25:12. > :25:16.after the show. I said, you know, we have lost Britain's most formidable
:25:17. > :25:24.talent today. It is heartbreaking. 62. It is. God bless her children
:25:25. > :25:27.because it's, I don't know how you replace someone, let alone a
:25:28. > :25:29.performer, but a mother as well. She was a born mother. Thank you so
:25:30. > :25:32.much. Thank you. The London mayoral election
:25:33. > :25:34.is on May 5th, two weeks tomorrow. But while London has a lot of issues
:25:35. > :25:37.to manage, the campaign between Conservative Zac Goldsmith
:25:38. > :25:41.and Labour's Sadiq Khan has ventured Mr Goldsmith has used the line that
:25:42. > :25:47.Sadiq Khan is a radical - a word that morphs neatly
:25:48. > :25:50.from association with Jeremy Corbyn to connections with Islamists
:25:51. > :25:54.with anti-West views. For Labour, the Tory campaign
:25:55. > :25:57.has been Islamaphobic, a "racist scream",
:25:58. > :26:00.as Yvette Cooper described it. Secunder Kermani has been looking
:26:01. > :26:15.at the Conservative campaign, This multilingual Zac Goldsmith
:26:16. > :26:21.campaign video is a light-hearted side of the prominence attached to
:26:22. > :26:27.race in the mayoral election. The Tories have been accused of playing
:26:28. > :26:32.to fears of Sadiq Khan's Muslim background. He has a long record of
:26:33. > :26:36.sharing platforms with extremists... Today, it was the Prime Minister's
:26:37. > :26:43.turn to raise the same accusation against Sadiq Khan. The honourable
:26:44. > :26:50.member for Tooting has appeared on a platform with him nine times. This
:26:51. > :26:56.man supports IS. The Imam in question rejects that and Labour
:26:57. > :27:00.branded the comments Islamophobic. I'm disappointed if they want to
:27:01. > :27:08.have this desperate, negative campaign, I will be a Mayor for all
:27:09. > :27:14.Londoners. I'm the person, who when he stood for Parliament, had
:27:15. > :27:18.extremists outside his mosque... In recent days, Sadiq Khan and his
:27:19. > :27:23.supporters have accused my campaign of being Islamophobic. There are
:27:24. > :27:27.serious questions about you and your judgment. In debates and in
:27:28. > :27:31.newspaper columns, Khan has been accused of talking alongside
:27:32. > :27:37.radicals, choosing to defend extremists when he was a lawyer and
:27:38. > :27:43.some of the claims have backfired. The South London preacher had also
:27:44. > :27:47.been seen alongside Goldsmith. This style of politics isn't what people
:27:48. > :27:50.normally associate with Zac Goldsmith. What is behind it? Could
:27:51. > :27:56.it be that Goldsmith has been trailing Khan in the polls? Or is it
:27:57. > :28:01.the influence of Lynton Crosby, whose firm is running the Tory
:28:02. > :28:10.campaign? In Croydon, this group of Muslim voters say they have been put
:28:11. > :28:16.off by the language in this debate. I dress the way I dress. Does that
:28:17. > :28:21.mean I'm related to Taliban? No. With the dirty politics that's going
:28:22. > :28:24.on, it puts you off. I have voted for the Tories in the past because
:28:25. > :28:29.of their policies. Now, looking at the dirty politics which is going
:28:30. > :28:33.on, I think I really have to think deep and search my conscience. The
:28:34. > :28:37.only reason that these issues have been brought up are the lack of
:28:38. > :28:43.policy issues that the Tories have been able to put forward. Outer
:28:44. > :28:49.London areas have been key to Conservative strategy in London's
:28:50. > :28:55.mayoral elections. They form part of the outer doughnut, a tradition ally
:28:56. > :28:58.whiter, more Tory-friendly boroughs. The more ethnically diverse inner
:28:59. > :29:02.city areas go to Labour. Demographic changes to the city make that
:29:03. > :29:06.strategy much harder now. I think that Zac Goldsmith's
:29:07. > :29:11.campaign has had to cope with the fact that it is no longer possible
:29:12. > :29:18.for the Conservatives to assume that outer London is a place of suburban
:29:19. > :29:22.Tory voting constituencies. What they have to think about now is, how
:29:23. > :29:27.to ensure that the outer London vote, which includes some of the
:29:28. > :29:30.traditional outer London voters, but now a more complex minority
:29:31. > :29:36.population, how they still turn out for the Conservatives.
:29:37. > :29:42.Ethnic minorities may have been traditionally associated with
:29:43. > :29:51.Labour, but significant number of Sikhs now associate with the Tories.
:29:52. > :29:56.Zac Goldsmith highlighted his welcoming of the Indian Prime
:29:57. > :30:00.Minister. Some have labelled his targeting of Indian communities
:30:01. > :30:05.patronising and even divisive, but at this Croydon Temple, he has
:30:06. > :30:08.strong support. We did feel a bit neglected and ignored, but since the
:30:09. > :30:12.last election, the Conservative Party has made a special effort to
:30:13. > :30:19.reach out to the Hindu community, and it is appreciated. Our Prime
:30:20. > :30:28.Minister got such a warm welcome, it was just a very remarkable event.
:30:29. > :30:32.These politics are not something most of the British public are used
:30:33. > :30:34.to. This election could see them brought into the mainstream.
:30:35. > :30:37.Secunder Kermani there. And you can of course find a full
:30:38. > :30:41.list of candidates running to be For almost two years,
:30:42. > :30:48.the Syrian city of Raqqa has served as the capital of the so-called
:30:49. > :30:50.Islamic State. But there has been a thorn
:30:51. > :30:52.in the side of Isis: an extraordinary group of young men
:30:53. > :30:55.who've opposed the regime online, documenting everyday realities
:30:56. > :30:58.at great personal risk. The group is called
:30:59. > :31:01.Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently. Today the group's leaders
:31:02. > :31:04.are in hiding, but their full story is being told for the first time
:31:05. > :31:07.in a film portrait of the group using real testimony
:31:08. > :31:20.and graphicised images. Documents that are members of the
:31:21. > :31:42.group have been victims of Isis brutality.
:31:43. > :41:17.A fuller version of that remarkable story, which was produced
:41:18. > :41:19.by Chloe Hadjimatheou from the BBC World Service, is available
:41:20. > :41:22.in a series of short films on the BBC News website,
:41:23. > :41:26.and there is also more on our Facebook page.
:41:27. > :41:31.Before we go, the world's largest photography awards, the Sony Awards,
:41:32. > :41:34.are being handed out tomorrow at Somerset House in London.
:41:35. > :41:36.Now, we're not allowed to tell you who's won,
:41:37. > :41:39.but we leave you with a few that we think deserve to.
:41:40. > :42:40.Good evening. After the warmth of today, the cold weather by the end
:42:41. > :42:46.of this week will come as a bit of a shock. Still some sunshine around on
:42:47. > :42:47.Thursday, not as much in the southern half of