0:00:00 > 0:00:01results next week and has been trying to cut costs
0:00:01 > 0:00:04and revive sales.
0:00:04 > 0:00:09Now on BBC News, it's time for Newsnight.
0:00:25 > 0:00:30A man and to govern America betrayed. How much of it is true? To
0:00:30 > 0:00:33those who work with Donald Trump recognise the chaos it describes? We
0:00:33 > 0:00:42speak to the White House insider Sebastian Mand Janice Middleton. Why
0:00:42 > 0:00:49was the sentence for John Worboys so lenient? Do we forget about the
0:00:49 > 0:00:54victims of sex crimes too quickly? We examine how they are treated by
0:00:54 > 0:00:59the justice system. And isn't cruel to breed puppies like this? Half of
0:00:59 > 0:01:03all flat faced dogs needed treatment to help issues last year. Why we
0:01:03 > 0:01:09insist on making them that's when they are so hard to breathe?
0:01:12 > 0:01:12Good evening.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15"The events I've described in these pages", writes Michael Wolff,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18"are based on conversations that took place over 18 months
0:01:18 > 0:01:26with the President and most members of his senior staff".
0:01:27 > 0:01:28The rest of the book is explosive.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31He describes a president who behaves sometimes like a child,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34other times like an emperor, neurotic, scared, phobic and scorned
0:01:34 > 0:01:35by his own aides.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37The President himself denounced the book as lies,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40denied the author even had access.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45He tried to stop its very publication - that only sped things
0:01:45 > 0:01:47up and put it in the best-seller list.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50So tonight, on the day the book is published -
0:01:50 > 0:01:54four days early - and at the end of a long week when it's dominated
0:01:54 > 0:01:55news the world over,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58we speak to those inside the White House.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01And to one present on the same occasions described
0:02:01 > 0:02:02within the book's pages.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06We will ask how much of these allegations are revelations and how
0:02:06 > 0:02:09much will they change the mind of the base that brought
0:02:09 > 0:02:17Donald Trump to power.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Despite threats from President Trump, the publishers neither this
0:02:20 > 0:02:24nor desisted and instead the publication of the explosive book
0:02:24 > 0:02:28forward. Fire and fury is the work of Michael Wolff, journalist who
0:02:28 > 0:02:32says he has access to the White House to much of the last year and
0:02:32 > 0:02:36spoke to the President while writing it. Trump 's dismissed it as lies,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41says he never allowed the access. Others have also questioned the
0:02:41 > 0:02:44accuracy of the detail in the book. But the President is clearly spooked
0:02:44 > 0:02:48by the allegations within it.I absolutely spoke to the President,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52whether he realised it was an interview or not, I don't know, but
0:02:52 > 0:02:57it certainly was not off the record. It paints a White House in chaos, a
0:02:57 > 0:03:02paranoid president who was horrified to actually win, and a host of AIDS
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and advisers who scorned his abilities. The big question its
0:03:05 > 0:03:11races are existential. Was a treasonous Trump 's fund to meet
0:03:11 > 0:03:14with Russian officials during the campaign? Is the president of sound
0:03:14 > 0:03:19mind to run America? But it's the details that will stop readers in
0:03:19 > 0:03:24their tracks. The council Donald Trump's phobias, his fast food
0:03:24 > 0:03:27addiction, he is viewing habits, as well as its relations with his wife,
0:03:27 > 0:03:34his daughter, early bedtime. The book is a ready claimed its first
0:03:34 > 0:03:37skull, an almighty row has broken out between the President and his
0:03:37 > 0:03:41former White House to just Stephen Bannon whose comments first appeared
0:03:41 > 0:03:46in the book. With to sue the other, then and found himself put out of
0:03:46 > 0:03:52big donor funding since it appeared. Any questions, who will get his pen,
0:03:52 > 0:03:56I don't know?It raises the spectre of an open secret shared by many. To
0:03:56 > 0:04:02those who worked with and around Donald Trump, they recognise the
0:04:02 > 0:04:05same world Wolf describes, a White House with no plan, a leader with no
0:04:05 > 0:04:10strategy, an impulsive peak president who acts upon his
0:04:10 > 0:04:15instincts time and time again with no interest in third-party views. Or
0:04:15 > 0:04:20has the right to Haka fictionalised the world? Trump 's critics were
0:04:20 > 0:04:25simply going to see. The bigger question, the fundamental one
0:04:25 > 0:04:30perhaps if this- will any that is written in these pages change Trump
0:04:30 > 0:04:35's Palok all the way those voted for him see him now? The answer is no,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39then Fire and Fury may just be sound and fury, ultimately signifying
0:04:39 > 0:04:48nothing. To me now is Sebastian Gorka, to ' -- deputies destined to
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Donald Trump and knows the White House well. I know in your previous
0:04:51 > 0:04:57news encounters we have analysed whether Newsnight at self is fake
0:04:57 > 0:05:01news, et cetera, so to the sake of our few with as the sake of moving
0:05:01 > 0:05:06the story on, what do we agree to recognise that that is how you view
0:05:06 > 0:05:10things and this time shed a little bit more light on how you see
0:05:10 > 0:05:14operations in the White House. It is good of you to join us. Was there
0:05:14 > 0:05:17anything in the coverage of Michael Wolff's book that struck a chord
0:05:17 > 0:05:23with you, that he recognised? Nothing at all, especially if you
0:05:23 > 0:05:27look at the basic facts, he gets completely wrong, it is except that
0:05:27 > 0:05:31of ready been published, he can't even get right with the President
0:05:31 > 0:05:35new John Boehner, he says on the day that he became president he had
0:05:35 > 0:05:39never heard of him, the Speaker of the house John Boehner when any
0:05:39 > 0:05:42child can go on Google and put in the name Donald Trump and John
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Boehner and find photographs of those to Mendelssohn with each other
0:05:45 > 0:05:49two years ago.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52On page ten, the author, Michael Wolff, who has been caught
0:05:52 > 0:05:54lying repeatedly in the past in his previous books,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57states that he cannot verify the accuracy of anything
0:05:57 > 0:06:07that is in the book.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10What he says is many of the accounts are in conflict with one another,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13it sound as if he heard a lot of conflicting accounts,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17wrote them up and let readers decide what to think and the accounts came
0:06:17 > 0:06:20from multiple sources he wrote up as a factual,
0:06:20 > 0:06:21that is what journalists do.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24No if you wrote a story that conflicted and said I will let
0:06:25 > 0:06:27the viewers decide, you would be warned or fired.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29A journalist must have two verified sources.
0:06:29 > 0:06:45Michael Wolff is a Charlton and a liar.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47His introduction tells you as much.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51He paints a pictures others have recognised a picture of a president
0:06:51 > 0:06:54who sounds like he has slightly lost his mind and behaves
0:06:54 > 0:06:56in a child-like way, do you recognise that
0:06:56 > 0:07:02in the president?
0:07:02 > 0:07:04He repeats the calumy of all the left-wing Trump
0:07:04 > 0:07:12derangement-suffering people.
0:07:12 > 0:07:13You don't recognise.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18I actually worked in the White House.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22I'm not a political hack who came in to write a book to make money
0:07:22 > 0:07:24and please the elite that failed both nations,
0:07:24 > 0:07:33whether the UK or the United States.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Donald Trump won on the basis of facts that Brexit won in the UK
0:07:37 > 0:07:38and wasn't predicted by the elite.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41It is a joke.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Paint a picture of what you know to be true then.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47For example, I I think we are told some of the observations say most
0:07:47 > 0:07:50days Trump preferred to be in bed at 6.
0:07:50 > 0:08:0430 watching television and eating cheeseburgers.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05It is such garbage.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07What time does he go to bed.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10He sleeps less than two and a half hours a day.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13When he is tweeting at 4am no, one is tweeting for him.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15That is the president of the United States.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Forget the palace intrigue.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18What has he done.
0:08:18 > 0:08:32He has revitalised NATO.
0:08:32 > 0:08:38We have had a record-breaking stock market rally.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Isis destroyed.
0:08:42 > 0:08:451.5 million jobs created.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47The lowest unemployment in 17 years.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Judge the president on the facts, not on delusional people
0:08:50 > 0:08:52who want to sell books.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Help us with the details, it is fascinating and Trump rules -
0:08:55 > 0:08:59no one touched his tooth brush, he liked McDonald's.
0:08:59 > 0:09:00Are you serious?
0:09:00 > 0:09:07Somebody's tooth-brushing habits.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Tell us you know it is not true.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11I won't waste people's time with this rubbish.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13Let's talk about your tooth brushing.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17How do you brush your teeth?
0:09:17 > 0:09:18The interesting thing...
0:09:18 > 0:09:22Do you floss?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25It is the details that allow people to know whether the rest
0:09:25 > 0:09:26of it is true.
0:09:27 > 0:09:34Let me quote something.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39Sean Spicer repeating the mantra "You can't make this shit up"
0:09:39 > 0:09:41or Kelly Ann Conway who mimed putting a finger gun
0:09:41 > 0:09:44to her head when she reported the president's word.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46In one book 13 people demanded he retracts the quotes,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48because they were made up.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51His book is like Harry Potter.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56He has never been told to issue a correction.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00I have no idea what he has been told.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04I couldn't careless.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06I couldn't careless whether people have demanded retractions.
0:10:06 > 0:10:12He is a hack.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15Let's move from the book itself.
0:10:15 > 0:10:23Just even the quotes that Trump has put directly to the public
0:10:23 > 0:10:26through Twitter, in the last week, taking credit for airline safety
0:10:26 > 0:10:28for seven years or asking for good old global warming,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31boasting of the size of his nuclear button.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34That language makes it easy for people to believe what they're
0:10:34 > 0:10:42read something.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45No that is the language that makes it easy
0:10:45 > 0:10:48for an outsiding to decimate 16 members of GOP and wipe the floor
0:10:48 > 0:10:51with a woman who thought the position was owed
0:10:51 > 0:10:59to her because of her gender.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01The president connects with the average man and woman
0:11:01 > 0:11:05what has been ill-served by the elite on the left and right
0:11:05 > 0:11:06for more than 20 years.
0:11:06 > 0:11:16God bless the president and his Twitter feed.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19A lot of people say it is painting a very accurate picture,
0:11:19 > 0:11:27one that other reporters have written about.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30That is a very scientific term, lots and lots.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Lots and lots of people a at the BBC?
0:11:32 > 0:11:35What about Janice Min, she was at the table
0:11:35 > 0:11:38and at the Roger Ailes/Bannon dinner and verified everything she read
0:11:38 > 0:11:39in the book.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Let her talk for herself.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43Thank you very much.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Thank you.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Michael Wolff said today that he stands by "everything
0:11:48 > 0:11:54reported in the book".
0:11:54 > 0:11:56We asked him for an interview, but he wasn't available.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Janice Min is part-owner of The Hollywood Reporter
0:11:59 > 0:12:02and was invited to the dinner party attended by Steve Bannon
0:12:02 > 0:12:07and Roger Ailes that is recounted in the book.
0:12:07 > 0:12:08She joins me now from LA.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Thank you for joining us.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16Tell us what went on that night - you were one of a very small select
0:12:17 > 0:12:19group, just six guests at the dinner with Roger Ailes,
0:12:19 > 0:12:20Steve Bannon.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22What do you remember of it?
0:12:22 > 0:12:26I remember almost every detail.
0:12:26 > 0:12:35This was a small party of six guests at Michael Wolff's house
0:12:35 > 0:12:38and listening to Dr Gorka, I think that the position from Trump
0:12:38 > 0:12:40loyalists is that Michael Wolff is an outsider.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44It is from my experience with Michael, I don't see that.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46He was such an intimate and a so warmly received
0:12:46 > 0:12:50by Steve Bannon and Roger Ailes and Roger's wife and had such
0:12:50 > 0:12:52a level of trust with them that the conversation
0:12:52 > 0:13:00we had was stunning.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01It was...
0:13:01 > 0:13:03The things from start to finish, for five hours,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06they poured their hearts out about the Republican Party and how
0:13:07 > 0:13:13they were going to, who they were going to put into cabinet.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Roger Ailes offered to coach candidates in their congressional
0:13:16 > 0:13:21testimony.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25They talked of Rudy Giuliani.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Steve Bannon said they owed him something because he had come out
0:13:28 > 0:13:31forcefully and spoke on the shows in the United States,
0:13:31 > 0:13:40when no-one else would after the Access Hollywood tapes.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Roger Ailes said, you know, just let him be photographed walking
0:13:43 > 0:13:51out of Air Force One.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Just detail after detail that, were they openly spoke
0:13:53 > 0:14:01so comfortably in front of Michael.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03To any way characterise him -
0:14:03 > 0:14:06you can try to dispute the facts, but you can't dispute
0:14:06 > 0:14:09the relationship he had with people in the White House.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12At that dinner, did it seem as if Steve Bannon
0:14:12 > 0:14:15was in the driving point, you had the Fox news Executive,
0:14:15 > 0:14:26Roger Ailes, were they still in shock that he had won?
0:14:26 > 0:14:30No, you know, I think Roger Ailes might have been in a bit of shock.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34He had said that, he had said to me, he was sitting to my right,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38he said, you know, "These guys are a little right of my tastes
0:14:38 > 0:14:40and I'm a life-long Republican".
0:14:40 > 0:14:48He was surprised, but Bannon, he is full steam ahead.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51He was invigorated, I think this whole notion we have of him
0:14:51 > 0:14:54that he is foaming at the mouth and crazy and he had given
0:14:55 > 0:15:03an interview to Michael Wolff that made news before this dinner
0:15:03 > 0:15:07where he said "I'm Darth Vader, I'm Satan".
0:15:07 > 0:15:11He came in with a great mood and sat down and one of the first thing
0:15:11 > 0:15:15he said, we are going to move the embassy to Jerusalem in Israel
0:15:15 > 0:15:18and they had a discussion about that.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Then they started ticking off cabinet appointments,
0:15:20 > 0:15:21Supreme Court appointments.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22They were, he was...
0:15:22 > 0:15:26I would say it was his relationship with the president was he was a take
0:15:26 > 0:15:30charge guy and there were things he said that made me think he didn't
0:15:30 > 0:15:37think Donald Trump was dwell on the details.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52He was entrusting Bannon.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53To today now.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56A lot of what Wolff recounts suggests a man in the White House
0:15:57 > 0:16:00who is not really in control of his faculties, who is impetuous,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03who is perhaps losing his mind, who has not had the trust
0:16:03 > 0:16:08of many of his advisers and start first.
0:16:08 > 0:16:19Is that something that you see and recognise,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22or is this Wolff going too far and just writing down conversations
0:16:22 > 0:16:24without verification, as Sebastian Gorka said?
0:16:24 > 0:16:26I remember Michael Wolff, for starters, I know
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Sarah Huckabee Sanders got upset and said they didn't know
0:16:29 > 0:16:30he in there, he wasn't allowed.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Whatever the actual scenario was, let's say Donald Trump really didn't
0:16:33 > 0:16:38know, which I don't believe that there was a reporter sitting
0:16:38 > 0:16:41in the west wing for weeks and weeks without his knowledge?
0:16:41 > 0:16:44What does it say about the organisation of the White House
0:16:44 > 0:16:50or its press team?
0:16:50 > 0:16:56I don't think there's a good answer anyone can come up with about why
0:16:56 > 0:17:00Michael Wolff was in there, except that he was allowed,
0:17:00 > 0:17:01which in hindsight it embarrassing.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04One last thought, if this is read by critics of Trump,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07they will happily believe it because it feeds their narrative.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Would it make any difference to his base, and will this public
0:17:12 > 0:17:15split with Steve Bannon hurt Trump's electoral chances this year
0:17:15 > 0:17:20or next time?
0:17:20 > 0:17:23I think Bannon and Trump are a lovesick couple that go
0:17:23 > 0:17:24back and forth.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25I don't think it's anything.
0:17:25 > 0:17:31It's a mutually beneficial relationship.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33I don't think this is the end of them.
0:17:33 > 0:17:34I'd be surprised.
0:17:34 > 0:17:44There is such a narrative that's been constructed since Trump
0:17:44 > 0:17:47was running, since he was the candidate, that everything
0:17:47 > 0:17:50is fake, and it's an easy way to dismiss things you don't like,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53so do think that Michael Wolff in a book with troubling details
0:17:53 > 0:17:57will be treated any differently to any member of the press who has
0:17:57 > 0:18:00sat and reported on Donald Trump for a year would be naive.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04If Michael Wolff had released a bomb cyclone of news about Donald Trump,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07that happens to make their heat on this particular book hotter
0:18:07 > 0:18:11than any story in the New York Times or the Guardian for what ever else
0:18:11 > 0:18:15has been covering Trump for this time.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Thank you for coming in.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22The former black cab driver John Worboys was convicted of 19
0:18:22 > 0:18:27offences, including one rape, although police believe he attacked
0:18:28 > 0:18:28many more women.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Yet he was released this week after a decade behind bars,
0:18:31 > 0:18:36to the shock and surprise of his victims.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38What was it that led to such a short sentence?
0:18:38 > 0:18:42And how likely is it that such a prolific offender can be reformed
0:18:42 > 0:18:44to the point where he won't offend again?
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Our policy editor, Chris Cook, has a look at the sentencing,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49parole and rehabilitation of sex offenders.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52John Worboys, the so-called black cab rapist, is suspected of perhaps
0:18:52 > 0:19:00hundreds of assaults.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02After an investigation riddled with mistakes,
0:19:02 > 0:19:04he was finally jailed indefinitely in 2009,
0:19:04 > 0:19:11but he's been cleared for release from prison after just nine years.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Part of the issue with the Worboys case is that he was only tried
0:19:15 > 0:19:19and convicted for a subset of the crimes for which he is the prime
0:19:19 > 0:19:22suspect, so he was convicted for one count of rape,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24five counts of sexual assault, one attempted sexual assault
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and a dozen cases of drugging his victims.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29For all of that, he got an indefinite sentence,
0:19:29 > 0:19:35so he had to serve a minimum of eight years in prison,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38after which he could be released, but only if he could prove
0:19:38 > 0:19:41that he no longer posed a danger to the public.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45The process is tough on victims, especially as a number were not told
0:19:45 > 0:19:49that Worboys was going to be released at the end of this month,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53and most of the 83 complainants to the CPS never got
0:19:53 > 0:19:53their cases heard.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59There are some victims who want their day in court,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03but there are others who don't want to appear in court and feel
0:20:03 > 0:20:07that's right for them.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12But this comes back to communicating to victims.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15If we are hoping to gain confidence for victims to come forward,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18in such horrific cases, I may add, we have got
0:20:18 > 0:20:19to have better communication.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Where cases weren't taken to court, it was either because of a lack
0:20:23 > 0:20:26of evidence or because they were not expected to add to his sentence,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30but not taking them to court also means the parole court can't take
0:20:30 > 0:20:31account of them.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34If you think about the sentencing process and the parole review as two
0:20:34 > 0:20:37ends of the same process, with the sentencing judge deciding
0:20:37 > 0:20:39that the person should have their liberty taken away
0:20:39 > 0:20:43from them and the Parole Board deciding at the end of that process
0:20:43 > 0:20:50whether it should be given back to them, you certainly wouldn't
0:20:50 > 0:20:52consider at the sentencing stage taking into account the views
0:20:52 > 0:20:55of people who had made untested complaints against somebody,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57complaints that hadn't been proven in court,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and it's exactly the same, or it should be, as regards
0:21:00 > 0:21:07the parole review.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11One curiosity of our judicial system is we are not permitted to know how
0:21:11 > 0:21:13Worboys argued he is no longer a risk.
0:21:13 > 0:21:19The statutory instrument governing the Parole Board says information
0:21:19 > 0:21:21about proceedings must not be made public.
0:21:21 > 0:21:28I'm not allowed by law to explain the reasons for our decision,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30and I've said before, I'd like to get that changed,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34and so if this pushes the idea that the Parole Board processes need
0:21:34 > 0:21:37to be much more open and transparent, and we get support
0:21:37 > 0:21:41for that, then I think some good will have come out of all of this,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44and people in future will be able to have much more confidence
0:21:44 > 0:21:45in the system.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48This isn't the first time that Professor Hardwick has made this
0:21:48 > 0:21:49sort of argument.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Late last year, he gave a speech which said,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54"At present, some of the decisions that we make are subject
0:21:54 > 0:21:57to ill-informed criticism, but how could it be otherwise
0:21:57 > 0:22:03when we do not provide information about why we made a decision?"
0:22:03 > 0:22:06He also has concerns about access to the parole hearings themselves.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10For example, he says that a victim can attend to read a victim
0:22:10 > 0:22:12statement, but must leave after they have done so,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15whereas he was impressed that, in Canada, anyone can apply
0:22:16 > 0:22:18to attend a parole hearing - victims, academics, the media
0:22:18 > 0:22:20and interested members of the public.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Worboys was a serial predator who drugged women
0:22:23 > 0:22:24before assaulting them.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Without openness, we do not know how he persuaded the Parole Board
0:22:27 > 0:22:33that he is a reformed character.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35It's extremely difficult for some offenders to persuade
0:22:35 > 0:22:38the Parole Board that they are fit to be released.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42The usual mechanism of doing so is completing what are called
0:22:42 > 0:22:46mainstream sex offender treatment programmes,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49and a report last year found that the mainstream sex offender
0:22:49 > 0:22:56treatment programme wasn't reducing reoffending rates and,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58in some cases, may have been increasing them.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03They've now introduced some new courses, which are
0:23:03 > 0:23:04again completely untested.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Some of the Worboys complainants had their investigations botched.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Most didn't have their cases taken to court.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10A number weren't told about his release.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13All of them want to know why he is now considered
0:23:13 > 0:23:15safe for release.
0:23:15 > 0:23:16Now, Viewsnight.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Tonight, with another idea for 2018, author and columnist Grace Dent.
0:23:19 > 0:23:29That was Grace Dent.
0:26:02 > 0:26:03That was Grace Dent.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07In a moment, you're going to meet Spike and Edward.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Whisper it quietly, but they have squashed faces and short skulls.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12They're French bulldogs.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And vets are urging pet owners to think twice about buying them
0:26:15 > 0:26:18and their ilk, as they suffer such bad health problems.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20According to data from the Kennel Club, registrations
0:26:21 > 0:26:25of these brachycephalic breeds - pugs, French bulldogs -
0:26:25 > 0:26:26have shot up.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30In 2007, just 692 French bulldogs were registered.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Last year, that went over 21,000.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37More than 50% needed to visit a vet last year
0:26:37 > 0:26:38for respiratory linked problems.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42So is it cruel to create these pure breeds?
0:26:42 > 0:26:45And should we lose the pug completely to save these animals
0:26:45 > 0:26:48pain?
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Joining me now, Lindsey Scanlon, she runs the French Bulldog Saviours
0:26:51 > 0:26:54rescue charity in North Yorkshire, and Dr Crina Dagu from
0:26:54 > 0:26:57the London Vet Clinic, a busy practice.
0:26:57 > 0:27:08And Spike and Edward, who are past their bedtime.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11You used to be a breeder and you had a change
0:27:11 > 0:27:12of heart, didn't you?
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Yes, after I saw how they were mass produced.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21I bred one litter and I went to see somebody who was a big breeder,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24a licensed one, and it was just something and I thought,
0:27:24 > 0:27:26if there are that many people wanting these dogs,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31something is going to happen.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34So you recognise they are not well dogs, healthy, are they?
0:27:34 > 0:27:37In my opinion, if they are bred right and they are tested right,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41they can live fantastic happy lives.
0:27:41 > 0:27:47Can they be bred in a way that doesn't hurt them?
0:27:47 > 0:27:53The way that a lot of these breeds started out, they were not
0:27:53 > 0:27:57as extreme, so if you dial back hundreds of years,
0:27:57 > 0:28:06then you're talking.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09At the moment, we are struggling to find a balance between
0:28:09 > 0:28:09the aesthetics
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and what's going on inside them and the problems it causes
0:28:12 > 0:28:13in their lives.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17When you talk about the aesthetics, is there a hypocrisy in the public
0:28:17 > 0:28:19mood, that they want the look of these dogs...
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Are we a nation of animal lovers, even if it causes the dogs pain?
0:28:23 > 0:28:31Sure, a lot of celebrities have them, they are friendly characters,
0:28:31 > 0:28:32they are wonderful, very fun dogs.
0:28:32 > 0:28:54It's very hard to not fall for the round, googly eyes,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57for the Babyface but, once you have them, you realise
0:28:57 > 0:28:59there are not just breathing issues, thereafter gastrointestinal issues.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01Your mum didn't even get through childbirth.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04She was brought in to rescue unknown that she was pregnant
0:29:05 > 0:29:06but she was purchased off social media.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Somebody from the general public purchaser, gave into a rescue,
0:29:09 > 0:29:11not realising she was heavily pregnant.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15She got to the end of her pregnancy and had big problems,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18she had a Caesarean section, and then we told her larynx
0:29:18 > 0:29:30collapsed.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33I don't think there was an issue with reading them all.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36If they are bred right, if health tests are done,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41and we are trying to educate people on the breed,
0:29:41 > 0:29:43and if that is done, there isn't an issue.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46What problems are we talking about?
0:29:46 > 0:29:50These two are putty in your hands, fast asleep, they seem fine.
0:29:51 > 0:29:57But what is it that happens to dogs like this?
0:29:57 > 0:30:00What might happen, if we took them outside in warmer weather
0:30:00 > 0:30:03and we trotted them for a few minutes, problems might start
0:30:03 > 0:30:07becoming quite visible.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11They have a hard time breathing, oxygenating their blood,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15because anatomically, they are not...
0:30:15 > 0:30:21They're not functioning well.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23It's not just the breathing, it's the digestion,
0:30:23 > 0:30:24it's everything inside.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Putting all that together, should you be stopping
0:30:27 > 0:30:31their breed completely?
0:30:31 > 0:30:42Should we see an end to French bulldogs and pugs?
0:30:42 > 0:30:46We don't have to ban breeding.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48I don't think it's constructive to ban breeding.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51We have two breed them right, to breed them back to where
0:30:51 > 0:30:52they can function.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56Which means mixing them?
0:30:56 > 0:31:00For Lindsay, when you hear that could be the end to the pure pug
0:31:00 > 0:31:04and French bulldog, do you think that's a good thing or bad thing?
0:31:04 > 0:31:07I think it's a bad thing.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Health tests should be done before any dog is bred.
0:31:10 > 0:31:11Thank you both.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13I appreciate you coming down from Yorkshire
0:31:13 > 0:31:23with these little guys.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24That's about it for tonight.
0:31:24 > 0:31:25We are back on Monday.
0:31:25 > 0:31:26Have a great weekend.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Goodnight.