26/01/2017 Newsnight

To join hands, as we pick up that mantle of leadership once more. To

renew our special relationship, and to recommit ourselves to the

responsibility of leadership in the modern world.

"Haven't you noticed? Sometimes opposites attract."

So said Theresa May en-route to her meeting with Donald Trump.

She's been turning on the charm for senior Republicans this evening -

so how will she handle the president?

We'll hear from former Labour leader Ed Miliband.

On the eve of summit to discuss gay sex and the clergy,

we discuss the Church of England policy to pretend

Tomorrow, the long awaited sequel to Trainspotting opens

But what was it about that film that entranced a whole generation?

It is primarily a youth book, and a youth movie.

Because I would rather be, kind of, on drugs in a bedsit in my 20s

than I would be sailing around the Bay of Biscay in a yacht

Charming senior Republicans with a speech in Philadelphia

and stressing the historic ties between the UK and the US.

Her messages on leadership, free trade and shared values went

Tomorrow - the diplomacy might get trickier.

In the Commons before she left for Philadelphia,

politicians of all stripes were queuing up to offer her advice,

If she'd listened to the majority of them she would have a list

of grievances in her briefcase, everything from human rights

In fact, the new president has offered the hope that we might

have a closer relationship than over the last eight years -

after all, he wants a new trade deal and he's a big fan of Brexit.

Our diplomatic editor Mark Urban is here.

What was the tone of her speech? It was reaching out for lot of downing

-- a lot of people in Downing Street Sea as a big political opportunity

in the UK, but problematic as his reputation may be, his remarks are

favourable of the UK, and at the expense of Germany, President Obama

praised those countries so high in his last weeks in office, they

constituted an opportunity. Let's hear what she had to say. President

Trump's victory, achieved in defiance of all the pundits and the

polls, rooted not in the corridors of Washington but in the hopes and

aspirations of working men and women across this land. You are part of

this victory, in the Congress and the Senate, where you swept all

before you, secured with great effort and achieved with an

important message of national renewal. And because of this,

because of what you have done together, the cause of that great

victory that you have won, America can be stronger, greater and more

confident in the years ahead. Fascinatingly there, not too many

mentions of President Trump, but addressing the congressmen and women

and senators directly a few times, and mentions of Nato too. It is a

congressional do, this conclave, but one can see her acknowledging the

complexity of the way that power is dispensed in Washington, and

reaching out directly to those people and making her pitch to them

as well. Of course, President Trump tomorrow. She is meeting Donald

Trump tomorrow but one leader will not be next in line? It was supposed

to be happening next week, President Pena Nieto of Mexico was meant to

come, this would be the beginning of tough talk about trade and the wall.

All of those things but people have been asking, what will happen when

Trump sends one of these tweets? That is exactly what happened today.

He said they may as well not come if they are not prepared to pay for the

wall. A couple of hours later, in Mexico City, it was announced that

the meeting was. That wrong-footed the president for a while, he

appeared on live television saying that he would slap a 20% Harris on

Mexican imports -- tariff. Then people around him in the White House

moved back a bit, you had to put legal and other arrangements in

place. We are beginning to see the first signs of someone who has the

impulse to act like President Putin, dealing with the constitutions of

the democracy. But, Theresa May is in there tomorrow. There is an

aspect where people understand that President Obama was not that great

for Britain in some ways, and this is a new opportunity to define, as

she said, redefine, a special relationship.

Until last week, there was a president widely esteemed

in Britain who didn't exactly return the love.

He removed Winston Churchill's bust from the Oval Office, couldn't

forget the treatment his grandfather received in Kenya and plainly

considered Germany a more important ally than Britain.

As I reflect back over the last eight years,

I could not ask for a steadier or more reliable partner

Now, of course, there's a president who alarms or appals

a great many Britons, but who, in marked contrast

to Obama, is seeing Theresa May ahead of all other foreign leaders,

and, it seems, couldn't be more supportive of Brexit.

He doesn't seem to like the European Union.

He seems to be encouraging other people to follow our example

Now, a lot of people in the United Kingdom consider these

things to be terrible negatives, but it does give Theresa May some

It was Palmerston, and who better for this age in which we seem to be

turning to 19th-century style jostling nationalisms.

He said, Britain has no eternal allies and no eternal enemies.

So, if it's in Britain's vital interest to cosy up

The question is of course whether it's also in the interests

This is a protectionist president, so any idea that he's

We stand to lose our environmental protections, our food standards,

our food assurances, and this will be a Trojan

Britain can of course offer Trump something back in some areas.

If the Donald accuses many Nato allies of being freeloaders,

that's not so different to long-held a Downing Street views.

Instead of planning expensive new headquarters or dreaming

of a European army, what Europe needs to do now is to spend

That is the best possible approach to the Trump presidency.

But on so many questions, from policy towards Israel

to torture, Putin or withdrawal of funding from the UN, Britain

How to break the news to Trump gently?

This is not going to be easy for her.

She's got to steer between not behaving like a British poodle

to the American president, but at the same time,

creating a atmosphere in which, as she said herself,

you can invest new meaning in the special relationship.

These days, and we saw this during the last visit

here by the Chinese president, diplomacy as demanded by many

on Twitter or even from the floor of the House of Commons

would involve lecturing a foreign leader on why their values

Unsurprisingly, foreign leaders are no keener on that than any

Tonight, Theresa May arrived in America, telling reporters

frankly that any resumption of CIA "enhanced interrogation"

With suggestions the two leaders may give a joint news

conference tomorrow, the Prime Minister's balancing act

At least, though, she can start on the basis that,

since his election, Donald Trump has saved some of his kindest words

for Britain, and has moved that famous bust of Churchill back

In a moment, we'll speak to the former Labour Leader Ed Miliband.

But first - the Daily Telegraph columnist Tim Stanley is with us.

Good evening. Hello. What should Theresa May do tomorrow, should she

go in all guns blazing? I think what she will do is what she is going to

be doing anyway, saying one thing publicly and another privately.

Publicly, she has started on a strong foot saying I'm with you, not

just strategically but there is a philosophical connection between us.

She rolled out lavish praise. Privately, I would not be surprised

if she says to him firstly, drop the language about torture. Aside from

Britain believing it immoral, illegal and wrong, it is a

propaganda coup for the enemy. I expect that she will push hard on

America continuing to be the leading force within Nato. I suspect what we

have seen here, publicly, is not necessarily the tone behind closed

doors. In that speech tonight she mentioned Nato eight times, she

has strong signals, but we know that Donald Trump does not like that and

is capable of turning around and saying something less than

diplomatic? We do not know that yet. We are testing Trump is a president,

working out of what he says publicly is what he gets on with and does.

Torture is an example. In the press, we need to learn to distinguish what

he is saying when he is in reality television mode, when he speaks

casually, and what he does. When it comes to torture, the new head of

the CIA says that he is against it, the head of defence is against it,

heads of Republicans in Congress are against it. It is unlikely to

happen, let's hope what he says is not what happens. And Theresa May

has a huge list of grievances, is it your personal view that trumping all

else... Not unintentional pun! There is this idea that Britain will get a

good trade deal, does that kick everything else out the water? No,

that is what she leads on and once but she has two big about what he

wants. He needs us as much as we need him? Yes. He is selling himself

as a great businessman but nobody ready wants to speak to him right

now except the British, they are the most enthusiasts it, except perhaps

the Israelis. Also, the Association with Britain carries credibility

when it comes to global strategy, he can reassert that he is going to

beat Nato and this is his chance to reassure the world. That is what

Britain provides in a special relationship. Did you get that

sense, although the inauguration was razzmatazz, did you get a sense that

there was an undertow of this? That something has happened since the

inauguration, there is a different mood? I don't, rhetorically he is

sticking with appeasing his base. He has taken the view that he has won

by getting enough states to back me, just. I want to cling on to those

people so that four years I scraped through again, rather than appealing

to global leadership. It is clearly America first, is it necessarily

Britain second? No, I think that there is a correlation between what

Trump wants to achieve and what we want to achieve. When it comes to

combating Islamist terrorism, and trade. And this new philosophy. Six

months ago or so, Britain was a pariah in the world, we cut

ourselves off from Europe and we had a president who did not really like

us and we went to the back of the queue. Suddenly, we are best mates

with the leader of the world which is fantastic. Thank you.

Isn't it great that the British prime ministers first in line with

the new leader of the free world? Not with Donald Trump! I think that

Tim is underestimating what has happened this week in him becoming

president, banning refugees, endorsing torture... Hang on,

endorsing torture...? It is dizzying, starting a trade war with

Mexico today, listing sanctions on Saturday... This is not a normal

time. Her speech was a perfectly decent one, if it had been normal

times. But to align yourself so closely with his project? Which is

what she did. I think that was a mistake. If Ed Miliband was Prime

Minister, would you have gone? And, speaking to senior Republicans,

would... I probably would not have been speaking to senior Republicans!

What would your line have been? Let me put it this way, I prefer Angela

Merkel to Theresa May in how this is being handled. Think about what

Angela Merkel did the day after the presidential election. She said that

a partnership with America is important but on the basis of

particular norms and values, on human rights, commitment to equality

and things which are important. You don't take Tim Stanley's point? This

is mood music for a particular audience? Signals matter, Trump only

respects strength, and they matter to a reputation around the world.

Let me take issue with one thing in that film, and what Tim said,

President Obama... What is it about this sudden denigration of President

Obama? As Leader of the Opposition, are used to think that he has a

fantastic relationship with President Obama, David Cameron. I

was jealous! Suddenly, President Obama is cast as the enemy of

Britain... But let's be clear, during that debate on the EU

referendum, Barack Obama said quite clearly that there would be no

special treatment. But he took a position on Brexit, I think it was a

bad thing or a good thing, personally he said we need a strong

Europe and Britain would make Europe stronger. I think the notion that we

had an enemy in the White House and now we have a friend, on this trade

deal point, it is really important, people may not realise but those

tariffs we have with the USA are incredibly low already. What worries

me about this idea of a trade deal is that it goes to nontariff

barriers. That means regulation. Around health care, the environment,

employee rights. They have less regulation than us. So, I think this

trade deal is really dangerous, it's a Trojan horse where we seem to be

locking ourselves in Donald Trump's boot. We actually haven't, Theresa

May was quite careful. I think it is right what Mark said, when it comes

to going and lecturing other people, we all have memories. We have

memories of Gordon Brown going to China and expecting to hear great

things about liberty and freedom in China, was that behind closed doors

gritter muck it was not in public. I thought that you would mention Tony

Blair and George Bush. That ended pretty badly... There is a lesson

about that. Our alliances with America should be based on values

and those what we hold in common, not simply on the idea that we want

to be at the front of a notional queue. But the idea that you

ideological agree with every leader around the world caused nonsense.

You need to make priorities. I wonder if what you do, you say, if

you are going to ban Muslims from certain countries, we will not work

together. If you consider torture, we will not work together. If you

deny climate change, we went work together. Really? I think it is

time, this is about self-interest. Let me be clear, it is

self-interest, that we are strong defending climate change. It is in

our interests to defend a two state solution for Israel and Palestine,

Donald Trump wants to overturn it it seems. There were good notes in

Theresa May's speech tonight, she had to mention those things but that

was not the main thrust of the speech. Britain voted for Brexit,

Donald Trump supports it... There is one point of agreement. But he wants

Nigel Farage to be ambassador. Goodness me! What hinges on this

trade deal... If you think it is a get out of jail card for any

economic problems you might get for Brexit, maybe you think it is worth

us locking ourselves in the boot. I am very sceptical and let's not

forget, he is a protectionist. They are very sceptical of trade Guilds

and he's about to impose tariffs on Mexico. -- trade Guilds. Let's go

back to that question and conversation about torture. You said

it would be dependent on the chief and CIA... If you were Prime

Minister, would you, at this moment, allow British agents to share

intelligence with American agents, if there was any chance of torture?

No, we can't beat complicit in torture, absolutely not. We need

strong words and signals. Our reputation around the world matters.

Foreign leaders will be looking at what other faults tonight. Let's

talk a little bit again about Brexit and labour, Labour seems to be in

disarray again, we have had eight resignation from the Shadow Cabinet.

Will there ever be any kind of peace within Labour when there are two

distinct positions on Brexit. I'm not sure it is about peace, Labour

is wrestling with the difficult issue which is that we represent

lots of Remain voters and Leave voters. I think we should accept

that the exit is going to happen, but we should hold the Government to

account for the kind of deal, and let me just say this one point,

because people may not have focused on this. The vote and amendments

that we have to this article 50 bill matter, and a matter for this reason

most of all. What kind of odour we get at the end? Do we get a vote

which is take it or leave it, either for light of the European Union

without a deal, or do we get a vote that is meaningful, which is what

Keir Starmer and Jeremy Corbyn and others are pushing for, and they are

right to do so. Ed Miliband, thank you very much.

the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's doesn't want his MPs to block

Trouble is - not all his MPs are playing along with that plan.

I am joined by our political editor Nick Watt.

It will be a clear decision that we want all of our MPs

to support the Article 50 vote when it comes up next week.

But no commitment to a three line whip?

My constituents voted to remain in the European Union.

I am leaning towards voting against Article 50 because I'm

And if I have to resign my shadow ministerial position

because of the stance I take, it would be unfortunate,

but I am here as the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.

I'm joined now by our political editor Nick Watt and the MPs

Amsterdam Kilburn did indeed resign. That's right, so Jeremy Corbyn faced

a mini rebellion today, at one point it looked like it might reach into

his inner circle of supporters with thoughts that Clive Lewis, the

Shadow Business Secretary, might resign, but in the end he stayed

put, and tulips -- Tulip Siddiq said the she would

go. And the transport Minister has told the Cambridge News that he will

be standing by his constituents, 75% of whom voted Remain, and he will

live with the consequences. So what does this mean for Labour? This is a

rare rebellion where the leadership has some sympathy with the rebels,

and that is not just because Jeremy Corbyn campaigned to remain in the

European Union, though not with much enthusiasm, but this says that they

are in eight unique position, two thirds of voters supported Remain,

but two thirds of Labour MPs represent constituents that voted

Leave, so there is talk about how opinion was divided, and we can

expect some defying of the leadership, but it may not take the

traditional form of the sack, and it shows a dilemma for a party that is

struggling to come to terms with Brexit Britain. Thank you very much

indeed. Now, in this age of alternative

facts and fake news, we thought it might be useful to provide

you with something rather more reliable -

a non-fake fact of the day. We've just been talking

about Tulip Siddiq's resignation from the front bench

of the Labour Party, so that she could vote

against Article 50 - in line with her constituency's big

Remain vote, and perhaps But that's not something that should

bother most Labour MPs. Only one in three of them

are in constituencies estimated And more than half of those MPs

have a majority greater than 10,000. In other words, most Labour MPs can

vote for Article 50 without worrying about misrepresenting

their constituencies - and most of those that can't

probably don't need to worry too much about losing

their seats over it. Tomorrow the Church of England

is likely to come up with a policy for sexual relationships among gay

clergy which as far as we understand will operate on the basis

of 'don't ask don't tell'.. In other words 'what the eye doesn't

see the heart doesn't grieve'. In many ways, the Church of

England's attitude to sexuality has changed radically in the last

century, and in many others it has stayed exactly the same. Today, the

church is fond of highlighting its important role in the Wolfenden

report in 1957 which was key to the partial decriminalisation of,

sexuality. But although several bishops gave public support to the

new law in 1967, it was not necessary evidence of a liberal

attitude. The then Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey stated,

there will be no declaring that homosexual practices are a correct

use of sex. A report in 1991 cemented the church is modern issues

toward sexuality, reinforcing Christian attitudes, and stated that

engaging in gay activity, or as they called it, homophile activity, was

not part of the clergy. But they also said, if we are faithful to our

Lord then disagreement of the proper expression of homosexual love will

never be a rejection of the homosexual person. The Lambeth

conference reaffirmed the ban on the blessing of same-sex couples. When

civil partnerships were legalised in 2004, the house of Bishops declared

this wasn't incompatible with holy orders, again on the condition of

celibacy. Gay marriage was legalised in 2013, creating the so-called

quadruple lock which made it illegal for the Church of England to perform

same-sex marriage is. The Pilling report of the following year stopped

short of endorsing same-sex marriage, but recommended that the

church conduct ceremonies that would be marriages in all but name. In

response, the house of Bishops called for a process of shared

conversations in a divided church. The results of that two-year process

will be unveiled tomorrow. Joining us in the studio

to discuss this further are Father Andrew Foreshew-Cain,

Vicar of St Mary and All Souls Church in Kilburn and Susie Leafe,

Director of Reform, an Evangelical

Anglican Organisation Good evening to you both. What is

the proposal to be? We really don't know. You are both in the Senedd.

The house of Bishops will make a statement tomorrow. The paper will

be released tomorrow, that is all we know. And your understanding will

be? There has been a certain amount of leaking, so I think it is going

to be don't ask, don't tell, so don't ask them, and you want to know

about it. What you make of that? Shabby, dirty and shameful, I think.

And what about you? The Church of England was looking for leadership

from the house of Bishops, and if that is what they have decided to

do, then it is just they have avoided all possibility. And we can

both agree on that, both sides of the debate agree that that is

failure from our leadership. What would you like to see? I would like

to see that as a Christian church following Christ we would be putting

forward a positive view of marriage being between one man and one woman

for life, talking about how wonderful that is as a way to

flourish of individuals and for society. So you are quite clear

about this. You are not in favour of gay marriage per se, and not in

favour of gay marriage in the church, but if you had to have gay

marriage in the church, you would only have it if it was celibate? I

don't think you can have a celibate gay marriage. I think that God is

very clear in the word in the Bible, Jesus himself as he was asked

questions about sexuality referred back to Genesis, referred back to

the teaching of the Judaeo-Christian worldview, which is that marriage is

between one man and one woman for life. So you share a place in the

Church of England with someone who actually doesn't believe... That I

married? That you should be gay in the first place, but no, not that

you are married. I think she would want all gay and lesbian people to

be celibate, and wouldn't mess necessarily approve our

relationships. There is within the Church of England quite a lot of

diversity around the sexuality and theology of marriage, and one of the

problems is that the bishops if they have done what rumour says they have

done are not acknowledging that diversity of opinion, and that

diversity that is reflected in amongst themselves which is why they

have not been able to show proper leadership. Andrew is in a gay

marriage, he is a member of the clergy. And he is not celibate, so

therefore, is he a sinner? I think we are all sinners, that is the

teaching of the church, that all of us are sinners. But as far as you're

concerned, Jesus does not promote or believe in the idea of

homosexuality? Yes, absolutely, we are all sinners. And how can you

remain in the Church of England? Surely in a way you are living a

lie? There has always been legitimate theological debate on

this, and the most recent survey in YouGov said the largest majority of

Anglicans is now in favour of supporting same-sex marriage...

That's not quite... Can I finish? The report is clear that they are

not people who are necessarily part of the church... One part was those

self identifying as Anglicans, supporting gay relationship, and

then there are specifically those who attended church, those who

attended also said they supported same-sex relationships, so can I

finish? The reason we stay in the Church of England is because we are

faithful Anglicans, and this is our church, and I would like to see a

church in which there was a mixed economy, where people like me are

free to hold the beliefs that we have, to celebrate the relationships

of straight people and gay people, and people like news -- Susie are

welcome to stay, to. Would you go to a service conducted by Andrew? I

can't imagine a situation in which I would, no. And yet why, he is a

minister in your church. He is living contrary to the teaching of

the church as well as the teaching of the Bible. Would it not be more

honest for you to change church? No, I am an Anglican and I have been an

Anglican for 30 years. Why should I leave my church? The Church of

England is a broad church. One of the problems at the moment is there

is a done I'll of the diversity of the church. So you can't be

honest... I am honest, I am married and never body knows I am married.

The bishops cannot be honest about the division berries within their

own ranks on this issue. I think it is difficult for me to hear you say

what it means to be Anglican. If we look at the founding documents of

the Anglican Church, if we look at our laws, if we look at the vast

majority of the Anglican Communion, they are all lined up absolutely to

say that marriage is between one man and one woman for life, because that

is what God teaches, and that is what gives a life of flourishing...

Even if I accepted that it was inappropriate to be married, which I

don't, this is one aspect of the whole of my personality and the

whole of my life and ministry, and that does not negate my theological

understanding of what it is to be the member of the Church of England

and the reasons why I am there. I would like you both to pause now,

thank you very much indeed. And we'll be continuing this

discussion on Facebook live via the BBC Newsnight Facebook page

right after we come off air, and you'll also be able

to put your questions to our two The long awaited sequel

to Trainspotting opens The world premiere in Edinburgh

on Sunday saw Renton, Sickboy, Begbie and Spud stravaiging down

the orange Trainspotting carpet The original 1996 film

was a raw, searing, drug- ridden ride, as much

about desperation as exuberance that As we get ready to meet

the friends again, older, more raddled and certainly not

wiser, what was it that made Trainspotting

an overnight sensation? This report contains violence,

flashing lights and very I'm going to start with

Trainspotting, first because it is an unusual powerful

and impressive film, and second because it will probably

cause a lot of fuss. I think it's a great tragedy that

young people are going to be Young people may be influenced

to experiment with hard drugs. Choose fixed interest

mortgage repayments. With a dialogue largely made up

of short words beginning with F, S and C, and much injected,

it accused of being at best nonjudgemental and at worst

endorsing heroin use. It is primarily a youth

book, and a youth movie. Because I would rather be, kind of,

on drugs in a bedsit in my 20s than I would be sailing around

the Bay of Biscay in a yacht Trainspotting exploded

onto the screen. There has never been

anything like it. It was an anthem for youth,

an exhilarating, defiant screen. It was about friendship

and belonging, pain and loss, laced with the blackest of humour,

and it was about surviving But the outrage only served

to reinforce the film's appeal, and make it one of the most lauded

British movies of all time. The novel became this kind

of classic great backpack novel that young people that were touring

the world wanted to own and have, and it was like going back

to the 60s and 70s where an LP or an album said something

about your identity. Like Kerouac in the 50s,

but for that generation it was Trainspotting,

that was the one you would have in your bag as you were

travelling, whatever. If I'm prepared to take

a chance, I might just get Witty, adventurous,

passionate, loving, loyal. A little bit crazy,

a little bit mad. It came along at

the exact right time. You know, I think every generation

has its music and has its movie, and Trainspotting just was that

movie, and it came at a time that Britpop had really

started to explode, and it was like a marriage

made in heaven. The other thing that can't be

separated from the screenplay or the acting in Trainspotting

is the soundtrack. It was such a banging

soundtrack for that film. Again, we never really had any

money, so it was basically asking Well, I think Iggy Pop was the only

one we had to pay for, really. I think he was very pleased to be

mentioned in the book and referenced, and he realy liked

the book, said he was quite favourable to help us

out as well, you know. Danny had the relationship

with Leftfield and Underworld through Shallow Grave,

and I knew people like Primal Scream and Blur

and Jarvis Cocker and all that. Much different the second

time around, we are kind The last 15 years, everybody has

been, if you do Trainspotting 2, One of the funny thing is for me

about Trainspotting was that Edinburgh people saw

Glasgow as no mean city, in the nation's capital,

the Athens of the North, and behind the elegant

Georgian facades and douce suburbs was a fetid,

chaotic otherworld of drug-addled That lassie got glassed,

and no cunt leaves here till we find The one that really resonated for me

was the character that became Begbie, because every Scottish

working-class housing scheme has a sociopath that you are more

scared than the enemy. You go to away games

at the football, and you are more scared of the guys on the train

than the guys you will meet There are two parallel Edinburghs,

there is the Edinburgh that is about the festival

and the Scotsman evening news, and a blocked drain in Morningside

and all that, and the Dutch elm disease that will transform Princes

Street and how horrible verses. disease that will transform Princes

Street and how horrible this is. Whereas you had this

massive HIV epidemic, the explosion in heroin

which was all to do with mass unemployment basically,

and people who worked in traditional industries no longer

having anything to do. So the drugs came in,

and they won by default, You are in a world that has

education opportunities, travel opportunities,

cultural opportunities, If you are going to take

something like heroin, you're going to flirt with it,

it is not a serious thing. But if you are going to take

something like heroin and you've got none of these things,

there is nothing else to go to, no plan B, nothing to jump off too,

then you are going to be stuck with that relationship

for a long time. It's probably not as consequential

to have a heroin habit now. There are so many ways of treating

it that there wasn't back then. Sick Boy, Begbie, Renton and Spud

are back, and it's not You are the emotional

heart of this film. That's very nice to hear you say

that, but I think all... I haven't seen the finished version,

but the version I saw, every character made me cry,

and I was moved by every It's a really

unexpectedly moving film. It's sort of not about

recapturing something, but looking back on it,

in a way, and I think all of the characters are doing that,

there is a sort of nostalgia for their use, for that time,

and somehow John has managed to write in a little nostalgia

for the movie itself, I don't know how he has done that,

but it is very clever. We on the other hand

are colonised by wankers. Can't even find a decent

culture to be colonised by. I think that without putting too

much weight on this, I think Trainspotting

was the beginning of a reawakening of Scotland, of a Scotland

on a new-found self-confidence, of a Scotland finding a voice,

of a Scotland believing that it didn't need to repeat the tropes

or the memes of other cultures, and it could speak

profoundly in its own voice. But that's not all that changed

in the last 20 years. Youth culture's been

eradicated in Britain now. Because of the Internet,

it doesn't get a chance to grow I think it is changing

a little bit now. There are signs that it's coming

back, like grime, and East London, South London has one of the few

indigenous youth cultures to emerge in Britain in the last

kind of ten or 15 years. I don't really believe that a book

like Trainspotting would be For all sorts of reasons, I think

because of the content of it, because it is in a relatively

inaccessible Scottish vernacular. There are so many different reasons,

both moral culture and commercial, that would conspire against a book

like that getting For the millions who loved

the book and then the film, and who have waited 20 years to find

out what happened to them all, That's just about it before tonight.

We were talking about the resignation of Tulip Siddiq. She

Leca we said that she was in the Shadow Cabinet, she was actually a

shadow minister. Apologies to anyone who thought she was promoted before

she resigned. If these cold winter nights

are making you gloomy, then perhaps snuggling up in front

of Newsnight is not the answer. Research from Goldsmiths University

suggests those who partake in naturism are happier

with their bodies and happier