16/05/2017 Newsnight

Labour's manifesto promises a fairer more prosperous society for the many

for the many not just the few, with tax, borrow

How's it playing with the core vote?

And I'm very proud to present our manifesto

I believe in the Labour Party, what they stand for,

but I just don't think he's got enough people behind him,

he's not strong enough to lead the party, really.

I've waited all my life to hear a manifest like that. It looks after

people. Is it grim up North for Labour,

or will the heartlands hold? The Shadow Cabinet's Richard Burgen

joins us from Leeds. We can't have someone

in the Oval Office who doesn't understand the meaning of the word

"confidential" or "classified". Did Donald Trump compromise a key

intelligence source, by giving the Russian Foreign Minister secret

intelligence about Islamic State? Is this one too far even

for the Donald or is he another Teflon President that

nothing sticks to. And we go to Durham

to examine the new divide - educated Remainers versus

working class Brexiteers. I don't think our values are under

threat, as much as we just need to articulate them better,

and perhaps in a less When I was doing a bricklaying

apprenticeship, I couldn't get it, because at first all the Polish came

over, and they took people's jobs. Finally, we have the

finished article. Jeremy Corbyn launched

the party's election manifesto in Bradford,

describing it as It certainly promised the earth,

with a programme of tax, spend... Tax hikes of almost ?50 billion

a year to pay for scrapping tuition fees, raising the minimum wage

to ?10 an hour, and adding ?6 billion a year to education

and ?7 billion to health and social care, and borrowing of ?250 billion

over ten years for infrastructure, There was a definite high moral

tone to the manifesto, with it's pledge of a levy

on excessive pay - ?300,000 was the figure

Jeremy Corbyn plumped for. So who was the Labour

leader addressing? The Corbyn faithful,

or did he think the idea of the big state and tax rises

would have wide appeal? Our political Editor Nick Watt

was at the launch. We have liftoff! Manifesto launch

days can often turn into rather sedate affairs. Today had the

feeling of a rolling personal rally, as Jeremy Corbyn took the Labour

manifesto on the road. And, we will build over a million new homes... A

few hours earlier the Shadow Cabinet had gathered in Bradford for this

morning's launch. Team Corbyn thought that Banda had been stolen

when a draft of the document was leaked last week. But supporters

whooped with delight when Jeremy Corbyn pledged to nationalise the

railway in stages and scrap university tuition fees.

Our proposal is the government for the many, not a few. Our proposals

are of hope for the many all over this country, and I'm very proud to

present our manifesto for the many, not the few. Thank you very much!

CHEERING One loyal trade unionist was

delighted. I think it's fantastic. I've waited

all my life to hear a manifesto like that. It does really look after

people, working people. The only thing I get upset about when people

talk about ordinary people, I don't think there's an ordinary person in

the world, but people have needs, people have been suffering and this

is to reach out to them. Jeremy Corbyn cited Harold Wilson in his

speech. Harold, as he called him, unseated at Oriol more than 50 years

ago after freshening a message that appeared to in bold in the modern

world. Today critics said the manifesto had a bit of a retro feel

about it, but supporters of Jeremy Corbyn say he is absolutely in touch

with today's world. I think he comes over as a very natural speaker and

as a very genuine person. At last, someone we can believe in rather

than just another of these plastic politicians. Something special about

him. Blair and Brown? Never, no, that's when I went off Labour.

Jeremy's the man for me. If his message is unfiltered you would be

confident he would win the British people over? You listen to a man in

choosing, yes, I don't agree with all of that, of course you don't,

but what he says is fundamentally for the interests of working people.

For the vast majority of this country, not the handful of

neoliberals down in London. Jeremy Corbyn received a rapturous

reception when he spoke to his fan base at Huddersfield's Beaumont

Park. We know he has plenty of support in the Labour Party because

he has won the party leadership two years in a row. The challenge for

him is to reach out to the wider electorate across the country.

What do you think of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn and his

leadership? I think it's well-intentioned but I think it's

probably unelectable. And if they were elected, I wouldn't want to be

in the country after they'd been elected.

I just don't think he's really strong enough, he's not strong

enough, I have to say. I mean, I believe in the Labour Party. What

they stand for, but I just don't think he's got enough people behind

him, he's not strong enough to lead the party. He's not. No, not

somebody I would follow. What do you think of Jeremy Corbyn?

I think he gets a hard time in the press, but ultimately I think he's a

change that would be good for the country. I think he's an honest and

straight up leader. Do you see him as a potentially strong Prime

Minister? I do. I think what you see with him is what you get.

A ghost of one of Jeremy Corbyn's he arose hung over the day's events.

Michael foot was cheered round the country 1983 but went down to a

heavy defeat. Is there a danger he's getting these rapturous receptions

as Michael foot did and it turned out he was preaching to the

converted? Who knows, to be quite honest. We will know on the 9th of

June, but what I would say to people is read the manifesto. If you like

what it says, if there are bits in it that there's a you and your life

and make your life better, vote. Shadow ministers are mostly sanguine

about Labour's prospects. But there was palpable anger among

Jeremy Corbyn's supporters, who believe that the man that calls

himself Monsieur Zen is not getting a fair hearing and being unfairly

maligned. But does this manifesto stack

up as a policy offer? Our Policy Editor

Chris Cook is here. What did you make of it? I think

it's really important that when we think about manifesto speedo think

them as very literal accounts of what a future government is going to

do. Because frankly the world is too complicated. And you set yourself up

for terrible disappointment. I think one of the things I've been trying

to look at today is to think about what exactly is reasonable to expect

of a political party to put down. Otherwise we are at risk of drifting

into a conversation about our politics, which is does this tiny

sum of money add up to this tiny sum of money and losing the bigger

picture. What are the questions we should be asking of labour? This

manifesto is a draft for a better future for our country. It's a

blueprint of what Britain could be. Today, labour launched their vision

for what Britain could be like. Their blueprint for the country as

much as we expected from the leaked last week. It is a radical

prospectus, certainly, but how should you assess their plans?

When you read party manifestos I suggest applying two tests to what

you see. The first question is ideology, what does this party stand

for? A good manifesto should explain which groups and sector party wants

to prioritise. The quick second question is about capability, has

this party done its homework question specifically when it comes

into government and has to deal with the uncertainties and unknown and

that ministers face, do they have the capacity and knowledge to cope?

To answer the first question, Labour's direction is very clear.

Labour will end the cuts in the National Health Service. Labour will

scrap tuition fees. Labour will take our railways back into public

ownership and put passengers first! After today's manifesto launch we

had a clear idea of what the Jeremy Corbyn government would do, quite

big rises in tax, ?50 billion in total, income tax for high earners

and corporation tax and that money to be spent improving public

services from the NHS to schools. We don't know what the Conservatives

will do, they launch their manifesto on Thursday forced you can be sure

they will be doing this so there's a big choice on the 8th of June. They

would do more, running train services directly, buying up water

companies but some of their priorities are surprised analysts.

Within their spending plans, a big increase in spending on schools and

child care and infrastructure spending and fair settlement for the

NHS not a generous most of the benefit cuts would be left in place.

The second question is tougher. Has Labour done its homework so it's

ready to run Whitehall? A snap election has made preparing much

harder. I think it is particularly hard at this time because prepared

to normal times they have had to do this at very short notice. They

haven't had the usual luxury of setting up working groups, talking

to think tanks and drawing in outside experts to draw up ideas. It

is a front bench short of government experience, so they can't really

draw on that. If you conserve that -- compare it to the Conservatives,

they are in office, they are sitting there and have been working out

policy ideas, have been able to draw on civil service support about ideas

they were going to implement in government and they can translate a

lot of those into their manifesto. Take this example. One of Labour's

top education items is a ?5 billion extension of preschool childcare

which is simple enough. But it also plans total reform of the childcare

system, and they've simply given us no detail at all about what that

means. The biggest concern, though, is fiscal. Labour wants to raise

taxes by ?49 billion a year, but they also say only the top 5% of

earners will be asked to contribute more in tax to help fund our public

services. A lot of people want precisely that sort of thing from

Labour, but there are risks. The proposals would raise a lot in tax,

tens of billions of pounds, but might still fall well short of what

they need. The tax rise is focused on a small group of high income

people and increasing corporation tax. If they do fall short, will

they borrow more, cut back on the spending plans or go for other tax

rises? Labour is pledging a radical blueprint, but that makes it more

important to sound reassuring. A snap election makes that much harder

for Labour to achieve. Joining us now from Leeds

is Labour's Richard Burgon, a member of Jeremy

Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet. Good evening. Good evening. First of

all, what proportion of GDP will the total tax take the by the end of the

parliament based on the manifesto today? What I would say first of all

is your colleague Chris was right in saying we should be talking about

the bigger picture. This document I have here, that you referred to in

your package, sets out exactly the total cost, ?48.6 billion, and

exactly how we will raise it. We want to talk about some specifics. I

wonder if you know what proportion of GDP the total tax take will be,

based on the manifesto today. What proportion will that be? I think

what we need to talk about here... If you'll let me finish I'm asking

you a question. I understand your technique. It seems to me we are

being put on trial for daring to suggest higher public spending. Put

on trial for daring to set out with greater transparency than any other

party has put forward before, about how much we're going to spend and

how we will spend it. You I presume ever read the document and it is all

in there. We have a choice with this interview. We can do the rather

tedious thing of going through each number... Hang on, hang on. All we

can talk about the bigger picture. We can talk about... Let me reassure

you, we are going to go through some of the specific policies in a

minute. I just wonder if you have any idea what proportion of GDP the

total tax take will be at the end of this Parliament? Just to tell you,

in case you don't know, it's going to be 36%. Do you know relatively

how high that is for many other government since the war? The key is

this, we've made a pledge on tax you viewers were very interested in. 95%

of people, everyone gets paid less than ?80,000, won't pay a single

penny more in taxation, because Labour is the party of low tax for

the many. The Conservatives sadly in the last seven years have proved

themselves to be the party of low attacks only for the privileged few.

Let's look at that. Just tell you that hasn't been such a high tax

take as a proportion of GDP since 1949. That is pretty eye-catching.

Another eye-catching announcement today in the manifesto, you're going

to introduce an excessive pay a levy on salaries above 330,000, another

one at half a million. Excessive, is that a moral judgment? I think the

levels of inequality in this society are very great. The average earnings

in the constituency I represent our ?18,000. I think it is right that

Labour is saying there will be no secret tax rises or sneaky tax

ruses. 95% of people want pay -- won't pay an extra penny of tax. The

Conservatives promised there would be no national insurance increase.

It is only Labour stopping them doing that through the back door

that stopped them doing it on slide. Basically what excessive means is

unnecessary, too high... Basically you believe that people earning over

330,000, be they entrepreneurs or computer wizards, BBC CEOs are

essentially earning too much? You think they are earning too much?

Why can't we talk about the many, not the few? People who earn over

?100,000, that's about 0.3% of society. That expand this

conversation and talk about the 95%. Let's move onto one of your other

major announcements today. That is on the scrapping tuition fees.

People can be sceptical when it comes to people saying there will be

no tuition fees. Because of the Lib Dems. You say you will scrap them.

When would a Labour government scrapped them? Would a student

starting this September not pay tuition fees? You saw how

enthusiastically this policy was received. But they wanted to be

delivered. If it was delivered by a Labour government, would it be

immediate, incremental, would student at university now in second

year not pay? When would you be introducing this policy? We will

reveal the further details about the plan in due course. What is true is

that it has been widely welcomed. The difference between Jeremy Corbyn

and people like Nick Clegg, if anybody remembers him, Jeremy Corbyn

as a politician who has always kept his promises. You just said that we

will know more detail in a few weeks. We will know the detail of

tuition fees at how they will be scrapped in three weeks? We will be

making further announcements about the detail. It seems to me that we

are being put on trial for agreeing to more... You are announcing

policy... We've announced a great list of policies today. Of which

this is one, a key one, something you are spending a lot on. We make

no apologies for spending a lot on it because it is fully costed at

that. Students and people who want to be students from being held back.

Too many families are being held back in this country and our

manifesto will change that. It is about fairness, you have been

categorical about that. Would you suggest that if you are announcing

in three weeks' time, that you cannot abolish tuition fees for,

say, to years of a Labour government, if you get in, would you

suggest students delay going to university until the policy is in

place? This is obviously a trap. At the end of the day I hope you would

join students across the country, and people thinking about being

students, welcoming this policy as a massive step forward. It is a

massive step forward. So is reversing the scrapping of the

student nurse bursaries, bringing back the education maintenance

allowance. What this is about is stopping people's aspirations from

being held back. People feel they are being priced out of going to

university. A Labour government will end that. The difference to even

Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour team, and the Lib Dems, who you mentioned

earlier, is that the Labour team as Jeremy Corbyn have a track record of

keeping their word. You are introducing sweeping changes in

childcare. Free school meals. There will be the tuition fees. These are

free benefits for the very people you say earn ?330,000 and access.

They will benefit from that. That is a terrible inconsistency, isn't it?

We all benefit from that. We benefit from people going to university,

their education helps to stimulate the economy. If you are treated in

hospital you are treated by somebody who has gone to university, whether

it be a doctor, a nurse, if you go and see a lawyer you are being

assessed by somebody who has been to university. Our policy of free

school meals, some people have criticised it for its universalism.

I am proud of the universalism. On that question of universalism and

whether that will benefit you, Len McCluskey, he said if the party

holds 200 seats that will mean this has been a successful campaign. Is

he one of the so-called moderate doom mongers? Here's a great general

secretary. I'm delighted he was re-elected recently. All I am

focused on, and all the Labour team is focused on, is getting out these

policies, policies for the many, not the few... Would it be with 200

seats? The polls have narrowed. I think they will continue to narrow

when people see the policies of our manifesto. We want with this general

election. There is three weeks to go. Three weeks is a long time in

politics. We are up for the fight. We are forwarding the selection in

order to completely transform things. So things are run in the

interest of the many not the few, so we end the system rigged against

vulnerable families. Thanks very much.

The White House has tonight refused to comment on reports

that the highly classified information that President Trump

today finally admitted to sharing with the Russian foreign Minister

and the Russian Ambassador had come from Israeli Intelligence.

After first denying he had shared anything and sending his

National Security Advisor General HR McMaster, out deny any wrongdoing,

today President Trump said he had an absolute right to do what he did,

and sent General McMaster out yet again.

I stand by my statement I made yesterday.

What I'm really saying is that the premise of that article

is false, but in any way the president had a conversation

that was inappropriate, or that resulted in any kind

And so I think the real issue, and I think what I would like to see

really debated more, is that national security has been

put at risk by those violating confidentiality.

The New York Times reported that Trump asked the then FBI director,

James Comey, to end his investigation into Michael Flynn for

alleged connections with Russia. He sacked James Comey a week ago. The

White House denied this report. But the stream of charges and

accusations against the Trump White House seems to be endless.

But where does this latest row leave his relationship

with a Republican Party that has, thus far, shown steady loyalty

Joining me now is Jacob Weisberg of Slate media group,

and Debra Saunders who is the White House Correspondent

Good evening to both of you. Thank you for coming in. On the scale of

calamity, Jacob, how does this rack including the New York Times story

tonight? -- how does this rank. These are pretty much the worse

things that have happened the Trump. I think they are clearly impeachable

offences. If you had a Congress willing to think about impeachment,

and at some time you will, this is obstruction of justice. The primary

article of impeachment against Nixon was the same. The president seems

intent on providing all of the evidence needed to support it

himself. Debra, the whole question of whether Trump actually knew what

he was doing is still far from clear. Is it a case of calamity

after calamity and Congress being unwilling to do anything about it,

or will be the latest two, as Jacob seems to say, tipped over the edge?

-- tip it over the edge? He did not know the source of the information

he apparently inadvertently revealed to the Russians. As you know, -- I'm

not sure there isn't an illegality. It is tough for Trump. First, it is

the Russians again. He seems to be smitten by Vladimir Putin and some

of the other Russians. He campaigned, saying he was against

Clinton, she lets classified information fall into the hands of

others because she had them in a home server. Now it turns out he has

slipped something to the Russians. I must say, you are asking what is the

number come up to ten, we have been eight through ten for the last week.

We have been over 84 with this president. He thrives on chaos. --

we have been over eight already with this president. I think he has the

stamina to stick things out. He seems ready to cut whatever comes

his way. That is what he has been doing. -- he seems ready to gut.

Nobody has made a comment whether it was Israeli intelligence being

discussed yet. Is he just going to limp on? I'm not sure if it is worse

or better if he compromises the intelligence inadvertently, or did

it, as he was trying to say yesterday, with purpose in mind.

When you think about what is at stake, the penetration of a

terrorist organisation, like Isis, by an allied security service, there

isn't much more important to protect than the ability to keep that kind

of information flowing, to protect from terrorists, and future

terrorist attacks. This is information that journalists are

very good at protecting. In fact, the news organisations that cover

this story, including the Washington Post, were very careful about

restraining themselves from revealing the information that Trump

apparently revealed to the Russians. You cannot plead ignorance, or

inadvertence, or callousness here. It is an odd loophole that he

doesn't need a security clearance. But it is clear that Trump will not

qualify for one. On the whole question of the New York Times

tonight, whether or not he asked James Comey not investigate Michael

Flynn, if that could be proved what would be the consequence of that,

Debra? I don't know if it can be proved. We know James Comey, as soon

as he finished dinner, wrote a memo and the Trump did it. I think it is

a bit of a he said she said. Unless, of course, the president we did

there may be tapes. Then we would know. I do not think that would be a

good thing for Trump because it makes you feel like you are in the

days of Watergate when you see that out there. You raise Watergate.

Watergate was a long, drawn-out business. Do you think the

Republicans don't have the appetite for that, they are going to stick to

their man? I would have said that a week ago. That is what has been

going on. A lot of Trump supporters feel the media are against him. That

the Democrats are against him. That everybody is rooting for him to fail

and it makes them want to stand by him more. Here is what happened

which went wrong with James Comey last week. The president had a right

to fire James Comey, but... He sent out his surrogates. Sean Spicer,

Sarah Huckabee Sardis, and gave us this story about how Trump ended up

talking to the Deputy Attorney General and the Attorney General,

they brought forward the memos, the sport of the president of fire James

Comey. Then what does he do come he tells NBC News that he was going to

do it all along because of the Russians. If you are Republican and

you want to take his story, and tell it to the world, you know you can be

undercut by him the next day on NBC news. Thank you both very much

indeed. In this election, how do we know

what really matters to people? The old certainties are gone,

tribal loyalties shattered - People are less likely to vote

blindly for the party of their parents, and factors

such as age, geography, and education are emerging

as the new dividing lines. Over the next three weeks,

Katie Razzall is going to be looking at some of these divisions in 21st

Britain's voting For her first report she travelled

from Durham to Tyneside, to examine where the faultlines lie

in terms of education. An island of Remain in a region that

voted overwhelmingly Out. Nearly a fifth of Durham's

inhabitants have a degree, which statistics suggest also means

they're more liberal and outward With left and right now

less obviously a marker of how someone might vote,

university appears a prime ceding So here we are, we're

entering the premises Jack Gilmour is the Society's

proud Treasurer. Founded in 1842, all

those years ago... Amongst the student fraternity,

Jack's in a minority group. This place has produced many

notable MPs, including Edward Leigh and Crispin Blunt,

and here we have the main He's a Conservative

supporter and a Leave voter. The other three here

are Labour Remainers. Voting remain and voting leave,

again, it's about how I want society to be multicultural,

I want everyone to be equal. What do you think it is,

if anything, about university education, that makes it such

a marker for how Well, I think certainly people

who are more university educated, of course, tended to vote Remain

more in the referendum. I think what's really sad

at the moment, the 48% who voted Remain have kind of been cut out

of public discourse entirely. We're pursuing a hard Brexit,

we're leaving the single market, The 48%, which is a very large

portion of this country, are being labelled enemies

of the people in the press and effectively being cut

out of the discussion. The people that go to university,

they're interacting in more multicultural societies,

and if you go to university, you're more likely to get

a job in a city as well, which is then more

likely to be Remain. I think that your views can

so easily be swayed, My views changed when I came

to university, somewhat, on topics I was a believer when I started

in my first year, but I was exposed to different thoughts and I became

an atheist afterwards, for example. I think background,

where you're born and how you're raised and so on,

determines, I think, My parents were working class people

who became middle-class, I mean their sort of story of,

for want of a better term, rags to riches, I think,

is an inspirational one and I think that's why

I have a conservative mindset. Education apparently

fuels voting habits. In the French election,

areas whose inhabitants have less education were much less likely

to vote for Macron than Both Brexit and Donald Trump's

victory were also driven by people with fewer educational

qualifications. Why is education having this effect,

and is it patronising even to look Almost as if this is a problem to be

fixed, instead of simply Everyone's right to have

a different opinion? Newsnight headed up the coast,

back to a place that was celebrating when we visited the day

after the Brexit vote. Haven't been to sea for 15

days, or 18 days, that's John Ellis has worked at North

Shields fish quay for 60 years. I can read a little bit

and write a little bit, Without educational qualifications,

John made a good living doing a valued job in

a respected industry. And a kid to your age now,

a 15-year-old who left school... Would they have the same prospects

as you had back then? What the case was down here,

if you worked hard, And when you think about

the Prime Minister now, Theresa May? I think she's all right

for the country, and The other fella's good

as well, the Labour man. But he's got no oomph

about him, you know? In heartland Labour Tyneside, many

at the fish dock migrated to Ukip. This election not all

those votes are assured. The quay master left school at 16

to be apprenticed; his children When I was young I had choices,

you could go down the yards, the coal mines, the steel yards,

but there's nothing I'm just now thinking I won't vote,

because there's no one to vote for. You couldn't bring yourself

to vote Conservative? They wrecked the northern England

the last time they had I mean, I've got two

kids now at university. One went into, he's just

working at call centres Now at university, because he went

into construction but there wasn't the there isn't the work

in the north any more. Unless Theresa May can come up to me

and put a deal on the table and say, this is what we going to do,

this is what we've got for the fishermen, then my vote

will be going to Ukip, to put through the job that that

they've already started. Jackie Weatherstone

left school at 15. He voted Ukip recently, but back

in the day it was a different story. I had to be in the Labour Party

to get a job, to get to sea, It'd be Conservative,

because Ukip's finished, isn't it? This election, 53% of those

YouGov asked who have no qualifications plan to vote Tory,

17% Ukip, 18% Labour and 5% Lib Dem. The Tory vote share seems

to decrease for every extra Of those with degrees,

Tory vote share was down to 36%, Ukip just 4%, while Labour

was on 28% and the Lib Dems 19%. # Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are...# The mood music across the Tyne

in South Shields is In a place where 62% voted out,

and nearly 30% have no At The Word cultural space,

the council offers free music sessions for parents and babies,

but when it comes to how these people might vote,

is it education or employment He left school at 16,

did NVQs and an apprenticeship in bricklaying, recently he's voted

Ukip. When I was doing a bricklaying

apprenticeship, I couldn't get it because at first all the Polish came

over and they took over people's So you couldn't get a job

after the apprenticeship? No, I got ruled out of it,

what was put down on paper, there were too many cheap labourers

available and they didn't want to pay for my wage

compared to theirs. It didn't make us angry, it's just

obvious business sense, isn't it? Why pay for one person on this,

when you can get two So when Theresa May says they're

to bring immigration way down, Now, for this election,

do you think you'd vote Ukip again? Kate Foster, on the left,

went to university but didn't From a mining family, she is staunch

Labour and voted Remain. And what you feel as

a Remainer in this sea Especially, we've got Nissan

at Sunderland and I can't understand why a city that depends on industry

and outside help... I want to live in a country that's

open, open to people that need help, aren't afraid to have friends

from all walks of life. I don't see that that's going to be

how it's going to be any more. I do think it's under

threat, I really do. The referendum gave a voice to those

who haven't benefited from our In Durham our students were taking

a break from exam revision. Amongst the gang,

another Conservative, this time she's a Remainer,

and a Liberal Democrat supporter. I don't think our values are under

threat as much as we just need to articulate them better,

and perhaps in a less I think the liberal establishment

has been a bit smug in their messaging and just assuming

everyone is on their side. What we need to do is articulate

liberal values and just make the point that they're actually

British values. I think we struggle

within the Brexit rhetoric, Remainders, we lost,

and we have to accept that, which is fine, but the way that

we're going now, I'm really frightened of a hard Brexit,

because that's where the rhetoric I think is leading,

especially as the Tory party want to increase their majority,

which I want happened too, what are we doing that

at the expense of taking in some A university education doesn't give

everybody liberal values. Nor is everyone without a degree

conservative, but education is a significant predictor of voting

behaviour, and with a likely realignment going on on the right,

in many areas of Britain it will play a big role in deciding

who wins this election. Well, while there's still room

in politics for old-fashioned door-knocking and leaflets,

the parties are increasingly fighting a sophisticated

cyber-campaign, which targets people The fact this kind of messaging

is so easily focused at specific groups of voters, means it can be

difficult to see exactly what the parties are

sending and to whom. We're keen to get to the bottom

of this, so we've teamed up with our colleagues from BBC

Trending - and we need your help. Mukul Devichand is the editor of BBC

Trending and joins me now. What's going on? As you say, it's

about what we know and what we don't know. What we know is at least ?1

million will be spent on Facebook advertising during the election. It

was 1.3 million in 2015. We know it is a really micro-targeted kind of

advertising that can look at what your likes and dislikes are, through

your friends are, where you are, your age and gender and target

messages towards you and parties will be doing that. This was thought

to be a game changer in the referendum. One estimate was up to a

billion messages sent by the parties. What we don't know is what

all those messages say. Some of them are not publicly visible, apart from

the people that get them. What you want people to do about it?

Newsnight and Trending will be teaming up to try and analyse what

to send us. We want you to take a snap of a message you get in your

timeline that feels political, send it to us, send us a bit of

information about yourself if you don't mind, your age and location

and except. How to send is on screen. We will try and analyse that

and build up a national picture of the types of messaging that the

parties are using and come back to the show and on the BBC Trending

blog to report that. Thank you. Now the last of our Viewsnights,

pitching ideas for the parties Tonight, it's Times

journalist Raphael Hogarth. That's all we have time for tonight.

Good night. A cooler night ahead for Scotland

and Northern Ireland after the mild and humid night on