0:00:04 > 0:00:09The icy fang and churlish chiding of the winter's wind...
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Shakespeare made it sound exciting, but for the millions affected
0:00:11 > 0:00:15it's anything but.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Add to that fears over the energy supply -
0:00:18 > 0:00:20are we coping as well as we should?
0:00:20 > 0:00:23There's plenty of gas in the world, there's plenty of import
0:00:23 > 0:00:27infrastructure, so it's not really a shortage of gas overall.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30But what we saw today is our ability to handle short-term spikes
0:00:30 > 0:00:36in demand is not great.
0:00:36 > 0:00:37Also tonight:
0:00:37 > 0:00:38Has Putin launched a new arms race?
0:00:48 > 0:00:53We'll be speaking a former US Ambassador to Nato.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56The Italians head to the polls on Sunday,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00after a campaign dominated by anti-immigrant rhetoric.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Is this new, or are old tensions bubbling to the surface?
0:01:23 > 0:01:24And...
0:01:24 > 0:01:25Charting all his failures.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30Suede front man Brett Anderson on the time before he was famous.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34A lot of the experience of being in Suede in the early days
0:01:34 > 0:01:36was kind of like failure after failure, struggle
0:01:36 > 0:01:39after struggle, and it seemed to be the word that sort of summed
0:01:39 > 0:01:42it all up.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Good evening.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56The military was called in to help emergency services today,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59as the country remains frozen by a blast of extreme weather
0:01:59 > 0:02:03of a scale and severity few can remember experiencing before.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Tonight, Storm Emma is preparing to do her worst, with snow
0:02:06 > 0:02:10threatened to up to 50 centimetres in parts of the UK.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13A red weather warning for snow is in force for south
0:02:13 > 0:02:17West England and South Wales until tomorrow at least.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19The day has brought very sad fatalities, but also births
0:02:19 > 0:02:22in extraordinary circumstances.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24There was also a warning from the National Grid
0:02:24 > 0:02:27that there may not be enough gas to meet demand.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30We'll be investigating the impact of that on industry and domestic
0:02:30 > 0:02:32users and whether such a shortage could have been avoided,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35but first, it was a day of drama.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42These are the temperatures that you may well see
0:02:42 > 0:02:45on your thermometer, but if you step out in the wind,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48it is really going to feel cold.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50-13 in Birmingham.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52That is not to be sneezed at.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54I've just been speaking to Chris Evans, he says his hair
0:02:54 > 0:02:57froze in the few minutes it took him to go outside and then come back in.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17We've got amber weather warnings into South Wales and the south-west,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19but we have a red, top tier, that means take action,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22the weather could turn really quite disruptive as we go
0:03:22 > 0:03:25through the evening.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40A lot of snow piling up, some spots seeing 15-20 centimetres,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44maybe 40 or 50 over the higher ground here.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Some of that snow then fringing into parts of Northern Ireland.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50As we go through the night, we keep the snow showers
0:03:50 > 0:03:53across northern and eastern Scotland.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Well, police across the country have been urging people not to travel
0:04:17 > 0:04:19unless they have to, and hundreds of drivers
0:04:19 > 0:04:23remain stranded tonight.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Among them is Jo Deahl, a BBC employee who has been stuck
0:04:26 > 0:04:29on the A62 near Diggle in Greater Manchester for five hours
0:04:29 > 0:04:34with partner Chris and their brand new 8-week-old puppy, Maggie.
0:04:34 > 0:04:40Good evening to you. First of all, why did you venture out?Well, we're
0:04:40 > 0:04:45asking ourselves the same question now. We came from Chesterfield and
0:04:45 > 0:04:49we checked the weather, checked the roads and there were problems on the
0:04:49 > 0:04:59M62. Build road we are now, the A62 looks fine and it was fine until we
0:04:59 > 0:05:03got to Diggle. We got to Abendanon Road and we stopped. We haven't
0:05:03 > 0:05:08moved since. We've seen about 20 tractors, 20 ploughs, some pulling
0:05:08 > 0:05:13articulated lorries back up the hill but nothing going westward, towards
0:05:13 > 0:05:19Manchester. The first people we've seen in about five hours, the
0:05:19 > 0:05:22mountain rescue people, said the council have closed the road and
0:05:22 > 0:05:26they are advising us to leave. We said, where shall we go?Out of the
0:05:26 > 0:05:33car?He is saying leave the car and he said we have just been told there
0:05:33 > 0:05:36is nothing happening here tonight. We literally had that in the last
0:05:36 > 0:05:40couple of minutes.So what is your plan? Presumably you have a lot of
0:05:40 > 0:05:45stuff with you, are you prepared to bivouac somewhere? What are you
0:05:45 > 0:05:50going to do?We don't know, we have only just heard. We are quite
0:05:50 > 0:05:53prepared because even though the roads looked OK, we got some
0:05:53 > 0:05:57blankets, food and water, because the weather wasn't great. I don't
0:05:57 > 0:06:01know. We have a massive tractor in front of us right now. I think they
0:06:01 > 0:06:06may maybe putting somebody from another carp into it. The winds,
0:06:06 > 0:06:11it's like Armageddon, the wind must be 60 miles an hour. I got out of
0:06:11 > 0:06:19the car and could barely stand up. We don't know right now. I think we
0:06:19 > 0:06:23are going to bed down here, we're not getting out of the car.Watch
0:06:23 > 0:06:27that puppy, as well. Thank you very much indeed.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Now, early this morning the National Grid issued its first
0:06:29 > 0:06:32gas deficit warning for eight years and has said it will remain
0:06:32 > 0:06:33in place overnight.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35It's not as if our gas boilers will suddenly go out,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38but rather the shortfall of about 30 million cubic metres
0:06:38 > 0:06:39could effect industrial users.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41It's the first major test of Britain's gas market
0:06:41 > 0:06:44since the closure of Rough, the UK's biggest natural
0:06:44 > 0:06:45gas storage facility.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46So why is there a shortfall?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Here's our Business Editor Helen Thomas.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00The 1990s, the North Sea's heyday.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05Having a hefty deposit of hydrocarbons on our doorstep
0:07:05 > 0:07:08had its advantages, but since then, UK gas production
0:07:08 > 0:07:11has roughly halved.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15As recently as 2003, the UK was a net exporter of gas,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18which meant that availability, even on days like this,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20just wasn't really an issue.
0:07:20 > 0:07:28Now we're more reliant on supplies from overseas,
0:07:28 > 0:07:30which means that unusually cold weather or unexpected disruptions
0:07:30 > 0:07:35to supplies risks leaving us short.
0:07:35 > 0:07:43About 43% of the UK's gas now comes from domestic production.
0:07:44 > 0:07:4644% arrives through pipelines from Europe, with Norway
0:07:46 > 0:07:49as the single largest source, and 13% comes on tankers in the form
0:07:49 > 0:07:51of liquefied natural gas.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Technical problems at Norwegian fields and at LNG facilities
0:07:53 > 0:07:56contributed to today's squeeze.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01But National Grid's warning didn't ever mean UK homes would go cold,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04it was a call to the market to plug a forecast shortfall.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07And it worked.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10What we've seen is a spike in prices, which is expected.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15That tells people there is a scarcity.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19The flip side, we've seen more gas come onto the grid,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21so we've seen increased flows from Europe.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26We've also seen some reduction in demand from the system.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30What we've got to, the point we've got to now is actually National Grid
0:08:30 > 0:08:31have managed to balance the system.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33So that shortness of gas has gone away.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34So that's the system working?
0:08:34 > 0:08:36That's the system working as it should do.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42National Grid didn't have to take further emergency measures,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45like buying in the market or taking official steps to reduce demand.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50But this crunch comes after the closure of the UK's
0:08:50 > 0:08:56largest gas storage facility, Rough, last year.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Less storage means reduced ability to respond to unexpected events,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03and that, says this analyst, is a problem that needs fixing.
0:09:03 > 0:09:09There's plenty of gas in the world, there's plenty of import
0:09:09 > 0:09:14infrastructure, so it's not really a shortage of gas overall.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17But what we saw today is our ability to handle short-term spikes
0:09:17 > 0:09:19in demand is not great.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21I think the government should incentivise storage
0:09:21 > 0:09:22operators to stay open.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27They could give them a regulated return.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30And if they need to invest further, then incentivise that.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33I think it's a very small price to pay for security of supply.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Seasonal storage isn't commercial in part thanks to the UK's
0:09:39 > 0:09:47International energy market.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Pipeline supplies on tap, squeezed the gap between summer
0:09:50 > 0:09:54and winter prices, which is how facilities made their money.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Spending more on the emergency storage is for some,
0:09:56 > 0:09:57the wrong solution.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00The best way to make the UK more secure is to reduce our dependency
0:10:00 > 0:10:02on natural gas, not just imported, but in general.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05And the way to do that is to reduce the demand for it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Most gas that we have in the UK is consumed in the residential
0:10:09 > 0:10:12sector but we have some of the worst housing stock in Europe
0:10:12 > 0:10:13for energy efficiency, for insulation, windows,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17these sorts of things.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20So if the Government improves the housing stock in the country
0:10:20 > 0:10:23then we would reduce our dependence on gas and these kind of events
0:10:23 > 0:10:24would become less likely.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Heading climate change targets will mean a move away from fossil
0:10:27 > 0:10:32fuels and the Beast from the East brought wind as well and snow.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Wind has provided a big chunk of UK power in recent days
0:10:35 > 0:10:43but then so has coal.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45A few days of snow, the inevitable travel chaos,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47but it means longer-term questions about the state of
0:10:47 > 0:10:49the UK energy market.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Helen Thomas.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53We asked the Department of Energy for an interview
0:10:53 > 0:10:54but nobody was available.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56I'm joined though by Dr Thierry Bros, a senior research
0:10:56 > 0:10:59fellow of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02He was formerly in charge of security of supply for oil
0:11:02 > 0:11:04and gas for the French government.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05Also with me is Dr Laura Cohen.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08She is chief executive of the British Ceramic Confederation
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and is one of the members of a gas security lobbying group that wrote
0:11:11 > 0:11:13last year to Secretary of State Greg Clark to demand
0:11:13 > 0:11:18an inquiry into gas security.
0:11:18 > 0:11:25Good evening to you both. Thierry Bros, looking at Helen's report, why
0:11:25 > 0:11:29have we left ourselves open to shortages like this?As you saw from
0:11:29 > 0:11:35the report you are not open to shortages, on average it is OK. The
0:11:35 > 0:11:38problem is the balancing of the supply and demand on the very short
0:11:38 > 0:11:42level. Here you are in an absolutely new situation. You are an importer
0:11:42 > 0:11:49and you have no or very little storage following the Rough closure,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52so you find yourself a bit like the other European countries,
0:11:52 > 0:11:58continental European countries, back in the last decade. The question is
0:11:58 > 0:12:02do you need to change the regulation or are you still going with the
0:12:02 > 0:12:07deregulation, which means you will get some volatility to cover those
0:12:07 > 0:12:14supply and demand imbalances.We could have gained this volatility,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17we left ourselves open to this because we don't have the spare
0:12:17 > 0:12:23capacity?That is always the case. Laura, that is the case, you trade
0:12:23 > 0:12:33cheaper gas that this uncertainty? Any economy needs security and lack
0:12:33 > 0:12:39of price volatility. Our members, up to a third of their production cost
0:12:39 > 0:12:45can be energy, so this is really potentially hurting them, this price
0:12:45 > 0:12:50spike that they had seen today hurt them very badly indeed. They have to
0:12:50 > 0:12:55be able to compete internationally, but also there is the physical risk
0:12:55 > 0:12:59of disconnection. That hasn't happened yet, but if you crash
0:12:59 > 0:13:06called a brick kiln 100 metres long that 1000 Celsius that usually takes
0:13:06 > 0:13:10weeks to call down and you are told to cut your gas off in four hours,
0:13:10 > 0:13:18that can only cause damage.Industry isn't going to be told to cut gas
0:13:18 > 0:13:23off, are they?Yes stop Europe remember, there are two levels. One
0:13:23 > 0:13:30is that people like you and me. We are safe. There is no risk, retail
0:13:30 > 0:13:35consumers are. Yes, big industries, and this is the type of warning we
0:13:35 > 0:13:40got this morning and tonight, if there is not enough gas...There's
0:13:40 > 0:13:44no chance for you to reduce consumption, you just have to do
0:13:44 > 0:13:50crash killed your kiln?Yes, you try, if you are given enough
0:13:50 > 0:13:56warning, but we won't be.You make bricks for the houses people need?
0:13:56 > 0:14:03Exactly. We need an urgent inquiry into gas security, both the physical
0:14:03 > 0:14:07security and the price volatility. What does the government said
0:14:07 > 0:14:10question might you are ahead of that federation, what does the government
0:14:10 > 0:14:15say to you?The government isn't offering us that. We need government
0:14:15 > 0:14:22to look at a minimum level of gas storage, and they need to look at
0:14:22 > 0:14:29options to underpin this, using regulatory means.Do you think the
0:14:29 > 0:14:35government gets the idea that if your members have two crash kill
0:14:35 > 0:14:39kilns in different areas of the industry, then productivity goes
0:14:39 > 0:14:43down on the impact will be quite severe?I'm not sure they really get
0:14:43 > 0:14:48it. Some businesses can shut down when there are enormous price
0:14:48 > 0:14:53spikes, many can't. It is not just run X, our reliance includes the
0:14:53 > 0:14:58British Chamber of Commerce, the major energy users Council, other
0:14:58 > 0:15:02manufacturers as well, and trade unions. They are concerned about
0:15:02 > 0:15:06jobs and businesses and investment. What you do, reopen a storage
0:15:06 > 0:15:09facility? When you see this has actually happened now, is it time to
0:15:09 > 0:15:14build supply again or is this drive to get away from gas going to mean
0:15:14 > 0:15:17there will be much more investment in wind energy and other forms of
0:15:17 > 0:15:24energy?Two things, I think your video was important. In the last ten
0:15:24 > 0:15:28years we have seen a reduction of gas demand in Europe and the UK, so
0:15:28 > 0:15:33we find. We have seen since 2014 and increasing gas demand in the UK and
0:15:33 > 0:15:37you are absolutely right, as we saw in the video, the increase was
0:15:37 > 0:15:41linked to the coal to gas switching. So you are getting greener, we are
0:15:41 > 0:15:45getting greener, but we are getting more reliant on gas and we have less
0:15:45 > 0:15:51storage. The thing is Europe is low in storage, so perhaps there is...
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Maybe Europe is the answer.Could be the answer.Thank you very much
0:15:54 > 0:15:58indeed.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01We reported last night on the strange case of the Russian
0:16:01 > 0:16:03presidential opposition candidate who might not be all she seems,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06but today there was nothing equivocal about Vladamir Putin's
0:16:06 > 0:16:13announcement that he has a new array of invincible nuclear weapons.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Making his bid for a fourth Presidential term, he told Russian
0:16:15 > 0:16:18MPs that he had a Cruise missile that could reach
0:16:18 > 0:16:19anywhere in the world.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22He added that the West needs to take account of a new reality
0:16:22 > 0:16:26and understand that this is not a bluff.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29The US State Department this evening responded by accusing Moscow
0:16:29 > 0:16:31of violating its obligations under nuclear treaties.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34So what is Putin up to - and could this start a new arms race?
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Nicholas Burns was US ambassador to Nato under President George Bush
0:16:37 > 0:16:40and joins me now from Harvard.
0:16:40 > 0:16:47Good evening, thanks for joining us. Do you believe Vladimir Putin has
0:16:47 > 0:16:54got what he says he's got?You know, it's uncertain. This could be a
0:16:54 > 0:16:58bluff, it's not been ascertained whether or not this new nuclear
0:16:58 > 0:17:02cruise missile actually exists, but he may have. I don't think it
0:17:02 > 0:17:06changes much in the world of defence because the United States, the UK,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10France still have a nuclear deterrent. Putin is an experienced
0:17:10 > 0:17:14leader, he knows that any use of nuclear weapons by Russia would be
0:17:14 > 0:17:20met with full force by the West. My one wants a nuclear conflict, that
0:17:20 > 0:17:24would be madness so I think this is for domestic consumption. He's
0:17:24 > 0:17:30running for president, that may explain the speech.But he's not
0:17:30 > 0:17:34daft, he knows that his chances of losing the president, pigs might
0:17:34 > 0:17:43fly.Quite small.So why is he is sabre rattling now? Do you think the
0:17:43 > 0:17:46position over the conflict in Syria changes things, the more aggressive
0:17:46 > 0:17:54attitude?I think two reasons, he is appealing to Russian nationalism. He
0:17:54 > 0:17:58did so after his occupation of commie two years ago. He wants to
0:17:58 > 0:18:05convince the Russian people that Russia is a great superpower -- his
0:18:05 > 0:18:12occupation of Crimea. He is still looking for a big turnout of Russian
0:18:12 > 0:18:17voters. In terms of Russian foreign policy, in the final part of his
0:18:17 > 0:18:20speech, Putin complained that the West has not been listening to them
0:18:20 > 0:18:25and that they had better listen now. His words. I think Putin has long
0:18:25 > 0:18:30complained that Russia is treated by Europe and the United States as a
0:18:30 > 0:18:35backwater, that China is given pride of place and he wants the West to
0:18:35 > 0:18:40understand that Russia continues to be a powerful country. But what a
0:18:40 > 0:18:43crude message, what a cynical and bitter message from a world leader,
0:18:43 > 0:18:50disappointing to hear his beach, certainly.Is he baiting Trump?He
0:18:50 > 0:18:55may well be doing that. I think the Russians are also disappointed in
0:18:55 > 0:18:59President Trump. I think they felt when he came to office that there
0:18:59 > 0:19:03would be warmer relations between Moscow and Washington. Trump had
0:19:03 > 0:19:08that in tension but now we've had this very long investigation by the
0:19:08 > 0:19:12former FBI director of possible collusion by the Trump campaign with
0:19:12 > 0:19:17the Russian government and it has made it politically impossible for
0:19:17 > 0:19:23Trump to warm up relations. As an American citizens I must say that we
0:19:23 > 0:19:28know that the Russians interfered in a massive way in the 2016 election,
0:19:28 > 0:19:31the people in Congress don't want business as usual which has
0:19:31 > 0:19:36constrained President Trump.Is he potentially breaking the
0:19:36 > 0:19:44international nuclear laws?Well, I think that is the concern here.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49There is a concern in Europe and the US and Canada that Putin may be
0:19:49 > 0:19:53violating the 1987 intermediate forces nuclear treaty. The Russians
0:19:53 > 0:19:58have been testing new weapons, as he said this morning and showed on the
0:19:58 > 0:20:02big screen this morning in Moscow and they may well be in violation of
0:20:02 > 0:20:05the agreement is that they signed in decades past. That's a serious
0:20:05 > 0:20:12charge. This is going to require a concerted and unified response by
0:20:12 > 0:20:17Nato, the European countries and the US and Canada. I'm sure you'll see
0:20:17 > 0:20:21that. It's very serious. I don't think it brings us closer to war
0:20:21 > 0:20:24with Russia because the Russians understand that the West is still
0:20:24 > 0:20:29very powerful. Putin is a brutal leader but he is rational and I
0:20:29 > 0:20:33don't think he'll test our defences. Thank you for joining us.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Theresa May today gave the European Council President
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Donald Tusk the heads up that the European Commission's draft
0:20:39 > 0:20:40legal text was "unacceptable to Britain," just in case
0:20:40 > 0:20:43he was in any doubt.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47She was meeting him at Number Ten, ahead of her big speech tomorrow
0:20:47 > 0:20:49at Mansion House billed as laying out the "ambitious economic
0:20:49 > 0:20:55partnership" she wants with the EU.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Is this FINALLY Theresa May's opportunity for the vision thing?
0:20:58 > 0:21:00The moment when Brexit means Brexit is finally explained?
0:21:00 > 0:21:02I'm joined by our political editor Nick Watt.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06What are you hearing?Theresa May is going to set out five tests that
0:21:06 > 0:21:11must be met for the negotiations to be declared successful. Let's have a
0:21:11 > 0:21:16look. In the first place, the result of the referenda must be respected,
0:21:16 > 0:21:22the UK taken control of its laws, borders and money. In the second
0:21:22 > 0:21:26test, any agreement reached with the EU must endure. We don't want to be
0:21:26 > 0:21:31back at the negotiating table. The third test, the agreement must
0:21:31 > 0:21:36protect people's jobs and security. In the fourth test it must
0:21:36 > 0:21:37protect people's jobs and security. In the fourth test it must show that
0:21:37 > 0:21:41the UK is a modern democracy. Interestingly the fifth test says
0:21:41 > 0:21:45that the union, the UK must come together and
0:21:45 > 0:21:46that the union, the UK must come together and that's interesting
0:21:46 > 0:21:50because a year ago the Prime Minister was saying that the country
0:21:50 > 0:21:52was uniting behind Brexit and now she seems to be acknowledging
0:21:52 > 0:22:01divisions.It doesn't sound very pokey, it is a bit woolly.The Prime
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Minister is keeping some things up her sleeve, I think we will see the
0:22:05 > 0:22:07fruits of Cabinet discussions on how we will define the UK's economic
0:22:07 > 0:22:14relationship with the EU when we are out of the European Union. We can
0:22:14 > 0:22:18look now at what Theresa May wants to do. She wants to break the
0:22:18 > 0:22:19relationship into
0:22:19 > 0:22:20to do. She wants to break the relationship into three baskets.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Number one, the UK would be fully aligned with EU rules in some areas
0:22:24 > 0:22:31for example cars. In the second basket, you'd have the same goals,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35but different rules, things like environmental standards. In the
0:22:35 > 0:22:40third basket, different goals and different rules, we'd be on our own.
0:22:40 > 0:22:40third basket, different goals and different rules, we'd be on our own.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Things like the insurance market. I'm told there was quite a pointed
0:22:44 > 0:22:49discussion in Cabinet this morning about the first basket. There was
0:22:49 > 0:22:54evidently intent for the UK to make a binding declaration that it would
0:22:54 > 0:22:57fully aligned in those areas. Some Brexit Cabinet ministers said that
0:22:57 > 0:23:01they don't like the language, too strong and they hope the Prime
0:23:01 > 0:23:06Minister won't use that language tomorrow.We'll see, but what is the
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Brussels we action?Michel Barnier was pretty tough, saying the UK is
0:23:11 > 0:23:14closing doors and going in the direction of a free-trade agreement.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19But I spoke to somebody who knows the mind of Theresa May and this
0:23:19 > 0:23:22person said that Brussels is engaging in classic negotiating
0:23:22 > 0:23:27posturing. This person told me they believe that Theresa May absolutely
0:23:27 > 0:23:31wants to get a deal and what we'll be hearing is tough language
0:23:31 > 0:23:35tomorrow but eventually a compromise, if that is what it
0:23:35 > 0:23:40takes.Thank you for joining us.
0:23:40 > 0:23:49Coming up, the front man from Suede's new memoir.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52I get the sense you don't really like the association with Britpop?
0:23:52 > 0:23:54I didn't like what it became.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56I was writing, I was documenting Britishness, Englishness,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59whatever you want to call it and I think those other bands that
0:23:59 > 0:24:00came later were celebrating it.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01I think that's the difference.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04I documented it because it was part of the world I saw around me.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06I wanted to document real life.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09The Italians go to the polls on Sunday for the first general
0:24:09 > 0:24:10election in five years.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Silvio Berlusconi is back.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15And he's got some new political allies -
0:24:15 > 0:24:18parties on his right, even the far right.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Discontent over migration and persistent economic problems
0:24:20 > 0:24:21are high on the agenda.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24But with as many as 40% of the electorate undecided there's
0:24:24 > 0:24:25everything to play for.
0:24:25 > 0:24:33Here's our diplomatic Editor Mark Urban
0:24:36 > 0:24:41Milan's Manzoni Theatre.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Where better for Italy's old stager and ultimate political player
0:24:44 > 0:24:48to work an ecstatic crowd?
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Berlusconi may be banned from holding office, but he's back,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54thrilling supporters and proving wrong those who confined him
0:24:54 > 0:25:01to political oblivion.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Up in one of the boxes, Laura Capella.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07She's driven an hour to see her idol in action
0:25:07 > 0:25:15and she wasn't disappointed.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38You may think of Berlusconi as right wing but sharing the playbill
0:25:38 > 0:25:41are people like Attilio Fontana and his party the Lega Nord
0:25:41 > 0:25:43or Northern League.
0:25:43 > 0:25:51Such is the trend of Italian politics that Berlusconi now sits
0:25:51 > 0:25:54on the left of a right-wing bloc with Lega and another
0:25:54 > 0:25:54far right party.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57The new allies almost competing in attacks on immigrants that have
0:25:57 > 0:26:00dominated the campaign.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09There is talk in this campaign about sending back hundreds
0:26:09 > 0:26:11of thousands of immigrants.
0:26:11 > 0:26:18Is that really a practical proposition?
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Lega has a long history of racist politics.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40One MP even blacking up in parliament, saying he'd get
0:26:40 > 0:26:44more attention that way.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47It's often attacked Cecile Kyenge, the country's first black minister.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52A member of the ruling Democrats who look set
0:26:52 > 0:26:54to suffer in these elections, she thinks Berlusconi has allied
0:26:54 > 0:26:59himself with hate-mongers.
0:26:59 > 0:27:05I'm a victim of the campaign from these political parties.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11Lega Nord had a political party, Lega e Fratelli d'Italia.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15They are investing in fear of people.
0:27:15 > 0:27:23I think that today our country must take measures and sanctions
0:27:24 > 0:27:26to all political leaders and political parties
0:27:26 > 0:27:30who invest in racism.
0:27:30 > 0:27:36Across Milan there are plenty of reminders of Italy's fascist years.
0:27:36 > 0:27:44The architecture, like the politics, eschews complexity,
0:27:53 > 0:27:54instead clean, straight, easily understood lines.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Then it was about Italian greatness.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Now it's about pledges by Berlusconi and his Lega partners to deport
0:27:59 > 0:28:00hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Today, as in the 20s, the right is using the language
0:28:03 > 0:28:04of authoritarian populism.
0:28:04 > 0:28:05Back then, Mussolini's targets were other countries,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08those that would deny Italy its new age of greatness.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Today, the scapegoat is internal.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Immigrants.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15And indeed the immigration question has come to dominate
0:28:15 > 0:28:21this election campaign.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26In Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan, they've recently elected a mayor
0:28:26 > 0:28:31from Berlusconi's Forza party.
0:28:31 > 0:28:39It marked the end of 72 years of socialist control of the town hall.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43In a few weeks the new mayor has thrown out 208 illegal
0:28:43 > 0:28:45immigrants, served many with deportation orders and laid
0:28:45 > 0:28:50plans to stop them coming back.
0:29:17 > 0:29:25Sesto's story has many echoes of Europe and indeed America.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Its heavy industries have been hit by closures and the local economy
0:29:28 > 0:29:31sank into the doldrums.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35Alessandra Aiosa's family used to have five shops.
0:29:35 > 0:29:36Now it's down to one.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39She approves of the new mayor's policies.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Back in Milan, the patron of the Asmara an Eritrea restaurant,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15has been in Italy for 46 years.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17He is a citizen.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20In theory he has nothing to fear but he's noticed
0:30:20 > 0:30:24a change in the climate.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27Exchanges like one with a lawyer seeking a permit on his behalf belie
0:30:27 > 0:30:30an underlying racism.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48And do you feel that the situation's worsened because so many people came
0:30:48 > 0:30:51on the boats from Libya, is that what's changed the climate,
0:30:51 > 0:30:57or is there something else going on, do you think?
0:31:18 > 0:31:22What we have in this Italian election is another chapter
0:31:22 > 0:31:24in the industrial decline of the West, and the faltering
0:31:24 > 0:31:28with it of social democracy.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31In its place, the rise of nationalism and nativist sentiment.
0:31:31 > 0:31:37For the moment, here, it targets immigrants and immigration,
0:31:37 > 0:31:41but one could just as easily see it move on to attack the EU
0:31:41 > 0:31:44and its institutions.
0:31:48 > 0:31:53As the ground shifts, Lega, who brought thousands of supporters
0:31:53 > 0:31:56to Milan's piazza Duomo, could, if the polls are right, be
0:31:56 > 0:32:00on the verge of entering government.
0:32:00 > 0:32:08Its leader Matteo Salvini has found immigration touches deeper chords
0:32:09 > 0:32:12than Lega's Eurosceptic messages, though it also blames the EU
0:32:12 > 0:32:15for creating the migration crisis and leaving Italy to deal with it.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19The interests of Europe, not Italy.
0:32:19 > 0:32:25Having marketed itself as a centre-right coalition,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Italy's far right, enabled by its pact with Berlusconi,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31may soon return to power.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33How are you different from the fascists of the 1920s?
0:33:09 > 0:33:13Italy's election will be decided on Sunday's vote,
0:33:13 > 0:33:17but if these people get their way, it could soon have a government
0:33:17 > 0:33:20committed to deporting hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
0:33:24 > 0:33:29The band Suede are synonymous with the birth of a musical
0:33:29 > 0:33:31and cultural phenomenon, Britpop, something Suede's lead
0:33:31 > 0:33:34singer Brett Anderson is keen to distance himself from.
0:33:34 > 0:33:41And while other musicians often chart the glory years, what Anderson
0:33:41 > 0:33:46calls, coke and gold disc memoirs, his own memoir Coal Black Morning
0:33:46 > 0:33:51which was published today, concentrates on his beginnings,
0:33:51 > 0:33:53his rackety, impoverished childhood with his mismatched parents,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56his beautiful beloved art school mother and the mercurial taxi driver
0:33:56 > 0:33:58father who wandered the house dressed as Lawrence of Arabia
0:33:58 > 0:34:01playing the music of Franz Lizst.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04I started off being a guitar player and wanting to be
0:34:04 > 0:34:08the quiet one at the back, sort of thing, and I just wasn't
0:34:08 > 0:34:11really good enough to be the quiet one at the back.
0:34:11 > 0:34:18The only other option left to me was to be the singer.
0:34:19 > 0:34:26Suede's eponymous first album went straight to the top
0:34:26 > 0:34:29of the charts in 1992 and won the Mercury music prize.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33For the band, which had included Justine Frischmann,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36who was also his partner until they split and she left
0:34:36 > 0:34:39to form Elastica, had taken a while to get going,
0:34:39 > 0:34:41and in his memoir, Brett Anderson concentrates
0:34:41 > 0:34:44on his own early failures.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48Influenced by the Smiths and compared to Bowie,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51who was a fan of Suede, the band became more experimental
0:34:51 > 0:34:53than their Britpop pack and 25 years on from their debut,
0:34:53 > 0:34:58are about to release a new record.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00It was time for a bit of reflection.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03I just fancied writing something, it was just one of those things.
0:35:03 > 0:35:09I didn't have a deal or anything, I wrote it for my son
0:35:09 > 0:35:12and that's kind of where did genesis of the book comes from.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15We were dirt poor, existing in penury in a cheap council house,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17but my parents filled it with trappings more akin
0:35:17 > 0:35:19to the lives of upper-class Hampstead intellectuals.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Mum's paintings were everywhere.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25She'd decorated the whole place with strong colours, midnight blues,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29William Morris wallpapers and her own rich velvet home-made
0:35:29 > 0:35:32curtains in the windows, and everywhere of course
0:35:32 > 0:35:37was the deafening torrent of my father's classical music.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40He used to see music as this sort of like charged
0:35:40 > 0:35:42battle ground of opinion, and for her music was just something
0:35:42 > 0:35:44nice that you listened to.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46She was much more visual, she was an artist.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51She spent most of her time painting, and when she wasn't painting,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54she'd be mending things and fixing things and making things.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58So it was a very creative sort of environment.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01The only way we could possess things was by making them.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04You grew up knowing that there was no money?
0:36:04 > 0:36:06I'm not sure.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09I think later I became aware of that, but when you're very young,
0:36:09 > 0:36:11you don't really have that sense of perspective.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Apart from a cheap electric oven, we have no mod cons,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17so my mother washed and dried all of our clothes by hand,
0:36:17 > 0:36:20something that seems unbelievable to my pampered 21st-century self.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25There was no central heating in the house,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27just a small fireplace in the lounge and a little paraffin
0:36:27 > 0:36:32heater in the kitchen.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34The coal black mornings were brutal and the ritual of lighting
0:36:34 > 0:36:36and maintaining the fire assumed a religious status.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38You've chosen not to put photographs in.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41I feel I have an image of your parents fairly clearly in my head,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44but why did you decide not to put photographs in?
0:36:44 > 0:36:46It was a very conscious decision.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49I wanted to make the writing as descriptive as I can,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53so that hopefully you don't really need the photographs.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58I just wanted to give the book a kind of tone, I suppose.
0:36:58 > 0:37:06You deliberately said that you didn't want to do
0:37:06 > 0:37:09a coke and discs memoir, you wanted to do a memoir of,
0:37:09 > 0:37:11you call it failure, why do you call it failure?
0:37:11 > 0:37:15Erm, well, that was the tone that I thought, that was the sort of word
0:37:15 > 0:37:19that I thought kind of summed up a lot of my upbringing,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23and my parents' situation in the world, and also a lot
0:37:23 > 0:37:27of the experience of being in Suede in the early days was kind
0:37:27 > 0:37:31of like failure after failure, struggle after struggle.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35It seemed to be the word that sort of summed it all up.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38That's why I ended up finishing at the point that
0:37:38 > 0:37:41I finished the book, because I finished it where we got
0:37:41 > 0:37:44signed and I thought that was a very symbolic moment.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47Enter Suede, who've been hailed by the rock press as the best
0:37:47 > 0:37:49new band in Britain.
0:37:49 > 0:37:56Tonight, they make their first television appearance.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01There is a part in the book where you're with Justine Frischmann
0:38:01 > 0:38:06and your mother dies.
0:38:06 > 0:38:12It was a huge, incredibly influential period of my life,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16where I met Justine and that opened up so many vistas in my life.
0:38:16 > 0:38:21You know, a year or so later, my mum dies and these incredible
0:38:21 > 0:38:26kind of clashing emotions happening in me.
0:38:26 > 0:38:32I think without those two events, I think I probably wouldn't have had
0:38:32 > 0:38:35this sort of sense of carpe diem that I needed, in order
0:38:35 > 0:38:38to make the band happen.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43You then wrote a song for your mother.
0:38:43 > 0:38:50# See you, in your next life #.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54The interesting thing about that song The Next Life is when I wrote
0:38:54 > 0:38:59it, I didn't really realise what it was about, and it wasn't
0:38:59 > 0:39:02till later that I kind of was able to assess it and realised
0:39:02 > 0:39:04that it was about that event.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08# Far away...
0:39:08 > 0:39:14# So far away #.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18You talk in the book that actually Justine Frischmann leaving the band,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21in a sense, was the making of it?
0:39:21 > 0:39:23Before Justine left, she was kind of not really happy
0:39:23 > 0:39:26with where we were going.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28I think she wanted, she had a different vision
0:39:28 > 0:39:30for what she'd like Suede to be.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32And I think that kind of confused things.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35She went on to do, to realise that vision with Elastica, I think,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38which was fantastic.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41But I think that allowed us to do what we ended up doing
0:39:41 > 0:39:48with the songs on Dogma and the more grandiose stuff.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50I get the sense you don't really like the association
0:39:50 > 0:39:52with Britpop now?
0:39:52 > 0:39:53I don't like what it became.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56I was writing, I was documenting Britishness, Englishness,
0:39:56 > 0:40:01whatever you want to call it, and I think those of other bands
0:40:01 > 0:40:03that came later were celebrating it, and I think that's the difference.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07I documented it because it was part of the world I saw around me
0:40:07 > 0:40:11and I wanted to document real life.
0:40:11 > 0:40:16It was almost like a slightly scruffy, Mike Leigh kind of vision
0:40:16 > 0:40:20of the world that I saw around me, and I think it became a...
0:40:20 > 0:40:23It mutated from a Mike Leigh film into a Carry On film.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25It was a period of creativity.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Do you think there's been a period of creativity since like it?
0:40:28 > 0:40:31I think it was the last big movement in alternative music.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34And it had value in that sense.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36I think its rejection of American cultural imperialism
0:40:36 > 0:40:42was a really powerful statement.
0:40:42 > 0:40:49And possibly the best thing about it.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51And the fact that it moved alternative music
0:40:51 > 0:40:53into the mainstream, I think that was fantastic.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55But finding worth out of it, beyond those things
0:40:55 > 0:40:56is quite difficult for me.
0:40:56 > 0:40:57Brett Anderson, thank you very much.
0:40:57 > 0:41:03Thank you.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06That's all we have time for tonight.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09But we leave you with a few tips harvested from social media
0:41:09 > 0:41:10on how to keep warm.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Goodnight.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14MUSIC: Shelter From the Storm - Bob Dylan