Browse content similar to 20/10/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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As I talk to you, Theresa May and the other 27 leaders of the EU are | :00:18. | :00:25. | |
having dinner. This is what the Prime Minister said she arrived. The | :00:26. | :00:31. | |
UK is leading the EU and we will continue to play a full role until | :00:32. | :00:41. | |
we leave. We will also discuss the number of elections coming up within | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
the EU and how that will affect Brexit negotiations. Plus, a report | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
from Australia on the Australian enthusiasm to cut a new trade deal | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
once Brexit is done. We will look at whether we will see more Australian | :00:57. | :01:04. | |
goods in our shops. And we are getting lots and lots of questions. | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
Keep them coming. You will see that on the screen throughout the | :01:09. | :01:09. | |
programme. I am talking to you from where | :01:10. | :01:31. | |
hundreds and hundreds of journalists across the European Union and the | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
world gather on days like this, the first day of the major EU summit. We | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
are able to mingle around the building as the leaders go about | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
their business, sometimes leaders or their assistance. And give you a | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
briefing, but one of the main time to get to speak directly to the | :01:52. | :01:57. | |
leaders is when they arrive. So we recorded this in order to explain | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
how it works. Theresa May has already arrived at this summit but | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
other leaders from across the EU are still coming in in black cast. This | :02:09. | :02:11. | |
is where they are greeted by the press. Got to be quite careful | :02:12. | :02:18. | |
because there is an awful lot of television equipment, wires | :02:19. | :02:24. | |
everywhere, journalists everywhere. Some people waiting for the leaders | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
here. But if you come out here, there is an even bigger group of | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
journalists waiting to shout out their questions, and you can see the | :02:36. | :02:38. | |
clusters of journalists around the different leaders who are arriving. | :02:39. | :02:44. | |
As you can see, Angela Merkel is now taking her turn to answer questions | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
from the huge press front that is gathered. If there is only one | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
person who would decide how the EU response to Brexit on trade and | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
foreign policy challenges, it will be the German Chancellor. There she | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
goes, walking into the EU Council building. There will be a dinner | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
later on where Theresa May will bring her and the other EU leaders | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
about Brexit. Let me play you a little of what Angela Merkel said to | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
the German press on the subject of Brexit. This will be the first time | :03:17. | :03:25. | |
that we will officially welcomed the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
to a European Council meeting. We will have Brexit on the agenda and | :03:30. | :03:32. | |
we will make it clear once again that we are waiting for the | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
application of article 50 by Britain. It is now down to Britain | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
to say how they want to make this application. Let us look at some of | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
the question you are sending me. Jones says, are the possibilities of | :03:47. | :03:52. | |
the UK becoming an EQ associate? Everything is possible but | :03:53. | :03:55. | |
everything the UK Government has been saying suggests that once a | :03:56. | :03:59. | |
bespoke deal, it will not copy one country or another, it will get a | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
deal which the Prime Minister would say is in Britain's best interests. | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
While one relationship may provide inspiration, this will be specific | :04:10. | :04:16. | |
to the UK. Richard says, how come since we announced the referendum, | :04:17. | :04:19. | |
we have not heard much about the problems in Greece or the problems | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
in the Eurozone? Two summers ago, the Greeks did cut a deal with their | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
creditors and that triggered a feather bailout which gave the Greek | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
economy some stability but earlier this month, the EU commission said | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
it wanted Eurozone governments to agree fresh details on debt relief | :04:39. | :04:41. | |
for Greece by the end of the year. That issue has not gone away. I can | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
see lots more of your questions coming in and I will come back to | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
those in a couple of minutes. Next I want to talk about trade. After | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
Brexit, the UK will look to cut deals with the EU and lots of | :04:55. | :05:01. | |
individual countries, and Australia has already signalled it is very | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
keen to do that. That could mean many more Australian products coming | :05:06. | :05:18. | |
to the UK. Raised on the green grass of New South Wales, could Brexit | :05:19. | :05:21. | |
mean these cattle one day find a way into the British market? Australia | :05:22. | :05:30. | |
sold 80% of its beef to the UK once. That all changed when Britain joined | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
the EU. Brexit brings a welcome opportunity. There will be a great | :05:36. | :05:39. | |
boon for Australia because it brings up a lot of competition. We know in | :05:40. | :05:46. | |
Australia, the quality is very good. Some Australian products are already | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
big in Britain, wine and beer. Brexit could bring even more | :05:54. | :05:57. | |
opportunities but so far, it has been a bit of a headache. This | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
winery usually sells 100,000 bottles a year to the UK but the price | :06:04. | :06:10. | |
depends on the exchange rate. After the referendum, the pound slumped, | :06:11. | :06:13. | |
the Australian dollar rose. Now trade is harder. The currency has | :06:14. | :06:21. | |
gone down by 20%. So our winds will get more expensive now. As they | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
start having to pay for them at the new rate. What dwarfs the trading | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
goods is financial investment. The UK and Australia will already have a | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
very big stake in each of the's economies as Britain chews over | :06:39. | :06:42. | |
exactly what the terms of Brexit will be, there are plenty of | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
Australians hoping it is a path that brings new business their way. There | :06:46. | :06:56. | |
is one factor to do with the Brexit negotiations, that it is impossible | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
to overstate. It is to do with a number of significant votes coming | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
up in the next 12 months within the EU. Let me run you through them. In | :07:06. | :07:11. | |
December, Italy is holding a referendum on constitutional changes | :07:12. | :07:14. | |
and its Prime Minister has already suggested you may stand down if that | :07:15. | :07:20. | |
vote goes against him. The polling is very tight so he may yet win but | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
there is a possibility of a No vote and a possibility he will be | :07:26. | :07:28. | |
replaced by an interim government. He is one of the most vocal leaders | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
within the EU. Fast forward to March, you have a general election | :07:34. | :07:36. | |
and the Netherlands. The government there under major pressure from the | :07:37. | :07:42. | |
Freedom party, which has an anti-immigration stance. It is not | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
hard to imagine a scenario in which the government has the change in the | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
Netherlands. In April and May, the French elections. Francois Hollande | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
is incredibly unpopular if you read the polls. He has got to represent | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
the Socialist party let alone winning it said there is a | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
possibility the French President may change. And then you go on to | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
August, September and October and the most important of the more, the | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
German elections. Angela Merkel is yet to say whether she will stand | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
even if she does, she would be favourite to win but she is also | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
under pressure from the issue of immigration. The alternative for | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
Germany party has made electoral progress. Let's talk with Heidi, | :08:30. | :08:37. | |
journalist, and Peter, also a journalist. Talk to me about the | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
German election. I presume Angela Merkel will stand. She is under | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
pressure like she has never been before. She is much more under | :08:47. | :08:48. | |
pressure compared to the last elections where she just sailed in | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
and won by a huge margin. This will not be the case this time. It will | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
be a tough campaign and will be totally unclear as to who she will | :08:59. | :09:05. | |
govern all through her coalition partner may be. This also has an | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
impact on European politics. Brexit will be complicated enough that if | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
we have major leaders and players changing during negotiations, it | :09:16. | :09:19. | |
becomes more complicated. I would say yes to that, that is a very | :09:20. | :09:25. | |
clear statement. I think the UK will see this is much more difficult than | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
has been anticipated, it will drag on for years, and there will be | :09:32. | :09:34. | |
changes in government repeatedly over the years. The interest might | :09:35. | :09:41. | |
change. Has Brexit been an inspiration to some politicians and | :09:42. | :09:48. | |
political parties? The Danish People's' party would like to have a | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
referendum but the word base that on whatever the UK gets, so that means | :09:54. | :09:59. | |
the rest of the Danish parties would be very careful. An alternative for | :10:00. | :10:09. | |
Germany, they are not a serious challenge. If they are in | :10:10. | :10:17. | |
Parliament, and it will be as looks, everything will be more complicated, | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
more muddling through, more difficult to form a government. They | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
will not be part of a government so will have nothing to say in the way | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
of how politics regarding Brexit is conducted but they would still make | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
the process more difficult. Alex wants to ask, is there possibility | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
another country could hold a referendum on leaving the soon? I | :10:38. | :10:44. | |
would say no. Most other countries are not big enough to go it alone | :10:45. | :10:54. | |
like the UK. If the French party was to win, they have promised to do | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
that. Someone wants to ask, are people in your country supportive of | :11:01. | :11:03. | |
the strong position that you cannot have the single market without the | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
freedom of movement? Actually, yes. It is a fairness rule. If you want | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
to be part of the club, you have to apply all the rules, and if you are | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
out, you are out. This is no cherry picking. People are in favour of | :11:20. | :11:27. | |
that. Some people who like changes, what access you have the different | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
benefits, but the free movement, everybody likes that. Peter, you | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
have got to go, so very good of you to stay with us, so Heidi, you will | :11:38. | :11:44. | |
stay with us. We will also be joined with a Polish journalist so keep | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
those questions coming. When there are developments here, you will hear | :11:49. | :12:01. | |
a live on the BBC. In the UK, MPs have backed a proposal to strip the | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
former owner of VHS, Philip Green, of his knighthood. Their decision is | :12:07. | :12:11. | |
non-binding. He is accused in Parliament of asset stripping and | :12:12. | :12:14. | |
failing to do with a company's pensions deficit. Sir Philip insists | :12:15. | :12:20. | |
he's working on a deal that will resolve the issue. This night of the | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
realm has been described by many as an emperor. And today, they get to | :12:26. | :12:38. | |
bury him. I see... A spiv who should never have received a knighthood, | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
who has shaped British capitalism. BHS is one of the biggest corporate | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
scandals of many times. The whole house of sympathy for the thousands | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
of workers were blessed their jobs and see their benefits reduced as a | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
result of greed, incompetence. Strip of his knighthood, taking to task | :12:59. | :13:02. | |
and get him to sell a few of his super yachts. This was not much a | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
debate on some MPs were uneasy. The call for another committee to strip | :13:09. | :13:15. | |
somebody of the non-, the one is only taken away if someone has | :13:16. | :13:21. | |
committed a criminal offence, is the abuse of the House of Commons. But | :13:22. | :13:27. | |
let's not forget about people losing their jobs. He should be stripped of | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
his knighthood, 100%. He does not realise what he has done to | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
everybody. And he is swanning around with the knighthood, it is not fair | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
for what everybody else is going through. This does not mean he will | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
lose his knighthood. Any decision on that will be made here in Whitehall. | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
It is also very rare for people not found guilty of doing anything | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
illegal to lose honours. Fred Goodwin of RBS was the last and most | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
possible famous example but Philip Green has become the new poster to | :14:00. | :14:02. | |
both the popular and political mistrust and business. During her | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
party conference, Theresa May made a thinly disguised attack on him. A | :14:09. | :14:14. | |
director who takes up massive dividend is one knowing the company | :14:15. | :14:21. | |
pension is about to go bust. I am putting you on warning, this cannot | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
go on any more. Philip Green was watching the events in Parliament | :14:28. | :14:30. | |
today. Whatever happens to his knighthood, his only redemption may | :14:31. | :14:33. | |
be insulting the pension out. Since before the referendum on the | :14:34. | :14:52. | |
UK's place in the EU, we have been travelling around the UK and Europe, | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
covering the story. Our latest stop is in Brussels because the EU is | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
holding its late summer hit an all 28 leaders from the European Union | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
are having dinner. When we get details about what they have been | :15:08. | :15:10. | |
saying to each other, we will bring that to you. Coming up, if you're | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
watching outside the UK, we will bring you American news. And in the | :15:17. | :15:26. | |
UK, it is the news at ten next stop there is a report on the British | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
government's part in thousands of gay and bisexual men who are | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
convicted under sexual offences under now abolished laws. Russia is | :15:37. | :15:43. | |
one of the main issues on the agenda here at the European Union and the | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
relationship between the EU and Russia has been tense for a while | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
now. We have the annexation of Crimea, the support of separatists | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
in the east of Ukraine but significant though those events, the | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
real focus at the is Aleppo and the Russian and Syrian government | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
bombing Eastern Aleppo which is under the control of anti-government | :16:05. | :16:08. | |
rebels. A number of the most senior players of the EU have been talking | :16:09. | :16:12. | |
about what Russia is doing in Aleppo. Let me play some of those | :16:13. | :16:21. | |
clips. Robust and united European stance in the face of Russian | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
aggression. The UK has put Russian actions in Syria on the agenda for | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
the summit. We must continue to work together and it is vital we work | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
together to continue to put pressure on Russia to stop its appalling | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
atrocities in Syria. It would be important to send a signal to Russia | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
that what they do by killing civilians in Syria is unacceptable | :16:46. | :16:48. | |
to the international community. The problem is there is no agreement to | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
send such a signal. It would mean sanctions. We will put pressure on | :16:55. | :17:02. | |
that amid Putin to do his duty, to make the truce, stop the bombing and | :17:03. | :17:08. | |
to stop supporting the Syrian government. Today is not about | :17:09. | :17:16. | |
decisions but I want to underline that the EU should keep all options | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
open, including sanctions. If the crimes continue. There would be some | :17:23. | :17:29. | |
people who would argue however hard the EU tries, it is failing to | :17:30. | :17:33. | |
influence what Russia does. Let's talked to a couple of guest said. We | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
still have Heidi here and we are joined by Thomas from Poland. Do you | :17:39. | :17:47. | |
get frustrated by the inability of the EU to stop Russia? I come from | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
Poland with the frustration is very deep-rooted. At least we have some | :17:53. | :18:00. | |
leaders calling for stronger engagement of Russia in Syria and | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
hoping it will help. At least you now have the knowledge and | :18:06. | :18:13. | |
conviction of most of the leaders here that Russia and Syria have bad | :18:14. | :18:19. | |
intentions. Most people understand is the one of the reasons we have | :18:20. | :18:27. | |
these problems are because we do not use power like Russia. And the | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
reason is because we want to engage diplomatically but there is only so | :18:33. | :18:39. | |
much you can do. We will carry on talking about immigration in a | :18:40. | :18:42. | |
moment because that is the issue that has been talked this Thursday | :18:43. | :18:46. | |
afternoon in Brussels among EU leaders and the migrant crisis has | :18:47. | :18:50. | |
been a huge issue for the EU for a couple of years now. The Italians in | :18:51. | :18:55. | |
particular are upset about the EU response. Let me try and explain | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
why. Over 300,000 people have come into the EU just this year and that | :19:01. | :19:06. | |
number goes up every day. If we break that down a little, we can say | :19:07. | :19:13. | |
half of those people go to Italy and half go to Greece. The reason the | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
Italians are upset if it is they feel the whole EU is not sharing the | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
load of processing those people and when necessary looking after them as | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
well. Look at this quote from the Italian Prime Minister. This was a | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
BBC interview recently in which he said, enough, we've been focusing on | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
Brexit for more than two years now. It holds up key EU business. Let's | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
get Brexit over and move on. The point he is making there is he is | :19:44. | :19:46. | |
concerned the need or desire to put on a unified front during the Brexit | :19:47. | :19:54. | |
negotiations is undermining the ability to push through tough | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
decisions on immigration. Let's see if Thomas and Heidi agree. It's | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
Brexit stopping the EU taking tough decisions? There has been a tendency | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
to wait before taking decisions. We are in a waiting position. But when | :20:10. | :20:16. | |
we get into Brexit again, everyone will be afraid to take decisions | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
that might open up something the Brits want. Brexit negotiations are | :20:21. | :20:26. | |
not the main reasons for the EU, not to take tough and strong decisions | :20:27. | :20:32. | |
on immigration. The main problem is many leaders in countries are | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
convinced that the crisis is over because of the way, Turkey to Greece | :20:39. | :20:45. | |
and Germany is closed, and the pace of immigration to Italy is the same | :20:46. | :20:50. | |
as one year in two years ago. So business as usual. I would agree on | :20:51. | :20:56. | |
the fact that migration, it is not Brexit that is stopping us taking | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
decisions, it is just because it is difficult. It is a poisonous | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
subject. Some would say countries like yours are stopping a solution. | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
They are saying, we will not take these people in. Why will they not | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
share the responsibility of what is happening? I will not defend the | :21:15. | :21:26. | |
Polish government. The reasons are popular stick and xenophobic. These | :21:27. | :21:37. | |
countries started to spread their opposition loudly a year ago. In | :21:38. | :21:40. | |
fact you have many other countries, including France and the | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
Netherlands, which were very moderate in their language here in | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
Brussels, but they were not accepting refugees as well. We are | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
out of time. After the dinner is finished, are you hoping your | :21:57. | :21:59. | |
leaders will come out and speak to you? I am sure they will. I am going | :22:00. | :22:08. | |
to stay here. Both of you, thank you very much indeed. We are expecting | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
significant briefing from EU leaders once they finish their dinner and | :22:14. | :22:16. | |
come out. No one is sure the timing of that but whenever it happens, you | :22:17. | :22:21. | |
will get coverage on the BBC. Lots of you are asking this question, | :22:22. | :22:27. | |
Nigel says, why does everyone want the Prime Minister to disclose our | :22:28. | :22:30. | |
negotiating stance? That would put us at a huge disadvantage. There are | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
some, and the government as part of this group, who says we cannot do | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
everything in the public domain because these are negotiations and | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
there are others, particularly some MPs, who say it is not appropriate | :22:45. | :22:48. | |
for the country in Parliament to have no idea what approach is going | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
to be taken. We shall have to see how Theresa May chooses to play | :22:54. | :22:55. |