:00:00. > :00:00.The Prime Minister warns of a long and complex
:00:00. > :00:29.As fighter jets from RAF Lossiemouth arrive in Cyprus to join air strikes
:00:30. > :00:33.in Syria, the First Minister says she is deeply troubled by the
:00:34. > :00:39.We'll be live at the Oldham by election as the polls close
:00:40. > :00:44.and counting gets under way in this Labour stronghold seat.
:00:45. > :00:46.And more traffic misery for commuters as the
:00:47. > :00:49.Forth Road Bridge closes from midnight tonight both ways.
:00:50. > :01:01.24 hours on from last night's Commons vote, RAF Tornado jets have
:01:02. > :01:06.already struck IS-controlled oilfields in eastern Syria.
:01:07. > :01:09.In a moment we'll have analysis of the military operation in Syria
:01:10. > :01:19.but first, Mike Grundon's been taking a look at today's events.
:01:20. > :01:27.Within a few hours of yesterday's vote in the Commons, British
:01:28. > :01:31.warplanes had extended their theatre of operations into Syria. Within
:01:32. > :01:36.hours, the Scottish Parliament got a chance to respond to it. I remain
:01:37. > :01:44.deeply troubled by the decision of the UK Government to take the
:01:45. > :01:48.country into conflict. The issue did not dominate First Minister's
:01:49. > :01:53.Questions but Nicola Sturgeon was not the only politician to speak
:01:54. > :01:58.out. I did not extend air strikes into Syria but with British forces
:01:59. > :02:04.now involved, we must come together to support the brave men and women
:02:05. > :02:08.in our Armed Forces. There has been much speculation as to how much
:02:09. > :02:14.opposition there is in Scotland for extending the UK bombing raids into
:02:15. > :02:20.Syria. One online pollster is claiming that 72% are opposed that
:02:21. > :02:24.those figures are being disputed. It's not clear from such evidence
:02:25. > :02:29.that Scotland... That there are more people in Scotland opposed. At the
:02:30. > :02:33.end of the day, we don't have a great deal of evidence and that
:02:34. > :02:36.frankly leaves those on both sides of the argument with plenty of room
:02:37. > :02:40.to argue that the position is one that favours their own point of
:02:41. > :02:44.view. Meanwhile, as Britain's operations in Syria begin, the
:02:45. > :02:53.number of warplanes in the region has doubled. Eight tornadoes already
:02:54. > :03:00.running sorties out of Cyprus. There are six typhoons from Lossiemouth.
:03:01. > :03:03.And two maul tornadoes. The MoD says the weapons they would deploy are
:03:04. > :03:07.amongst the most accurate and precise in the world and everything
:03:08. > :03:15.possible will be done to avoid civilian casualties, as it has been
:03:16. > :03:20.in the past year. With the rules of engagement, the laws of armed
:03:21. > :03:29.conflict we consider every time we drop any weapon, we have had no
:03:30. > :03:33.reports of civilian casualties. That is a reflection of our close
:03:34. > :03:38.consideration to collateral. The first UK air strike on Syria was 35
:03:39. > :03:43.miles across the border on the oilfield. It is an important
:03:44. > :03:47.moneyspinner for Isis. Michael Fallon tells us there will be more
:03:48. > :03:52.the same in the coming days and weeks. Tonight, David Cameron tells
:03:53. > :03:53.us this will be a long campaign and it will require patience and
:03:54. > :03:54.persistence. Joining me now from London is
:03:55. > :03:58.Elizabeth Quintana, who's a Senior Research Fellow in Air Power at the
:03:59. > :04:13.Royal United Services Institute. We have seen oilfield is targeted
:04:14. > :04:19.today. Is that purely about cutting off revenue to Islamic State? Most
:04:20. > :04:24.Isis revenue comes from extortionate, the people are
:04:25. > :04:27.controls on taxes, but also a significant proportion of that
:04:28. > :04:31.revenue comes from oil so the US has been targeting a number of its
:04:32. > :04:36.facilities of the last week and the UK has now been able to join in that
:04:37. > :04:43.campaign. We heard talking the package there of the precision of
:04:44. > :04:46.military missiles. Can we be sure that there would be civilian
:04:47. > :04:52.casualties? You can never be entirely sure. This is the military
:04:53. > :04:58.we are talking about but it has to be said that even compare to Libya,
:04:59. > :05:04.which was recognised by the media to be a low collateral campaign, this
:05:05. > :05:09.campaign against Isis has been even more careful and the UK operates on
:05:10. > :05:16.a policy of zero collateral damage, which means they will not drop
:05:17. > :05:21.weapons if they think that there will be civilian casualties. How
:05:22. > :05:27.much of a difference will British airpower make here militarily? You
:05:28. > :05:31.have to look a bit more broadly as well. Tomorrow, the German
:05:32. > :05:41.government will also vote on whether or not it will be sending aircraft
:05:42. > :05:45.over and John Kerry was hinting the other Nato nations are considering
:05:46. > :05:52.providing some support. So this is a much bigger push by the US-led
:05:53. > :05:56.coalition. Yesterday, the President announced there would be 200 extra
:05:57. > :06:04.special forces that would conduct raids from Iraq into Syria alongside
:06:05. > :06:09.Kurdish and Iraqi special forces. Like the attack on the Isis present
:06:10. > :06:14.that we saw a few weeks ago. This is part of a broader campaign to step
:06:15. > :06:18.up the fight against Isis. With the talk of the US special forces going
:06:19. > :06:26.in, could that signal at some point a similar move from our special
:06:27. > :06:30.forces? The government's policy is not to discuss the actions of its
:06:31. > :06:37.special forces. It has been reported in the past that we have been
:06:38. > :06:43.involved in the attack against the chief financial officer of Isis, the
:06:44. > :06:49.UK special forces were involved in identifying who he wasn't tracking
:06:50. > :06:59.him. So certainly, there are UK special forces on the ground in very
:07:00. > :07:04.small numbers. But it requires the approach, if you want to have the
:07:05. > :07:08.impact the coalition is looking to have against Isis. David Cameron
:07:09. > :07:14.said today because of the complexity this will not be over soon. Are we
:07:15. > :07:18.in this for the long for now? Certainly. From the beginning,
:07:19. > :07:23.President Obama stated it would be at least three years to defeat
:07:24. > :07:27.Isis. We have learned from Iraq and Afghanistan that these things,
:07:28. > :07:32.however simple they might appear at first glance, are never quite as
:07:33. > :07:40.simple as that. Yes, Western forces could rollback Isis tomorrow but
:07:41. > :07:44.that would not resolve many of the political problems on the ground
:07:45. > :07:49.between the various sectarian forces, it would not give Sunni
:07:50. > :07:53.Arabs the recognition that they need in that particular region. And so,
:07:54. > :08:00.the policy of the coalition has been to take a slowly-slowly approach, to
:08:01. > :08:04.not only do they Isis militarily but lay the groundwork for a more
:08:05. > :08:10.long-term, stable resolution. Obviously, that will take a lot
:08:11. > :08:17.longer. The military is not the only solution but it is necessary. Isis
:08:18. > :08:23.relies on the idea of a caliphate, the idea of holding and controlling
:08:24. > :08:28.people and raising money from them to expand its activities elsewhere
:08:29. > :08:32.in the world and so until we defeat them or degrade them militarily,
:08:33. > :08:39.they will still exist as an organisation. There is obviously
:08:40. > :08:45.concerned about... Yesterday's motion was about air strikes but the
:08:46. > :08:49.so-called moderate forces on the ground are not ideal partners. Is
:08:50. > :08:54.only a matter of time before we see British troops involved? I think we
:08:55. > :09:02.should focus more on the BN talks first. Syria operates on three
:09:03. > :09:08.different levels. The first is the geopolitics of the area. People like
:09:09. > :09:11.Iran and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, who have a stake in who is the
:09:12. > :09:17.pre-eminent actor in the Middle East, Russia also has a stake in
:09:18. > :09:21.Rann, and then of course the US and other coalition partners do as well.
:09:22. > :09:28.Then you have the actual Civil War in Syria which is about the various
:09:29. > :09:36.sectarian factions who are all interested in a pluralistic Syria.
:09:37. > :09:40.Charles Lister has produced a very good paper, looking at that. He has
:09:41. > :09:44.spoken to different factions on both sides, all of which have signed up
:09:45. > :09:48.to a vision of the future Syria, but that has not been taken into
:09:49. > :09:53.consideration the talks so far. And underneath that, you have a fight
:09:54. > :09:57.between Al-Qaeda and Isis to see who will actually be the pre-eminent
:09:58. > :10:03.jihadis terrorist organisation globally. And until you deal with
:10:04. > :10:08.all three of those simultaneously, you do need to do that to come to
:10:09. > :10:13.some kind of resolution in Syria. The first, the geopolitical one, is
:10:14. > :10:19.the most important. It's great that the Vienna talks going on. But we do
:10:20. > :10:23.need to have the Free Syrian Army another rebel forces at the table
:10:24. > :10:27.otherwise they will turn to Isis because they will fill those are the
:10:28. > :10:32.only groups that respect and listen to them and what they want to see
:10:33. > :10:37.going forward. So we have a long way to go but there are positive steps.
:10:38. > :10:42.We are seeing some great advances in Iraq, which I would not have
:10:43. > :10:44.predicted three months ago. There is a lot to hope for. But it will not
:10:45. > :10:47.happen overnight. Labour faces
:10:48. > :10:49.its first big electoral test tonight The Oldham West and Royton by
:10:50. > :10:55.election was triggered by the death He held the seat with
:10:56. > :11:00.a large majority at the last General Election and it has been
:11:01. > :11:05.solidly Labour for nearly 50 years. But this time round they're facing
:11:06. > :11:09.a strong challenge from UKIP. The polls closed at ten, joining me
:11:10. > :11:28.now from the count is our political How is it looking this evening?
:11:29. > :11:31.Labour say they are confident, which I think is translated as they were
:11:32. > :11:37.winter light. So they should of course. They are defending a
:11:38. > :11:42.majority of 15,000 although Ukip has put in a very strong effort. The
:11:43. > :11:50.question will be, do Labour get over the line? And if they do, by how
:11:51. > :11:54.much? Ukip have also been talking to them. They are more gloomy about it.
:11:55. > :11:58.They say they have done well but don't think they have done well
:11:59. > :12:04.enough to actually win tonight although they have managed it, it
:12:05. > :12:13.would be a major shock. And why is the UK I'd be threats or big here
:12:14. > :12:17.now? -- Ukip. They have been trying to establish themselves as the main
:12:18. > :12:21.challenger to the Labour Party in seats like this. There is a key
:12:22. > :12:25.challenge for the Labour Party tonight and that is to prove that
:12:26. > :12:31.Jeremy Corbyn is popular in seats like this. This is primarily working
:12:32. > :12:36.class and Jeremy Corbyn is on the left of the party in this is the
:12:37. > :12:43.kind of see that he should appeal to. If that majority of 15,000 is
:12:44. > :12:47.slashed, the question will be, is he really appealing to places like this
:12:48. > :12:52.in the way that he should be? On the other hand, Ukip has focused its
:12:53. > :12:58.campaign very much on targeting Jeremy Corbyn. That is what they
:12:59. > :13:02.have been about, saying he is soft on security, all the rest of it, and
:13:03. > :13:06.they believe they have made huge progress here, particularly within
:13:07. > :13:11.the white working class although there is a large Asian population
:13:12. > :13:18.here. Ukip traditionally don't make inroads with the Asian community. It
:13:19. > :13:22.is only one by-election, it's not an indicator of how things will go at
:13:23. > :13:28.the general election, but are their implications for Jeremy Corbyn and
:13:29. > :13:35.the Labour Party if Ukip is strong here? It depends on the scale of
:13:36. > :13:40.it. The neighbouring constituency here is Hayward and Middleton and
:13:41. > :13:46.last year, Ukip did very well and almost won. They were within 600
:13:47. > :13:49.votes of winning, just a few months before the general election, which
:13:50. > :13:57.would have been a major election upset for the Labour Party. So they
:13:58. > :14:00.already have a track record of doing well in constituencies like this.
:14:01. > :14:04.What they have never quite been able to do is push over the line and
:14:05. > :14:09.prove that they can actually go one step forward and actually win in
:14:10. > :14:15.places like this but if they do manage to do well here tonight and
:14:16. > :14:18.really squeeze Labour's majority down, I think there will be
:14:19. > :14:24.questions for the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn as to why has it not
:14:25. > :14:27.appealed to this heartland constituency which is supposed to be
:14:28. > :14:35.what in theory he is supposed to be what in theory he's best at doing.
:14:36. > :14:37.Interesting needling ahead for you. -- evening.
:14:38. > :14:39.The Forth Road Bridge will be completely closed to traffic
:14:40. > :14:41.from midnight tonight for at least 24 hours to allow repairs
:14:42. > :14:45.The southbound carriageway has been closed and a contraflow has been in
:14:46. > :14:47.place since defects were discovered in steelworks on Tuesday.
:14:48. > :15:00.The bridge will be closed at midnight for at least 24 hours.
:15:01. > :15:02.Structural engineers have been working since Tuesday, investigating
:15:03. > :15:06.problems on the southbound carriageway and have discovered
:15:07. > :15:11.attentional problems with eight other parts. A spokesman said the
:15:12. > :15:14.bridge will remain closed all day tomorrow and beyond until repairs
:15:15. > :15:19.are carried out and they are confident it is safe. It is one of
:15:20. > :15:23.the main arterial routes in Scotland, and carries more than
:15:24. > :15:26.66,000 vehicles every day. The partial closure so far this week
:15:27. > :15:31.have resulted in many miles of tailbacks at both ends and very long
:15:32. > :15:33.delays. News the bridge will be totally closed will lead to major
:15:34. > :15:37.detours and congestion on the roads. Joining me now in the studio is
:15:38. > :15:49.Transport Minister Derek Mackay. What have you found on the bridge
:15:50. > :15:54.which has caused this action? Expert analysis has recommend close your
:15:55. > :15:58.until the fault that has been identified is fixed. If we allow
:15:59. > :16:03.more traffic to go over the bridge it will cause more damage and more
:16:04. > :16:07.long-term effects. It is the right decision to close it as of midnight.
:16:08. > :16:11.It was not taken lightly, the decision. We need to make the medium
:16:12. > :16:15.repairs and get the bridge in full working order and not cause more
:16:16. > :16:21.damage to the structure. How long will it be closed for? I do not know
:16:22. > :16:24.the answer to that yet. We will have a press conference tomorrow and go
:16:25. > :16:28.over all the details. We are analysing the modelling and data we
:16:29. > :16:32.have and experts are looking at it to see what needs to be done. It
:16:33. > :16:35.will certainly be closed from the night and I would advise the
:16:36. > :16:40.public, who would normally use the bridge to avoid it if they can and
:16:41. > :16:42.stay at home tomorrow. We know there has been congestion issues around
:16:43. > :16:47.the bridge because of the partial closure. It will cause a lot of
:16:48. > :16:52.misery. A big implication for business as well. I think it proves
:16:53. > :16:55.it is the right decision to build a replacement. The immediate impact, I
:16:56. > :17:01.recognise it will cause a disruption. But if we allow traffic
:17:02. > :17:05.to continue going over the bridge it will cause more damage and that is
:17:06. > :17:08.not acceptable. We have had independent opinion verify that and
:17:09. > :17:13.ministers I think taken the right decision. I have not long come from
:17:14. > :17:17.a telephone conference with ministers to make sure we are doing
:17:18. > :17:20.the right thing. People will be going to bed and discovering this
:17:21. > :17:23.and wondering how they can get to work tomorrow. When can they find
:17:24. > :17:28.out more information, especially for next week? We are working on all
:17:29. > :17:32.contingencies plans at the moment and we will have a press conference
:17:33. > :17:35.tomorrow about the impact and what we can put in place to try and
:17:36. > :17:41.mitigate the impact of the bridge closure. We are keeping it, keeping
:17:42. > :17:46.it open carries an unacceptable risk and I know that it causes congestion
:17:47. > :17:50.but we must put safety and protecting the structure first so we
:17:51. > :17:55.can open it again has quickly as possible will stop I can give more
:17:56. > :18:00.information around transport and diversion alternatives tomorrow. My
:18:01. > :18:02.advice is closing this bridge the night should mean if at all
:18:03. > :18:07.possible, people that would normally use the crossing should avoid the
:18:08. > :18:13.bridge area tomorrow. Thanks very much for coming in. More information
:18:14. > :18:16.on that through the morning on good morning Scotland.
:18:17. > :18:20.The crisis in the oil and gas industry shows no sign of easing up,
:18:21. > :18:22.so is it time the north east economy stopped relying so heavily
:18:23. > :18:28.That's one of the aims of a new body that's being set up called
:18:29. > :18:35.It will replace the existing economic development agency.
:18:36. > :18:37.Half its funding will come from businessman Sir Ian Wood,
:18:38. > :18:40.who is putting up ?25 million of his own money.
:18:41. > :18:43.A short while ago, I spoke to Sir Ian from our studio in Aberdeen.
:18:44. > :18:45.I asked him if he was optimistic that things
:18:46. > :19:02.No, you could put it the other way around! I think this has been an
:19:03. > :19:06.area totally dominated by the oil and gas industry. It is a very
:19:07. > :19:10.strong industry. Some traditional industries have had a hard time as a
:19:11. > :19:16.result and they need special time and attention to help them through
:19:17. > :19:20.what has been a difficult period. What I believe, the north-east of
:19:21. > :19:25.Scotland is a particular challenge, I think it is made a big
:19:26. > :19:29.contribution to the economy of the UK and Scotland by developing oil
:19:30. > :19:33.and gas. It has done very well for itself in the process. We know we
:19:34. > :19:37.have a big problem out there. It is not sticking your head in the sand.
:19:38. > :19:42.I will not be over domestic or pessimistic. We are saying we need
:19:43. > :19:47.to be proactive to look at the adjustment we need to achieve in the
:19:48. > :19:51.medium, and long-term. The other thing that is happening in the
:19:52. > :19:55.north-east of Scotland which is very important is application for the
:19:56. > :19:59.city region deal. I am sure you are familiar with some of that.
:20:00. > :20:05.Aberdeenshire are making a very strong application. Frankly that is
:20:06. > :20:09.going to be very important. I would put our initiative as important but
:20:10. > :20:14.much more important will be getting some serious, access to serious
:20:15. > :20:20.funding to do a range of things Aberdeen will need to get itself in
:20:21. > :20:23.better shape for the future. Opportunity north-east will be
:20:24. > :20:26.positioned alongside that and will actually be the private sector
:20:27. > :20:31.partner. We will work along with that. And hopefully we will be able
:20:32. > :20:37.to get the private sector involved and get the implementation programme
:20:38. > :20:41.under way. What can this new body do differently compared to the way
:20:42. > :20:47.planning has happened in the area in the past? What will you do? It is
:20:48. > :20:52.not so much planning. The economic development, we have had very
:20:53. > :20:56.limited funding. The body that we are taking over part of their
:20:57. > :21:01.activities from, they will disappear, they had a budget of
:21:02. > :21:06.?350,000 per year. It was largely optics sector orientated. The two
:21:07. > :21:12.councils tried to do things but they do not have the funding. -- public
:21:13. > :21:19.sector. The money and the resources are pretty wildly spread. We can do
:21:20. > :21:24.a range of things. With oil and gas, I did a review couple of years ago
:21:25. > :21:28.maximising opportunity for the UK. We will carry on with that but then
:21:29. > :21:32.see how we can maximise it for the north-east of Scotland, so that is
:21:33. > :21:37.spending some serious money on a new technology centre, serious funding
:21:38. > :21:44.on doing various things to anchor the oil and gas supply chain, get it
:21:45. > :21:48.to stay, support it staying in the North East of Scotland after the
:21:49. > :21:54.North Sea, and we can do things constructively to achieve that. Life
:21:55. > :21:58.sciences, frankly it is a massive potential for that in our area. We
:21:59. > :22:03.will double the size of the present technology hub that they have. We
:22:04. > :22:08.will do a lot of work in food and strength based on technology and
:22:09. > :22:13.marketing and the tourist business is purely business tourism. There is
:22:14. > :22:16.a lot we can do to develop leisure tourism in a range of ways and we
:22:17. > :22:21.will give the tourist industry the money to do that. With oil and gas
:22:22. > :22:27.nobody foresaw that plunge in oil prices and the fact that it was
:22:28. > :22:30.going to go on so long. Are you optimistic things will pick up? If
:22:31. > :22:37.it does not, is there a future in the longer term for oil and gas
:22:38. > :22:41.here? I am certain that the answer to your second question is
:22:42. > :22:48.absolutely yes. It is a question of timing. Am I optimistic? Right now I
:22:49. > :22:54.am realistic. I think there is a reasonable chance the price will
:22:55. > :23:00.recover in probably 2017, that is the likely date. In some ways we are
:23:01. > :23:04.in much better shape. The Chancellor budget in March was actually a good
:23:05. > :23:11.budget for the oil and gas industry. There is light at the end of the
:23:12. > :23:15.tunnel if the price recovers. We have a new regulator and a really
:23:16. > :23:20.good and strong new regulator that is proactive. Is the government task
:23:21. > :23:23.force the Scottish governance task force doing enough at the moment to
:23:24. > :23:29.help those who are losing their jobs? Well, I actually think, what
:23:30. > :23:35.can the Gutmann to do in a situation with major industrial problems? --
:23:36. > :23:42.government. They put together a very good task force, very well chaired
:23:43. > :23:47.by Lena Wilson and I think they have probably done as much as I can. But
:23:48. > :23:51.in truth, you are quite limited in what you can do in an area, we are
:23:52. > :23:58.going to have more joblessness next year, if the budgets are cut, we
:23:59. > :24:03.have had severe cuts looking for to do next year, if the budgets are cut
:24:04. > :24:07.there is not much you can do. What government can do, Treasury, the
:24:08. > :24:12.regulator and industry, they can get together, it has been looked at, how
:24:13. > :24:16.can we support three developers to go ahead instead of a complete lack
:24:17. > :24:20.of it? The ongoing maintenance carries on. That is quite large. It
:24:21. > :24:26.is the fall of new development which will impact on jobs. There is some
:24:27. > :24:29.thinking about what we can do to significantly support, not just
:24:30. > :24:33.through tax but a range of other things we can do to support new
:24:34. > :24:38.developments to go ahead. We will do what we can but it is not easy. We
:24:39. > :24:45.must leave it there. Thanks Ray much for coming in. Thank you.
:24:46. > :24:53.I am joined by Paul Hutcheon and Anna Burnside. Welcome, though. We
:24:54. > :24:56.will go back to the old by-election, where they are counting at the
:24:57. > :25:02.moment. One of the safest Labour seats. What would be a bad result
:25:03. > :25:06.for Labour here? That would be losing. A win is a win, if they win
:25:07. > :25:11.by one vote it would be seen as a success. It does not matter if it is
:25:12. > :25:16.a very narrow majority? One of their safest seats? By-elections are
:25:17. > :25:22.always very difficult, always trying circumstances. I was focusing on
:25:23. > :25:25.Scottish Labour to 90 would be distraught if the party did not lose
:25:26. > :25:32.this because they think the greater good would be the departure of
:25:33. > :25:38.Jeremy Corbyn. -- Scottish Labour tonight would be distraught. It
:25:39. > :25:45.would damage the chances of winning a general election. How senior were
:25:46. > :25:48.the people you were talking to? Pretty senior activists. They love
:25:49. > :25:53.the Labour Party but feel Jeremy Corbyn is basically tearing the
:25:54. > :25:58.party apart. They cannot see a circumstance when hate Corbin led
:25:59. > :26:05.party would result in an election success. -- Jeremy Corbyn led party.
:26:06. > :26:10.It is an absolute Vlasic Labour heartland. To get rid of Jeremy
:26:11. > :26:17.Corbyn, that is, who would have thought it? -- classic Labour. One
:26:18. > :26:23.person says the Hilary Benn a speech last night might have saved... Do
:26:24. > :26:29.you think that is possible? It is possible, but then again, were I a
:26:30. > :26:33.potential Labour voter in Alderney engaged in such things I would have
:26:34. > :26:39.watched Jeremy Corbyn starting on the anti-war position and Hilary
:26:40. > :26:43.Benn winding up, or for bombs. I am not sure that would have persuaded
:26:44. > :26:49.me to put my cross in the ballot box. This is what the saddo
:26:50. > :26:54.Chancellor had to say about that speech this
:26:55. > :27:00.Shad -- this is what the Shadow Chancellor had to say. I thought he
:27:01. > :27:05.was very careful in how he put it. I thought Hillary was great. It
:27:06. > :27:09.reminds me of the Tony Blair speech, taking us into the Iraq war. I am
:27:10. > :27:13.always worried that the racist oratory is going to lead us into the
:27:14. > :27:21.greatest mistakes as well. -- greatest oratory. It shows that
:27:22. > :27:26.Labour are totally divided. The parallel story is almost getting as
:27:27. > :27:30.much attention has the Labour division. It is almost like they
:27:31. > :27:34.have left the pitch to go off to the dressing room and have a big row. It
:27:35. > :27:39.is very depressing as a Labour supporter. We have the whole Ken
:27:40. > :27:43.Livingstone row today. He said earlier, if I had an MP that voted
:27:44. > :27:48.to bomb Syria I would be prepared to support somebody challenging them as
:27:49. > :27:53.long as they were good on a load of other issues. He later clarified and
:27:54. > :27:58.said he was not calling for the selection, but what did you make of
:27:59. > :28:03.what he was saying? There is no more depressing sight than a middle-aged
:28:04. > :28:07.man playing student. Really. It is not the time and place to have this
:28:08. > :28:11.carry on. The Labour Party is doing a good enough job tearing itself
:28:12. > :28:13.apart without people like Ken Livingstone who should be senior
:28:14. > :28:18.figures who have been around the block a few times saying such
:28:19. > :28:24.ill-advised things like that. And the looks on some other places last
:28:25. > :28:28.night when Hilary Benn was speaking, spoke 1000 words, I thought. A big
:28:29. > :28:33.proportion of the Labour Parliamentary group, there is no
:28:34. > :28:36.doubt about it, we knew that from Afghanistan and Iraq, it should not
:28:37. > :28:41.have been a big surprise we were going to get a speech like that from
:28:42. > :28:46.Hilary Benn. Although he has taken different positions in the past. On
:28:47. > :28:50.Ken Livingstone, I do not know what the future is for Labour but I know
:28:51. > :28:54.it is not him. He had a great record at the GLC and was a Progressive
:28:55. > :28:59.London May but he is progressively becoming a poisonous and divisive
:29:00. > :29:05.figure. I think he's in danger of tarnishing his own legacy. We have
:29:06. > :29:10.had a lot of online abuse today of Labour MPs that did actually vote in
:29:11. > :29:12.favour of air strikes. Did you think if you were in politics that is
:29:13. > :29:19.something you should have to be used to? There is an argument that full
:29:20. > :29:25.and frank debate and all that but I think it has been pretty nasty and
:29:26. > :29:30.uncle for. We saw in the Referendum campaign how heated the small social
:29:31. > :29:34.media bubble can get and how unpleasant and vitriolic and
:29:35. > :29:40.targeted and uncomfortable. There is no need for it. It is not what it is
:29:41. > :29:45.about. I am afraid that is all we have got time for. Thanks, both of
:29:46. > :29:51.you, for joining me. That is it for this week. Thanks for watching. I am
:29:52. > :29:54.back on Monday at the usual time. Until then, have a good weekend. We
:29:55. > :29:58.will see you then. Goodbye.