29/01/2014 The Papers

Louise Hazel, who is returning with the aim of defending her

Commonwealth title when the Games begin later this year. That's in

Sportsday in 15 minutes. Hello there and welcome to our look

ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. With me are

broadcaster Richard Madeley and Amol Rajan, the editor of the

Independent. We start with the Independent. Its front page has a

picture reportedly taken in a Palestinian refugee -- in a refugee

camp in Syria of a man holding a child whom it is said died of

hunger. The Governor of the Bank of England

has given nationalists a choice - sovereignty or the pound.

The Metro says self service checkouts are turning Britain into a

nation of shoplifters. On to the Mail. It is leading on the

Lords vote to ban smoking in cars carrying children.

The Times says a think-tank has exposed Labour plans for a public

spending spree. We are starting with the Daily

Telegraph. Richard, troops sent in to flood-hit areas. We saw the

reception that Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, got when he

visited the Somerset Levels. He was well and truly harangued, that's a

polite way of saying it. He didn't even get his hush puppies wet did

he. When you are really screwed up, you send the troops in. Quite what

they are supposed to do with a this will gallons of water on the

Somerset Levels I'm not sure. The Daily Telegraph says they think they

might deploy specialist vehicles, which they say will help some of the

villages, which are cut off, and help people to get food and fuel.

And our old favourite, they will also help with sandbags, which I

think are the most useless flood defence devised by man. This is a

carapace to give the Government time to wade into catch up really. It is

a disaster for them. Every newspaper, whatever it is ilk, is

reporting it from the the same angle, the Government screwed up.

Sending the troops in, it makes a nice picture. There'll be stories

tomorrow as the brave lads wade in and carry old ladies from their

cottages. Are you that cynical? This is about the need to give an

appearance of authority and control. One of the amazing lessons of the

last 10-15 years, when we had crises with foot-and-mouth, bird flu, in

the age of social media, if there is a crisis and it affects your

environment, you've got to be seen to grab hold of it immediately, show

control and be in charge. Something this Government struggled to do

earlier in the week over the last weekend and on Monday was to look as

if it was in control. It took too long to get down there, too long to

assess the situation, too long to react. This is not from my limited

understanding of Somerset and what the Army gets up to, I don't think

it will make a substantial difference. They are already pumping

1 million gallons of water -- tonnes of water a day. The This is about

media market of a crisis that's spun out of control. Partly an admission

that to some extent there is not a lot you can do. We should have done

dredging beforehand. There is a huge amount that could have been done,

dredging. My grandfather was a farmer in Shropshire. A river went

through his land and every two years he had to dredge. They lost a bit of

wildlife and fish in the river, but it had to be done. I have to say

over the last three or four days, looking at this pusillanimous

reasons for not dredging the rivers are, frankly I would be surprised if

there wasn't a public inquiry into this. It is a massive scandal. There

is a strong sense that the Government doesn't care about them,

that rural community is diminishing as a proportion of the population,

and elections are decided in the big cities. Part of this is the rural

community of south-west England saying guys, we matter too. They

don't occupy the headlines. They don't generate as much media

attention. When in story or scandal hits, it is only after it becomes a

big problem that those people are taken seriously. It is part of their

frustration as well. I had lunch in Somerset today and was approached by

a Somerset farmer, and he was speaking for him, the Environment

Agency cares more about voles than humans. That's what they are

thinking down there. Very interesting spxt let's stay with the

Daily Telegraph. Amo, will, Carney stem cells Scots choose independence

or the pound. We've got to make it clear the Scottish National Party

said they had a fiscal commission that looked into this and they would

be willing to have some fiscal pact that does cede a certain amount of

sovereignty to Westminster. So they've seen this coming. That's

their argument. They would say it is consistent with what they said was

going to happen before. The Governor of the Bank of England, a dashing

Canadian, has come in and created a huge impression. He's gone off for a

meeting with the First Minister of Scotland to talk about some of the

implications. He has used astonishingly provocative language.

He talks about ceding national sovereignty. When you are talking

about issues to do with nation states and it's, these are emotive

words. It is not that Mark Carney has or hasn't said the obvious but

he is an extremely political Governor. If you look at the

previous two, Eddie George's nickname was Steady Eddie. Mervyn

King was a Cambridge academic, dead straight. This guy has given a huge

fillip to those that would argue that Britain is better together, to

use the unionist campaign. People can say hang on, if Scotland goes

independent and you are controlled by the Treasury in London, what's

the point? The substantive fact of what he said, the core, is factually

correct. Yes, and it is consistent with what Alex Salmond has said in

the past. It is more of a give to the unionists. This is the Daily

Telegraph's second lead. They say unionists say Mr Carney's

devastating intervention - everybody is taking what they want out of

this, has left Alex Salmond to share the reins. It is in tatters. The

best thing he could have done was avoid making the trip up there. That

train ride was probably funded by the taxpayer. It is an impossible

thing to do. If you are going up there and state the obvious, you are

going to be used by people who use your words for their own arguments.

That really was Tyne might, to compare what happened if we have

separation, to say eurozone? It is a hand grenade. He didn't do it like

that did he? The front page of the Scotsman, a the SNP accepted. They

can't not say that now, can they? They didn't say look at the EU...

I'm summarising him. Most people who saw him speaking live on your

channel, it took half an hour for analysts to get round this dry

techno speak to work out what he meant. He is more political than he

appears to let on. Personally, reading the papers now, I think it

was a much more a series of statement than you might think. Of

course I'm being a bit jocular when I say look at the eurozone, but

that's what he was doing. As you say, people can read into what he

said and decide their own views on some of the words and the language

that he used. We are going to your paper now,

Amol. After 1885 days, people are eat using cats and weeds. Bread is a

dream for children. The inside story of a Syrian siege. There's a lot of

things that go through one's mind and you think to a certain extent

Syria's been on the front page a huge amount, is there appetite for

any more of this stuff. Patrick has got into a refugee camp in the south

of Damascus, which has 20,000 people, which not many people know

about. At the moment in Syria there's a sense that people get war

fatigue, and we are talking about people in an incredibly vulnerable

situation. It is a wonderful piece. The other reason it matters is

because Syria I think are increasingly understanding that the

core - this might seem as a controversial these tis - a battle

in Islam between Sunni and Shia forces. It juxtaposes Saudi Arabia

on the one hand and Iran on the other. Syria is the crux or the

proxy for a major battle in Islam, which has huge implications for the

wider world, not just Syria. For the past several weeks there's been a

debate in this country which put the Government against the opposition

about whether or not Britain would sign up to a special UN humanitarian

programme. The UN wants to get 30,000 particularly vulnerable rfies

into various countries. Britain initially resisted and we felt

strongly as a paper this was wrong. We are talking about extremely

vulnerable people. Yes Britain has done amazing stuff for Syria's

refugees. ?600 million in aid. But there is a major domestic

development this week. Britain has said they will in effect sign up to

the UN programme and accept more refugees. A moral victory for us and

for refugees saved is. Is that the kind of move that the majority of

people will accept? I am sure they will largely because it is not a

very big concession. Talk about the tip of the iceberg. It is this or

nothing. They were facing defeat in the Commons, so they caved in.

Personally I think they have done the right thing and I think your

newspaper has been campaigning along the right lines. That should be more

humanitarian aid. But it is insignificant other than its

political dimension. Passports for profit. Private companies could make

50 million by selling EU citizenships to people with lots of

cash. I love dodgy passport stories! It is the 90s Maltese Vulcan. That

should have been the headline! You have two islands getting it

together, and a private company registered in Jersey is

specialising, and I love these modern centres, in citizenship

solutions. Everything is a solution. Eyewear solutions. In effect, if you

go to them and give them just over 1 million euros they will go to Malta,

and you will get the European Union passport and you can live wherever

you like in the EU. France, Germany, Italy, passport to Pimlico if you

have got a million quid. Basically, citizenship for sale if you are rich

enough. Indeed, if you are Syrian refugee it might be difficult to

find a million quid but there you go. You will be joining us in an

hour for another look at more stories behind the headlines. Stay

with us on BBC News because at 11 o'clock, the army is on stand-by.

Property owners in western Britain have been warned for further

flooding and to prepare for the bad weather. First it is time for

Sportsday. Hello and welcome to Sportsday. I'm

John Watson. On the way this evening: Manchester City are top of

the Premier League tonight as they put five past Tottenham at White

Hart Lane. England Captain Charlotte Edwards

calls her side's Ashes win over Australia the best of her