:00:00. > :00:00.The Sochi Winter Olympics have ended with a glittering closing ceremony.
:00:00. > :00:18.Russia ended against top of the medal table, 13 golds, two more than
:00:19. > :00:24.Norway. Hello and welcome to our look ahead
:00:25. > :00:28.at the papers. Joining me tonight is the senior political correspondent
:00:29. > :00:33.from the Daily Telegraph who has just dashed in from the newsroom and
:00:34. > :00:39.also the writer and political commentator, Joe Phillips. Let us
:00:40. > :00:45.have a quick sneak preview. On the front of the Telegraph it is
:00:46. > :00:54.reported that written is fronting an international package of aid for CF
:00:55. > :00:59.amid fears Russia will send troops. The Guardian is also looking at
:01:00. > :01:04.Ukraine and the offers of support Ukraine is receiving from Western
:01:05. > :01:10.governments. The Independent has a picture of the closing ceremony at
:01:11. > :01:14.Sochi this evening. Organisers featured a reprise of the Olympic
:01:15. > :01:19.rings blunder which happened at the Opening Ceremony. The express talks
:01:20. > :01:25.about a report which suggests millions more women will have to
:01:26. > :01:29.return to work because their pensions are inadequate.
:01:30. > :01:35.Ukraine still dominates and hardly surprising. Looking at issue is
:01:36. > :01:40.wider than Ukraine, let's start with the Daily Telegraph. A picture of
:01:41. > :01:53.the protester, armed with a baseball club. Very photogenic. The headline
:01:54. > :01:56.is, Britain offers cash to Kiev. This presumably is through the
:01:57. > :02:03.European Union or International Monetary Fund? That is correct, it
:02:04. > :02:10.is not clear how that will happen. They are doing their best to keep
:02:11. > :02:16.up. The EU are trying to draw the Ukraine towards the west of course.
:02:17. > :02:24.Ukraine itself and President Putin with some guns on the front page, he
:02:25. > :02:29.is trying to draw the country East. It really is on this edge, which we
:02:30. > :02:36.will Ukraine go and all eyes are on Putin. Why is Ukraine so important
:02:37. > :02:45.to the European Union and America as well? Absolutely, who blinks first.
:02:46. > :02:50.President Obama has actually been quite quiet and we're just waiting
:02:51. > :02:58.to see what President Putin does, if he does anything at all. He's as
:02:59. > :03:06.likely to go bear hunting. Of course it is a hugely important area. It is
:03:07. > :03:12.an east-west split and it is left over from the old Soviet bloc, part
:03:13. > :03:17.of the country wants to join the European union although I am not
:03:18. > :03:22.sure whether they actually want to be part of the European Union or the
:03:23. > :03:29.Sea future with Europe or the see Europe, like Balkan states, as a
:03:30. > :03:36.cash injection. You still have the pull of the Kremlin. So it is
:03:37. > :03:41.another fault line really. It is not just about President Putin, there
:03:42. > :03:46.are Russian speakers in the east of Ukraine who are loyal to Russia,
:03:47. > :03:52.strategically Ukraine is important to Russia, especially for its navy
:03:53. > :03:58.so on. President Putin is now flexing his muscles, there is talk
:03:59. > :04:04.of moving the Russian military. He looks on it as the breadbasket, it
:04:05. > :04:11.has the huge coast. Do you think that will happen? I think now the
:04:12. > :04:16.Olympics are over, he is biding his time while there I was on Sochi. It
:04:17. > :04:24.is ironic that the Olympics were being hosted by Russia a peaceful
:04:25. > :04:28.international event, and now there is talk of military intervention in
:04:29. > :04:35.Ukraine. It is a contradiction in terms. What is so dangerous, like
:04:36. > :04:44.the Balkans all that again, if you start dividing it up... There was a
:04:45. > :04:47.vote, they voted President Yanukovych out of power. There is a
:04:48. > :04:55.democratic wrap around the whole thing, that is very important. The
:04:56. > :05:02.UN did not allow the power vacuum to go out of control. It happened in
:05:03. > :05:06.the right order so President Putin cannot do much. The ousted president
:05:07. > :05:12.was saying it is mob rule, but it is not back because he was voted out by
:05:13. > :05:16.Parliament. The final act today was to retake the presidential home and
:05:17. > :05:21.give it back to his date. An awful lot of luxury items found there as
:05:22. > :05:31.there always are. On the front page of the Daily Telegraph, a story
:05:32. > :05:35.written by you? National insurance to be Renee and earnings tax. The
:05:36. > :05:46.government is coming clean about national insurance. -- to be
:05:47. > :05:54.renamed. It will go up every week. If you're self-employed it is 2%. It
:05:55. > :06:00.is more of a historic thing, the government is saying it is not
:06:01. > :06:06.really insured and is, it is a tax. We all pay it. It is imposed every
:06:07. > :06:13.year, there is no vote on it. I think it is the government saying,
:06:14. > :06:18.look it is a tax. It is being pushed by an ambitious Tory MPs, he has
:06:19. > :06:24.been pushing hard for transparency. George Osborne flag this in March in
:06:25. > :06:29.the budget. Now letting it be known that he is in favour, what do you
:06:30. > :06:35.think? I'm all suspicious of these things. On the face of it, it sounds
:06:36. > :06:40.sensible because we all know it is a tax but where will this leave the
:06:41. > :06:45.Chancellor? The employers contribution, the employee's
:06:46. > :06:51.contribution, I am sure there is more hiding in the small print but
:06:52. > :06:56.you have obviously looked at it. The Tories have been calling it a job
:06:57. > :07:05.tax while they were in opposition. In the long-term, if you pay 40%
:07:06. > :07:13.tax, you are paying 52% really. Anything which streamlines things
:07:14. > :07:19.has to be better. Let us hope... Let us move on to the Guardian and more
:07:20. > :07:26.on the Ukraine on the front page of the Guardian, the headline says
:07:27. > :07:33.spotlight shifts to the Kremlin. All eyes are on President Putin and his
:07:34. > :07:42.response. A lot of talk between love Ralph and John Kerry this evening.
:07:43. > :07:52.-- between Sergei Lavrov. The comments from William Hague are
:07:53. > :07:58.dramatic. There could be pressure to economics, they can do something
:07:59. > :08:01.with oil and gas, turn it on or off. There all sorts of ways the
:08:02. > :08:07.pressure can be quietly exerted on the country and that is a clear
:08:08. > :08:15.warning from a member of the security council. They are going off
:08:16. > :08:20.with their European policy tomorrow to try and talk to people. It gives
:08:21. > :08:25.President Putin great bargaining power because he knows the world is
:08:26. > :08:29.watching and Russia is a key player in so many things, not least Syria
:08:30. > :08:35.and other parts of the world so he can play games as well. It is none
:08:36. > :08:42.of his business of course. Of course, absolutely. So the same
:08:43. > :08:49.Azaz! Shall we have a look at politics close to home. -- same as
:08:50. > :08:56.ours. A fascinating day tomorrow in Scotland. Two Cabinet meetings
:08:57. > :09:00.taking place, the headline, Glasgow's East End, front line in
:09:01. > :09:06.the battle for Scotland. The reporter is saying that Glasgow's
:09:07. > :09:10.East End is the front line in whether Scotland should go
:09:11. > :09:21.independent. The Glasgow East End has traditionally got some of the
:09:22. > :09:26.worst poverty and lowest levels of health expectancy and employment
:09:27. > :09:35.prospects and crime and drug use so this is a battle ground for what is
:09:36. > :09:39.going on. It is a very good piece. The battle at the moment is being
:09:40. > :09:48.seen between Alex Salmond and David Cameron, but actually this takes it
:09:49. > :09:53.down to the real street level. You have to look at Alex Salmond and the
:09:54. > :09:56.SNP, they got elected beyond what they were saying about an
:09:57. > :10:01.independent Scotland on their domestic policies as well, which
:10:02. > :10:06.have been popular by and large. They have managed to deliver most of what
:10:07. > :10:09.they promised. If you come back to the voting, it will be people on the
:10:10. > :10:16.street who will ask, did they deliver for me? How much should be
:10:17. > :10:22.read into the recent fall on independence, which mentions if
:10:23. > :10:26.there was a referendum tomorrow it would be overwhelmingly voted to
:10:27. > :10:35.remain part of the United Kingdom? As you say, that Paul says the no
:10:36. > :10:42.campaign has 45% and the Yes Campaign has 37 so it is clear that
:10:43. > :10:47.the undecided are deciding. There is this third who want to go four it
:10:48. > :10:55.and it looks like the others are benefiting. Some see why go so
:10:56. > :11:03.early? That is a very emotional thing to talk about. The pound may
:11:04. > :11:10.disappear. Part of the reason for the Cabinet meeting in Aberdeen is
:11:11. > :11:16.because of the oil and gas subject. That could become a central issue.
:11:17. > :11:21.Time to turn our attention back to Russia, the front page of the
:11:22. > :11:29.Independent. I thought this had happened again! The mistake again,
:11:30. > :11:32.only four of the five rings of the Olympic symbol lit up. This was
:11:33. > :11:37.during the closing ceremony today, of course it was a mistake in the
:11:38. > :11:42.Opening Ceremony but it turns out this was just a bit of a laugh.
:11:43. > :11:47.Russian humour, isn't that great to see? It is the sort of thing we
:11:48. > :11:55.would do. For the Russians to do it, it is terrific. It is what my piano
:11:56. > :11:59.teacher tells me, if you make a mistake, play it again and it will
:12:00. > :12:05.sound right. A fantastic closing ceremony as well. Thank you very
:12:06. > :12:12.much. We have run out of time. You will be back at 1130. Thank you for
:12:13. > :12:15.joining us. Stay with us and we will have the latest at 11 o'clock on the
:12:16. > :12:36.latest developments in Ukraine. Court They sat me in the chair for
:12:37. > :12:38.ages. They said it was all right, but... Can I at least have a mirror?