08/04/2014

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:00:00. > :00:00.the time. And more on Sir Chris Hoy's bid to forge a career in motor

:00:00. > :00:23.sport. Hello. Welcome to our look ahead to

:00:24. > :00:27.all the papser. Isabel Hardman and Owen Jones of the Guardiola. We'll

:00:28. > :00:32.look at some of the front pages now. We'll start with The Telegraph. It

:00:33. > :00:36.is leading with comments from the Culture Secretary, "I have let you

:00:37. > :00:39.down." But the front page is dominated by Martin McGuinness, the

:00:40. > :00:43.Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, wearing a white tie, as he

:00:44. > :00:47.toasted the health of the Queen, as this evening's State banquet at

:00:48. > :00:52.Windsor Castle. Martin McGuinness dressed in his evening finer

:00:53. > :00:58.features on the front page of the Mail, but alongside is the dignified

:00:59. > :01:02.protest of the father of an Omagh bomb victim holding a placard. The

:01:03. > :01:08.Guardian leads with the Culture Secretary as well and the desperate

:01:09. > :01:15.plea from her Parliamentary aide for people to back her. The Metro talks

:01:16. > :01:19.about the death of Peaches Geldof. They say her father was a sombre

:01:20. > :01:22.figure as he flew in from the United States. She is also on the front

:01:23. > :01:28.page of the Star. The paper claims that drugs and suicide have not been

:01:29. > :01:34.ruled out as a cause of her death. We are going to start, Owen, with

:01:35. > :01:38.the Irish Times. Ireland and Britain walking to a brighter future, the

:01:39. > :01:44.Queen tells the President. The word historic has been used about 17,557

:01:45. > :01:52.times today and that's on the BBC alone. The fact is, it is historic

:01:53. > :01:56.and amazing? Of course, there's history involved. Ireland and

:01:57. > :02:00.Britain have a very full history and for our generation that's often

:02:01. > :02:05.quite difficult to imagine. The first colony? Absolutely. It was a

:02:06. > :02:09.colony which suffered brutally at the hands of British rule and that

:02:10. > :02:16.seems abtract often to some people on this side of the Irish Sea. We

:02:17. > :02:22.have a legacy which is quite bitter for many people in Ireland of famine

:02:23. > :02:27.and of colonial rule and repression. There's also a legacy here in

:02:28. > :02:34.Britain of a huge Irish community aRG usually the `` arguably the

:02:35. > :02:41.biggest in Britain, and for a long time in post war Britain faced

:02:42. > :02:45.discrim neighs. Infamous, "Dogs, no blacks, no Irish." They were seen in

:02:46. > :02:55.shop windows in postwar Britain and here there is also that sense of

:02:56. > :02:59.some of bitterness with the IRA campaigns. I think this is a

:03:00. > :03:04.milestone in the sense of the Troubles that are long behind people

:03:05. > :03:09.and the days of terrorism and colonialism and a new era of

:03:10. > :03:14.normality. Sure. Isabel, so it all seems fine as far as the two nations

:03:15. > :03:18.are concerned and the two leaders are concerned? And the governments,

:03:19. > :03:23.but if you go up to Northern Ireland, there's a coalition there,

:03:24. > :03:30.but it's so uneasy and in fact, it's fracturing. It is, but I think my

:03:31. > :03:33.generation are more aware of the desire to move on from the past and

:03:34. > :03:38.that is something that is emphasised in the Irish Times. One of the

:03:39. > :03:42.bullet points says, "We shall no longer allow the past to ensnare our

:03:43. > :03:45.future." When there are problems in Northern Ireland there is a sense

:03:46. > :03:49.among the younger generations that they don't want these Troubles any

:03:50. > :03:53.more and actually not every blade of grass in Northern Ireland is marked

:03:54. > :03:56.by your religious background and your position on the union. I think

:03:57. > :04:01.there is this desire to move on, which is what this visit is about.

:04:02. > :04:05.It's about two duns talk `` countries talking about their

:04:06. > :04:09.friendship. I know we are not looking at the Daily Mail, but you

:04:10. > :04:12.referred to it there. We have to remember there are people alive who

:04:13. > :04:16.have real raw suffering. People who love their lives and in the

:04:17. > :04:19.campaigns and had family members or loved ones who died at the hands of

:04:20. > :04:25.loyalist paramilitaries and also died at the hands of the British

:04:26. > :04:27.army, for example, Bloody Sunday. A peace process like this is

:04:28. > :04:30.difficult, particularly for relatives. When I have been to

:04:31. > :04:35.Northern Ireland and speaking to taxi drivers who lost loved ones in

:04:36. > :04:39.situations we can barely imagine here in Britain, but this is what

:04:40. > :04:44.peace process is always like. There's a sense of you have to make

:04:45. > :04:48.the sacrifice and the death toll is over 35,000 people, but that is the

:04:49. > :04:53.end and we can move on as communities. There's a huge amount

:04:54. > :04:55.of optimism. When I was a housing journalist I covered Northern

:04:56. > :04:58.Ireland and I used to talk to social landlords in Northern Ireland and

:04:59. > :05:02.one of the things they do is actually to organise shared space,

:05:03. > :05:06.where Protestant and Catholic communities live together and that

:05:07. > :05:11.would have been unimaginable, in the same way that these pictures of

:05:12. > :05:16.Martin McGuinness having dinner. There is The Telegraph, in white tie

:05:17. > :05:22.toasting the Queen. Did he stand for the National Anthem? It says he did.

:05:23. > :05:26.He said he `` it says he toasted the health and happiness of the Queen.

:05:27. > :05:31.The Sinn Fein MPs refused to take their seat in Parliament because

:05:32. > :05:34.they don't represent the legitimacy of the Parliament and accept the

:05:35. > :05:39.reign of the monarchy. You were talking about your time reporting in

:05:40. > :05:43.Northern Ireland. I think that the idea of different communities living

:05:44. > :05:48.together as opposed to every patch of land being either Protestant or

:05:49. > :05:53.Catholic is an unimaginable, or was, a few years ago as Martin McGuinness

:05:54. > :05:56.toasting the Queen and standing for the National Anthem. So many of your

:05:57. > :06:00.correspondents reported on Northern Ireland in the tough times still

:06:01. > :06:05.feel quite flabbergasted by what has happened today and how symbolic and

:06:06. > :06:10.historic it is. It's not just the last burst, but what they've seen

:06:11. > :06:15.happening. You couldn't imagine that happening when it was really bitter.

:06:16. > :06:21.Owen, the fact is, Martin McGuinness, his presence, while it

:06:22. > :06:26.is look ing to the future and the fact that some have suggested that

:06:27. > :06:33.he's a terrorist and he was a leader of the IRA in Belfast. He is now

:06:34. > :06:36.making that switch to peace maker, but the papers have picked up on the

:06:37. > :06:40.fact that there were demonstrations, small, it has to be said, but he's a

:06:41. > :06:47.symbol of that past. And it's difficult to get away from that. If

:06:48. > :06:50.you lose a loved ones in violent circumstances `` ones in violent

:06:51. > :06:54.circumstances, you are never, ever going to be able to move away. I

:06:55. > :06:58.would expect nobody would expect that to happen. A peace process like

:06:59. > :07:03.this and this is the thing, the idea rather than bombs going off across

:07:04. > :07:09.Britain and Northern Ireland, you have a Sinn Fein lead here appearing

:07:10. > :07:14.in a State banquet in Britain and also even more strikingly, the idea

:07:15. > :07:18.of the democratic unionist party sharing power with Sinn Fein. 20

:07:19. > :07:22.years ago it was completely unimaginable. For people on all

:07:23. > :07:25.sides have had to make huge sacrifices. There's a long way to

:07:26. > :07:29.go. Particularly the younger people, some bridges have been built, but

:07:30. > :07:35.you have peace walls across Northern Ireland and it's still very, very

:07:36. > :07:38.segregated. You have have a new era of relative economic prosperity and

:07:39. > :07:43.people investing in formed the way they didn't. I think very few people

:07:44. > :07:48.with ever want to go back to the past, certainly. But that legacy of

:07:49. > :07:55.bitterness among all sides, loyalist, Republican and we'll never

:07:56. > :08:02.get over. They'll be there for quite a while. Isabel, I know you love

:08:03. > :08:08.this story and I know you don't think it's gone on too long. Miller

:08:09. > :08:16.as mitts, "I have let you `` admits, "I have let you down she has spoken

:08:17. > :08:26.for written something `` "I have let you down." . She has spoken or

:08:27. > :08:32.written something. This is now 46 seconds if you read it out. This is

:08:33. > :08:36.a lack of wisdom at the centre of the Tory Party. If she had been

:08:37. > :08:40.contrite and apologised for what had happened, there would be some sense

:08:41. > :08:46.of an understanding that most peBs of the public ?5,800 which she had

:08:47. > :08:53.to pay back on overclaimed expenses is a lot of money. You don't think

:08:54. > :08:58.that The Telegraph and the Times and the sort of right`of`centre papers

:08:59. > :09:02.would be going with her with all the stuff with Leveson and so on? I

:09:03. > :09:06.think the link about Leveson was made by her own adviser. It wasn't

:09:07. > :09:12.made by the newspapers. It was her adviser, so I want to flag that up.

:09:13. > :09:16.They had it recorded. It gave them a reason to continue to push. No, but

:09:17. > :09:21.I don't think the row would have been as acrimonious and fierce and I

:09:22. > :09:24.don't think it would have upset as many Conservative MPs. If you look

:09:25. > :09:28.at those who have broken cover in the past few days, Esther McEvoy and

:09:29. > :09:35.Mark Field, everything they focussed on is the way she apologised or

:09:36. > :09:40.didn't. I think that's what really worries voters, maybe she didn't get

:09:41. > :09:43.why this looks so terrible. The 1922 Committee meeting tomorrow and that

:09:44. > :09:48.could be where the big decision comes. I can't remember how days

:09:49. > :09:52.Alastair Campbell said after a certain amount of days on the front

:09:53. > :09:57.page of a newspaper you're dead. I think he said it's a ten`day rule.

:09:58. > :10:01.Alistair's law, ten days. We are approaching that. David Cameron is

:10:02. > :10:05.quite different from Tony Blair, where I think they would have been

:10:06. > :10:09.ruthless and dispatched a minister. You could say that is pro`David

:10:10. > :10:15.Cameron, he has loyalty to the ministers and is loath to see any of

:10:16. > :10:21.them go. I can't remember how long Andrew Mitchell stayed in power. He

:10:22. > :10:24.lost it `` over a stone in weight and went through stress in battling

:10:25. > :10:35.that. The reason this is resonating is quite straightforward.

:10:36. > :10:42.You have MPs when they're accused of wrongdoing get their colleagues,

:10:43. > :10:45.some cases accused of similar wrongdoings to judge them and that

:10:46. > :10:48.sense if you are someone who is accused of benefit fraud and you

:10:49. > :10:52.can't simply say I didn't know the rules, I didn't know the system, the

:10:53. > :11:08.state will come down on you like a ton of bricks. The Guardian, Miller

:11:09. > :11:12.begins fightback. Basically she did apologise, accepted the findings of

:11:13. > :11:19.the inquiry. As David Cameron said a few days ago, that should be the end

:11:20. > :11:22.of the matter. This is the private Secretary to Maria miller who sent a

:11:23. > :11:31.message to her colleagues suggesting this was a witch`hunt over Leveson

:11:32. > :11:36.and Maria needed their support. Jeremy Hunt when he was having a

:11:37. > :11:40.struggle in the Commons his PPS did similar things to try to drum up

:11:41. > :11:45.support amongst colleagues. Unfortunately... He survived. He got

:11:46. > :11:50.promoted, became Secretary of State for Health. Which shows that was an

:11:51. > :11:56.effective campaign. The problem is that Mary Macleod didn't operate in

:11:57. > :12:00.the same subtle way as Hunt's PPS and the suggestion there is a

:12:01. > :12:10.witch`hunt when the individualser to Maria Miller `` advisor to Maria

:12:11. > :12:14.Miller flagged the link. She volunteered that link. And made that

:12:15. > :12:19.as a threat. That's why people are making this link because she did

:12:20. > :12:25.that. As far as the 1922 committee, meeting tomorrow, they're going to

:12:26. > :12:29.make the point, some one would have thought, it's those marginal seats,

:12:30. > :12:35.it's our jobs on the line because the public are angry about this. I

:12:36. > :12:38.don't think this is going to be the decisive meeting some people think

:12:39. > :12:45.it will. The executives meet with the Prime Minister before the

:12:46. > :12:50.meeting and will raise concerns raised to them. They'll go into the

:12:51. > :12:54.full meeting with backbenchers and doubtless MPs will want to raise it

:12:55. > :12:58.with him. He may be able to say to them let's sit on this and wait for

:12:59. > :13:01.recess which I think is the worst idea because they'll go back to

:13:02. > :13:07.their constituencies and talk to angry voters for two weeks. Their

:13:08. > :13:10.hope is this will just fuel a general sense of this is what the

:13:11. > :13:14.entire political elite are like, it will bring back memories of expenses

:13:15. > :13:18.scandal which implicated all parties. Obviously the danger for

:13:19. > :13:23.the Conservatives is this will boost UKIP who to a degree are a kind of

:13:24. > :13:28.none of the above box on the voting ballot. They'll be rubbing their

:13:29. > :13:32.hands at this. It's a way of sticking your fingers up at the

:13:33. > :13:41.political elite. The reason it resonates, a fall in living

:13:42. > :13:47.standards, and MPs nr the top % of earners. `` ` MPs are in the top

:13:48. > :13:50.percent of earners. They don't regard themselves as much of a

:13:51. > :13:53.service as they once did. They compare themselves to other

:13:54. > :13:58.professions paid more than them and saw expenses as a way of topping up

:13:59. > :14:02.pay to compete with others. I will repeat that an investigation did

:14:03. > :14:06.take place and they said she should pay back ?6,000 and she apologised

:14:07. > :14:13.and that would be her side. There you go. You guys are going to be

:14:14. > :14:18.back in an hour's time. Many thanks for that. Stay with us here on BBC

:14:19. > :14:21.news, at the top of the hour the first ever state visit to the UK by

:14:22. > :14:26.a President of the Irish Republic. The Queen welcomes Michael D

:14:27. > :14:28.Higgins. I am not sure if they're still eating at the banquet. Anyway,

:14:29. > :14:49.it's time for Sportsday. Hello and welcome to Sportsday. I am

:14:50. > :14:53.John Watson. Coming up: A dramatic night at Stamford Bridge as Demba Ba

:14:54. > :14:55.sends Chelsea into the last four of the Champions