:00:00. > :00:00.Ferrari F1 team. And we will be hearing why Ronnie Whelan feels the
:00:00. > :00:08.race for the Premier League is still wide open. That is all coming up on
:00:09. > :00:20.Sportsday after The Papers. Welcome to our look ahead to what
:00:21. > :00:27.the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. With me are Pippa Crerar,
:00:28. > :00:31.from the London Evening Standard, and Hugh Muir, from the Guardian.
:00:32. > :00:37.Starting with the Financial Times, which is leading with the crisis in
:00:38. > :00:39.the Ukraine. The paper says posturing by Moscow is highlighting
:00:40. > :00:45.how disunited the West is on this topic. George Osborne's Budget last
:00:46. > :00:50.month has failed to translate into potential Tory votes, according to a
:00:51. > :00:53.poll in the Guardian. The Metro has a warning from teachers that primary
:00:54. > :00:56.school youngsters are being left like ghosts at school for long hours
:00:57. > :01:01.because parents are too busy working. A warning from the First
:01:02. > :01:06.Sea Lord that Scottish independence would damage the Navy. That is the
:01:07. > :01:10.lead story in the Telegraph. There is more concern about the rising
:01:11. > :01:15.costs of housing, highlighted in the Express. And the male has more
:01:16. > :01:23.allegations about a possible Lib Dem cover`up over the camp trade `` over
:01:24. > :01:26.the Cyril Smith scandal. Starting with the situation in Ukraine,
:01:27. > :01:31.pro`Russian separatists strengthening their grip, and the
:01:32. > :01:39.West are struggling for unity over this issue. Yes, you will remember,
:01:40. > :01:44.24 hours ago, the acting president in Ukraine, Alexander Turchynov, was
:01:45. > :01:50.very robust in his language, when it came to deadlines for some of the
:01:51. > :01:55.pro`Russian separatists occupying government buildings in ten towns in
:01:56. > :02:03.eastern Ukraine, threatening military action to deal with what he
:02:04. > :02:07.called terrorist elements. And it was suggested that we would all wake
:02:08. > :02:11.up this morning to find that there had been unilateral action right
:02:12. > :02:15.across the East of Ukraine. But actually what has happened is
:02:16. > :02:19.nothing. The Ukrainian forces have not gone in, and actually, the
:02:20. > :02:23.president has taken a much more conciliatory tone today, on
:02:24. > :02:29.realising I suppose that his threats were not working, and has now made
:02:30. > :02:33.the suggestion that he would be prepared for some sort of
:02:34. > :02:38.referendum, to at least let people in the east of the country have some
:02:39. > :02:41.say. How threatened he felt by the fact that their 40,000 Russian
:02:42. > :02:51.troops hovering over the other side of the border... But clearly, he has
:02:52. > :02:58.realised that strongman tactics on his part at least are not working.
:02:59. > :03:02.That seems to suggest that Russia's approach on coming over tough are
:03:03. > :03:06.having some effect. It was always an empty threat, frankly, wasn't it, it
:03:07. > :03:10.was going to have to be, because if they did send in tanks and troops
:03:11. > :03:18.from Kiev, the Russians would have an excuse to march in? Nobody really
:03:19. > :03:21.knows how to deal with Putin. It is a Putin problem. Nobody knows how to
:03:22. > :03:25.assess what he has done, nobody knows what he is going to do next,
:03:26. > :03:30.and they do not know what his endgame is, if it is just to have
:03:31. > :03:33.more territory, or just to extend his influence. Until they know those
:03:34. > :03:37.basic things, I think the international community is going to
:03:38. > :03:44.have a real problem getting to grips with him. They are all piling in, we
:03:45. > :03:48.saw Catherine Ashton saying something, and I think President
:03:49. > :03:53.Obama was supposed to speak to Putin today. But until there is some real
:03:54. > :03:56.sense of what he is playing at, I do not think the international
:03:57. > :04:01.community knows how to read him. But I suspect also, he himself is not
:04:02. > :04:03.sure what the endgame is. He does not want a country which is
:04:04. > :04:08.completely fractured and shattered on his border, but he does want
:04:09. > :04:13.influence in the country as well. So, he is trying to push it as far
:04:14. > :04:17.as he can without going too far, this is what the West seems to
:04:18. > :04:25.assume, but at the same time, the West looks impotent. Yes, just take
:04:26. > :04:28.Britain alone. Yesterday we had David Cameron breaking up his
:04:29. > :04:33.holiday to speak to Angela Merkel and otherworldly does about the
:04:34. > :04:43.situation. There has been talk about signing up to more sanctions. `` and
:04:44. > :04:46.other world leaders. I think it comes down to the fact that Britain
:04:47. > :04:51.does not want to affect the reputation of the City of London as
:04:52. > :04:56.being a major financial centre. I would imagine the Treasury, the
:04:57. > :04:59.government, is coming under pressure from financial and other companies.
:05:00. > :05:08.BP for example has huge investments in Russia, and I think it has a 20%
:05:09. > :05:11.stake in a Russian oil company. They do not want to risk that just being
:05:12. > :05:19.annexed, if you like. And Putin knows this... At one level, all of
:05:20. > :05:34.this diplomacy depends upon personal relationships, and I think nobody
:05:35. > :05:38.has a relationship with Putin. You do not get the feeling that any of
:05:39. > :05:43.our leaders really know how to get to Putin. We are going to stay with
:05:44. > :05:54.the Financial Times, and an interesting story, firms in a ` ``
:05:55. > :06:00.in a dash to beat tax crackdown. The fact is, the partners could be up to
:06:01. > :06:03.40 people. I always thought they were proper partners, but the
:06:04. > :06:08.suggestion is that potentially, a lot of time, they are not! And what
:06:09. > :06:12.this is saying is that if you are a proper partner, your national
:06:13. > :06:17.insurance liability is a bit lighter, because of your status as a
:06:18. > :06:24.partner. So, many of them are going to the banks, because they need to
:06:25. > :06:28.have the money to buy equity. So they are rushing to the banks to get
:06:29. > :06:32.the money so that they can get these national insurance advantages. We
:06:33. > :06:39.were almost running out of villains, weren't we?! We have found them! A
:06:40. > :06:49.whole new set of villains, for people to throw rotten fruit at in
:06:50. > :06:54.the street. We have had all sorts of pledges by the Chancellor to use tax
:06:55. > :06:59.avoidance, to crackdown on tax avoidance, Surrey, and to raise huge
:07:00. > :07:06.amounts for the covers. But people have been sceptical. `` sorry. But
:07:07. > :07:10.looking at how the lawyers and accountants and probably consultants
:07:11. > :07:13.are scrambling to beat the tax crackdown, they at least seem to
:07:14. > :07:22.think that this one might work. But it is not just big fancy law firms,
:07:23. > :07:31.it is cleaners, it is fruit pickers, it is anyone with a company. Yes, if
:07:32. > :07:38.anyone is going to be able to work their way around these things, it
:07:39. > :07:43.will be accountants. Yes, accountants and lawyers. Let's move
:07:44. > :07:47.on to the Guardian, and this one about the Tories struggling in the
:07:48. > :07:52.polls. This is surprising, isn't it? Yes, after the Budget, the media
:07:53. > :07:56.narrative was that it has been a great success for the Chancellor.
:07:57. > :08:01.The few polls immediately afterwards seemed to suggest that that was the
:08:02. > :08:07.case. Now, what has happened is that there is this ICM poll which
:08:08. > :08:13.suggests the opposite, that in fact, the Budget has failed to boost the
:08:14. > :08:19.Conservatives with voters. It puts them on 32 points, compared to 37
:08:20. > :08:24.for Labour. In tandem with this, Ed Balls, who has written for the
:08:25. > :08:28.Guardian, it looks like, says Labour is going to continue with its cost
:08:29. > :08:32.of living strategy right up to the election. This is interesting,
:08:33. > :08:37.because with all of the elements of good news which have come out
:08:38. > :08:41.recently regarding the economy, there has been a lot of questioning
:08:42. > :08:47.at Westminster as to whether that strategy would stand the test of
:08:48. > :08:53.time. They have got to get all the way up to the election. Ed Balls
:08:54. > :08:59.seems convinced that people will not be better off in 2015 and they were
:09:00. > :09:03.at the last election, and that therefore, that strategy, the cost
:09:04. > :09:10.of living agenda, will continue to have resonance with voters. This
:09:11. > :09:14.poll would seem to back that up. It is completely a deception. It is not
:09:15. > :09:19.whether or not the indicators look at, you have got to feel it, and I
:09:20. > :09:23.do not think that people do feel it yet. I am not sure that it is a bad
:09:24. > :09:27.policy for Labour to plough ahead with that. If you are a Tory,
:09:28. > :09:33.looking at this, you are thinking, what have we got to do?! That is a
:09:34. > :09:52.good point. They will think, the last couple of weeks could not have
:09:53. > :09:57.gone better for us. There is that, but they might be thinking, will we
:09:58. > :09:59.ran out of time? There might be some backbenchers who might be thinking
:10:00. > :10:07.about other things they can do, transferable skills! But
:10:08. > :10:11.interestingly, the problems of the Tories are visible to UKIP, and UKIP
:10:12. > :10:18.could potentially split the vote and let Labour in? Well, it could. The
:10:19. > :10:22.maths is the problem for the Tories all the time. They are struggling to
:10:23. > :10:27.draw level with Labour. But in fact, they have got to do a lot better. So
:10:28. > :10:30.they are looking at the egg timer and watching the grains of sand run
:10:31. > :10:40.out, and thinking, this is not going to be good for us. Of course, UKIP
:10:41. > :10:48.take votes off Labour as well. Staying with The Guardian. Guardian
:10:49. > :10:52.wins Pulitzer prize, so it was worth it! We are all proud this evening
:10:53. > :10:57.because this was a very difficult story to do. I take no credit, my
:10:58. > :11:00.colleagues were responsible for it. They've done an absolutely
:11:01. > :11:03.magnificent job. I think we will also feel that we have given an
:11:04. > :11:08.important voice to issues that really needed to be raised in
:11:09. > :11:14.public. We gave a voice to Edward Snowden. I think that we have raised
:11:15. > :11:17.some issues of historic importance about the web, about where
:11:18. > :11:23.information goes, about who has access to it. It's always good to
:11:24. > :11:27.win awards, but to win such a prestigious award for something as
:11:28. > :11:36.important as this is absolutely marvellous. We won't mention those
:11:37. > :11:39.people who feel you have undermined national security I am not sure
:11:40. > :11:48.Obama says that. Of course, that's right! . On to the Metro. The ghost
:11:49. > :11:53.children at school. Ten hours a day. There is a conference on this week
:11:54. > :11:58.and a couple of teachers quoted as saying children are turning up
:11:59. > :12:02.absolutely frazzled, falling behind at school and asleep. This story has
:12:03. > :12:11.been in the headlines for months, though, as the Government ` a
:12:12. > :12:15.Schools Minister has been looking at how they can help with childcare
:12:16. > :12:20.issues. I think children shouldn't start school at five or in four in
:12:21. > :12:25.some cases, in England, anyway, children start school at four, I
:12:26. > :12:29.think that's too young to have a formal education. That's a separate
:12:30. > :12:34.argument but one many feel strongly about. The suggestion that in
:12:35. > :12:38.helping working parents at either end of the day that children would
:12:39. > :12:41.have to ` that means children would have to be in this formal
:12:42. > :12:47.environment isn't necessarily the case. After`school clubs at the
:12:48. > :12:50.moment which start at 3. 15 aren't about learning maths or learning to
:12:51. > :12:54.read, they're about drawing and playing with Lego and stuff like
:12:55. > :12:58.that. The Chinese may be looking at a headline and say, well, yeah,
:12:59. > :13:04.that's the price you have to pay. I am not sure we want that sort of
:13:05. > :13:09.system or put our children through that. The worry I have is that we
:13:10. > :13:13.will move to a system where you elongate the day, we are in primary
:13:14. > :13:16.schools and it's happened in many secondary schools, as well, but
:13:17. > :13:20.without resources. If you talk to many schools, talk to teachers
:13:21. > :13:24.they'll say it's all very well expecting us to pick up the slack
:13:25. > :13:29.but we can't do that and you say OK maybe they'll buy in help and that
:13:30. > :13:33.costs money and schools' budgets are being squeezed. We talk about these
:13:34. > :13:38.things in isolation but often when someone says where is the money to
:13:39. > :13:43.back this up, it isn't there. He speaks as a school governor, I speak
:13:44. > :13:50.as a parent of young children at school. In an ideal world I would be
:13:51. > :13:55.able to pick them up myself at 3. 15pm every day or have them at home
:13:56. > :13:58.with a child minder, but the reality for many working parents and in
:13:59. > :14:02.particular mothers who tend to be the one who make compromises with
:14:03. > :14:06.their career to make it all work for the family, they can't afford to do
:14:07. > :14:10.that. All right. We will continue this conversation in an hour's time.
:14:11. > :14:15.You are going to be back to look at more stories behind the headlines,
:14:16. > :14:20.many thanks. Stay with us here, at the top of the hour we will have the
:14:21. > :14:23.latest on the crisis in Ukraine as EU Foreign Ministers agree to expand
:14:24. > :14:27.sanctions against Russia over its actions in the east of the country.
:14:28. > :14:46.Now it's time for Sportsday. Hello and welcome to Sportsday. Is
:14:47. > :14:52.Phelps set to make a splash in Rio? The most successful Olympian is
:14:53. > :14:55.history has come out of retirement. There was another night of
:14:56. > :14:59.record`breaking in the pool at the British Championships with Jaz
:15:00. > :15:00.Carlin swimming the fastest time this year in the 800 metres