03/01/2016 The Papers

Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be

With me are James Rampton, features writer for the Independent.

And the academic and former government policy adviser,

Much fancier, James you could learn a thing or two! We can look at the

front pages. The Metro leads with the video

released by so-called Islamic State which shows the execution of five

individuals who they claim The Guardian newspaper has the same

story and also mentions an English-speaking boy in the video.

The Telegraph also covers the video by the terrorist group -

with an image of the militant pointing a gun towards the camera.

The BBC has decided not to show the image.

The Independent reports on criticism facing David Cameron for failing

to condemn the Saudi Arabian killings yesterday.

The i headlines plans by the Government to fast-track

The Express is warning of a pensions crisis that could last for 20 years

as employers struggle to meet their liabilities and stump

And in the Daily Mail... Quite a few papers feature the video said to

have been put online by IS. Difficult to independently

authenticated it. But here it is. In the Metro. We know the man

previously known as Jihadi John was killed a few weeks ago. It seems

somebody has stepped into his place. He was able to produce propaganda

videos and clearly Daesh has replace this person because videos do get

watched. This is about ten minutes long, five men are reported to have

been murdered. Potentially they are British, or British spies. The

person speaking is said to have an English accent, which is why we

stress it might be a new Jihadi John. And also there is a boy is

speaking with an English accent. Child soldiers are nothing new in

the world, but for terrorism it is perhaps something new, something new

for Daesh to be using. We do not know when it happened. People going

back to work tomorrow, perhaps reading newspapers for the first

time after the holidays, this will perhaps work in their favour. These

people are accused of spying for Britain. There is no proof they were

British, no proof they were spying. Difficult to authenticate. If that

man was killed because of intelligence coming into the group,

that might explain why people are being picked out as spies. Mrs

Thatcher talked about the oxygen of publicity, demanding IRA members

were voiced by actors. But this is a massive story with potentially a

connection to this country and a shocking angle of a child making

threats to kill nonbelievers. There was footage, not verified, of young

boys killing people who were detained. To use a boy with a

British accent to issue threats and to call David Cameron an imbecile, a

slave of the White House, is a threat to this country, and that is

why we have to pay attention and give it credence, even if it is not

verified. It is making an impact. In the Guardian newspaper also, there

is a picture. Very difficult to to know who is going to this part of

the world. How has this child got there, has he been taken by someone

else? If these people are British we need to verify that because the

Foreign Office news today. There is sophisticated voiced recognition

technology and advanced computer programmes to try to trace people,

but even so it took months to identify Mohammed Emwazi. And also

this is saying David Cameron has been condemned for silence on

killings. It is interesting. Paddy Ashdown has hit the nail on the

head. The clash between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam is

potentially as he says a greater threat to the west than anything IS

can pose. It is a huge issue, a massive issue exacerbated tonight by

Iran and Saudi cutting diplomatic relations. It means that the issue

will get stronger. And more potent in our lives. You know better than

us, having worked in government, what is going on diplomatically we

will not get to see? There is often a need for a public statement to be

made irrespective of what is going on behind closed doors. This is

nothing new. Tensions have been rising since Arab Spring. Bahrain's

Shia have been protesting every week on the streets. It will make more

sense now to say publicly who it is and in this case why it is Saudi

Arabia has done this. It will raise tensions in the world. That said,

with the politics of Saudi Arabia, Iran coming back into the fold...

This is more significant in the sense of there are British and

Allied troops in this part of the world and we need to pay attention

because we cannot see more tension rising. I want to move on. The

pledge to fast track building of new homes. This is in a bit... Nobody

says in a bid in normal life! We have been hearing about this for

years. Magical houses that will appear from nowhere. Brown field

sites. 30,000 affordable starter homes, putting aside ?1.2 billion

for this. It is coming out today where we are getting interested in

the news again that the Labour Party saying it is hiding the government's

failure in creating new homes. We know those of us in the south-east

the pressure on finding homes. I have three children and I am saying,

how will they afford to live in London? How am I going to make them

leave home? ! Or go to live somewhere more affordable because it

is pressurised and there has to be something done about it. Successive

governments have not tackled this. It is rich of the Labour Party to

say this when they have not. 30,000 new homes when we know we need a

quarter of a million new homes. It pales into whatever the reality is.

The line is they will be starter homes that are affordable. I do not

know who it is affordable for. A couple of stories in the Daily

Telegraph with Poland perhaps backing EU benefit curb in return

for Nato troops deal. The Polish Foreign Minister saying they might

be willing to throw David Cameron a lifeline in exchange for something.

In exchange for a Nato base in Poland. That is quite a compromise.

I am sure the Prime Minister will be happy but there will be opposition

from Germany and France. This is not just for the UK to say, that we can

agree that, other Nato powers have to have a say. Nato is a separate

organisation. It is bizarre. In this febrile atmosphere, is it wise to be

like this saying we will do that? It is not the most passive state, one

saying we are happy to see that on our doorstep. It is pie in the sky

to think the government can make this almost behind closed doors deal

and think no one else will, it. It is not behind closed doors. It is on

the front page! But without reference to other countries.

Downton Abbey has finished, which is on the other side and we should not

talk about that! The BBC has come out fighting with an adaptation of

war and peace. Have you read it? No. Now we do not need to. God bless

Andrew Davies, responsible for many adaptations, such as Brideshead

revisited. Wonderful adaptations. He has distilled a 1400 page novel into

six hours of TV. It stars somebody from Downton Abbey. Certain papers

complained the licence fee is a waste of money but if you watch the

six hours of this drama, and I have been on the set in Lithuania, seeing

an incredible re-creation of the Battle of Borodino, a key battle of

the Napoleonic wars. 50 horses, singing a Russian liturgy. If you do

not think about is worth the licence, you are barking up the

wrong tree. An extraordinary piece of work that justifies the licence

fee for me. Other TV channels are available, but we do not recommend

them! Going back to the Independents. Ben Stokes has come to

attention because, it says, Big Ben strikes. Hitting the fastest double

century in Tess history. An amazing achievement. A world record for a

double century and playing South Africa that cannot be an easy task.

We should hold onto him. Normally when they set records, they go to

India and join the IPL. He is a great British hero, a cliche, but he

had Apache run of form recently but today he exploded. South Africa the

number one Tess side. -- Test. He hit 11 sixes, a world record. And he

is English. Well done, Ben Stokes. We will talk about that later.

Further now, you will have a terrible cup of coffee in the

newsroom. We will see you at 11:30pm. Stay with us, at 11 we have

the latest on the breakdown on diplomatic relations between Iran

and Saudi Arabia.