31/03/2016 The Papers

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

With me are Beth Rigby, the Media Editor from the Times

and James Rampton, feature writer for the I.

At that talking through the front newspapers in a moment.

The Financial Times leads with accusations that Britain

blocked attempts by EU officials to strengthen defences

against the import of cheap Chinese steel -

The i headlines that one in five will be obese in 9 years time

British men coming in at number 8 on a global table.

New Day also has obesity as it's headline -

with medics warning the UK is set to be the fattest nation in Europe.

The Telegraph reports a new study which says statins could become

obsolete within a decade as the population becomes too obese

The Metro headlines with price rises hitting people's pockets

The Times writes that Tata has accused David Cameron of sleeping

walking into the steel crisis by attempting to woo

The Guardian also follows the story of Tata Steel -

reporting the Business Secretary Sajid Javid is to travel

to South Wales to reassure workers of the future of the plant.

And of course the Daily Mirror, featuring the front page of Ronnie

That a is lovely picture of Ronnie. The best one of him.

Yes, a lovely picture of him. The warmth coming through had been his

face, in his gesture. He died today, aged 85, surrounded by his wife of a

50 years and his two daughters and lovely, lovely tributes in the

paper. Quite rightly for him. A favourite of mine was tweeted by

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, who called him a giant of the

British entertainment industry, who, given he was 5ft, I think Ronnie

Corbett would have found that funny. Maybe a deliberate joke? I am going

to say it wasn't. James, you messaged in I did. I'm delighted to

say he really lived up to expectations when I met him. I was

honoured to meet him. Michael Palin taking to you earlier, mentioned the

twinkle he had. Sometimes you feel with comedians, that they switch it

on and off, almost like they are acting for camera or stage but with

Ronnie Corbett it was there all the time it was something that just

emanated from him gnarly. I remember growing up as a child it was a great

treat to be allowed to stay up on a Saturday night to watch The Two

Ronnies, and I'm sure that there will be many my age and younger and

older, who will feel a loss as he has disappeared.

And here the Sun. With a picture of him in the famous glasses, sorry, a

picture of him with the famous glasses.

And I was speaking to John Lloyd, he was saying he campaigned for Ronnie

Corbett to get a knighthood. He never got one. Saying that comedians

don't often get one. We were talking about this before. Trying to think

who has them. I looked it up. There are only five. Harry Lauder in 1911,

Charlie Chaplin, Harry Secombe, Norman Which had come, and Lenny

Henry. That is extraordinary airily few. You virtually have to appear on

Top of the Pops these days to get one. But as a comedian it is much,

much harder. If you are poking fun at the

establishment your entire life, somehow... The establishment does

not like you. And maybe fitting you don't. I think

you lose credibility with the audience if you then become part of

the establishment. You have to make the judgment whether or not it

reflects badly on you if you accept it. It could undermine your

credentials. So, Ronnie Corbett, very sadly missed. Now to the Times.

Your front page lead is tomorrow is the steel crisis and the Chinese

angle on the whole thing and the accusation that the British

Government has been trying too hard to woo the Chinese and to allow in

this glut of cheap Chinese steel. It is the really the beginning of

the blame game. We know that Tata is going to shut or sell its

operations. 15,000 jobs directly affected by that. But overall in the

UK steel industry up to 40,000 jobs affected.

Now ministers have insisted that this closure is about the glut of

cheap steel in the world market as China sell it is cheaply and there

is huge overcapacity in the market. What this stir is saying and the FT

lead with this as well is that the European Commission and the European

Union had actually been trying to put up barriers to stop this flood

of Chinese steel in the EU. And the people that have been dragging their

feet, the country dragging their feet was no other than the UK. In

the US they have tariffs of 236%, why have George Osborne and David

Cameron not done that? The accusation is that George Osborne

was wooing the Chinese as he wants inward investment from China to fund

projects such as Hinkley Point, the fund HS2, the high-speed rail line

so turned a blind eye to something that would hurt China in order to

curry favour with the Chinese that is politically very difficult for

Government when they are facing the huge job losses in the run-up to

local elections. James, is it a problem? I do. It

plays into this idea that the Government handled this badly. An

element of omni-shambles to use a word coined by one of George

Osborne's previous Budgets. But a sense that they had no real grip of

the situation. The Business Secretary in Australia with his

teenage daughter, perhaps planning to spend down time when 40,000 jobs

were at stake. He missed the plain back, apparently. Anna Soubry

sending mixed messages as to what the Government would do. Jeremy

Corbyn got in there quickly, he was in Port Talbot today, so he made the

running and Steven Kinnock played a blinder, went to Mumbai, there

putting the case for his constituents eloquently and has

today questioned the position. I can see why he has done it. It looks

chaotic. Even if it just the perception.

Perception is everything today, though.

To the Garde, still with the Tata Steel story. Their lead is who on

earth may buy the company. It is losing, we are hearing, ?1 million a

day. Who would buy a company like that? The first point is that the

Government rule odd re-nationalisation, despite Anna

Soubry saying that all options were on the table. That will not happen.

So now the Guardian are talking about who could buy it. Liberty

House is a company that bought unwanted sites in Scotland when the

Scottish Government propped up their steel industry to find a buyer

temporarily. But Tata, I think interestingly, further down, Tata

say that they have tried for 158 months to find a buyer for the

operations without success. They also say that they would release the

assets for nothing but the problem is that there are huge liabilities.

Pension liabilities amounting to ?2 billion. So when you look at the

market, who is going to take on a company losing ?1 million a day with

huge liabilities in a market that has a glut and it show no, sir sign

of profiting. So it is not a question of selling

but giving it away and maybe even nobody wants it if given away. And

would Tata want to sell off to a rival who could maximise? I really

feel for the people in these communities.

Beth said 40,000 people involved. It could cost the Government ?200

million in benefits if these places do close. So a huge problem. It

reminds me of the problem with the '80s with the cool industry. Cheap

imports, the same thing is afflicting the steel industry. The

people suffering are the poor workers, I feel for them. They are

stuck in the middle of this terrible problem. James Frampton writer for

the i. Obesity is on the front of this page there. Are extraordinary

statistics. One in five in the planet will be obese by 2025.

They are good the bullet points. They highlight the shocking aspects

of this report. One in five of us to become obese. That is the main

headline and the Telegraph pointing out that drugs such as statins may

not work, which is vital for saving lives, it may not work as obesity

counteracts the effect of the medication. So a really, really

serious problem it is good to have it on the front page to highlight

what a potential catastrophe we have with heart disease, diabetes.

Beth, British men coming in at number eight on the global table of

obesity, does that surprise you? It does. And on the New Day, they are

saying that the UK is setting itself up to be the fattest nation in

Europe. This study comes a few weeks after George Osborne imposed a sugar

tax to raise ?500 million. Which he said he would put into sports in

schools in a bid to begin to tackle the obesity epidemic that is coming

ourway in the UK, if not already here if you think of what the

Government has done in terms of levies, alcohol, tobacco, heavily

taxed in a bid to free money for the NHS. This is if there are

generations of people getting late onset of diabetes and medical

complications for obesity, this will cost the NHS a fortune. And speaking

of things going up in price, Metro have tomorrow, April the 1st, or

April the Worth, Council Tax up, prescriptions up, the public sector

set to pay. An expensive day from tomorrow? There is a flip side as

the national Living Wage is coming in. So workers on very, very low

wages will get an increase in pay but obviously so if you take Council

Tax, famously frozen through the coalition years through austerity,

the Council Tax bills but George Osborne has allowed councils to

increase the bills because actually they are going to use that money to

care for older people to create a ?3. 5 billion fund to start to try

to fill in some of the gaps that the rollbacks for the welfare have

created. I don't mind paying more Council Tax for that.

James, you get the last word. April Fool's Day is tomorrow. You have

spotted possibly an April's Fool's Story in I hope so. I thought the

Germans and the French could be more unpopular if that is possible. It

story is claiming that Roland Piaf suggests that if we leave the EU in

June, then we could be thrown from the European Championships. The

moment I realised it was a made up story, was when I saw that the

German representative was You'regoingtolose. He says: If

Britain leaves, we should be clear, out means out. It is a fantastic

story. You think, the Europeans, what are they doing to us now. But

it plays on our xenophobia. Is it not nice to have a light

hearted Brexit story. And a light hearted football story as well. Yes.

Many thanks to both of you. Have a good April's Fool's Day tomorrow.

And while we have been on the air, more tributes to Ronnie Corbett. The

Sun leading with a poignant tribute:... And it's good night from

me. And the Daily Express signing him off with: It's a fond good night

to him. And the Daily Mail: Questioning why

his services to entertainment were never nighted. As we were discussing

earlier on. So, Ronnie Corbett dominating.

Don't forget all the front pages are online on the BBC News website

where you can read a detailed review of the papers.

It's all there for you - 7 days a week at bbc.co.uk/papers -

with each night's edition of The Papers being posted

on the page shortly after we've finished.

Thank you to James Frampton and Beth Rigby. Thank you very much for being

with us. Good night. The April showers have come early

this week but you would