24/04/2016 The Papers

Hello and welcome to our Sunday morning edition of The Papers.

With me are Jenny Anderson, author and reporter for Quartz.com,

and Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor at The Standard.

Let's take a look at what the papers are saying.

The Observer reports that US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton

shares Barack Obama's opposition to the UK leaving the EU.

The Mail leads on Boris Johnson's anger at Mr Obama's intervention

The Sunday Telegraph says pregnant women are among those whose hospital

treatment has been postponed ahead of the first all-out

The Sunday Times reports that this year the super-rich have suffered

the worst decline in their fortunes since the financial crisis.

The Independent carries a photo of one of the many events to mark

the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.

Its main story is about a hospital in Lancashire asking

The Sunday Express says that cold calling firms could face fines of up

And the Sunday Mirror has a photograph of what it says

are the ashes of the singer Prince being carried to a car

It has been the worst week for the Brexit campaign. Absolutely. We had

Boris Johnson channelling his inner Donald Trump vaguely racist comments

about Barack Obama and completely fabricated facts about the busts. We

had PMQ and David Cameron did a great job, and President Obama

stayed the demand that everything would be just fine if Britain were

to leave the EU in terms of trade with the US. What did you make of

it, particularly Boris Johnson because various papers have given

him a hammering. The Winston Churchill bust. There are real

issues of substance facing the British people and he goes on about

whether the Churchill bust was or was not removed by Barack Obama. It

is a classic bit of Boris hyperbole. The actual explanation is rather

different, that Churchill is still very close and just making room for

Martin Luther King. It is a classic bit of Boris hyperbole, that maybe

some of what he said around the edges he would regret, but I suppose

his key point remains that it is about sovereignty and Barack Obama

of physique has a perfect right to say what he wants to say about what

he thinks the impact would be, but Boris disagrees with that and he

believes that our ability to control our personal affairs is the main

thing. He has dressed it up in the usual way with lots of colour and

examples which are somewhat over the top, but the argument remains the

same. Interestingly, they took the debate away from immigration, which

is where I think the Brexit campaign has a good case to make. There was a

strong case made earlier this week about immigration, but the whole

debate became economics and trade, and in that sense we are saying this

is the worst week ever. Were you surprised that a president was so

clear about this? Foreign leaders, generally, don't interfere when

there is an election or referendum. Not only did he say back of the

queue, but in a BBC interview he said it could take five or ten years

because trade deals, and he is right about this, are very complicated so

they can take a long time if there is no particular will to push ahead.

I am surprised that the US batted in, but actually I am not surprised!

This is a consequential debate and the US would be silly to not weigh

in. If you imagine the outcome, say Britain leaves and there are

problems, everyone would turn to the US and ask why they said nothing. It

is damp if they do, dammed if you don't scenario, but I think he has a

right to say your decision, but here is our opinion, and by the way we

are and important factor in this decision because the exit campaign

has really stated everything will be fine if we stay in, but Obama wanted

to say what we think about this agreement. I think actually the idea

that we turn around to the US and say, why did you not help us? I

disagree with that. I think people don't expect anyone else to help us

out, so to speak. Going back to the point you just made about Barack

Obama, I think he did speak more robust than was expected, even on

his own side. Today, he has slightly changed his tune. He's said five or

ten years, not quite the back of the queue, but at the same time there is

not an EU trade deal at the moment. He has been there for eight years

and there has not yet been won. There is potentially going to be

one, although the US president candidates have all expressed

reservations about various aspects of it. In the spread of history,

even five or ten years, if we are fighting about something, in the

last vote it was 50 years ago, even if it does take some time to

achieve, the balance them is between the economic price that that might

cause us, although some would argue there isn't one, against the issue

of sovereignty and democratic control. Part of the argument also

raised is that he is not quite a has-been but he is on his way out.

But Hillary Clinton's intervention, or at least to a senior staff

member, suggests she is slightly more likely thought to be the next

president of the US, we don't know what number Trump would do if he

became the American President, let's not go down that road just now, but

she is saying something similar, isn't she? Not surprising. With your

experience of Washington, certainly in my eight years I never met a

senior American politician who thought it would be a great idea for

Britain to leave. I have never met anyone who would disagree with what

President Obama said. There are two components to this. One is that they

don't have any sense as to what some of the frustrations are because, as

you say, from the hypocritical point they don't know, they have quite a

bit of sovereignty and they exercise it quite aggressively all the time.

For them to say, you know, that is the conventional wisdom but very few

people have a sense of some of the frustrations of being part of that

kind of block. Could we move on to the mail was my great take on this

story, Boris rage at ridiculous we had a Obama. Extort restatement --

extraordinary statement. Inside page 29, Andrew Gibson, the biographer of

Boris Johnson, says after that stinging slap down, it begs the

question, has Obamacare busted Boris? It is quite a clever

headline. What do you make of this? To go back to the issues of

substance, when you have got somebody who is at least seem to be

the figurehead of a campaign, and who is talking about a bust of the

leader of the inactive state being half Kenyan and him being irrelevant

and so on, where is the real issues of substance are not, according to

some of his people on his side, being addressed. It is not doing

very well? No, I think there is a fair criticism there, if you look at

Michael Gove, for example, he takes the same view as Boris Johnson about

the fundamental issue and he has been more measured in his comments,

although he did give a speech this week in that direction. If you are

looking at it through the prism of who is going to be the next

Conservative leader, some people think that Boris Johnson, and the

fact that he took a long time to decide which way he was going to

jump on this, some people see it as he is positioning himself to take

over from David Cameron, and that is why he has taken this position. If

you look at it through this prism, and then you think actually he is

indulging in cheap shots, which is the allegation, that is not very

statesman-like, and that therefore could be damaging. I think there is

something in that. Of course, those who favour his arguments will

probably not be too worried about that, but in the middle ground of

the Tory party, if it exists at all in this area, it might lead people

to question whether he is sufficiently dramatic. What did you

make of it because again there is a case that he is making, which was

right at the very start of our discussions here, George Osborne

made a comment about suggesting that this is not a joke, you can't treat

this lightly, it is such a serious matter, and he did not mention Boris

Johnson macro shot. Him saying actually on this issue he is a

lightweight, he does not argue the substance of the issues. He does and

there is plenty to argue on the substance. There is so much in there

with trade, immigration, the economy, sovereignty. There is a lot

to work with here, and to go down this road when there is this

caricature running for president of the United States and everyone here

making fun of him, to assume that mantle of trivialising things,

making things up, insulting comments, bringing the level of

civil discourse down quite a bit, I think he has damaged itself quite a

bit. To be fair to him, he has also focused, he has been quoted in the

Mail on Sunday, nobody has come close to answering my point, the US

is commenting on something they were themselves would never dream of

doing. He does address that, but... But do you think that argument is

actually cutting through question or even Barack Obama's argue at cutting

through? The question is, does any of this matter? This visit and this

argument, does he have a right to make a case question mark the

question is, does it matter? He has a right to make a case, and it

probably does matter to an extent in that you have had George Osborne

this week saying, because the strongest argument is the economic

one, and the rest of it is not as strong, national-security, there may

be a marginal benefit to remaining in, but I think it is fairly

marginal will stop on the immigration thing, it is a key issue

for some come about on trade and the economy, that is the strongest

weapon. I think actually when you have got George Osborne and the

government saying it repeatedly saying it officially, and then you

have got the president of the United States coming in, there has been a

lot of coverage of it, and I think that will affect some people, and

that is the way that most people who vote stay in. I think they will be

scared of the potential negative consequences, and it is all about

the point of view of the Remain people think that there is too much

of a risk economic league. I don't think they will lose, but that is

what they will lose if they can't win that battle. There are two

months to go and then I will be so many more reports coming out. He is

a lame duck president, but a lot can happen in two months. This is an

emotional issue. People will base their decision on some facts, but

mainly on emotion. Facts completed beyond the control of any

politician, for example a terrorist attack or boats coming across. Yes,

people will vote based on how they feel that day. One other point about

what was said here, she speech yesterday where he talked about

rejecting cynicism and encouraging the young to engage in politics, I

fully agree with that, people should get involved and take part. But if

young people in this country listen to that message and actually them

vote in the referendum, most opinion polls show the young are more likely

to vote in favour, though funnily enough it could have an impact that

way! That is a good point. The express says Obama bully boy tactics

and we have already touched on that. That could backfire. Let's move on

to the Sunday Times Rich list. There are two views about which lists. One

says it is fantastic because it sells newspapers, but the other is

and I am a bit like this, I hate stories like this. I find it really

boring. I am going to have two side with the editor of the Times and say

run the list, get the readers. Dirty pleasures, right? If this is your

worst vice. One of them. What did you make of it. The poor rich are

poorer than they were before, but they are still extremely rich. Let

me find my very small violin. The numbers are still staggering, and

there is a huge impact here from the commodities slump and let's not

underestimate that, and let's not underestimate the fact that can

change frequently. A lot of people have lost a view of their many

billions because of what is happening in those markets. Oil

might not, from where it is right now, it might not be heading back to

100, but it might do better. For many of these people, this is a

temporary phenomenon. The point I found most exciting was busier you

need at least ?103 million to make it onto the rich list. Rate of

growth is slowing, so the rich are not getting so much richer as fast

as they have been. The question is, is inequality, is the art of justice

finally coming back towards... Less inequality? It has a long way to go.

What did you make of this, Martin? It does not entirely excites me

because it is so far out of the stratosphere of any normal person's

reality, and also some of it is slightly artificial as you say, it

is all about movements in the commodities markets and so one, so

some of these figures will go back up again. The other interesting

thing is you get more and more people coming from the creative arts

world and so on, the sports world, making an appearance in it. You have

got Sasha Baron Cohen who is on the list for the first time. Lewis

Hamilton is on it. 106 minute pounds. You have got the Beckham is

on it. They are behind the Queen. There is a changing nature there, I

suppose, people making an awful lot of money out of sporting prowess and

TV, films and so one, and that is perhaps the changing nature of this.

One thing that struck me is that I have not heard of most of these

people. Nor have we. I the sea move in the wrong circles. You read about

them and I think, I know the product or that sector, steal or coal

whatever it is, the Barclay brothers, but a lot of them are not

people, they are under the radar. Another interesting point to this is

why did we even like these lists, but I think the Panama papers

revealed that we don't actually have any idea how much money anybody has,

so there is something to be said about these numbers. Of course there

are very rich people, but they in no way are representative of the actual

wealth. Let's move on my finally, to the Queen's birthday celebrations.

There are some absolutely lovely pic pictures of the Royal family and of

the Queen herself. Whatever anyone thinks of the monarchy, she has done

an amazing job. She has and the tributes are all incredibly well

deserved. She is one of my favourite people in the world. That holds true

for many other people, including 70 roles in other countries who were

calling the palace wish her a happy birthday. It is the three macro

heart-warming. Yes, the good news story of the week. People singing

happy birthday down the phone line! One other thing, which has kind of

been touched on this week, is how much the popularity of the monarchy

as an institution depends on the popularity of the monarch. It is

difficult to find anyone who has a bad word to say about the Queen, but

that not delete macro does not necessarily mean that the

institution is still something we like... It will seem worried about

whether that mantle might pass. Obviously she will be impossible for

anyone to follow, but on the other hand, I think you are right, the

change in mood when she has been Queen, with the death of Diana and

so on, there has been a tremendous success bringing it back into

national popularity, and the Queen has done brilliantly. At at that

period it looked rather differently. It is also interesting, the

photographs of President Obama with Prince George and the families, and

he is to seek comfortable about talking about his family, is

children and so on. There is a difficult balance. But the so much

in the public eye to know how much to actually give of your real life,

your family life. It is a tough balance. Everyone must want some

privacy, but you sign up for these roles and you have to share some of

this. We saw a bit of that for sure. Back to the point of the Queen, with

all the volatility and the rise of Isis and so much uncertainty in the

world, part of the state fast rock nature of the monarchy, people are

turning to that right now because there is so much uncertainty

everywhere else. I be what happens in the rest of the world will define

this a little bit macro people respect people performing public

duty. That is why people delete macro Prince Charles will do well

because he clearly seeks to do his duty as a public servant and I think

people like that. Indeed, thank you both for joining us.

Just a reminder we take a look at tomorrow's front pages

every evening at 10:30 and 11:30 here on BBC News.

Time now for a look at the weather with Matt.

Don't forget, all of our reviews are on our website.

Hello. More cloud around compared with yesterday, but still some

sunshine breaking through every now and again. The early rain in the

south-east has