:00:14. > :00:18.to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow.
:00:19. > :00:21.With me are Matthew Syed, columnist at the Times,
:00:22. > :00:27.and Kevin Schofield, editor of PoliticsHome.
:00:28. > :00:32.Welcome to both of you, a look at those front pages first of all.
:00:33. > :00:34.The Times, unsurprisingly, leads on the Scotland First Minister's
:00:35. > :00:36.demand for a second referendum on Scottish independence,
:00:37. > :00:38.calling it an ambush, and reporting that Theresa May
:00:39. > :00:43.is preparing to reject Nicola Sturgeon's bid for two years.
:00:44. > :00:46.A witty play on words from the Metro -
:00:47. > :00:49."Scots throw a sporran in the works,"
:00:50. > :00:52.reporting that the First Minister's announcement has thrown
:00:53. > :00:56.Downing Street's Brexit plans into chaos.
:00:57. > :00:58.And the Guardian continues the theme,
:00:59. > :01:00.headlining that the Prime Minister's plans
:01:01. > :01:05.have been upstaged by Scotland's First Minister.
:01:06. > :01:11.He Daily Telegraph calls the face-off between the two leaders the
:01:12. > :01:15.new Battle for Britain, and the paper includes quotes from Theresa
:01:16. > :01:20.May accusing next of tunnel vision. And finally the Daily Express, which
:01:21. > :01:24.has focused on the events in Westminster, saying that following
:01:25. > :01:28.the votes in Parliament, pushing through the Article 50 bill, the
:01:29. > :01:34.Queen could sign Brexit into law as early as tomorrow morning. Well,
:01:35. > :01:38.let's take some of those on board in the next few moments, we will start
:01:39. > :01:44.with the i, which leads with the headline, future of the UK in doubt,
:01:45. > :01:49.and it really is, we have got to that point, haven't we? It kind of
:01:50. > :01:52.sums up in a nutshell, really, those of us who covered the first
:01:53. > :01:59.referendum are still trying to get over that experience! Traumatised!
:02:00. > :02:04.Now we are being thrown back into it once more. This was always on the
:02:05. > :02:10.cards, as soon as Britain voted to leave the European Union and
:02:11. > :02:15.Scotland itself voted to remain. This was always likely to happen,
:02:16. > :02:18.but I still think that the timing is pretty significant. I think
:02:19. > :02:22.undoubtedly Nicola Sturgeon has caught Theresa May on the hop, a bit
:02:23. > :02:28.of an ambush, as one of the headline says, and she has taken the upper
:02:29. > :02:32.hand in this debate, but it has got a long way to go, and it will be
:02:33. > :02:39.interesting to see, once Theresa May four minutes a proper response, what
:02:40. > :02:44.she actually she says. -- formulates a proper response. I have to say, I
:02:45. > :02:47.think this is contemptible opportunism, because I understood
:02:48. > :02:51.the last referendum was to be once in a generation. At the time it took
:02:52. > :02:56.place, they knew that Cameron had promised to give a referendum to the
:02:57. > :03:00.whole of the UK on Brexit. And they still said it was going to be once
:03:01. > :03:04.in a generation. It seems to me that the rules of the game was such that,
:03:05. > :03:08.after that referendum, Scotland decided to stay in, they were
:03:09. > :03:12.committed to accepting the majority view of the United Kingdom as a
:03:13. > :03:15.whole. It seems to me that this is opportunistic, and I am not at all
:03:16. > :03:20.surprised that Theresa May is likely to push back, partly on the timing,
:03:21. > :03:24.but if she pushes it back until after the next Scottish elections,
:03:25. > :03:28.it will be difficult for the SNP to trigger the referendum. I mean, this
:03:29. > :03:32.could be a constitutional crisis. Without a doubt, I think it will be.
:03:33. > :03:37.You are right, I don't see the benefit for Theresa May in agreeing
:03:38. > :03:44.to have a referendum while she is also trying to get through the
:03:45. > :03:47.minefield of Brexit, so on the one hand you would be carrying of
:03:48. > :03:51.discussions with 27 other member states, trying to get the best
:03:52. > :03:54.possible deal for Britain, while at the same time trying to fight a
:03:55. > :03:58.battle to keep the country together. I don't see why she would agree to
:03:59. > :04:02.do that, because it is in her gift to decide whether or not to give the
:04:03. > :04:07.Scottish Parliament the power to hold a referendum, and it would be
:04:08. > :04:10.madness to do it well Brexit is rumbling on. Of course, the next
:04:11. > :04:14.argument would be that she has a mandate as a result of the Scottish
:04:15. > :04:18.elections that were most recently held, because she had put in a
:04:19. > :04:24.manifesto, if there is a material change in the relationship between
:04:25. > :04:29.Britain and, well, Scotland and the UK as a result of Brexit, she can do
:04:30. > :04:34.it again. That manifesto was a bit of slippage in itself, because
:04:35. > :04:39.material change is open to all sorts of interpretations. They were not
:04:40. > :04:43.saying, during the first independence campaign, that we will,
:04:44. > :04:47.if we lose, introduced into the next manifesto, a clause saying that if
:04:48. > :04:51.there is any material change... They were all saying, it is once in a
:04:52. > :04:56.generation, come what may, and I felt that was unfair. I was in
:04:57. > :05:01.favour of Remain as a voter, and I campaigned for it when I could. But
:05:02. > :05:04.I accept the result of that too. If you are going to have a fair fight,
:05:05. > :05:09.you have to abide by the rules and not try to weasel your way out of
:05:10. > :05:13.it, and Jude processes such an important concept, because then you
:05:14. > :05:20.can plan, have some certainty when you are casting your ballot. -- due
:05:21. > :05:24.process is. It seems to me that this is a corrosive effect, I do not
:05:25. > :05:31.think it is good for democracy. What is the Metro take on it? I said a
:05:32. > :05:34.witty headline in the run through a moment ago, I am not sure that it
:05:35. > :05:39.necessarily stands up to that examination. I am not sure that will
:05:40. > :05:43.be the front page in the Scottish edition! Is there a Scottish
:05:44. > :05:48.edition? I believe there is, I believe they usually have a
:05:49. > :05:54.different front page, and Scots throw a in the works, a bit of a
:05:55. > :05:59.tortuous pun. -- throw a temporary. Anyway, leaving the headline aside,
:06:00. > :06:04.it just shows you, all the front pages are dominated, on a day when
:06:05. > :06:08.the Article 50 bill is passed, a massive enough story in itself,
:06:09. > :06:12.ordinarily that would be the front page, but Nicola Sturgeon's faces
:06:13. > :06:17.staring out from every single front page. So it shows you it has been a
:06:18. > :06:21.massive PR win for her. No doubt what the Scottish Daily Mail thinks
:06:22. > :06:26.about it, not only have they got a headline which is pretty clear, they
:06:27. > :06:30.have got comment on the front page. It is very neutral, very difficult
:06:31. > :06:35.to know what the editorial line is(!) They are going strongly with
:06:36. > :06:40.the line that May may turn down the idea that Nicola Sturgeon has of
:06:41. > :06:43.having the referendum before Brexit. But this is going to be
:06:44. > :06:46.extraordinarily divisive, not just the campaign between those who want
:06:47. > :06:50.to remain part of the UK and those who do not, but those who feel that
:06:51. > :06:55.this is a betrayal of an earlier pledge to stick by the first result.
:06:56. > :06:58.The other thing to bear in mind is uncertainty, we already have
:06:59. > :07:01.uncertainty in England because we don't know the terms of Brexit, but
:07:02. > :07:06.at least there is a general expectation we will leave the single
:07:07. > :07:11.market, probably the customs union, there will hopefully be a free-trade
:07:12. > :07:15.deal. His Mrs in Scotland don't not this point whether they will be in
:07:16. > :07:18.the UK, whether they will be in the EU, whether they will be in the
:07:19. > :07:21.single market, whether they will be in the customs... They don't even
:07:22. > :07:26.know what the currency is going to be, extraordinary uncertainty with
:07:27. > :07:30.the Scottish economy is tanking, is that too strong a word? A bit
:07:31. > :07:34.strong, but the economic case has weakened since the last referendum,
:07:35. > :07:37.but the political case is strengthened, and I think that is
:07:38. > :07:42.the gamble that Nicola Sturgeon is taking, that the political case will
:07:43. > :07:46.trump the economic case, because as you say, the economic case is much
:07:47. > :07:52.weaker, the oil price has tanked, we can definitely say that. We were
:07:53. > :07:56.predicting a second oil boom at the time of the last referendum, and
:07:57. > :08:00.that has proven not to be the case. Till with politics, the other big
:08:01. > :08:07.talking point, Brexit, of course, various boats have gone in favour of
:08:08. > :08:12.the Government tonight. -- various votes. This is a leaked document
:08:13. > :08:16.which really reveals what, I think, we already knew which is the complex
:08:17. > :08:20.structure that we are currently trying to disentangle ourselves
:08:21. > :08:24.from, given the vote to leave the EU. They are saying that there will
:08:25. > :08:32.have to be new laws covering immigration, tax, agriculture,
:08:33. > :08:35.trade, data protection, six bills for benefits, reciprocal health
:08:36. > :08:40.arrangements, in addition to the Great Repeal Bill! There is a huge
:08:41. > :08:44.amount of negotiation of disentanglement, it is an
:08:45. > :08:48.extraordinarily complex thing that has to take place. David Davis, of
:08:49. > :08:53.course, is heading this up, and this just underlines what kind of thing
:08:54. > :08:58.we have got ourselves into. And all of that will involve votes, the Lord
:08:59. > :09:01.is getting involved, potential amendments, that is the potential
:09:02. > :09:07.complication. Absolutely, and a lot of MPs and peers, obviously the
:09:08. > :09:10.Government is in a minority in the House of Lords, who will be using
:09:11. > :09:16.this legislation as an opportunity to delay, frustrate the process. So
:09:17. > :09:21.the notion that they will be able to not only agree a divorce deal with
:09:22. > :09:25.the rest of the EU, but also agree free-trade arrangements within the
:09:26. > :09:34.two year period, when you are also trying to do that, it seems fanciful
:09:35. > :09:39.to me. And Scottish independence as well, a monumental period in front
:09:40. > :09:42.of us. Let's end with something less controversial, namely a photograph
:09:43. > :09:46.of Her Majesty the Queen on the front of the express, this is from
:09:47. > :09:52.the Commonwealth Day Evans today, which of course heralded the start
:09:53. > :09:59.of the baton relay head of the Commonwealth Games. Yes, quite a big
:10:00. > :10:03.story, 2022, Durbin, who had previously been the agreed hosts for
:10:04. > :10:10.that, they are no longer going to be the hosts. -- Durban. I think there
:10:11. > :10:14.may be a bid from Liverpool, it gives me an opportunity to chip in
:10:15. > :10:18.with the fact that I won a Commonwealth gold medal in
:10:19. > :10:23.Manchester, I know you want to discuss the tactics are used in the
:10:24. > :10:27.final! But I will tell you one thing, it is very different from the
:10:28. > :10:32.Olympics, great camaraderie, and in the build-up to all of that, they
:10:33. > :10:37.think of it as an anachronism, but it is a really uplifting experience,
:10:38. > :10:45.and quite a good spectacle too. In 2014, back to Scotland, in Glasgow,
:10:46. > :10:50.it came right after, no, it was just before the independence referendum,
:10:51. > :10:53.so you had the whole place in the firm and anyway, and then a
:10:54. > :11:01.Commonwealth Games, it was fantastic. Any medals or prizes?
:11:02. > :11:08.Honestly, I think I got a swimming badge! Bronze, probably! In the
:11:09. > :11:12.interest of studio harmony, I wanted to give you the opportunity! Thank
:11:13. > :11:18.you very much for the time being, thanks to both of you, you can join
:11:19. > :11:21.us again at 11:30, and you can see the front pages online on the BBC
:11:22. > :11:25.News website. For the moment, goodbye.