22/04/2017 The Papers

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

With me are Bonnie Greer, Playwright and writer

for the New European and former newspaper editor Eve Pollard.

I'm really looking forward to tonight, ladies.

The Mail on Sunday claims the Conservatives' opinion poll lead

has been slashed in half because of Theresa May's plans

Theresa May parks her battle tanks on Labour's lawn,

according to the Sunday Times, as it reports on Tory manifesto

plan to offer ?100 off energy bills for workers.

The Sunday Express claims "One-in-seven Labour voters turns

"Tory" in a forthcoming political earthquake as the paper

reports that Labour voters are deserting Jeremy Corbyn.

Jeremy Corbyn "puts UK at terror risk" is

The paper reports that Tory campaign strategists claim the Labour leader

would not take the right decisions to keep the country safe.

The Observer reports a pledge from Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron,

that he won't do any coalition deals, saying he wants

the Liberal Democrats be the main opposition.

You think no one will pay attention to polls after the debacle of the

general action, UK polls are getting a bad reputation abroad. The

emphasis on the polls is ludicrous, in a way. We don't know if the polls

are hurting, which is a phenomenon where they start talking golf each

other but yet the papers seem to build their headlines based on

polls. They are spending a lot of money on polls. As an ex-editor, I

can tell you, you make the investment and probably someone from

management said, do you really want to spend that money on a poll

question mark --? You up quite bright, they have been totally

thrown and the baby and the half water because they have been wrong

on so many things recently. Shall we start with the times? I am sure we

will mention polls as we go through each one. Eve, kick us off. We are

talking battle tanks on Labour's lawn. I'm fascinated by Iru Mugan --

Theresa May because she has... She said she was going to work we are

just about managing the people who are working hard, they could be Tory

voters, were Thatcher voters, and in have much money, so she is saying

she will give ?100 off energy bills in a manifesto for workers. We know

Energy bills are higher, we know you are slightly locked in the

short-term thing where you cannot prove they have agreed they will

charge the same. It is very hard to save money on energy and if you have

a family, it is very expensive. So, she's offering them that. She is

also saying that this poll, which is a you got poll, I have to say also I

think the other problem with polls is when they are face-to-face, they

were a lot more correct. And now they are online, I don't know. She's

saying that people trust her with the NHS than trust Jeremy Corbyn.

But there is no way to measure anything like that. I know that I

will say something that is counter marriages and maybe counterintuitive

and I have my issues with Jeremy Corbyn, I think he is playing this

quite well and I think people will be surprised... Playing it well how?

What Jeremy Corbyn has that to reason made doesn't have is that he

is who he is, you know who he is going to be, you like -- vote

whether you like it deal or not. We don't know what Theresa May is going

to do. She wasn't going to do this, now she here, so, I... I would

normally say that might be true but I think Jeremy Corbyn has been such

a disappointment. Well, I don't think they are going to win enough

to form a government but I don't think they are going to be wiped out

either. That is what I'm trying to say. The front page of The Times,

talking about Jeremy Corbyn, you said he is playing it well and yet

the paper reports that a key and cider is saying that he can't cope,

the office is ruled by chaos. That wouldn't surprise you. If you think

about Jeremy Corbyn, he has been a backbencher, probably went to the

allotment in the morning, went into the House of Commons in the

afternoon, never took the web, having voted the way he wanted to.

But why haven't they reported that Theresa May has lost key people this

week, she has lost people who are not in her office anymore, that is

not on the front page. But it is not chaos. But no one is investigating

it. I'm just saying that if you start to look at the way the papers

going, they are making a narrative for her where she is flip-flopping

and he is not flip-flopping. The express is saying it is working too

well tonight, one in seven Labour voters are actually turning blue. If

they are, that is not bad. If the way that it has been predicted, the

Conservatives will get 3006, if it is only one in seven... I think Tim

Farren will pick up my Jeremy Corbyn loses. But story I do believe in the

Mail on Sunday is a tax U-turn. I do know and have been discussing with

ancient people of my age that people are very, very worried that she is

going to tax part-timers, that is often older people, she is going to

remove the triple Bock. Everybody says, well, millennial is have no

money and pensioners have all the money, that is slightly weird

because of house values and all the rest of it. But you've got a lot of

millennial is who actually will need millennial is who actually will need

to save money so they can going to care homes. To actually knock the

people who are your main voting constituency which is what they may

be, Philip Hammond wanted to put more tax on self-employed people,

and that was very unpopular, and they had to withdraw from it because

it had been a David Cameron pledge. But what you are saying, basically,

is that we don't know what Theresa May is. I've got pictures of her

with a big remain sign and a big smile on her face, dear reason me, I

will never do do another election. To be fair, we don't know what she

is saying because we haven't seen is saying because we haven't seen

the manifesto. For people who are just joining us, let me just remind

you what we are talking about. We are referring to the mile and this

is yet another poll that has been run, the Mail on Sunday says that it

will be leader has gone to the selection because the poll was so

high. This is what Philip Hammond wanted to do in the budget. He did

want to put higher taxes on the self-employed. And then there is

this constant talk about the triple lock. The triple lock is lovably

something that will perhaps have to be looked at because if you've got

austerity and trouble with the NHS and people don't have enough money

for schools and the rest of it, the money will have to come from

somewhere. My feeling, and I think a lot of people, feel bad because it

is our money, it is wasted. You see in the NHS, you've got people in...

Not doctors and nurses but management earning more than the

Prime Minister. You've got all sorts of... Bonnie, I'm going to ask you

to skip ahead to the Telegraph simply because I'm trying to get

through three more. There is another... We've got to hear, I

think. We are going to start off with this online pharmacy because

this is really quite disturbing. Bonnie, remind us what the story is

about. This is about an online pharmacy backs by the NHS, it has

admitted selling a bleaching agent as a revolutionary Europe. I have to

say, as someone brought up in America, this is kind of an American

story in the worst possible way. What is the drug for? It is

basically for some kind of breathing problems. It hasn't aged in it but

it is the kind of story that indicates the shape that the NHS is

in at the moment. And I think, I think one of the things that Labour,

and I think why this might be smart, is that the NHS is one of the call

election issues, V core issue, always, in this country. If you can

find a way to show that the NHS is being eroded under a particular

comment, it does strike a chord. The thing I don't understand is why,

actually, you depoliticise the NHS, because it is so important, you set

up a Royal commission with doctors, with nurses, would make wives, with

matrons, remember when they used to be matrons, and the matron had some

say-so about over the bar should the clean doorknob. But if you keep the

NHS as a political football like education, then it becomes a

political football. Each and that can take to does for doing different

things with it. Instead of sorting it out. We have had a statement said

to us by the company that make the drug. The name of the day is

pharmacy to you. Regulators are investigating them. People who have

used this was suffering from vomiting and breathing problems. The

pharmacy pharmacy spokesman has told the Sunday Telegraph that this drug

is no longer available from them. As you say, disturbing that you have to

get that point. Something which should perhaps say is that online

pharmacy says it is a revolutionary new jewel, don't believe them, go to

your doctor. Let's turn to the Times. Jim cooked up nuclear clash

in the suburbs. Apparently, Kim who needs money because he needs staff

of the missiles, is going to fight it at South Korea, he has got,

apparently, they've got... North Korea have a house in black page

that has been making money by some sort of deal and it is apparently

fraudulently claimed against London insurers. -- North Korea have a

house in Blackheath. Seriously, they have discovered that North Korea has

this secret house in Blackheath. A strange place to choose. Trying to

raise money to buy plutonium or whatever you need for the missiles.

At the bottom of the story, North Korea says it is complete nonsense.

Either of you running the marathon tomorrow? Sadly not. In my mind. On

the front page of The Times, huge security net from marathon. The Duke

and Duchess of Cambridge are going because it is for their charity this

year. I also think because of what has happened in Paris, there will be

strong security on a day like this. I always wondered why they put that

kind of story in the paper, in a sense. Of course there is going to

be a huge security net, why does it have to be in the paper? I suppose

to reassure people. And maybe for people to take some sort of

identification with them. We are going to come back to this in half

an hour. Don't go away. Even Bonnie, a pleasure. To stay with us. We will

be back at 11:30pm. Coming up next, it is The Film Review with Simon

McCoy. Don't go away.