:00:00. > :00:00.keep you up-to-date with that throughout the day. That is all for
:00:00. > :00:16.the sport. Now, the papers. Hello, and welcome to our look
:00:17. > :00:20.at the Sunday Papers. With me are the Deputy
:00:21. > :00:22.Europe Business Editor for the International New York Times,
:00:23. > :00:25.Preshant Rao, and the Sunday Times' Let's get you up to speed with the
:00:26. > :00:39.front pages. The Mail on Sunday claims
:00:40. > :00:41.the Conservatives' opinion poll lead has been slashed in half
:00:42. > :00:44.because of Theresa May's plans over The Sunday Mirror claims
:00:45. > :00:48.their survey gives the Tories their biggest lead since 1991,
:00:49. > :00:52.with more than 50% of the vote. Theresa May parks her battle
:00:53. > :00:54.tanks on Labour's lawn, according to the Sunday Times,
:00:55. > :00:56.as it reports on Tory manifesto plan to offer ?100 off
:00:57. > :00:59.energy bills for workers. A poll in the The Sunday Express
:01:00. > :01:04.suggest one in seven Labour voters will switch to the Tories
:01:05. > :01:10.in the upcoming election. The Sunday Telegraph
:01:11. > :01:16.has an interview with Patrick McLaughlin, Chairman
:01:17. > :01:17.of the Conservatives, who claims that Jeremy Corbyn
:01:18. > :01:20.is not suitable to take on the responsibilities
:01:21. > :01:21.of Prime Minister. And the Observer reports a pledge
:01:22. > :01:24.from Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, that he won't do any coalition
:01:25. > :01:26.deals, saying he wants the Liberal Democrats be
:01:27. > :01:40.the main opposition. Hello to you both. Let's plunge
:01:41. > :01:46.straight in with the Mail on Sunday. Tory lead slashed in half after tax
:01:47. > :01:52.U-turn. What U-turn, and which poll? It is extraordinary. Other polls
:01:53. > :02:01.elsewhere have the Tories well ahead, sort of 48, but the Mail on
:02:02. > :02:09.Sunday suggests it is down to 40- wanted nine. It is a triple the
:02:10. > :02:16.refusing to rule out any tax increases, refusing to contribute to
:02:17. > :02:18.the triple lock on pensions, and the commitment to .7% on aid, which
:02:19. > :02:24.appears to have gone down quite badly with the court Tory heartland.
:02:25. > :02:28.The interesting thing about the poll they quote is that the fieldwork for
:02:29. > :02:34.the interviews was done later, yesterday after the story started to
:02:35. > :02:38.bubble about tax. It is a curious one because we know that the
:02:39. > :02:42.Chancellor is looking for cash because he told us he was. He had
:02:43. > :02:48.his tax proposal effectively told he could not do it because it broke the
:02:49. > :02:51.last manifesto, so it won't be a surprise if the Conservatives has to
:02:52. > :02:56.find some more money and raise taxes to do so. How many of these things
:02:57. > :03:07.are real shockers? It is hard to tell which poll is to be believed.
:03:08. > :03:11.If any! I feel like still we should take all of these with a pinch of
:03:12. > :03:17.salt and an understanding that the polls have a margin for error. The
:03:18. > :03:20.Mail on Sunday does note that this would leave the Prime Minister with
:03:21. > :03:32.a majority of 46, which is more than she has currently. This is curious,
:03:33. > :03:36.it is the other thing with all of this, the Brexit effect on all of
:03:37. > :03:43.the parties. This could revive the Liberal Democrats we are told,
:03:44. > :03:49.because they are unashamedly pro the EU, but at the same time because the
:03:50. > :03:52.Conservatives and Labour have been divided over this, some uncertainty
:03:53. > :03:56.about what impact that could have on a more conventional election
:03:57. > :03:59.environment. I am sceptical about overall figures because this time
:04:00. > :04:05.round there will be tactical voting going on. There are a lot of domain
:04:06. > :04:10.is who still not happen, and can see situations where you are living in a
:04:11. > :04:13.stitch in C, people are voting tactically, not the way they would
:04:14. > :04:19.normally vote, just to make a point about exit. And the interesting
:04:20. > :04:22.thing about trying to make a comparison is that Brexit is
:04:23. > :04:29.something where every vote had the same value, whereas the in situ
:04:30. > :04:36.disease, this country operates things and makes it hard to know
:04:37. > :04:42.where their support is. The dream party is not a huge force in
:04:43. > :04:47.politics, but they were saying they would territory the lean back
:04:48. > :05:00.withdraw to have the Lib Dems a more successful run at it -- green party.
:05:01. > :05:06.If a 7000 vote Tory majority in one constituency could swing the result,
:05:07. > :05:14.they have two coordinate in some way. Let's move on to the Observer,
:05:15. > :05:21.which should appeal to both of you because you are reporting for an
:05:22. > :05:25.international audience. How foreign is this British election? This is a
:05:26. > :05:35.man who could be quite influential in Brexit terms. Yes, you will be
:05:36. > :05:43.running the European Parliament side of Brexit, who is critical of
:05:44. > :05:50.Theresa May, saying this is a nonsense, that there are pure
:05:51. > :05:56.political considerations that meant she called this debate. Of course it
:05:57. > :06:01.was. To some extent he is just stating the obvious. This is what
:06:02. > :06:09.politicians do. Precisely, the fact it is coming from a federalist and a
:06:10. > :06:14.Belgian to boot means it will not go down well. It is a classic Observer
:06:15. > :06:22.story, I can't see it running on the Mail on Sunday or the Sunday Times.
:06:23. > :06:29.Do you think there is a big risk for politicians from the EU because of
:06:30. > :06:33.the pressure in commenting on the UK election this time round?
:06:34. > :06:40.Absolutely, in the run-up to the Brexit referendum that incredibly
:06:41. > :06:47.powerful politicians from all over the world, including Barack Obama, a
:06:48. > :06:53.lot of their comments became toxic. At the same time it is worth noting
:06:54. > :06:59.that these are largely facts, that this was a bitter cold decision, but
:07:00. > :07:05.when it comes down to it there are numerous instances of elections in
:07:06. > :07:12.order to strengthen their hand, but look at Greece, it did not change
:07:13. > :07:18.that much. I'm not sure 27 other hunter Israeli care. That is an
:07:19. > :07:22.interesting person. The radical Prime Minister saying I'm going to
:07:23. > :07:25.show that the weak people are on my side and therefore the EU will have
:07:26. > :07:38.to listen to us, but it did not work. Dash-macro Greek.
:07:39. > :07:46.We know that he is great friends with Norman Lamont. An awful lot of
:07:47. > :07:53.this is about giving Theresa May some wiggle room after the
:07:54. > :07:58.negotiation. The idea that there is a two-year period that takes us into
:07:59. > :08:05.2019, and then the concern that Britain would then be in full
:08:06. > :08:09.pre-election mode, and so if she wins, and nothing is guaranteed, she
:08:10. > :08:16.has an extra two years to deal with that, to maybe get a longer
:08:17. > :08:19.transition period. So you think that could strengthen her hand, if she
:08:20. > :08:27.does not have that fear of a general election immediately after these
:08:28. > :08:34.Brexit negotiations? Yes, it gives her strength to be weaker, which is
:08:35. > :08:39.a strange thing. The Sunday Times. This is interesting. Theresa May
:08:40. > :08:47.parks her battle tanks on Labour's lawn. This was on the news channel
:08:48. > :08:56.yesterday lunchtime. I guess the campaign has not officially kicked
:08:57. > :09:02.off. The policy fight has started. Theresa May, when she first became
:09:03. > :09:05.Prime Minister, struck everyone as being surprisingly interventionist
:09:06. > :09:09.for a Conservative, and this is another example of this. This is a
:09:10. > :09:15.policy we have seen before, except it was a labour policy that was
:09:16. > :09:20.pilloried. Now the Prime Minister potentially suggesting that the
:09:21. > :09:25.Odyssey is that the Prime Minister will use the Conservative manifesto
:09:26. > :09:31.to cap the utility bills for those paying standard tariffs which have
:09:32. > :09:37.been dubbed a rip-off. It is interesting how Theresa May is
:09:38. > :09:42.looking to peel off some Labour voters where she can. This is your
:09:43. > :09:49.paper's front-page story. It is fascinating. I have seen previous
:09:50. > :09:53.evidence saying that if you put the same policy to voters, they will
:09:54. > :09:58.either supported or won't support it, depending on who offers it. The
:09:59. > :10:02.policy could be identical, but if they don't like the person offering
:10:03. > :10:09.it, it won't help. Precisely, it is like you could make a deal with
:10:10. > :10:15.China? Richard Nixon because he was Republican, but the Democrats never
:10:16. > :10:18.could. It is a crazy policy. The Tories criticised it when Ed
:10:19. > :10:23.Miliband came up with it, and other people piled in and said it is
:10:24. > :10:28.economic nonsense. Why stop at utility bills? Why not put a cap on
:10:29. > :10:32.what you pay for food in a supermarket, or in a restaurant, no
:10:33. > :10:37.starter can cost more than ?5 question mark I worked in a country
:10:38. > :10:42.where this kind of stuff went on, called the Soviet Union, where
:10:43. > :10:47.prices were controlled. I am exaggerating, but it seems odd. We
:10:48. > :10:50.have a privatised energy system, so just make sure there is proper
:10:51. > :10:57.competition. How does it look from your perspective on as a business
:10:58. > :11:01.journalist? I agree. It is hard to understand how you can make this a
:11:02. > :11:07.feasible, working policy. The idea would be theoretically you would
:11:08. > :11:15.promote competition and make it easy for customers to switch so naturally
:11:16. > :11:19.companies would only be able to offer lower prices. Unfortunately,
:11:20. > :11:25.this does not seem to have been the case in Britain. It is pretty easy
:11:26. > :11:30.to switch. It is basically because we are too lazy. Is that true? I
:11:31. > :11:36.don't know, but it is annoying. You go to a different shop to buy a
:11:37. > :11:39.different product, but the last time I switched my electricity, I don't
:11:40. > :11:43.remember it coming out a different colour or a different flavour, or
:11:44. > :11:48.being more powerful than my previous electricity. It is a pure financial
:11:49. > :11:53.thing. Life is too short. We have all got more interesting things to
:11:54. > :11:58.do. Well maybe we will have more interesting things to talk about as
:11:59. > :12:04.the pain continues. Talking of which. I don't know if we can see
:12:05. > :12:09.this on camera. This is a survey in the Mail on Sunday, proof that the
:12:10. > :12:13.paper is not taking everything in its opinion polls too seriously.
:12:14. > :12:17.This is one of my favourite things about the British elections, that
:12:18. > :12:23.there is a sense of humour. Which type of dog reminds you of party
:12:24. > :12:29.leaders? Theresa May is a labrador. Tim Farron is a poodle, and Jeremy
:12:30. > :12:35.Corbyn is a stray. A labrador, that is interesting. They are a bit
:12:36. > :12:43.docile, aren't they? She is clearly not a Rottweiler. I am not very good
:12:44. > :12:49.on dogs. I have a cat at home. Not the best person to ask. There are
:12:50. > :12:52.lots of questions in this survey, covering all kinds of things,
:12:53. > :12:59.including whether voters think Theresa May is like Helen Mirren in
:13:00. > :13:04.the Queen. There is a bit of a generational issue. One about Albert
:13:05. > :13:11.Steptoe, which probably passed dozens of people by. Precisely. The
:13:12. > :13:18.Mail on Sunday know that demographic. But be ready for more
:13:19. > :13:21.of this. Have pity for those of us who work in the newspaper industry
:13:22. > :13:28.because there are lots of these inside pages to fill. It will get
:13:29. > :13:32.more and more desperate. I don't think there is too much pity, but I
:13:33. > :13:38.know there is an election that both of you are excited about which is
:13:39. > :13:43.happening in France as we speak. Peter, your paper has been following
:13:44. > :13:47.this. As a weekly paper, there must be a dilemma about how you cover
:13:48. > :13:56.this next Sunday. We have the first round of voting today, with 11
:13:57. > :14:01.candidates. The top four are really competing, of whom two will go
:14:02. > :14:04.through to the run-off two weeks from now. So next Sunday will be
:14:05. > :14:09.fine because we will be in the middle of it. The interesting thing
:14:10. > :14:14.today is that it is so wide open. We have got Marine Le Pen from the
:14:15. > :14:20.National Front. Emanuel has emerged from nowhere. They are both the
:14:21. > :14:24.front runners, but only just ahead of the traditional conservative who
:14:25. > :14:32.has a Welsh wife and a generous expense account, and the Jeremy
:14:33. > :14:43.Corbyn of French politics. They are both behind. We can see Manuel
:14:44. > :14:49.there, he has just voted in Paris. Lots of attention for him, of course
:14:50. > :14:53.one of the front runners. The Sunday Telegraph has got a very striking
:14:54. > :15:00.photograph to tie in with that election result. Yes, the headline
:15:01. > :15:05.is "France on the brink". Every time we come into an election, we say
:15:06. > :15:08.this is the most important election the country has ever faced, but
:15:09. > :15:14.France is very interesting in the sense that these two frontrunning
:15:15. > :15:18.candidates, we don't know, if they were to win, the future of France
:15:19. > :15:22.and the EU, they are big questions that will quickly need to be
:15:23. > :15:28.answered. France's future relations with Russia. There are some really
:15:29. > :15:34.big issues at stake that extend far beyond France. The impact of the
:15:35. > :15:38.vote will be felt much further than the borders of that one country.
:15:39. > :15:45.This is an election we should care about? Very much so. It is slightly
:15:46. > :15:47.odd for us because it happens in two stages, but it is mathematically
:15:48. > :15:52.possible that we have a run-off between Marine Le Pen on the far
:15:53. > :15:55.right and the candidate on the far left, which would be an
:15:56. > :16:01.extraordinary result. They are both fairly sceptical about the euro.
:16:02. > :16:09.They are both sceptical about the EU. But very different points of
:16:10. > :16:15.view. The last time we had a National Front when I in the lead,
:16:16. > :16:20.it was Marine Le Pen's father. Some could not bear the thought of him as
:16:21. > :16:31.president. Presumably this is a big dilemma. It might be a case of
:16:32. > :16:39.voting for the least worst option. I think if we have what the polls are
:16:40. > :16:51.suggesting, that would be fairly straightforward, although if you
:16:52. > :16:57.were centre right... I suppose some people on the right that would peel
:16:58. > :17:06.off and go to Marine Le Pen. But the other, nations are very interesting.
:17:07. > :17:21.Any last thoughts on that? These four are so tightly trumped. --
:17:22. > :17:23.clumped. It is hard to tell until you get to the ballot box.
:17:24. > :17:31.Just a reminder we take a look at tomorrow's front pages every