:00:10. > :00:14.to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow.
:00:15. > :00:15.With me are Kevin Schofield, editor of PoliticsHome,
:00:16. > :00:17.and Camilla Tominey, deputy political editor
:00:18. > :00:27.Welcome to you both, lots to talk about, as usual! We will start with
:00:28. > :00:28.the front pages. The Mirror leads with
:00:29. > :00:30.the Conservative candidate for South Thanet, Craig
:00:31. > :00:32.Mackinlay, being charged The Tories have said
:00:33. > :00:34.the allegations are unfounded. The election is also
:00:35. > :00:37.the main story on the Express, with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon
:00:38. > :00:39.saying she'd be willing to enter coalition talks with Labour
:00:40. > :00:42.if the result is inconclusive. The Mail cites research
:00:43. > :00:44.which suggests statins can dramatically cut the risk
:00:45. > :00:47.of dying from breast cancer. Theresa May has vowed
:00:48. > :00:49.to consult businesses at every step
:00:50. > :00:51.of the Brexit negotiations, in an interview with
:00:52. > :00:55.the Financial Times. The i leads with the
:00:56. > :00:57.Conservative candidate for South Thanet, Craig Mackinlay,
:00:58. > :00:59.being charged with allegedly overspending in
:01:00. > :01:05.the 2015 general election campaign. The Telegraph shows a picture
:01:06. > :01:07.of the Prime Minister And the Guardian says Labour
:01:08. > :01:15.has accused the Tories of using fake-news ads
:01:16. > :01:28.to attack Jeremy Corbyn. All the stories, in some form or
:01:29. > :01:33.another, are connected to the election of people standing in it. A
:01:34. > :01:36.lot of interesting stuff for you both this week, as political
:01:37. > :01:41.correspondence, the Daily Telegraph is where we will start, Theresa May
:01:42. > :01:46.on Question Time this evening, and of course Jeremy Corbyn appeared
:01:47. > :01:51.later, 445 minutes, not facing each other but tough questions at times
:01:52. > :01:55.from the audience. Brilliant for the Daily Telegraph to get this in their
:01:56. > :01:59.first addition, and I thought it was a really interesting format, much
:02:00. > :02:02.more valuable than the debate on Wednesday, because it was them
:02:03. > :02:07.facing questions, and the public have played a blinder in this
:02:08. > :02:11.election, as far as I am concerned, on TV and radio, it has always been
:02:12. > :02:19.a member of the public - as well as good jurors -- good journalism,
:02:20. > :02:23.don't get me wrong - that have given a good account of themselves. I was
:02:24. > :02:26.in a taxi for some of Jeremy Corbyn's appearance, but Theresa May
:02:27. > :02:31.appeared a bit more human and early in the week, addressing questions,
:02:32. > :02:36.we will have to see what the papers make of it tomorrow. Obviously,
:02:37. > :02:39.Twitter has its own bias in one direction or another, but really
:02:40. > :02:45.interesting, a really good format for both of them to face some quite
:02:46. > :02:50.tough grilling. In particular, for Theresa May, it seemed to be this
:02:51. > :02:54.issue of, why should we trust you? For Jeremy Corbyn, will you or would
:02:55. > :02:58.to ever press the nuclear button if it came to it? I think more pressure
:02:59. > :03:02.on the Prime Minister tonight, she has not had a great campaign, to put
:03:03. > :03:06.it mildly, whereas Jeremy Corbyn has. She had to pull it out the bag
:03:07. > :03:11.a little bit tonight, given that polls have narrowed, if they are to
:03:12. > :03:16.be believed, obviously, and I think she gave a reasonably decent account
:03:17. > :03:19.of herself, her best performance, I think, of the campaign, although
:03:20. > :03:25.that is not saying awful much, I guess. But how have things changed
:03:26. > :03:31.in the course of it! It is remarkable, the received wisdom now,
:03:32. > :03:34.before the election was called in Westminster, was, if Jeremy Corbyn
:03:35. > :03:39.is leader of the Labour Party come the next election, he would crumble,
:03:40. > :03:44.you know, the Tories would hammer him about the IRA, his past dealings
:03:45. > :03:49.with how mass, what have you. And the opposite has been the case, he
:03:50. > :03:53.has really thrived, I think in the intense battle of the election
:03:54. > :03:58.campaign, and I think that is a lot to do with the fact that the polls
:03:59. > :04:02.have narrowed in the way they have. Yes, to burying extents, it has to
:04:03. > :04:08.be said. Let's look at the Telegraph, Tory tax pledge to high
:04:09. > :04:18.earners, the Labour manifesto includes this idea of anyone earning
:04:19. > :04:26.above ?80,000 would pay more tax. above ?80,000 would pay more tax.
:04:27. > :04:30.This is seen as a key part of their plan, the Conservatives saying they
:04:31. > :04:33.will not hammer higher earners, putting clear blue water between
:04:34. > :04:38.them and labour, who say they will increase taxes on those earning over
:04:39. > :04:41.?80,000 a year. It is quite significant, because the Prime
:04:42. > :04:49.Minister has announced that the triple lock, which was in the
:04:50. > :04:52.manifesto in 2015, that has been ditched, but this is the first time
:04:53. > :04:57.that they have confirmed that income tax will not go up for higher
:04:58. > :05:01.earners. But I guess the devil will be in the detail, we do not know
:05:02. > :05:06.what the figure would be. Labour put that figure at ?80,000, we do not
:05:07. > :05:10.know how high is high for the Conservatives. It was not long ago
:05:11. > :05:15.that the alarm was saying, look, I want to have room to manoeuvre if I
:05:16. > :05:21.needed, to change the tax situation. -- that Philip Hammond was saying.
:05:22. > :05:29.Yes, particularly with this notion of this, Croke likes of it, and the
:05:30. > :05:31.idea that the manifesto would have more brushstrokes than being locked
:05:32. > :05:47.in. Philip Hammond has not been that
:05:48. > :05:52.visible, has he? He has been the opposite of visible! I think Labour
:05:53. > :05:56.will say, if you are not going to raise taxes on the higher levels,
:05:57. > :06:01.will it be on the middle income earners? That could be the Labour
:06:02. > :06:05.attack. May reaches out to business as Brexit tensions escalate, in the
:06:06. > :06:09.FT, this was supposed to be the Brexit election, I wonder if there
:06:10. > :06:15.will be more focus on this week, the suggestion that they confer with
:06:16. > :06:21.business to find out what is required after we leave the EU. She
:06:22. > :06:23.raises the possibility of a three-year transitional phase, which
:06:24. > :06:29.is the first time she has gone that far, looking at 2019 when we leave,
:06:30. > :06:32.it could be another two or three years before we finally removed
:06:33. > :06:36.completely from the European Union. This was supposed to be the Brexit
:06:37. > :06:41.general election, that is how it was framed by the Prime Minister when
:06:42. > :06:45.she announced the election, and the narrative is kind of run away from
:06:46. > :06:48.the Conservatives, really, and in the same way that Michael Fallon
:06:49. > :06:52.talking about taxes is another attempt to bring it back to where
:06:53. > :06:56.they want the debate to be, because they want it to be about who you
:06:57. > :07:02.want to go into the Brexit talks, do you wanted to be the Prime Minister
:07:03. > :07:06.or Jeremy Corbyn? I think the Tories are confident, if that is the debate
:07:07. > :07:12.for the rest of the campaign, then they will come out on top.
:07:13. > :07:17.Businesses say they want stability and predictability, and going into
:07:18. > :07:20.those negotiations, nobody can put them 100% stability. Having said
:07:21. > :07:24.that, I think the market hasn't jitters at some of these polls
:07:25. > :07:27.narrowing and the prospect of Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn in charge of
:07:28. > :07:31.the economy. Equally, sorry to be obsessed with the old Bill Hamid
:07:32. > :07:38.element of the stories, but buried at the bottom, this notion that Mrs
:07:39. > :07:43.May has not clearly endorsed Philip Hammond into the future at the
:07:44. > :07:47.Treasury. Ask if she can guarantee that he will remain Chancellor, she
:07:48. > :07:57.says, once again, I think Philip Hammond is doing a very good job as
:07:58. > :08:04.Chancellor, which is what you said in a press conference. And he has
:08:05. > :08:06.not been seen since! Well, they are all volunteers! Will tread carefully
:08:07. > :08:13.with the Daily Mirror, this is an active case, the Tory MP charged
:08:14. > :08:17.over an election expenses, Craig Mackinlay standing in South Thanet.
:08:18. > :08:24.Without talking about the details of this, because it is active, how much
:08:25. > :08:28.of a problem could this be, or is it just a distraction for the
:08:29. > :08:32.Conservatives? Probably just a distraction, and to be fair, the
:08:33. > :08:35.contempt laws will protect the Conservatives, because there cannot
:08:36. > :08:39.be much discussion about it until proceedings have been concluded.
:08:40. > :08:42.Equally, I think the timing is pretty appalling, they have been
:08:43. > :08:48.wanting this to be the only headline about it for now, to cast it aside
:08:49. > :08:52.and concentrate on other matters. It has to be said, innocent until
:08:53. > :08:56.proven guilty, as Mrs May said, they will mount a robust defence, but not
:08:57. > :09:00.the best timing, and he remains as the candidate in South Thanet,
:09:01. > :09:05.famously contested by Nigel Farage last time around, so I think it will
:09:06. > :09:11.be very interesting to be at that count, arguably! I saw one or two
:09:12. > :09:14.people on Twitter comparing it to James Comey, the FBI director
:09:15. > :09:18.getting involved in the American election, I don't think it is quite
:09:19. > :09:21.at that level, but you know, it is something that the Tories could have
:09:22. > :09:28.done without. Let's look at the Daily Express, Nicola Sturgeon, I
:09:29. > :09:33.will help Corbyn, a disaster, say the Tories. She has said this
:09:34. > :09:38.before, she has offered a the SNP up for coalition. The so-called
:09:39. > :09:46.coalition of chaos that the Tories like 2.2, that notion that they
:09:47. > :09:53.could thwart Theresa May's plans in a minority government. -- like to
:09:54. > :09:55.point too. I think this is going to be an anathema to any Brexiteers who
:09:56. > :09:59.think that any coalition of this think that any coalition of this
:10:00. > :10:02.type will thwart not only Brexit but bring about a second Scottish
:10:03. > :10:06.independence referendum. Corbyn said he was relaxed about that idea, so
:10:07. > :10:10.the Conservatives will go on the attack and say this is basically
:10:11. > :10:14.spelling the end of the Union and the end of our exit from the EU.
:10:15. > :10:19.Jeremy Corbyn said no way, would Nicola Sturgeon really want
:10:20. > :10:24.coalition with Labour? To be fair, she has said that she is not talking
:10:25. > :10:29.about coalition, not SNP MPs being in a Labour coalition cabinet or
:10:30. > :10:33.anything like that, but if we are in a hung parliament situation, there
:10:34. > :10:38.would need to be deals done by the governing party in order to get its
:10:39. > :10:42.programme through, and in many respects what she's saying makes
:10:43. > :10:45.perfect sense, they would need to be horse trading, a bit of give and
:10:46. > :10:47.take. But Manna from heaven as far as the Conservatives are concerned,
:10:48. > :10:51.this play is really badly on the this play is really badly on the
:10:52. > :10:57.doorsteps down here, I mean, in 2015, that famous poster of Ed
:10:58. > :11:01.Miliband sticking out of Alex Salmond's top pocket killed Ed
:11:02. > :11:06.Miliband as far as his chances, people down here did not like the
:11:07. > :11:10.idea of the SNP tail wagging the Labour dog, you know, and I would
:11:11. > :11:14.well. Great time to be a political well. Great time to be a political
:11:15. > :11:16.journalist, but exhausting! Thank you for staying up late!
:11:17. > :11:20.Don't forget, you can see the front pages
:11:21. > :11:22.of the papers online on the BBC News website.
:11:23. > :11:25.It's all there for you seven days a week at bbc.co.uk/papers,
:11:26. > :11:27.and if you miss the programme any evening,
:11:28. > :11:30.you can watch it later on BBC iPlayer.