02/06/2017 The Papers

to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow.

With me are Kevin Schofield, editor of PoliticsHome,

and Camilla Tominey, deputy political editor

Welcome to you both, lots to talk about, as usual! We will start with

the front pages. The Mirror leads with

the Conservative candidate for South Thanet, Craig

Mackinlay, being charged The Tories have said

the allegations are unfounded. The election is also

the main story on the Express, with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon

saying she'd be willing to enter coalition talks with Labour

if the result is inconclusive. The Mail cites research

which suggests statins can dramatically cut the risk

of dying from breast cancer. Theresa May has vowed

to consult businesses at every step

of the Brexit negotiations, in an interview with

the Financial Times. The i leads with the

Conservative candidate for South Thanet, Craig Mackinlay,

being charged with allegedly overspending in

the 2015 general election campaign. The Telegraph shows a picture

of the Prime Minister And the Guardian says Labour

has accused the Tories of using fake-news ads

to attack Jeremy Corbyn. All the stories, in some form or

another, are connected to the election of people standing in it. A

lot of interesting stuff for you both this week, as political

correspondence, the Daily Telegraph is where we will start, Theresa May

on Question Time this evening, and of course Jeremy Corbyn appeared

later, 445 minutes, not facing each other but tough questions at times

from the audience. Brilliant for the Daily Telegraph to get this in their

first addition, and I thought it was a really interesting format, much

more valuable than the debate on Wednesday, because it was them

facing questions, and the public have played a blinder in this

election, as far as I am concerned, on TV and radio, it has always been

a member of the public - as well as good jurors -- good journalism,

don't get me wrong - that have given a good account of themselves. I was

in a taxi for some of Jeremy Corbyn's appearance, but Theresa May

appeared a bit more human and early in the week, addressing questions,

we will have to see what the papers make of it tomorrow. Obviously,

Twitter has its own bias in one direction or another, but really

interesting, a really good format for both of them to face some quite

tough grilling. In particular, for Theresa May, it seemed to be this

issue of, why should we trust you? For Jeremy Corbyn, will you or would

to ever press the nuclear button if it came to it? I think more pressure

on the Prime Minister tonight, she has not had a great campaign, to put

it mildly, whereas Jeremy Corbyn has. She had to pull it out the bag

a little bit tonight, given that polls have narrowed, if they are to

be believed, obviously, and I think she gave a reasonably decent account

of herself, her best performance, I think, of the campaign, although

that is not saying awful much, I guess. But how have things changed

in the course of it! It is remarkable, the received wisdom now,

before the election was called in Westminster, was, if Jeremy Corbyn

is leader of the Labour Party come the next election, he would crumble,

you know, the Tories would hammer him about the IRA, his past dealings

with how mass, what have you. And the opposite has been the case, he

has really thrived, I think in the intense battle of the election

campaign, and I think that is a lot to do with the fact that the polls

have narrowed in the way they have. Yes, to burying extents, it has to

be said. Let's look at the Telegraph, Tory tax pledge to high

earners, the Labour manifesto includes this idea of anyone earning

above ?80,000 would pay more tax. above ?80,000 would pay more tax.

This is seen as a key part of their plan, the Conservatives saying they

will not hammer higher earners, putting clear blue water between

them and labour, who say they will increase taxes on those earning over

?80,000 a year. It is quite significant, because the Prime

Minister has announced that the triple lock, which was in the

manifesto in 2015, that has been ditched, but this is the first time

that they have confirmed that income tax will not go up for higher

earners. But I guess the devil will be in the detail, we do not know

what the figure would be. Labour put that figure at ?80,000, we do not

know how high is high for the Conservatives. It was not long ago

that the alarm was saying, look, I want to have room to manoeuvre if I

needed, to change the tax situation. -- that Philip Hammond was saying.

Yes, particularly with this notion of this, Croke likes of it, and the

idea that the manifesto would have more brushstrokes than being locked

in. Philip Hammond has not been that

visible, has he? He has been the opposite of visible! I think Labour

will say, if you are not going to raise taxes on the higher levels,

will it be on the middle income earners? That could be the Labour

attack. May reaches out to business as Brexit tensions escalate, in the

FT, this was supposed to be the Brexit election, I wonder if there

will be more focus on this week, the suggestion that they confer with

business to find out what is required after we leave the EU. She

raises the possibility of a three-year transitional phase, which

is the first time she has gone that far, looking at 2019 when we leave,

it could be another two or three years before we finally removed

completely from the European Union. This was supposed to be the Brexit

general election, that is how it was framed by the Prime Minister when

she announced the election, and the narrative is kind of run away from

the Conservatives, really, and in the same way that Michael Fallon

talking about taxes is another attempt to bring it back to where

they want the debate to be, because they want it to be about who you

want to go into the Brexit talks, do you wanted to be the Prime Minister

or Jeremy Corbyn? I think the Tories are confident, if that is the debate

for the rest of the campaign, then they will come out on top.

Businesses say they want stability and predictability, and going into

those negotiations, nobody can put them 100% stability. Having said

that, I think the market hasn't jitters at some of these polls

narrowing and the prospect of Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn in charge of

the economy. Equally, sorry to be obsessed with the old Bill Hamid

element of the stories, but buried at the bottom, this notion that Mrs

May has not clearly endorsed Philip Hammond into the future at the

Treasury. Ask if she can guarantee that he will remain Chancellor, she

says, once again, I think Philip Hammond is doing a very good job as

Chancellor, which is what you said in a press conference. And he has

not been seen since! Well, they are all volunteers! Will tread carefully

with the Daily Mirror, this is an active case, the Tory MP charged

over an election expenses, Craig Mackinlay standing in South Thanet.

Without talking about the details of this, because it is active, how much

of a problem could this be, or is it just a distraction for the

Conservatives? Probably just a distraction, and to be fair, the

contempt laws will protect the Conservatives, because there cannot

be much discussion about it until proceedings have been concluded.

Equally, I think the timing is pretty appalling, they have been

wanting this to be the only headline about it for now, to cast it aside

and concentrate on other matters. It has to be said, innocent until

proven guilty, as Mrs May said, they will mount a robust defence, but not

the best timing, and he remains as the candidate in South Thanet,

famously contested by Nigel Farage last time around, so I think it will

be very interesting to be at that count, arguably! I saw one or two

people on Twitter comparing it to James Comey, the FBI director

getting involved in the American election, I don't think it is quite

at that level, but you know, it is something that the Tories could have

done without. Let's look at the Daily Express, Nicola Sturgeon, I

will help Corbyn, a disaster, say the Tories. She has said this

before, she has offered a the SNP up for coalition. The so-called

coalition of chaos that the Tories like 2.2, that notion that they

could thwart Theresa May's plans in a minority government. -- like to

point too. I think this is going to be an anathema to any Brexiteers who

think that any coalition of this think that any coalition of this

type will thwart not only Brexit but bring about a second Scottish

independence referendum. Corbyn said he was relaxed about that idea, so

the Conservatives will go on the attack and say this is basically

spelling the end of the Union and the end of our exit from the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn said no way, would Nicola Sturgeon really want

coalition with Labour? To be fair, she has said that she is not talking

about coalition, not SNP MPs being in a Labour coalition cabinet or

anything like that, but if we are in a hung parliament situation, there

would need to be deals done by the governing party in order to get its

programme through, and in many respects what she's saying makes

perfect sense, they would need to be horse trading, a bit of give and

take. But Manna from heaven as far as the Conservatives are concerned,

this play is really badly on the this play is really badly on the

doorsteps down here, I mean, in 2015, that famous poster of Ed

Miliband sticking out of Alex Salmond's top pocket killed Ed

Miliband as far as his chances, people down here did not like the

idea of the SNP tail wagging the Labour dog, you know, and I would

well. Great time to be a political well. Great time to be a political

journalist, but exhausting! Thank you for staying up late!

Don't forget, you can see the front pages

of the papers online on the BBC News website.

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