18/06/2017 The Papers

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

With me are journalist Sean Dilley and political

Let us take a look at the front pages starting with...

The Observer claims that the Government repeatedly

failed to act on fire safety warnings before the fire

The Express leads with the Queen's response to the fire,

praising her Majesty for calming the nation.

The Sunday Mirror labels the Duke of Cambridge the "Prince

of Compassion" for the role he played in responding to the fire.

The Sunday Telegraph says Theresa May could face a leadership

challenge from within her own party if she waters down Brexit.

The Sunday Times reports that senior Conservative figures have told

the Prime Minister she has ten days to improve her performance or face

Let us begin. A great deal to talk about. The paper is dominated by

Grenfell Tower. Perhaps we should start with the Sunday Telegraph, the

headline, the Inferno response is not good enough, admits the Prime

Minister. A statement of the obvious, Sean? I do not suppose when

people have such an appalling experience there will be enough that

would satisfy what we would want, but it has appeared to be very

disjointed on the ground. When the Prime Minister is admitting people

have not been visible enough, a ?5 million emergency budget so people

can get food and clothing on the spot, and admitted that maybe she

did not do entirely the right thing, well, again, it probably is the

worst time for the Prime Minister, but ultimately, it is even worse for

the poor people without homes. Vincent, one has to unpack it a

little bit, there is the presentation aspect of what went

wrong and the practical aspects. That is right. Theresa May with her

mea culpa has realised that not just her but the local council has not

performed well. The initial response of the emergency services was

outstanding but the follow-up has been poor and people have seen the

pictures on the BBC of the huge amount of aid that came in but it

was even apparent on the pictures that it was not being very well

distributed and that is where perhaps the army could have come in

and some of that aid will probably not get to the people, some will be

perishable. The follow-up has been poor. That is why she has tried to

put some of it right now but she is very much behind the pace and it is

going to be very difficult for her this week. She has to get a grip on

the situation. She put civil servants in but this is a time when

a Prime Minister needs to show leadership and I think the May has

been very lacking. Just to add, Sir Craig Oliver, who was director of

communications at Downing Street under David Cameron, has said

because Downing Street has been so hollowed out, nobody really was able

to say, you are losing compassion. She has been criticised widely in

the media for what has been branded a lack of compassion. Hollowed out,

what do you mean? Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, having to resign, as a

result of tensions within the Conservative Party, concerns that

Number 10 had too much power compared to an elected MPs, but

ultimately, because it is a compromised parliament, whatever

happens, in the lead up to the Queen's Speech, and it is not a

political statement at all, the Prime Minister's position and the

Conservative Party have been hugely weakened and ultimately, the

suggestion is, it is far too soon. Gavin Barwell coming in as the chief

of staff. She is in a dinghy on her own. I do not know if you agree?

Yes, very much so. Before we move on, do you think the Prime Minister

can make up for lost ground now? It is very difficult. She has a tricky

week ahead. She is starting to try to get into the right territory, the

invitation to Downing Street to the victims yesterday. People want more

resources and potentially more money. The Government has offered ?5

million. The local community are saying it is not enough so we may

see the figure up. Moving on to the Observer and its front pages about

more about the warnings there had been. This is why it is such a

tragic event. It does appear to have been entirely avoidable. Their

headline, revealed - the tower block fire warnings ministers ignored.

This is interesting. Can I say, it is damning, the secretary of the

all-party Parliamentary group, Ronnie King, a firefighter of 41

years, a man who knows the fire industry, he has said the Government

ignored calls for sprinklers and he has pointed out the fact even in

schools they have called for sprinklers to be there and he would

argue it would potentially save lives? Interestingly, we have to say

that he appears to be the vice chairman of the national fire

sprinkler network and I think it is important to declare that interest,

it does not appear to be mentioned in the newspapers today. Ultimately,

if this was preventable, even more questions, I think, will be asked.

Put more pressure on Theresa May. Yes, all the Sunday papers are

looking at the minutiae of what happened and what went wrong and

looking at issues were warnings couldn't be ignored in the Observer

is in that territory, saying this could have happened. The Mail on

Sunday has a revelation that even the manufacturers of the cladding at

the centre of the blame game say it should not have been used on

buildings more than ten metres high and Grenfell Tower is 67 metres

high. This will all come out in the looming public inquiry but already

the Sunday papers are looking back and saying, look at what went wrong,

where lessons to be learned? That was a phrase used by the leader of

the council, Kensington and Chelsea. -- you said. Lessons need to be

learnt, but we hear this platitude spoken after every horrific action.

Lessons need to be learnt. There is going to be accountability. The Met

Police commander saying where arrests are necessary, they will

happen. But as the country, we need to be careful because there is

always the knee jerk reaction somebody must get in trouble. Yes,

absolutely, if someone has done something wrong, that is why it is

important to have the public inquiry led by an independent judge. One of

the other areas is the Kensington and Chelsea tenant 's management

organisation responsible for this. I used to live very close to Grenfell

Tower, I could see it from my bedroom window, even though it was a

private flat, I was under the management organisation and even

then it was overly bureaucratic and under managed and it was very

difficult when it came to repairs because they have an approved list

of contractors and there were arguments about the quality of

repairs and why you could not get your own contractor and one reason

was because it was a very formalised bureaucratic structure and there

will have to be significant changes in the way the organisation is run.

If those tenants and tenants of other blocks have raised concerns

and they did not listen... They are not here to defend themselves but we

will say the allegation, I am sure we look forward to a statement from

them to defend themselves as quickly as possible, and I am sure questions

will be asked and answered, but the allegation is they saved ?6,200

using the inferior cladding and the company... What happens is, when

they are heated, as Vincent said, they are supposed to be used up to

ten meters. Yes. When fire hits them, they melt and drip downwards

and also there is another aspect and I believe the Observer goes into it,

they were due fire inspection by the London Fire Brigade and the

allegation is that as a result of fire cuts, lots of fire inspections

that otherwise would have happened have not happened. If that is true,

it really would be damning. Indeed. Let me take you to pages two and

three of the Observer, you can see there... This is an interview that

has been carried out with the London fire commissioner, Dany Cotton, all

about the decisions she had to take to send in the 100 members of her

team into the burning building and the risk, the stress, the anxiety

about that, quite a moving piece. She was very much front and centre

of explaining to the public what was going on. One of the things many

people, especially if you have visited New York and other major

cities, you will see the tall buildings, in New York, for example,

they have exterior fire escapes where you see them in all of the

famous films and there was no access like that, as well as no sprinklers.

The firemen are incredibly brave. But you come back to the issue in

terms of fire safety, a big role of firefighters, because fires are

relatively rare, why were there not more protected measures especially

on higher floors? Returning to their heroism of the emergency services,

any health and safety that is possible is there, they have the

very best kit, I think we are reminded also with the London terror

attack in policing, the Ambulance Service, the fire brigade here, when

these most horrific things happen, when the city, the country is on its

knees and we are running away rightly from danger, these are the

men and women running towards that danger and it is interesting, you

are seeing a sea change of people saying, thank you. I think it is

right to say that because we read harrowing accounts of a firefighter

having to decide whether to save a lady and her baby or to save other

residents. Somebody was going to die. Can you imagine being in that

situation? These people are people and... That is exactly what Dany

Cotton, the commissioner, is saying, she realised she was sending her

team into a very risky situation but she felt there were lives to be

saved in the building, they had to go in. We should never forget, this

is what they do and why they do it. Looking at the front page of the

Express now, the Queen calms a shaken nation, this is again about

her visit to the site in West London. It is interesting because

the Queen is held in great respect and regard, but she is not known as

somebody who shows empathy or emotion. Yet, actually, this seems

to be the figure she has become. Very much so. Even her break with

tradition to talk about the difficult times and how the nation

has remained resolute in the face of adversity and her visit as well and

those of the Duke of Cambridge as well, very moving and showing

humanity and compassion. Unfortunately for the Prime

Minister, even critics within her own party, they felt she was unable

to show that. And the fact the royal family were able to go to the estate

quite comfortably, it gives the lie to the claim is coming out from the

Government that there were security concerns about the Prime Minister

going there because all of the other senior MPs have been able to go

there. The Prime Minister visited eventually, a belated visit and a

very controlled visit which has dogged her premiership so far, this

intense control which people are now starting to react against. I think

you will see with the Queen's Speech on Wednesday, and other potentially

very controlled event, talk of more protests on the streets of London,

and I think that is part of the problem. Whether Theresa May can

reinvent herself to show she is more empathetic, more humane and

spontaneous, I doubt it. She is in a very difficult place. I agree. The

Queen has said very few words but she is very much the start of this

because people can see into her heart -- the star. I do not think

anyone would suggest Theresa May is seen in human, that she would not

care... It is the response. She has been branded in some media reports

as lacking humanity. People are saying it. I do not think in reality

people would think she does not care. Unfortunately, politics and...

It is her ability to express it, the optics, a Westminster cliche. She is

coming across very poorly, as are the centre of the Government in the

way they have managed the operation. It is true, but I think other

politicians have said she lacked humanity and they need to be

careful. Michael Portillo said that, you are right. Former Kensington MP,

of course. Let us move on from the terrible tragedy, but talk a little

more about the Prime Minister because the Telegraph, it's other

front-page story, May faces a threat of stalking horse leadership

challenge. How credible is that? Yes, in terms of growing

unpopularity, that is true. I was talking this week the Conservative

ministers and their view is, yes, it is very bad, but she got us into

this mess, and at the moment, the view earlier in the week was, we

want her to get us out of it. There are all sorts of problems with a

leadership challenge, a new Conservative leader and Prime

Minister, they would be unelected, into the whole territory Theresa May

was in, seeking a personal mandate. Nobody wants a second general

election within a year, not least because the Conservative Party fear

they might lose. Even those who want to get rid of Theresa May in the

Conservative Party, they realise it could precipitate another general

election and Jeremy Corbyn could be Prime Minister. There is no doubt

the Telegraph is right to highlight the fact there is never this and

unhappiness within the Conservative Party and critically within the

grassroots that MPs are meeting this weekend at the various social and

events who are very unhappy with Theresa May. Also, there are a

couple of interesting things in this report on the Telegraph, you do not

need a stalking horse, 48 letters sent to the 1922 Committee, formed

in 1923, a little fact! It was the 1923 Parliament. This powerful group

of backbench Conservative MPs who hold the leadership to account, they

would be duty-bound to trigger the leadership election. Who would run?

Who would not be a stalking horse at the moment? The same names, they

would emerge, in terms of Boris Johnson, various others. I do not

get a sense... You would need 48 letters, 15% of the current... We

are political geeks! And a very good thing too. Let me take you to a

related story, they are all related. The front page of the Observer,

business leaders pressed the PM to rethink a hard Brexit. Negotiations

start tomorrow. The Telegraph was saying that if Theresa May slackens

on Brexit, all hell will break loose. The Observer is applying the

pressure the other way from business leaders. Am I being cynical? There

is a Cabinet split at the moment with the Chancellor, Philip Hammond,

who was supposedly not to be the Chancellor, had there have been a

bigger majority. The Prime Minister and Philip Hammond do not exactly

see eye to eye on various issues. If you look at the Conservative Party

for the last 30, 40 years, Europe and the EU have been the single

defining issue that has torn apart the party. Yes, the Observer, the

most pro-European newspapers, highlighting it. It is not just big

business, particularly Stuart Rose, the Conservative pier and the

chairman of Ocado, it is the fact Theresa May in reality cannot

probably get a hard Brexit passed her own Cabinet, her own party,

probably the country. A survey today saying 69% of people are not in

favour of a hard Brexit. It does look very difficult for Theresa May

because there is probably a growing majority within not just Parliament,

the House of Commons, her own party and the Cabinet, but the general

public as well, an argument people do not want the cliff edge Brexit

and that is another of the many headaches Theresa May will face in

the week ahead. It will look a bit bizarre if she was saying before the

general election the British public have spoken and it is very clear

what is wanted and now it slightly changes. You're not suggesting there

would be a U-turn, Vincent? A softening of the position! Let us

and with something a little nicer. It is sweltering outside. I love

wearing suits! I will be in shorts in ten minutes. A happy picture,

East Sussex, at a swimming pool. Do we complain too much? Personally

speaking, I would rather go out into boiling hot weather every day

because you can get air conditioning. The heating bills are

lower. We need something to lift the mood. Driving this morning in

London, people are smiling. We need a bit of that. The Telegraph talking

about the hottest June since records began. If there is a lido near you,

people will want to be in it. Thank you very much. That is it for The

Papers. Thanks to Sean and Vincent. Just a reminder, we take a look

at tomorrow s front pages every