15/07/2017

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:00:00. > :00:19.Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be

:00:20. > :00:24.With me are John Rentoul, political columnist for the Independent,

:00:25. > :00:30.and Anne Ashworth, associate editor of the Times.

:00:31. > :00:32.Tomorrow's front pages: The Independent reports a poll that

:00:33. > :00:36.suggests that a majority of voters would be happy with a tax rise

:00:37. > :00:40.to see the salaries of emergency services staff go up.

:00:41. > :00:43.Brexit takes the front page of the Observer,

:00:44. > :00:46.with a warning from civil servants of the challenges that lie ahead

:00:47. > :00:52.The Sunday Telegraph leads with the soon-to-be published

:00:53. > :00:54.salaries of the BBC's highest earners, suggesting

:00:55. > :00:56.there are discrepancies in pay between genders,

:00:57. > :00:59.and there is also a great image of Garbine Muguruza's Wimbledon

:01:00. > :01:06.The Mail on Sunday says the French government and banking chiefs

:01:07. > :01:10.are engaged in a plot against the British banking sector.

:01:11. > :01:14.And the Times reports on the row following a Cabinet meeting

:01:15. > :01:16.in which the Chancellor Philip Hammond referred to public sector

:01:17. > :01:33.And I think we are going to have to start with that, because that is

:01:34. > :01:43.going to really annoy so many people. Well, Hammond is on the Marr

:01:44. > :01:48.programme tomorrow. How will he talked his way out of this one? And

:01:49. > :01:52.also, mustn't Hammond really be concerned about how disloyal his

:01:53. > :01:55.colleagues have been to him, because people are coming out of Cabinet and

:01:56. > :02:00.just freely sharing what has been said. It seems as though the

:02:01. > :02:06.Chancellor thinks that public sector workers are really overpaid,

:02:07. > :02:09.ludicrously overpaid is how he describes train drivers. But this

:02:10. > :02:14.seems to be on the basis of pensions. Now, we know that public

:02:15. > :02:17.sector pensions are more generous, but he may be referring to some

:02:18. > :02:22.quite controversial figures showing that the amount going each year into

:02:23. > :02:27.the typical public sector pension is almost twice that of a private

:02:28. > :02:31.sector worker. So one doesn't know whether the comparison was bad. But

:02:32. > :02:36.that is what he bases his argument on. That is certainly the Treasury

:02:37. > :02:41.view, that public sector workers do have that benefit that most private

:02:42. > :02:45.sector people do not. But it is not how public sector workers feel,

:02:46. > :02:49.because they have felt that he really squeezed for the past seven

:02:50. > :02:57.years, and this is not going to go down very well. It is not at all,

:02:58. > :03:00.and just to get the background on this, this took place, he said this

:03:01. > :03:06.during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and this is coming out now. It is

:03:07. > :03:11.the same one that he was reputed to have said that driving trains is so

:03:12. > :03:15.easy that even women can do it. As I say, they may as well hold Cabinet

:03:16. > :03:22.meetings in public. Why don't they all send us an e-mail, tweet it out

:03:23. > :03:27.maybe? The Donald Trump way. And the Sunday Times, you are also going to

:03:28. > :03:32.have an interview with the Police Federation chairman, and he will be

:03:33. > :03:36.warning that actually if police do not get a proper pay rise, security,

:03:37. > :03:41.national security, could be at risk. And yet you have got Philip Hammond

:03:42. > :03:45.saying this. There is huge amounts of restive spirit of a public sector

:03:46. > :03:51.pay. Wages have been frozen in lots of jobs, including the public

:03:52. > :03:57.sector, it is very live and it is a very saw issue with a lot of people.

:03:58. > :04:01.He seems insensitive, just at the time when you would think Mr Hammond

:04:02. > :04:07.would be positioning himself to be the hail fellow well met person who

:04:08. > :04:14.could be the next leader -- sore issue. There are people briefing

:04:15. > :04:21.that Philip Hammond -- Philip May would like his wife, Theresa May, to

:04:22. > :04:28.stand down. It is pretty undignified. It is, but as you say,

:04:29. > :04:33.we have this poll in the Independent tomorrow which shows that the public

:04:34. > :04:38.mood has changed on public sector pay. People do not agree with Philip

:04:39. > :04:43.Hammond about this, and so this is going to be very damaging for him.

:04:44. > :04:46.And it does raise the question as to who is telling the papers this kind

:04:47. > :04:50.of thing. Because it is obviously people who want to stop Philip

:04:51. > :04:56.Hammond becoming the sort of safe pair of hands option to succeed

:04:57. > :05:01.Theresa May. Interestingly, in that meeting, apparently Boris Johnson

:05:02. > :05:05.and Theresa May said that public sector workers... You should not say

:05:06. > :05:12.that they are overpaid, so we are getting a lot of details. Your poll,

:05:13. > :05:17.1500 people were polled and they believe that public sector workers

:05:18. > :05:21.should get a pay rise. Not only that but 60% of them are prepared to pay

:05:22. > :05:29.higher taxes themselves to fund it. They realise there is no free money,

:05:30. > :05:33.and that does mark quite a big shift since the... We have been, when it

:05:34. > :05:38.comes to polls, how was this poll fray as the? You have to be a bit

:05:39. > :05:42.sceptical, but it is worth asking that question, and certainly if you

:05:43. > :05:46.put... It was a question about emergency services, would you be

:05:47. > :05:52.prepared to pay higher taxes to give them a pay rise? And that is an

:05:53. > :05:56.emotive subject, what with Grenfell Tower, and so on. If you brought in

:05:57. > :06:00.about the public sector workers generally, people are less willing

:06:01. > :06:04.to pay more in taxes. The mood is shifting against the government on

:06:05. > :06:08.this. And this is going to be Philip Hammond's problem come the budget in

:06:09. > :06:13.the autumn. He needs to say something on public sector pay. He

:06:14. > :06:18.knows he will be the leader -- who knows who will be the leader of the

:06:19. > :06:22.party at that time? But people will be looking for him to make some

:06:23. > :06:27.concessions, but also, what does it mean for the tax bill for everybody?

:06:28. > :06:34.And also, if public sector pay workers on average earnings are more

:06:35. > :06:38.heavily taxed, what is the point of paying them more? He will not say a

:06:39. > :06:46.tax increase, is he? That is against Tory policy. It might be that there

:06:47. > :06:49.is some stealth taxes. He is not a chancellor worth his name unless he

:06:50. > :06:54.knows how to introduce some stealth taxes. We touched upon the

:06:55. > :07:00.leadership. We have the Sunday Telegraph talking about David Davis.

:07:01. > :07:04.Apparently he has the backing of 30 MPs who are backing him as leader.

:07:05. > :07:08.In the same article we are told that he didn't want to be leader. He was

:07:09. > :07:13.not seeking the leadership. What is going on here? Well, they would all

:07:14. > :07:18.like all their colleagues to say you are the person who will rescue us on

:07:19. > :07:23.the mess we are in. Seems as if there is disarray, just at a time

:07:24. > :07:29.when we need politicians to be operating at the height of their

:07:30. > :07:33.skills and to be thinking about Brexit and the Brexit negotiations.

:07:34. > :07:36.It seems that the Tories are in paralysis, wondering who they should

:07:37. > :07:40.knife on the back and who they should support. Who is going to be

:07:41. > :07:45.their leader? It is unedifying, it really is. No wonder we don't

:07:46. > :07:48.respect politicians. On the question is whether it is sustainable, as

:07:49. > :07:53.well. Immediately after the election I thought that is Theresa May

:07:54. > :07:57.finished, she will have to go. But then the Conservatives could not

:07:58. > :08:01.agree on anyone to replace her, so I thought well, actually, she will

:08:02. > :08:05.survive until Brexit. But with this kind of story in the papers every

:08:06. > :08:10.day, it is beginning to feel as if, you know, Theresa May won't be able

:08:11. > :08:15.to carry on for much longer, because she can't get anything done. But is

:08:16. > :08:19.David Davis the man who could go up against Corbyn? Does he appealed

:08:20. > :08:23.because he is a single parent family, grew up in... That is what

:08:24. > :08:28.his supporters are telling the Telegraph. Because he is perceived

:08:29. > :08:33.as a man of the people. And in Brussels he has to reputation there,

:08:34. > :08:39.a good relationship with the leaders. He is the only one of the

:08:40. > :08:44.Brexiteers who has improved his reputation since the referendum.

:08:45. > :08:47.Boris Johnson seems to be sinking like a stone and there is an

:08:48. > :08:51.interesting poll which finds that Boris Johnson is the most favoured

:08:52. > :08:56.to succeed Theresa May, but they also ask, if people had to choose

:08:57. > :09:01.between Boris Johnson and David Davis, then David Davis wins, which

:09:02. > :09:05.I thought was very interesting. I think that is because Conservative

:09:06. > :09:12.supporters would prefer David Davis, as they think Boris has been

:09:13. > :09:17.undermining the party somewhat. This kind of speculation cannot go on...

:09:18. > :09:21.Well, it can go on for a very long time, but it is not very good for

:09:22. > :09:25.the government, and it is difficult to know how they can pay attention

:09:26. > :09:28.to negotiating Brexit when they are busy briefing papers on how dreadful

:09:29. > :09:33.their Cabinet colleagues are. And while we watch that, we are taking

:09:34. > :09:39.our eye off the French, who are taking their bankers out of Britain.

:09:40. > :09:44.Apparently Mr Macron has spent the week being very nice to the trumps,

:09:45. > :09:48.and he wants a really hard Brexit, to disrupt the city of London, a

:09:49. > :09:52.crucial source of income tax revenue for the nation -- Trumps. And he

:09:53. > :09:58.wants all his business transferred to Paris, and he is already

:09:59. > :10:01.softening his stance on taxation. There will be further concessions.

:10:02. > :10:05.There are a huge number of very powerful French bankers here who he

:10:06. > :10:10.would like to have go home, and he would also like loads of fund

:10:11. > :10:14.managers who want to operate throughout Europe to relocate the

:10:15. > :10:18.whole of their businesses to Paris. But we always hear that they are

:10:19. > :10:21.going to leave, they are going to leave. They don't leave, though.

:10:22. > :10:27.Their kids are at school, they enjoy the life, they pay lower taxes

:10:28. > :10:31.here... This is one of the big arguments about Brexit, is whether

:10:32. > :10:35.the city of London can continue to operate at the level it has done.

:10:36. > :10:40.And I think it will be quite difficult to undermine it. I think

:10:41. > :10:46.it will take more than just a bit of disruption and a bit of tax cutting

:10:47. > :10:50.and warm words from Mr Macron. What he may get, though, is more people

:10:51. > :10:54.opening offices that, which they would be able to relocate the whole

:10:55. > :10:58.of business to. So in a way he will be able to subtly undermined the

:10:59. > :11:01.whole of the structure of the city of London, which is crucial to our

:11:02. > :11:09.economy. It is a very important source of revenue. Love bankers or

:11:10. > :11:17.loathe them. We won't answer that. The Sunday Times, schools... The

:11:18. > :11:22.more difficult GCSEs that schools will be taking part in, and they are

:11:23. > :11:27.wreaking havoc with the school system, according to the schools

:11:28. > :11:31.chief, who said the real substance of education is getting lost in our

:11:32. > :11:36.schools. It is a bit of a worrying thing. If that is actually true,

:11:37. > :11:41.that we are losing sight of the real purpose of education, what is going

:11:42. > :11:46.on here? Are we focusing on exams? It is an exam driven curriculum,

:11:47. > :11:50.that people are being taught to the exam, as they say in the trade, and

:11:51. > :12:00.they are not receiving a broader education. I mean, this is the head

:12:01. > :12:04.of Ofsted, and she saw some classes where pupils were being taught the

:12:05. > :12:12.marking system for the GCSEs rather than the actual subject they were

:12:13. > :12:15.supposed to be being taught. And people are being encouraged to drop

:12:16. > :12:20.subjects at the age of 13 because they feel they would not excel in

:12:21. > :12:30.them in the GCSEs and get a start grade. Even when we were in school,

:12:31. > :12:35.I lost geography very early on, it was too long ago. Contrast that to

:12:36. > :12:39.the French, who tend to be educating with a broader curriculum for

:12:40. > :12:43.longer, and thus are very well qualified for the workplace. Let's

:12:44. > :12:53.look to the future. The Daily Mail has a lovely story. They have a tip,

:12:54. > :13:04.the first female Doctor Who, a gorgeous picture of Jodie Whitaker,

:13:05. > :13:09.the star of Broad church, St Trinians. I am a huge fan of Doctor

:13:10. > :13:14.Who, but I don't know who Jodie Whitaker is, I am afraid. Is she

:13:15. > :13:19.quirky? That seems to me the key ingredient for a convincing Doctor.

:13:20. > :13:29.She is female, which is wonderful, but why are we making a big thing

:13:30. > :13:32.about whether the next one is female or an ethnic minority? We were just

:13:33. > :13:37.talking about this story out there, everyone seemed to know about Doctor

:13:38. > :13:44.Who, and who they liked best. It is kind of like Bond. The conversation

:13:45. > :13:49.about... OK, I knew this was going to happen. We are going to run out

:13:50. > :13:50.of time, and we have left the best story until last. Thank you for

:13:51. > :13:52.joining us on the papers. Don't forget you can see the front

:13:53. > :13:55.pages of the papers online It is all there for you seven days

:13:56. > :14:04.a week at bbc.co.uk/papers. And if you miss the programme any

:14:05. > :14:08.evening, you can watch it later Coming up next,

:14:09. > :14:11.it is Meet The Author. But that's all from me,

:14:12. > :14:14.Anne and John for this evening. There isn't a single full

:14:15. > :14:29.stop in Mike McCormack's