14/08/2017 The Papers

STUDIO: Hello and welcome to our look ahead to

what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow.

With me are the author and broadcaster

Deputy Political Editor of The Independent.

Let show you what we have so far: the Financial Times reports that the

UK's largest adult education provider faces collapse after a

damning report by the education watchdog Ofsted. The Metro leads

with the court case of an 18-year-old cyclist who killed a

pedestrian and later went online to blame the victim. The i leads with

the Government's publication of its blueprint for leaving the EU. The

Daily Express says that research has found that a daily glass of wine or

pint of beer can reduce the risk of early death. The Daily Mail leads

with the decision to silence Big Ben for four years -- so that repairs

can be carried out on its tower. The Daily Telegraph also leads with

Mps' calls for a rethink about silencing the Big Ben -- MPs. The

Guardian has in its front page Donald Trump's direct condemnation

of far-right violence in Charlottesville, 48 hours after the

events. So let's begin. Yes, independent,

the i, they have your story, which is in quite a few of the other

newspapers, which is about what we are going to do after Brexit and the

idea of up to three years transitional period, still in the

customs union...? Some viewers may be thinking, tomorrow is the day we

get some clarity, but that would be a mistake. A little bit more detail

is emerging but still far from clear. Some people may remember that

only 24 hours ago, we were insisting we would leave the customs union but

now, apparently we will ask for a temporary customs union, this is

because the government has accepted the warnings from business that

there will be chaos at checkpoints unless we have some kind of customs

deal, too late to agree a permanent deal early. Transitional one. From

there on, it still gets murky. Seeking trade deals from other

countries, the day after we leave the EU in 2019, and the rules are

that you cannot do that. We will be aligned to the customs union, you

cannot seek outside trade deals. Even if the government is proposing

this temporary customs union to take into the talks, which we resume at

the end of the month, we do not know what the will say in response.

Like any other victory, shall we do with the buckle, it feels like every

single advance made by somebody is pushing somebody else down an

enormous potholes. Hard to see this any other way, we have reached a

level of vague liveness, as you can see, and I have a vague sense that

if anybody mentions cake in the context of having it or eating it, I

will reach down the Internet and I have slap them! You know that I

adore you, but what were you thinking with that

it is directly contradicted 24 hours later, every time, it is like being

in Alice in Wonderland. We will get papers. Proposition papers. This one

tomorrow, one on Northern Ireland next week, I don't know about

anything more significant before the talks at the end of the month, we

are getting more detail, but it doesn't appear to take it forward in

terms of satisfying the EU that we have a workable proposal. The other

thing is the attitude of the Prime Minister, so we learned in briefings

at number ten today that, well, this woman called Theresa May is

returning to Downing Street on Thursday, older viewers may well

remember the name(!) she used to run the government, apparently... A

little bit of sarcasm, but she has been away... Holiday... Three and a

half weeks. You have been counting it! Brexit policy behind her back,

as though they locked her up in a Swiss chalet, took away her passport

and said, we are getting on with it in your absence, never before has a

PMB so irrelevant to what is happening. Meanwhile, across the

Atlantic, Donald Trump broke off his holiday,, after a lot of pressure on

him, to condemn as evil racism what happened in Charlottesville. -- PM.

First he manages to make his way to the US presidency, now, Fry 's

membership of the too little too late club, international club,

somebody has been slaughtered in the street by a car driven at them, he

realises that Nazis are evil, I am sure that we can also, great, well

done, will come to the party(!)... Enormous shame that in the 48 hours

before that he has said almost nothing or has said, everyone has

terrible, full seven is... 61, half a dozen of the other...! Two sides

to every story... He doesn't seem to realise the difference between Nazis

and people fighting against Nazis, there was a crucial distinction

during a whole world war that we have. -- six of one and half a dozen

of the other. He has the disposition of a particularly obdurate toddler,

so as far as anyone with that disposition can be treasured...

Encouraging aspect is that it appears to be that the president can

be forced to do something, almost against his will. Including maybe

his own daughter? Conversations with the Attorney General, the new FBI

director, perhaps they have been important, the surprise is not that

he has taken so long to condemn neo-Nazis but that he has done it at

all because he is the man who displays clear fascist tendencies,

openly racist. He was delighted to get the support of the Ku Klux Klan

last year! They see him as one of their own, he has an unhealthy

accession with going to war, possibly nuclear war! Around himself

with the far right, not a surprise that he failed to condemn neo-Nazis,

the surprise is perhaps that now, there is something positive, it is

that he can be talked around, and I'm thinking about North Korea,

obviously, hopefully saner heads can clear him -- steer him away.

Interesting story about this... Facing collapse, learn direct...

After they got a blasting from Ofsted for their training reform. --

Learn Direct. We can only just now find out about it, heroically they

have had a legal case against Ofsted to prevent this being released,

which has only just been overturned. Remember this, Learn Direct, from

the early 2000s, you could do apprenticeships, set up by a Labour

government, privatised in 2011, to a company called LDC, private equity

arm of Lloyds Bank, at the time, we owned it, as taxpayers, 40% of it,

so you will be delighted to hear that very quickly, after that

privatisation in 2011, 84% of its largely taxpayer provided cash went

on payments to managers and financiers... We can all agree, the

most important evil in any educational establishment(!), as

well as loading with ?90 million of debt, and extracting ?20 million of

dividends. Could they have a reason for this? That would be a ?500,000

they decided to spend on a racing car for Formula 1... How is that

going? It too is bankrupt...! YOU'RE WELCOME! LAUGHTER

this is the most spectacular example of what happens when it goes wrong,

privatisation, when it goes wrong, who bring money out of something

that is meant to help young people get into jobs but they seem to be

spending the money on each other, and a fast car...! Thing else which

might be perceived as a waste of money, the Garden Bridge, which,

according to the Financial Times, also on the front page, taxpayers

have already paid about ?46 million, this is the idea of a bridge with

lots of trees and stuff on it over the Thames, but it is not going to

happen. The project died a few months ago

when the Mayor of London said there would be no more funding, the reason

we have a picture of the proposed bridge is because... The trust that

was set up to push for the project has finally thrown in the towel.

Would it not have been a beautiful addition to the capital city? No, it

would have been a plaything for rich people and companies who would have

paid huge money to prods about on it in the evening, when it would be

close to the public, no public use whatsoever, and in the meantime,

pulling the plug on these test really needed transport projects

around the country, I dread to think what people in the North of England,

you cannot have decent trains and electrification project... Boris

Johnson may as well have dressed up as a shepherdess, gone out there in

full Marian Kello net, really. Big Ben is silence. It is a national

scandal! International scandal, if you check(!) -- Marie Antoinette.

The Daily Mail seems to be in favour of people working on a bell tower

being rendered deaf by bongs! Not on the member and state, not on New

Year's Eve, people are working on the bell tower, because the bells

have not been repaired for absolutely ages, there will be a

live that will go part way up so that if people fall ill when

visiting it, they can be taken down. But obviously, this is a national

disgrace... They are saying that during the Blitz, it was not

silenced. As though people were not up the tower during the Blitz.

Health and safety has succeeded where the Luftwaffe has failed.

Ridiculous. Nazi bombs could not silence the famous symbol, I'm the

worst person to talk about this, I work at Westminster, I have done for

many years. I thought you were going to say that you work in Big Ben! I

never hear it... It is not even loud, look at these people

complaining about their ears(!) I think that you stop hearing it, if

you work so close. I'm not going to miss it. Might be a priority.

Finally, good news in the daily stress, wine is the key to a longer

life! And yet here we are, stone cold sober, it's like you secretly

hate me and wish for me to die young, I don't understand it,

thought we were friends. You can have a glass of wine and it will

slash your risk... Not slashing your risk of early death, but it may, it

may, May is the crucial word there, it may have protective health

effects, and illustrated with a picture of the perpetually young Len

Goodman. A pint of beer may have the same effect. The Daily Mail suggests

coffee, so I say, maybe an espresso martini... Wine and copy... Booze

and copy, that is what you need, booze and copy, that's what we're

telling you, I'm not technically a doctor(!). We all need some good

news from time to time, but I am conscious that in a couple of days

there will be a story telling us the exact opposite. So, let's hold onto

this one for as long as we can and believe it! People are fairly

confused. Good of you to come in. Lovely to see you. That is it from

the papers tonight, you can see the front pages of the papers online on

the BBC news website. All there for you seven days a week will stop if

you miss the programme, any even in, you can watch it again on BBC

iPlayer. Thanks again to my guests and goodbye.