26/08/2017 The Papers

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

With me are Kevin Schofield, editor of PoliticsHome,

and journalist Rachel Shabi.

Tomorrow's front pages, starting with The Mail on Sunday

which reports that Theresa May intends to crack down

The Observer leads with news that Labour want the UK to remain

in the single market for several years after Brexit.

The Sunday Times says more than 100 academy school chain heads

are earning more than the Prime Minister.

The Sunday Express front page is dedicated to the fatal crash

on the M1 where eight people lost their lives.

The Sunday Telegraph reports on weaknesses in Parliament's

security exposed by security service tests.

Starting off, should we start with the Observer and the news that

Labour are making this dramatic shift? Is it really that dramatic?

Maybe not. This front-page is coming off a piece Britain by the shadow

rakes it -- the shadow Brexit secretary. He

is saying that Labour wants to stay in a customs union in the

transitional period. This would be in reaction to the Conservative

position which was put out by Liam Fox and Philip Hammond, saying that

in the transitional period, the Conservatives would want to leave by

the customs union and the single market. That seems a strange

position to take because presumably the transition period is intended as

a buffer so that damage is not done during that period of exit. It

relates specifically to the Labour market and the customs union. So,

Labour have said, that makes no sense. Obviously we will have a

transitional period. At least the government has come to its senses on

that, knowing that it is necessary and desirable. But as would look

very different. It is a clear distinction between the two parties.

It also says that Labour have left the option open of staying in the

single market and the customs union for good, long-term. That is

dependent on Brussels agreeing to that, which it is a big question. It

also brings up the question of free movement, I don't know how you could

remain in the single market without insisting on free movement. That is

probably the reason that most people voted to leave, they wanted to take

back control of the UK's borders. In terms of the politics, it is a very

difficult one I think for Labour to sell to the country, especially a

lot of traditional Labour voters in the north who voted for Brexit

specifically for reasons of migration. I will believe it when

the general comes out and confirms it. There have been so many

conflicting messages from not just the Cabinet, but the shadow cabinet

as well. For the general to come out and say this, I think it is

significant. How do you think that the EU will take this idea of a soft

Brexit? I think what we are hearing from the EU is just, look, whatever

it is you want to do, will you please just tell us? Put it down on

paper. What we are hearing from the EU, especially in the last few

weeks, in response to these policy papers that the government has put

out, on top of the two negotiation meetings, the reaction from the EU

has very much been, you still don't really seem to know what you want.

You haven't told us. We have asked for clarity on these three things in

this phase of the negotiation. What happens to UK nationals in Europe

and vice-versa, what happens to be Irish borders, and what happens to

the bill that Britain have to pay in order to leave? -- has. There has

not really been a possibility to move into the next phase of

negotiations with any of those. The Independent, Hurricane Harvey, the

state of Texas, according to Reuters, they are taking supplies

and food to areas that have been badly hit, it has been downgraded to

a tropical storm at the coastline is very vulnerable? Yes, the risk of

flooding is very high. We have seen pictures today coming out, the scale

of damage in places like Houston and Rockport, there has been a lot of

damage to buildings, we have seen trees on the ground, electrical

poles... It is the slow-moving aspect that is the problem. People

are hunkering down and bracing themselves for the worst. It is

hanging around. Going back to Brexit, the Independent, apparently

it is the big businesses who are leading the talks? That won't come

as a huge surprise. Not to most people. The big business appears to

be where the government is more concerned about keeping people on

side. We know that the business establishment, if you can put it

that way, they are pro- remain and they have a lot of concerns about

what happens when we leave these two trading systems. On the one hand, it

is probably not that surprising that they have a lot of influence, but

there is a significant line here, which says, the groups that donated

money were given access to the team. I think that will stick in the craw

of a lot of voters. It also says that trade unions are not getting

the same exposure. And David Davies has been laying out some walls of

his own to Russell 's? He has shown how determined he is to get things

done, giving up his bank holiday to fly... -- Brussels. He is going over

there to kickstart the next round of talks. We are told it is going to be

a lot more aggressive, he is going to go in and tell the EU to stop

dragging their heels, be a bit more flexible and try to meet the UK

halfway. I think the ball remains in Britain's Court. It is determining

what the terms of the exit are and whether the EU will agree to those

terms -- court. Yes, they are still waiting for the detail, and they? --

aren't they? Yes, determining the bill for leaving and that sort of

thing, the EU is not saying they need to know that figure exactly but

they need an idea of what the figure will be. If they can agree on those,

then they can move on. They are not even getting that. With things like

the border in Northern Ireland with Ireland, Ireland and the EU did not

cause it and don't want it. They don't necessarily understand why

they should now be having to figure out a way a round it that avoids

impacting this very difficult peace process. There is a lot of concern

in the Foreign Office about the potential process. It is so

difficult to see how you could maintain a frictionless border how

do you square that circle? Returning quickly to the Mail on Sunday, why

do you think Theresa May is setting her sights on fat cat and their

salaries? -- cats. The Mail on Sunday, they are really giving it a

full backing in terms of exposure. When you look inside, paragraph 30,

after listing a lot of these fatcat bosses, it says, there is no

indication of wrongdoing by these people nor any government

indications of wrongdoing. So, they have decided to sort of... It sounds

like a very stupid position to take, but you can see why she is taking

it. The appeal, the Labour platform of speaking to these rampant wealth

inequalities within our society, they are very popular. Of course she

wants to tap into that. Unfortunately, nobody is going to

believe her for the reasons he outlined. And now a section of her

party is going to believe she is behaving like an anticapitalist. It

seems like a loser- lose situation. Many parents will be wondering how

much their heads of schools earn after this story. -- lose-lose. It

is extraordinary, and it is quite jarring because it is in the context

of schools facing cuts, parents being told... Being asked to pay for

things all the time, textbooks, teachers buckling under the pressure

of classes and sometimes ending up feeding children who are coming to

school hungry. They are obviously facing the consequences of austerity

cuts. It makes it particularly galling when we hear of figures like

this. $420,000... Outrageous. The Princes will be honouring their ray

of light a day before the anniversary of her death. Yes, it

says that the queen and the Prince of Wales will remain out of view, I

think that is probably the best thing that they could do. The two

boys have been put forward to talk about it. It must be very difficult

for them. This will be the last time that they will have to do it, I

believe. Thank you very much for that. Have a lovely bank holiday

weekend. I am going to be indoors, working away. Coming up next, stay

tuned for Meet the Author.