0:00:00 > 0:00:03A wicket in Adelaide, England are 29-1.
0:00:03 > 0:00:11That's all the sport for now.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers
0:00:19 > 0:00:20will be bringing us today.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23With me is the political commentator James Millar and Sian Griffiths,
0:00:23 > 0:00:29Education Editor of the Sunday Times.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32The Observer leads with news that Theresa May's social mobility Tsar,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35Alan Milburn, has resigned in protest against the
0:00:35 > 0:00:36government's policies.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38The Sunday Times goes with the same story,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41reporting that Mr Milburn accused ministers of betraying the people
0:00:41 > 0:00:43who voted for Brexit.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46The Mail on Sunday says a Labour peer has been
0:00:46 > 0:00:48wrongly claiming expenses - the peer says he will pay
0:00:48 > 0:00:50some of the money back.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52The Sunday Telegraph reports on dissent within
0:00:52 > 0:00:55the Conservative Party over the role EU courts will play
0:00:55 > 0:00:58in the UK after Brexit.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01And the Sunday Express claims the upcoming royal wedding will lift
0:01:01 > 0:01:04the economy by half a billion pounds and boost the UK's diplomatic
0:01:04 > 0:01:13relationship with the United States.
0:01:13 > 0:01:22Let's start off, Alan Milburn quitting along with the rest of the
0:01:22 > 0:01:27social mobility team. Is it a surprise?I don't think it is
0:01:27 > 0:01:31completely a surprise. It is embarrassing for Theresa May because
0:01:31 > 0:01:36she has made this a personal mission of hers. She said the famous quote,
0:01:36 > 0:01:42we will make Britain a country that works, not for the privileged few
0:01:42 > 0:01:47but for everyone of us.When she first arrived at Downing Street.It
0:01:47 > 0:01:53was her pledge. So Alan Milburn has quit today as her social mobility
0:01:53 > 0:01:59tsar, taking with him three other members of the commission, including
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Julian Sheppard, a former Tory Education Secretary. It is
0:02:04 > 0:02:08embarrassing. Not completely unexpected because there is a back
0:02:08 > 0:02:14story to this, which is of course, Alan Milburn, who has been the
0:02:14 > 0:02:17social mobility tsar for quite a long time, his position came to an
0:02:17 > 0:02:23end this summer and the post is being readvertised. So he's making
0:02:23 > 0:02:28political capital from this, because I think his position was going to be
0:02:28 > 0:02:32readvertised. It was open for other applications and he has come out and
0:02:32 > 0:02:37said I am quitting and this government is not doing enough to
0:02:37 > 0:02:40mend the divisions of our society and make it easier for poorer people
0:02:40 > 0:02:46to access wealth, jobs and opportunities.James, it is time for
0:02:46 > 0:02:51the Sunday papers to report on their front pages, could he be accused of
0:02:51 > 0:02:55gesture politics by the Prime Minister?Yes, he has jumped before
0:02:55 > 0:03:02he was pushed. He is a former Tony Blair Minister and has done an
0:03:02 > 0:03:08excellent piece of media management in a classic Blairite fashion.Do
0:03:08 > 0:03:13you think Alastair Campbell might have been involved?I don't know,
0:03:13 > 0:03:17but it is a good bit of media management because he would have
0:03:17 > 0:03:22been out of the post probably anyway. But the stuff he has put in
0:03:22 > 0:03:28his resignation letter is quite explosive. He said the government
0:03:28 > 0:03:32doesn't have the bandwidth to look into this because of the Brexit
0:03:32 > 0:03:41stories going on. He said the worst position in politics is to set out a
0:03:41 > 0:03:46policy to heal social divisions, then do nothing about it. It is
0:03:46 > 0:03:51hard-hitting and for a Prime Minister who is already fairly weak,
0:03:51 > 0:03:57the Prime Minister 's -- the papers will lap that.The government does
0:03:57 > 0:04:01have two focus on Brexit, and it is hard to focus on anything else at
0:04:01 > 0:04:07the moment?Obviously, they have to focus on Brexit, but you cannot
0:04:07 > 0:04:13forget the fact that people who voted for Brexit voted because they
0:04:13 > 0:04:16were feeling hopeless about their prospects and the prospects about
0:04:16 > 0:04:25their children. Focusing on Brexit ignores the problem is why we got to
0:04:25 > 0:04:29the position we are now in. Alan Milburn is right to be highlighting
0:04:29 > 0:04:38this issue. If you don't tackle it, what you risk is extremism,
0:04:38 > 0:04:43populism, these part of the country feeling left behind, really getting
0:04:43 > 0:04:48very, very angry and where does it lead to? Civil Unrest. It is
0:04:48 > 0:04:56worrying.Brexit and social mobility, Brexit will have a massive
0:04:56 > 0:05:00impact, it will happen and will have a huge impact. Part of that will be
0:05:00 > 0:05:05economic and that will impact on social mobility. Whether that it is
0:05:05 > 0:05:09being worse off all better off, depending on what you think will
0:05:09 > 0:05:13happen, conditions at work and the benefits guaranteed by the EU at the
0:05:13 > 0:05:17moment, it is all connected and you cannot ignore social mobility to do
0:05:17 > 0:05:24a trade deal with New Zealand, you cannot ignore it.Coming at the end
0:05:24 > 0:05:29of a difficult week for the Prime Minister, the Damian Green saga and
0:05:29 > 0:05:35other things, and this resignation. That is why it is on the front pages
0:05:35 > 0:05:40of two papers. It is not that big a deal. The government was having a
0:05:40 > 0:05:44decent time post-budget, getting their act together. It looks like
0:05:44 > 0:05:48they will get some stuff going on with Brexit coming to an agreed
0:05:48 > 0:05:56position. It could be a lot worse in terms of front pages.There was a
0:05:56 > 0:06:03time when Theresa May, people thought, she only had a few days but
0:06:03 > 0:06:09she is still hanging on.She is, but who is a possible contender for the
0:06:09 > 0:06:13job? Who wants the job? These pictures on the front of the
0:06:13 > 0:06:24Observer very revealing.Florists in Berkshire.Biting her lip, looking
0:06:24 > 0:06:29great, tired and anxious. He would want to be in her position.There is
0:06:29 > 0:06:36a narrative that she is, suggested partly because she was a woman and
0:06:36 > 0:06:41these papers are produced by men, suggesting she is a bit weak,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45surrounded by flowers because she is a lady. I am always concerned about
0:06:45 > 0:06:51that narrative on what is driving it.And you can always find a
0:06:51 > 0:06:55picture of a politician looking tired. Onto the Telegraph, children
0:06:55 > 0:07:00being offered counselling in the classroom because of the mental
0:07:00 > 0:07:05health crisis. We hear so much about young people facing this mental
0:07:05 > 0:07:11health crisis and it is a step that is sensible to send experts into the
0:07:11 > 0:07:16classroom?It is a step in the right direction, I am glad this is a Green
0:07:16 > 0:07:22paper coming out tomorrow. It is a joint Green paper between the health
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Department and the education Department and is trying to address
0:07:25 > 0:07:30this problem. It is an epidemic of mental health disorders among our
0:07:30 > 0:07:35young people in schools, children as young as five.What is the reason
0:07:35 > 0:07:39for that? Is it social media, an increase in reporting on mental
0:07:39 > 0:07:45health problems, why do we have this epidemic?There isn't one single
0:07:45 > 0:07:50reason. If you talk to headteachers, they are very worried. They come up
0:07:50 > 0:07:54with a range of factors they think may have caused it. That comes from
0:07:54 > 0:07:58living your life and social media to testing exams, GCSEs and A-levels
0:07:58 > 0:08:05being made harder, SATs in primary schools. There is an acceptance of
0:08:05 > 0:08:10young people but there aren't enough jobs for many of them when they come
0:08:10 > 0:08:17out of university. I do agree, there is more being talked about in terms
0:08:17 > 0:08:21of mental health and the Sunday Times has the same story today. They
0:08:21 > 0:08:29have targeted all sorts of things, Prince Harry talking about his
0:08:29 > 0:08:34mental health problems, which has been helpful in breaking the stigma,
0:08:34 > 0:08:39opening up the conversation. One in four of us, probably more will
0:08:39 > 0:08:43suffer from a mental health disorder, that can go on to
0:08:43 > 0:08:48self-harming, depression, self-harming, anorexia and sadly,
0:08:48 > 0:08:54some people kill themselves. But talking about it, having an outlet
0:08:54 > 0:08:57for your feelings, hopefully this will be able to identify the
0:08:57 > 0:09:03children at risk and stop the conversation.One of the problems is
0:09:03 > 0:09:07the NHS has been criticised for not being very good at mental health
0:09:07 > 0:09:12treatment, particularly amongst the young?Don't get too excited because
0:09:12 > 0:09:18this will not happen until 2021 so a lot of kids struggling at the
0:09:18 > 0:09:23moment, it will not help them. My concern with this, it is coming at
0:09:23 > 0:09:27it from the wrong end of the telescope. If you ask me what is to
0:09:27 > 0:09:37blame, it is Michael Gove.That is a little bit harsh?His education
0:09:37 > 0:09:42reforms have made exams much harder. I have been looking at secondary
0:09:42 > 0:09:45schools for my daughter and the teachers are saying they have had to
0:09:45 > 0:09:50set up meditation rooms because the students are buckling under the
0:09:50 > 0:09:54weight of expectation from exams. That is what is causing a lot of
0:09:54 > 0:10:00this. Not all of it, but correlation is not necessarily causation.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Michael Gove is in here to answer that criticism but he will say he's
0:10:04 > 0:10:10trying to improve standards in education.But at what cost? That is
0:10:10 > 0:10:14the question. I defer to your expertise, but standards have gone
0:10:14 > 0:10:22up, but what cost are we doing that? Exams cannot be the only reason
0:10:22 > 0:10:26behind a mental health crisis?Not the only one, but if you looked at
0:10:26 > 0:10:33the education system you might be able to do with it that way, rather
0:10:33 > 0:10:41than send in therapies.Sian, ease up on exams, can be tackled it that
0:10:41 > 0:10:45way?At the end of the day, our kids have to compete with kids from
0:10:45 > 0:10:49across the world for job snobs standards need to go. Also two
0:10:49 > 0:10:58families, working, that has had a big effect on mental health in
0:10:58 > 0:11:03children. But it is good something has been done to address it. I'm
0:11:03 > 0:11:11about to see the health department doing something about it.Speaking
0:11:11 > 0:11:16of jobs and opportunities for young people, what about the SAS? It looks
0:11:16 > 0:11:22like they might be recruiting women. I love this story. It is on the
0:11:22 > 0:11:27front of the Sunday Times. They say it is the last frontier for women
0:11:27 > 0:11:31serving in the Armed Forces in Britain. It is a proposal to modify
0:11:31 > 0:11:36the gruelling selection tests that they hold to give female recruits a
0:11:36 > 0:11:40better chance. Reading it, I gather women wouldn't have to wear such
0:11:40 > 0:11:45heavy packs when they do the selection tests. It would be great
0:11:45 > 0:11:49to see more women in the SAS but there is a bit of me that worries,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53if you cannot wear that heavy pack, he can manage it, what happens if
0:11:53 > 0:11:59you have to carry an injured male soldier in battle? Will you be able
0:11:59 > 0:12:04to carry them?With that apply to any soldier, not necessarily just in
0:12:04 > 0:12:08the SAS if they have to carry a fallen comrades from the battlefield
0:12:08 > 0:12:14as Jamaat odessey warfare is changing and I am sure there are
0:12:14 > 0:12:19many other abilities and skills in modern warfare that perhaps women
0:12:19 > 0:12:25have and could be very useful in the SAS apart from this physical
0:12:25 > 0:12:29strength.Nobody is saying women should not be physically fit, but
0:12:29 > 0:12:35the idea of how much they can physically carry.Apparently it is
0:12:35 > 0:12:38causing much discussion in the Armed Forces about whether the rules
0:12:38 > 0:12:42should be changed. I don't think there is any argument about whether
0:12:42 > 0:12:46women should be allowed in, all roles will be open to women, it is
0:12:46 > 0:12:51the question of whether they change the bar they need to get over
0:12:51 > 0:12:56because they are not as physically strong as the strongest men. That
0:12:56 > 0:13:00sounds fantastic. I would love to hear what they are having to say
0:13:00 > 0:13:06about this in an office's mess. How politically correct it might be. I
0:13:06 > 0:13:11have no idea.It would be symbolic because the SAS is this elite
0:13:11 > 0:13:17regiment and to have women SAS soldiers would be symbolic for the
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces?It would be symbolic and
0:13:21 > 0:13:25there have been these professions, traditionally have been hard to
0:13:25 > 0:13:30break into four women and this is one of the last bastions where it
0:13:30 > 0:13:34has been difficult. I think some of these tests, the police used to have
0:13:34 > 0:13:41to have a test, being a certain height and I did consider it at one
0:13:41 > 0:13:47point and realising I was too small. I think things have to be modified
0:13:47 > 0:13:52as society changes.We have a female doctor, whether we have a female
0:13:52 > 0:14:02James Bond down the line. We can have James Bond.Good idea. Let's go
0:14:02 > 0:14:14on to the Mail on Sunday. Jeremy Corbyn in expenses scandal.This is
0:14:14 > 0:14:22a senior Jeremy Corbyn in the Lords. He is not a senior aide to Jeremy
0:14:22 > 0:14:30Corbyn.Is he a friend to Jeremy Corbyn?Not really. Most of them got
0:14:30 > 0:14:35their job under Tony Blair so they are not massive fans Jeremy Corbyn.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39He has been claiming money for a second home in London. He is
0:14:39 > 0:14:46entitled to claim about £36,000 a year allowance. Because that would
0:14:46 > 0:14:50be OK if he didn't live in Brighton and commute every day from Brighton
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and he has also been claiming expenses for his train ticket from
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Brighton. If you claim one of the other you will be all right, but
0:14:58 > 0:15:08claiming both has not been looking great. He has said he will pay some
0:15:08 > 0:15:14of it back, he said he will pay the train fare. When we had the expenses
0:15:14 > 0:15:20scandal, not many broke the rules, it just looked bad.The focus seems
0:15:20 > 0:15:26to has gone on expenses from MPs to the Lords. More focus on collecting
0:15:26 > 0:15:32the daily allowance but not speaking. Various peers accused of
0:15:32 > 0:15:37not taking part in debates for months on end.Of course, he is said
0:15:37 > 0:15:43he will pay back the £41,000 for rail and taxi fares but said he will
0:15:43 > 0:15:47not play the money back for the home allowance. He is choosing to pay
0:15:47 > 0:15:54back the smaller of the amounts. There is, it seems rules in the
0:15:54 > 0:15:58Lords that can be bent. There needs a massive review of these rules and
0:15:58 > 0:16:05put in place something simple, transparent and straightforward that
0:16:05 > 0:16:09cannot be bent got around easily because they are old-fashioned
0:16:09 > 0:16:19rules.And they call him Lord swampy. He used to be a squatter
0:16:19 > 0:16:24Sobey are any he has been caught out on the issue of housing expenses is
0:16:24 > 0:16:30too good for the papers to leave. That was a long time ago.We talked
0:16:30 > 0:16:34about women in the SAS and the female James Bond and now it is the
0:16:34 > 0:16:41unisex scouts at the transgender guides, Scout leaders are told,
0:16:41 > 0:16:47don't call them boys and girls. Scout leaders have been told to
0:16:47 > 0:16:56refrain from calling children boys and girls to make sure transgender
0:16:56 > 0:17:04children are not offended. I think it is part of a general thing across
0:17:04 > 0:17:13organisations dealing with young people, to try to get them to
0:17:13 > 0:17:19consider these gender stereotypes, I am not sure boys and girls are
0:17:19 > 0:17:22gender stereotypes, but there is a movement at the moment in getting
0:17:22 > 0:17:27children to think. Should I be wearing pink if I am a girl, should
0:17:27 > 0:17:33I be wearing blue if I am a boy, should I be playing football as a
0:17:33 > 0:17:39boy, or playing with dolls as a girl. It goes, in my view into
0:17:39 > 0:17:46political correctness and lunacy. So it can go too far and I think there
0:17:46 > 0:17:50are boys and there are girls, it is fine to call them boys and girls we
0:17:50 > 0:17:57don't need gender neutral pronouns for everything.James?As part of
0:17:57 > 0:18:07that movement, this is a good thing. There is no need to call the kids
0:18:07 > 0:18:11boys and girls, you can call them children. If you do call them boys
0:18:11 > 0:18:17and girls, you trigger what that means. There is so much about gender
0:18:17 > 0:18:22stereotypes where boys are told, this is what it is to be a boy.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Girls are told this is what it is to be a girl. There was a programme in
0:18:26 > 0:18:32the summer called there are no more boys than girls. They stop calling
0:18:32 > 0:18:38them boys and girls in the classroom and the girls' confidence went up
0:18:38 > 0:18:42and the boys, in terms of the Calgary, improve. Simplifying it
0:18:42 > 0:18:49somewhat, but it helped.So you can never say boys and girls?Don't hang
0:18:49 > 0:18:53your body out to dry who calls anybody boys and girls, but there is
0:18:53 > 0:18:58nothing wrong in thinking about it and tackling those stereotypes. Then
0:18:58 > 0:19:01there is another issue where the stereotypes are so ingrained we
0:19:01 > 0:19:12start confusing or conflating gender and sex. Then we get into Sian's
0:19:12 > 0:19:17story in the Sunday Times about books on transgender being
0:19:17 > 0:19:20distributed in schools. Which is very much in the same sort of
0:19:20 > 0:19:27ballpark. That is a related but different issue. I think it is a
0:19:27 > 0:19:33good thing not to call kids boys and girls. If you can avoid it.Sian is
0:19:33 > 0:19:41laughing.I don't have a problem with this.We will have two end it
0:19:41 > 0:19:44there.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49We do take a look at the front pages of the next day's papers every
0:19:49 > 0:19:53evening here on BBC News at 10:40 p:m., but thanks again to my guests.
0:19:53 > 0:20:01Goodbye for now.