0:00:00 > 0:00:02time. All it finished. Chelsea are taught by one point. That is all
0:00:02 > 0:00:07your sport for now. Now on BBC News it is time for the papers, with Ben.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be
0:00:20 > 0:00:22bringing us tomorrow.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24With me are the political commentator James Millar,
0:00:24 > 0:00:32and the Education Editor of the Sunday Times, Sian Griffiths.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Following the UN's resolution for a ceasefire in Syria,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40the Observer carries the picture of two children in Eastern Ghouta,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43where it's thought hundreds have died in the past week.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48Brexit leads the Sunday Telegraph - the paper has a piece from senior
0:00:48 > 0:00:51cabinet member David Lidington, in which he claims that the SNP
0:00:51 > 0:00:53could split the UK economy and ruin trade deals.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Staying with Brexit, and the Sunday Express reports
0:00:57 > 0:01:02that the Prime Minister will declare Britain's best days lie ahead
0:01:02 > 0:01:04in a major speech coming up next week.
0:01:04 > 0:01:11Topshop owner Philip Green is under fire in the The Sunday Times
0:01:11 > 0:01:13which claims the billionaire planned to sell his high-street empire over
0:01:13 > 0:01:17dinner with two HSBC bankers.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19And The Mail on Sunday reports that the Ministry of Defence
0:01:19 > 0:01:21is setting up a helpline for British troops suffering
0:01:21 > 0:01:22from conditions including PTSD.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25So no consensus over the main story, but Brexit appears in several
0:01:25 > 0:01:35guises, perhaps not surprisingly, let's have a look.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Let's start off with the observer. They're talking about labour, Jeremy
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Corbyn. Jeremy Corbyn Reno was going to make an important speech
0:01:48 > 0:01:55tomorrow. Which may commit Labour to staying in the customs union.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Absolutely. He's going to be a little bit annoyed this morning
0:01:58 > 0:02:01because the observer has splashed on the story. There are splits,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04exposing splits within the Labour Party. Because 80 senior figures
0:02:04 > 0:02:12across the party, including Baroness Kennedy and Lawrence, have warned
0:02:12 > 0:02:18Corbyn that he is not going to be able to fund his promised fund more
0:02:18 > 0:02:21schools, more hospitals, unless the UK stays in the EU single market.
0:02:21 > 0:02:27Jeremy Corbyn poised to make a speech tomorrow that he's gone to
0:02:27 > 0:02:29signal that Labour will back permanent membership of the customs
0:02:29 > 0:02:35union, this is just going to be seen as not a helpful intervention at
0:02:35 > 0:02:36this stage. It is extraordinary. As a country,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41we are getting nearer and nearer the door, if you like.
0:02:41 > 0:02:47We still don't really know what lies outside her door. Yes, the timing of
0:02:47 > 0:02:49this is perhaps more interesting than the content. Because we know
0:02:49 > 0:02:52there are lots of people in the Labour Party who would rather we
0:02:52 > 0:02:56were still in the EU, never mind in the single market and Customs union.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59It does show up the splits and labour. We know there are splits in
0:02:59 > 0:03:04the Tory party. It is exactly same on the other side. As you say,
0:03:04 > 0:03:09exactly what either party wants, never mind what were going to end up
0:03:09 > 0:03:13with, remains something of a mystery, really.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15According to the Sunday express, Theresa May is also to be making a
0:03:15 > 0:03:19big speech on Brexit this week and sounding very optimistic.
0:03:19 > 0:03:25The country's best days lie ahead. You are the Prime Minister would say
0:03:25 > 0:03:30that, really.What you make of that? It is a small word that is very
0:03:30 > 0:03:39interesting. She has said, if we get them right, Brexit will be beginning
0:03:39 > 0:03:42of a bright new story. If we get it right. You would expect
0:03:42 > 0:03:45a Prime Minister to be saying, we will get this right, are best days
0:03:45 > 0:03:49are ahead of us. But she's saying is that it is fascinating. It goes to
0:03:49 > 0:03:54the heart of the uncertainty around. She's making a big speech on Friday,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58the big speech on Brexit which will set out apparently what the Cabinet
0:03:58 > 0:04:02have agreed. But we don't know exactly what that is yet and as you
0:04:02 > 0:04:06say, the clock is ticking. We're into march on Friday so there was
0:04:06 > 0:04:08not much more than one year until we leave the EU.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Whatever happens. I thought as well, with the story, when you turn the
0:04:12 > 0:04:18page away from the best days ahead, says May, the story is exposing
0:04:18 > 0:04:22splits in the Tory party because it has got Chris Patten saying that it
0:04:22 > 0:04:26is completely unrealistic that the UK can replace the benefits of
0:04:26 > 0:04:28single market membership of the global trade deals. There is a great
0:04:28 > 0:04:32quote from him, all this business about Walter Raleigh and Britain is
0:04:32 > 0:04:38pretty much for the birds, you know. The rhetoric is all rather grander
0:04:38 > 0:04:40nationalistic. There is a quote from Donald Tusk
0:04:40 > 0:04:46saying this as having your cake and eat it. He will be overseen the
0:04:46 > 0:04:49negotiation so, you know, to Theresa Makin set out what she likes on
0:04:49 > 0:04:54Friday. The EU can then turn round and say, yes, you're not getting it.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Then where does that leave us? Disunity within the Tory party, the
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Labour Party, you thought about. But according to the Sunday Telegraph,
0:05:01 > 0:05:08disunity within the United Kingdom. Maybe Scotland doing its own trade
0:05:08 > 0:05:10deals, making things difficult, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12You could not make this up. Essentially the Government is saying
0:05:12 > 0:05:17that if you have different. Your biggest market, which you are next
0:05:17 > 0:05:21to, that is a bad thing. Surely Brexit means we're going to have a
0:05:21 > 0:05:25print rules to our biggest market, who we are next to. And yet they are
0:05:25 > 0:05:28saying that the SNP of the Scottish Government, which asked by the
0:05:28 > 0:05:30different things, the Scottish Government and the Scottish
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Parliament are different to party political entities. They're doing a
0:05:32 > 0:05:39bad thing by wanting more power and by taking back control for
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Edinburgh. This is somehow not acceptable. And it will not play
0:05:43 > 0:05:50well in Scotland. I'm quite sure. It's just weird, I think.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54This idea that Scotland and Wales would like to have more powers to
0:05:54 > 0:05:58negotiate trade deals, you know, praised Brexit. I'm Welsh and I
0:05:58 > 0:06:04cannot see the logic in it but in the other hand, it is this idea that
0:06:04 > 0:06:06the UK will be weakened, you know, if it becomes for separate nations
0:06:06 > 0:06:12or try to negotiate. There is power in unity and so, yes, I'm disturbed
0:06:12 > 0:06:20by the Sunday Times this morning. We had that Chequers summit of the
0:06:20 > 0:06:25inner Brexit War Cabinet, whatever you want to call it, which there
0:06:25 > 0:06:27was, apparently consensus of a kind. And we've got pictures and some of
0:06:27 > 0:06:32the papers of that war cabinet. There was a nice cosy sort of fire.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36I'm not sure if it is a real log fire or a gas fire. And they're all
0:06:36 > 0:06:41in armchairs and on sofas, sitting around, talking about the future of
0:06:41 > 0:06:44the country. It is quite interesting just to see them around not the
0:06:44 > 0:06:49Cabinet table but around a rather posh living room like that.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55It is a classic picture tells a thousand stories, doesn't it? The
0:06:55 > 0:06:59power politics going on a few sips wear. David Davis at the Prime
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Minister's left by the fireplace, apparently that was a prime position
0:07:01 > 0:07:08to have. Michael Gove reanimated at her right hand.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11They are all numbered just in case you don't know who is who from that
0:07:11 > 0:07:16stop shop. One of the things we remarked on is
0:07:16 > 0:07:19how few women are in this gathering. Just see that we counted. We also
0:07:19 > 0:07:25noted that the men were gesticulating rather animatedly and
0:07:25 > 0:07:28woman sitting there with their hands folded in their laps. There are all
0:07:28 > 0:07:34kinds of... And I love these kind of photos on the Sunday papers because
0:07:34 > 0:07:37they tell you so much. Theresa May trying all the time to
0:07:37 > 0:07:42keep this consensus or establish a consensus. Do you wonder now whether
0:07:42 > 0:07:46maybe looking back she was right to try and called a snap election?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Because she needed a majority which obviously shouldn't get, but it
0:07:49 > 0:07:52would have made her life so much easier if she had a decent majority
0:07:52 > 0:07:54in the Commons. You forget that last April anyone
0:07:54 > 0:08:02would've said she should draw a snap election and get a big majority do
0:08:02 > 0:08:07what she likes. Not work out like that. It is unfair to suggest that
0:08:07 > 0:08:11she should've seen ill exactly how that election should play out though
0:08:11 > 0:08:13she suddenly was responsible for many of the Tory mistakes that were
0:08:13 > 0:08:19made that led to the result but we got. But, yes, she must lie awake at
0:08:19 > 0:08:21night wishing she had that huge majority of 100 that she was
0:08:21 > 0:08:26dreaming of a year ago. Let's move away into the murky world
0:08:26 > 0:08:33of spies. It is always fun Sunday morning. In the Sunday Times,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35they've got unmasked, the Daily Telegraph reporter who spied for
0:08:35 > 0:08:44Moscow. His name was Floyd and he was nicknamed Pink Floyd. She was
0:08:44 > 0:08:49the Communist affairs correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, which is a
0:08:49 > 0:08:51great job title, isn't it? A fabulous story.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53Who would have thought the commonest affairs correspondent would be a
0:08:53 > 0:08:57communist spy? It is a fabulous story and he is called David Lloyd.
0:08:57 > 0:09:05He is a former British diplomat, and, as you say, he became Communist
0:09:05 > 0:09:08affairs correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Times
0:09:08 > 0:09:13revealed the escape prosecution. He was unmasked just after the time
0:09:13 > 0:09:16that Donald Maclean disappeared and he was never prosecuted. The
0:09:16 > 0:09:19thinking is that he was not prosecuted because it would just
0:09:19 > 0:09:21have been such a huge embarrassment have yet another, you know, Russian
0:09:21 > 0:09:28spy in Britain. He was actually given a job. It was all dealt with
0:09:28 > 0:09:34very quietly and he was given a job in the Daily Telegraph, and then
0:09:34 > 0:09:39editor and deputy editor had in fact work for MI6. So we don't know
0:09:39 > 0:09:42exactly why the deal was struck, whether it was just too, you know,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46save red faces all round. Or whether he perhaps provided more
0:09:46 > 0:09:49information. We don't know. There was a lot about the story that we
0:09:49 > 0:09:54don't know but it is just a fabulous story.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Plenty of entry, which is what you want from a spy story.
0:09:57 > 0:10:04And the mail on Sunday, they've got a story about another well-known
0:10:04 > 0:10:08journalist. The BBC's own John Simpson, and how he nearly fell for
0:10:08 > 0:10:12a communist spy honey trap. It is an interesting insight into
0:10:12 > 0:10:17how it worked. He was having trouble in his marriage at the time. And,
0:10:17 > 0:10:21here we go. The communists found a glamorous young lady to try
0:10:21 > 0:10:26persuading to, well, into a honey trap, exactly.
0:10:26 > 0:10:33I don't think you need to say any more. Honey trap covers it.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38John Simson and honey trap are not words I want to dwell on.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44We were chatting earlier about what propels people to do this kind of
0:10:44 > 0:10:47thing. Whether it is that you are inspired by communism and you feel
0:10:47 > 0:10:54this is a good ideology. Whether it is actually that you are a man and
0:10:54 > 0:10:58some rather beautiful young woman from Eastern Europe comes along with
0:10:58 > 0:11:00legs up to their armpits and seduces you.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03I always thought it would be rather flattering to be approached but
0:11:03 > 0:11:06nobody ever approached me to be a spy.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10You would say that, though, wouldn't you? I would, that's clever. Very
0:11:10 > 0:11:13clever. Sunday Times front page. They've got a big splash about
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Philip Green. What you make of that? An
0:11:15 > 0:11:21interesting choice of splash. They might be trying to get at something
0:11:21 > 0:11:29else. The story is that, allegedly, Philip Green talks about selling off
0:11:29 > 0:11:32his Arcadia group, talked about selling fish shops. You very much
0:11:32 > 0:11:40says, no, nothing in the story actually happened. Which is a
0:11:40 > 0:11:45slightly odd story for a splash. Is there something more to this story?
0:11:45 > 0:11:48It might have more to run, I suspect. We will have to work that
0:11:48 > 0:11:56out. The observer, they are leading on Syria which has been so sad, so
0:11:56 > 0:11:58tragic. Horrific, all week, really. Another picture of misery therein
0:11:58 > 0:12:04Syria. After that you end ceasefire resolution which does not seem to
0:12:04 > 0:12:10have made much difference says bar. It is a very sad picture. Two little
0:12:10 > 0:12:17children at a makeshift clinic in rebel held area. The Security
0:12:17 > 0:12:22Council voted in favour of a 30 day ceasefire and they're still been
0:12:22 > 0:12:30jailed and people are still dying. Very sad.There is no end in sight.
0:12:30 > 0:12:36We've been talking about the papers and comes up every so often and it's
0:12:36 > 0:12:39so incredibly depressing, isn't it? Because there is no obvious end.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Even, you know, the ceasefire. Within minutes, according to the
0:12:41 > 0:12:48coverage, there was no fighting. The world just seem so powerless at
0:12:48 > 0:12:51the moment, doesn't it? To do anything. It is likely for
0:12:51 > 0:12:53themselves to a standstill except they haven't because they're still
0:12:53 > 0:12:58fighting. As education editor you're
0:12:58 > 0:13:03interested in the University story that is in the observer.
0:13:03 > 0:13:11This is a story on the front page of the observer. And the headline is
0:13:11 > 0:13:17revealed, university chief's 5-star expenses. The story based on
0:13:17 > 0:13:20requests and it lays bare the lavish expense account of some British
0:13:20 > 0:13:22university vice chancellors. They've already been criticised for
0:13:22 > 0:13:27their allegedly high salaries. Very big salaries, approaching half £1
0:13:27 > 0:13:29million in some cases. This is a Channel 4 special programme tomorrow
0:13:29 > 0:13:36and there are some juicy bits, really, I guess. The questionable
0:13:36 > 0:13:42items include a pawn star martini. A Fortnum & Mason hamper. One
0:13:42 > 0:13:53university paid £1600 for their Chancellor's pet dog to be relocated
0:13:53 > 0:13:56from Australia. He must have flown first-class. Of
0:13:56 > 0:13:59course, you know, this is coming at a time when universities and facing
0:13:59 > 0:14:05the worst industrial action they've seen for decades. Strikes are to bus
0:14:05 > 0:14:10week and it is a 14 day strike which could be extended into the summer.
0:14:10 > 0:14:16The good hits student exams. It is over pension cuts and students at
0:14:16 > 0:14:18the moment, lectures have been cancelled, they are demanding
0:14:18 > 0:14:21refunds for their fees. It is a complete mess and given how many
0:14:21 > 0:14:27overseas tunes we have here, what a huge important business our
0:14:27 > 0:14:31universities are for Britain. It really needs to be sorted out.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35You get a sense of higher education is in a state of turmoil at the
0:14:35 > 0:14:37moment. That is definitely true. The one thing guaranteed to make any
0:14:37 > 0:14:41situation worse is dropping the word expenses. That is just the magic
0:14:41 > 0:14:45word. Or a pawn star martini.
0:14:45 > 0:14:52I wasn't sure about that, that is a drink, right?
0:14:52 > 0:14:57It has in it. Oh, you know what it what it is? It seems tacky to have a
0:14:57 > 0:14:59pawn star martini. Would expect a vice Chancellor to
0:14:59 > 0:15:06have a proper martini. What is being done about those high salaries were
0:15:06 > 0:15:08talking about? Is anything going to change on that?
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Ministers have come up with very strong words. There is a new
0:15:10 > 0:15:13regulator coming in at the beginning of April and they will have powers
0:15:13 > 0:15:20to fine universities that continued to paint vice chancellors salaries
0:15:20 > 0:15:23that are not justified. A vice Chancellor can show that the buck
0:15:23 > 0:15:26salaries justify their in the clear but adding some of the salaries way
0:15:26 > 0:15:32above. Especially when we're seeing lecturers now facing £10,000 cuts to
0:15:32 > 0:15:37their pensions and many of them are on short-term contracts.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40It is timing, isn't it? Terrible timing given the strike is all about
0:15:40 > 0:15:45pensions. Suddenly you're finding of another nearby towns is getting a
0:15:45 > 0:15:49huge amount of pay, they can do this as well. That you might not that
0:15:49 > 0:15:54closely linked but it is very easy to fudge the two together.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58£1600 to bring your pet dog from Australia. That seems a bit over the
0:15:58 > 0:16:04top. There was a good cartoon on the front page of the Sunday Telegraph
0:16:04 > 0:16:07from Matt, who is always liable to make us laugh.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Exactly. Have you got that led to readers of what Matt says? We have
0:16:11 > 0:16:17of 30 of Matt been celebrated in recent days and it is remarkable how
0:16:17 > 0:16:21he is always on point. This one is what looks like two dogs outside the
0:16:21 > 0:16:25university and one saying, if a philosophy lecturer goes on strike,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29and all his students sleep through it, did the strike ever happen? It
0:16:29 > 0:16:34is a serious and issue but it gets to the point and makes you laugh.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37An incredibly difficult skill, actually, to do time after time. I
0:16:37 > 0:16:41wonder if that is true. I wonder if some of them have been sleeping
0:16:41 > 0:16:44through the strike. Anyway, OK, let's finish off on the rugby.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Now, I know, James, you're interested in this.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52Did you enjoy... I've got a foot in both camps on
0:16:52 > 0:17:00this.Who do you support, tell us? I think the Scottish addition to the
0:17:00 > 0:17:05Sunday Telegraph has a different page. I expect the Scottish addition
0:17:05 > 0:17:13had a jubilant Scottish player after they beat England 25 have then --
0:17:13 > 0:17:1525-13. Do you sport England or Scotland?
0:17:15 > 0:17:20You will mean all sorts of trouble here. Historically, growing up in
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Scotland, you were required to choose one or the other and you
0:17:22 > 0:17:28would... I suddenly decided to choose the one who tends to win
0:17:28 > 0:17:32more, whose England. But I still wish Scotland what
0:17:32 > 0:17:35they're playing anybody else. But you are a Scottish? I was born
0:17:35 > 0:17:42in England so our foot in both camps as I see it.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46My timeline on Facebook and Twitter have been overtaken by jubilant
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Scots who are absolutely over the moon, which is lovely to see.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Because it has been ten years since they last won and apparently it was
0:17:52 > 0:17:57a good game. I confess I missed it, unfortunately. I will try to catch
0:17:57 > 0:17:59the highlights. I believe the highlights are on YouTube. Your
0:17:59 > 0:18:04recommended to get a bowl of porridge while you're watching them.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08It is not the championship more interesting, it is underdog story.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12It is just a really nice story.Are you a rugby fan? I was at the match
0:18:12 > 0:18:14where Wales beat Scotland a few weeks ago.
0:18:14 > 0:18:23Why you? Yes. And Wales. It was a lovely atmosphere. We were at
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Cardiff station going back in the evening and I was saying to you,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30there a Scottish bagpipe player in his kilt and he was playing Scottish
0:18:30 > 0:18:33tunes. And if it had been a football match it would've been a very brave
0:18:33 > 0:18:38person to be standing at Cardiff station surrounded by drunken Welsh
0:18:38 > 0:18:41bands but it was rugby is of the Welsh bands were just singing along
0:18:41 > 0:18:43and that's the difference between rugby and football. Such a nice
0:18:43 > 0:18:48atmosphere to to the games. It is such a family atmosphere.Game
0:18:48 > 0:18:55gentlemen. Is that right? Very good quote, yes, that is
0:18:55 > 0:18:58perfect. Thank you very much for both of you.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00That's it for the papers today.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Don't forget you can see the front pages of the papers online
0:19:03 > 0:19:04on the BBC News website.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06It's all there for you - seven days a week at
0:19:06 > 0:19:09bbc.co.uk/papers - and if you miss the programme any
0:19:09 > 0:19:11evening you can watch it later on BBC iPlayer.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Thank you to James Millar and Sian Griffiths.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Goodbye.