10/03/2018 The Papers

to their rival's 22 points.

Hello and welcome to our look ahead

to what the papers will be

bringing us tomorrow.

With me are Nigel Nelson, political

editor of the Sunday Mirror,

and the political

commentator, Jo Phillips.

Lovely to have you both again.

Many of tomorrow's front

pages are already in.

The Observer leads on Government

figures that reveal almost four

times more men than women

are in Britain's highest paid posts.

Same old story, Hague? -- hey?

The Sunday Express says

that the ex-Russian spy

Sergei Skripal and his daughter

Yulia may have been poisoned

by the contents of a parcel that

went undetected in the post.

The Sunday Telegraph reveals that

senior government figures

are leading a plan to ban Russian

officials involved in corruption

and human rights abuses.

The Sunday Times claims that

since becoming Prime Minister,

Theresa May has received over

800,000 pounds worth of donations

from Russian oligarchs.

The Sunday People says that

the Russian President Vladimir Putin

is planning eight more attacks.

He is not done yet!

Of course, it's worth a reminder

that Russia has not yet been found

responsible for

the Salisbury attack.

The Sunday Mirror front page

features claims that up to 1,000

children could be involved

in a new child abuse

and trafficking scandal.

And finally, the Mail on Sunday

headlines allegations of bullying

against a former executive

of the ONE charity,

which was founded by Bono.

The accusations have been denied

by the person accused.

So Russia dominating

the majority of the front pages,

as it has for the past few days,

so let's have a closer look.

We will stay with this of course,

the express, and the story that the

poison may have been delivered by

literally, delivered by parcel?

Yes,

this is slightly contradictory to

what we have just heard in the news

headlines that they do think that a

possibility they were contaminated

in the restaurant that they went to

but according to neighbours, they

have seen courier vans delivering

parcels which is not unusual because

most of us have deliveries from time

to time, but it is obviously another

line of enquiry. They are

investigating that. What is quite

interesting in the express story is

that they have spoken to an expert,

who knew there were so many experts

coming out of the woodwork apart

from myself and Nigel, of course,

that this particular expert is

saying that any would be SSTs and is

probably now safely back in Russia,

this would have been very

well-organised job, if indeed it was

carried out by Russian orbiter such

-- sanction of the Russian

government, it would have been a

3-person team. Weather has done it

probably dropped the gas and all the

nerve agent and would be awake --

who we are. There is an awful lot of

stuff for people to go through as he

referred to, they have 200 or

something witnesses.

You think we

will ever be able to trace it back,

Nigel?

I have no way of knowing

that. I think it will probably be

able to work out at some point who

is probably responsible. A

signature... Yeah. I do think anyone

is hiding at the moment, I think

they are sitting in the Kremlin at

the moment so you have to put a cave

yet out on no evidence yet but even

so, we're pretty sure who is behind

it. So the important thing is the

spy fraternity knows who is behind

it, they will all be gossiping

amongst themselves on the various

networks and those of them who are

traitors to Russia will be feeling

very frightened at the moment.

Let's

turn to the people because there is

a story of a list?

This is coming

from a former KGB FSB major who

defected to Britain 20 years ago. He

is on a hit list, I have known him

for four years, his name is Boris,

he says he had a call back in the

Brutt 12 which happens to be his

birthday, too, warning him he had

been put on this hit list along with

scrip fell and the number of others.

The kind of people who would not be

surprised that they are on the hit

list, in fact we talk to one of them

today, your brother, who was the

American-born British financier who

has been born in Russia and he

brushed it off, of course I am on a

hit list, I expect sort of the

Russians to come after me but they

haven't got me yet.

He said that to

the Commons Select Committee last

week.

Yes.

It are the most appalling

and chilling thing, I do believe

they want to kill me but they

haven't figured out how to do it but

in my analysis, this wasn't an

attack on an individual, this is an

attack to send a message on all the

other spies, policemen and senior

military about the devastating price

of disloyalty.

That is what is going

on, about sending out messages. The

various people who appeal in this,

-- who appear in this, our best war

double agencies in the list,

Christopher Steele, if you remember,

took those unsubstantiated claims

about Donald Trump and prostitutes

in Moscow, and the variety then of

people who have defected. They have

something in common - they have

upset by the Mayor Putin at some

point or another, and if they have

ended up on the hit list then they

would expect it. -- Vladimir.

What

about this unspoken rule that you do

not target swapped spies? Is this a

mess?

It is maybe more observed in

the bridge really because the whole

point is about being a traitor. --

breach. The Russians it is the worst

possible crime and as a result you

are never quite safe. There haven't

been trying to bump up a lot

involved in spy swaps but they have

had a cloud hanging over them.

Don't

forget it was Vladimir Putin in 2006

who brought in the law, or changed

the law, allowing the FSB to operate

abroad and is the implicit

encouragement was that just be

inventive, be innovative, act on

your own initiative.

It is still

Russia but it is Russian donors that

are on the front page of the Sunday

Times, Jo.

When Theresa May became

Prime Minister she said that she

would distance her party, the

Conservative Party, the Russian

donors. And allies that the her

aides, she was stuck with a long

spoon but according to the Sunday

Times, the Conservatives have

received over 800 thousand pounds.

It is a register donations so they

are not illegal. But the Russian

oligarchs and their associates have

given them. That this is another

stick with which to beat the Prime

Minister, accusing her of being

linked in response to the poisoning

scandal. -- limp. That is obviously

come from unnamed British ministers

but the fact that it is company is

interesting. It talks about lobbying

companies who have links to the

Kremlin and Russia. It also talks

about the wife of a former minister

of Putin who gave £160,000 to play

tennis with David Cameron.

Very

quickly Nigel you may have to

explain who the redheaded bombshell

is on the front page of the times,

just so we... Context?

Indeed! Anna

Chapman had a go on Twitter today

which seems to be her preferred

method nowadays, and of course she

was a part of the spy swap from the

US who some of the people on the hit

list were also swapped for.

I take,

the Sunday Telegraph, and what we

are talking about possible action

here but we have to say that this

has been written, we don't know yet

if it is Russia, we don't have any,

you know, talking about someone

action that might be taken.

This is

a good point, before we can actually

do anything, we have to have pretty

conclusive proof who is behind it.

So we are making assumptions,

Russia, it sort of looks like Russia

but we don't know. Certainly, no

sanctions can come into play and

till that has been satisfactorily be

improved but the idea is we joined

the US and Canada which is obviously

much better if we do proper

sanctions and the kind of things

they are talking about is these

bands, stopping certain Russians

coming here with their money,

freezing the assets in this country

of which there is quite a bit --

visa bans I would like to see it go

a bit further and talk about

actually expelling Russian

intelligence officers. We know who

they are. There would be a

tit-for-tat, some of our good Blues

in Moscow but it seems to me if you

don't stand up to it, if you don't

make some kind of, a stand, to say

we won't put up with this, and you

guys will have to go.

Jo, do you

think Britain has too much to lose

by upsetting, because there is a

little bit of weighing up here.

If

you look the instance, we talk about

oligarchs and people with vast sums,

unimaginable amounts of money, who

are heavily invested in property

particularly in London and around

Europe as well, but you know, if you

take those people, wherever they

come from, whether it is Russia,

China, the Middle East or wherever,

and you take them out, of the

investment game, you cause a huge

crush at a time when our economy is

precarious anyway because of the

uncertainty over wrecks it. And I

think you know whether it is Russian

or whether it is any other... --

Brexit.

It is a case of show me the

money, isn't it?

I don't think

it's...

Are you talking about the

Conservatives?

If they were to give

back the £800,000...

Absolutely. The

venue and I would have to go and

prove that who we are to sell a

house or buy a house or anything

else, it seems that different rules

apply to different people who have a

lot of money.

OK, somebody who will

have a lot of money, it seems, let's

turn back to the express and who

dares wins, this is the SAS

training. You are looking lost,

Nigel.

I am only lost because that

is not me. I am lost no longer!

Crosstalk.

Honestly, he is dreaming.

This is the Sunday express, they

must from this story, how many were

all weddings are we had, because it

is training for the imminent next in

line or close in line to the throne,

hostile environment training, but

Meghan Markle had hers before the

wedding and has been out with the

SAS allegedly and they used live

bullets to frighten the wits out of

her.

OK. Let's turn to the Observer,

I saw this and I thought here we go

again.

Did you? What did you think

of this? I am a bloke and I cannot

say that, but...

I cannot say that,

I don't have one. That is the gender

difference.

The store is reporting

four times more men than women are

in high paid post, that is basically

it, and the trouble about it is the

figures initially sound awful, the

extension 81,000 men, only £100,000

compared to 179,000 women. When it

comes to millionaires, 17,000 men,

2000 women. The trouble is if you

drill down into those figures and

find out what it actually means, I

do think it gives you a picture of a

gender pay gap. And surely, where

the gap exists is where you have men

and women to bring exactly the same

job and the women are paid less.

That is patently wrong, it is

different from those figures to say

that this is.

It is also, it doesn't

put it in any context because if you

go in that sort of money the chances

are you are not in your 20s and what

would be more interesting... Not in

an average job. It would be more

interesting to look people in their

30s where we will be in 20 years

time.

Let's go very quickly, I don't

no if we 50s in in about 90 seconds,

back to the Sunday Times. Let's talk

about General Newton -- gender

neutral cards.

It is a marketing

ploy, honestly.

We stay with the

Sunday Times, zooming in here, I

love this.

I love this because I

love the film three billboards

outside adding Ms Lawrie which

Frances McDormand obviously won the

Oscar for. You haven't seen it, I

thoroughly recommend it, but this is

a wonderful cartoon. -- Three

Billboards ourside Ebbing, Missouri.

We are all asking that question.

Nigel and Jo, it has been a

pleasure. Thank you for watching.

Don't forget, you can see the front

pages of the papers online

on the BBC News website.

It's all there for you, seven days

a week, at BBC.co.uk/papers,