17/03/2018

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0:00:10 > 0:00:13Hello, this is BBC News with Nicholas Owen.

0:00:13 > 0:00:16We'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment.

0:00:16 > 0:00:20First, the headlines.

0:00:20 > 0:00:2323 British diplomats are to be expelled by Moscow amid tensions

0:00:23 > 0:00:26over the nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

0:00:26 > 0:00:28The British Consulate in St Petersburg will also close.

0:00:28 > 0:00:33The Prime Minister has said Russia must account for its actions.

0:00:33 > 0:00:36We will never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens

0:00:36 > 0:00:44and others on British soil from the Russian government.

0:00:44 > 0:00:47Meanwhile, counterterrorism police have started contacting Russian

0:00:47 > 0:00:50exiles living in the UK about their personal safety

0:00:50 > 0:00:56following the suspected murder of businessman Nikolai Glushkov.

0:00:56 > 0:00:58Amber weather warnings are in force this evening

0:00:58 > 0:01:00in north-west England, Yorkshire, the Midlands,

0:01:00 > 0:01:02London and south-east England.

0:01:02 > 0:01:05Drivers are being urged to be prepared before

0:01:05 > 0:01:08setting out on journeys.

0:01:08 > 0:01:11US officials investigate claims that a political consultancy mishandled

0:01:11 > 0:01:15the data of millions of Facebook users to support Donald Trump's run

0:01:15 > 0:01:24for the White House.

0:01:24 > 0:01:27And later in Meet The Author, Rebecca Jones talks with the writer

0:01:27 > 0:01:37Blake Morrison about his new book, The Executor.

0:01:45 > 0:01:49Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be

0:01:49 > 0:01:49bringing us tomorrow.

0:01:49 > 0:01:51With me are the playwright and New European columnist

0:01:51 > 0:01:56Bonnie Greer and the economist Ruth Lea.

0:01:56 > 0:02:00Many of tomorrow's front pages are already in.

0:02:00 > 0:02:02The Observer has an interview with a whistle-blower who alleges

0:02:02 > 0:02:06that information from millions of Facebook users may have been used

0:02:06 > 0:02:10by a data company during the 2016 US presidential election.

0:02:10 > 0:02:15Both companies deny any wrongdoing The Mail On Sunday says Theresa May

0:02:15 > 0:02:18is planning a crackdown on what the paper calls

0:02:18 > 0:02:21Putin's McMafia - associates of the Russian President with money

0:02:21 > 0:02:23in the UK.

0:02:23 > 0:02:26The Sunday Times warns that a Russian cyber attack could turn

0:02:26 > 0:02:28the lights out in Britain.

0:02:28 > 0:02:30It reports that the National Grid is on alert.

0:02:30 > 0:02:33The Sunday Express has more on Theresa May putting pressure

0:02:33 > 0:02:39on Moscow with a possible travel ban for 1,000 Russian tycoons.

0:02:39 > 0:02:42The Sunday Telegraph leads on the same story

0:02:42 > 0:02:45as well as a photograph of a smiling Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

0:02:45 > 0:02:51at a St Patrick's Day parade of the Irish Guards.

0:02:51 > 0:02:54And the Sunday Mirror leads on the sex abuse scandal in Telford,

0:02:54 > 0:02:57quoting a police insider who says it was too much trouble to crack

0:02:57 > 0:03:07down on grooming gangs.

0:03:10 > 0:03:16Let's good to those newspapers. Bonnie, would you start us off? The

0:03:16 > 0:03:20Sunday express headline, nee stands up to Putin, several

0:03:20 > 0:03:23Sunday express headline, nee stands up to Putin, several examples.She

0:03:23 > 0:03:27made a pretty good speech in the House of Commons the other day, it

0:03:27 > 0:03:31was pretty strong and impressive for a lot of people because she has been

0:03:31 > 0:03:37caught up in Brexit. This was really good. She has expelled 23 diplomats.

0:03:37 > 0:03:46The Russians have expelled 23. She is battling oligarchs and looking

0:03:46 > 0:03:50into the travel and so forth. What is interesting to me, I did not look

0:03:50 > 0:03:54at the speech completely she gave to the party, but hopefully she will

0:03:54 > 0:04:00also look at the conference of the Conservative Party. She has got a

0:04:00 > 0:04:05lot of money thereto. I think that is something she should be upfront

0:04:05 > 0:04:11about. She needs to be upfront about that because we need to deal with

0:04:11 > 0:04:16all of this. There is a lot of Russian money in this country.Ruth,

0:04:16 > 0:04:22one confusion in my mind about this is bearing down on dirty Russian

0:04:22 > 0:04:27money, but then you here we are also very dependent on this money. Which

0:04:27 > 0:04:34is it? Are we dealing with criminals and can we do things to them?When

0:04:34 > 0:04:39it comes to dirty money, we're talking about money-laundering. We

0:04:39 > 0:04:42have criminal finances coming into the country. One of her measures

0:04:42 > 0:04:48issue will make it easy to see the assets of Russians who

0:04:48 > 0:04:53money-laundering. But on the other hand, an oligarchs, we have been to

0:04:53 > 0:04:59welcoming to them to come here and buy up parts of Kensington. Part of

0:04:59 > 0:05:03Kensington is known as red Square because of so many Russians that

0:05:03 > 0:05:11live there.But we will not say, I am sorry, you've got to get out.I

0:05:11 > 0:05:15suspect most are perfectly legitimate and they are, of course

0:05:15 > 0:05:19they will stay. But the whole idea we have a very close economic

0:05:19 > 0:05:23relationship with Russia needs addressing because very little of

0:05:23 > 0:05:28our trade is with Russia, less than 1% of our exports and less than 1%

0:05:28 > 0:05:34of imports coming from Russia. I suspect that where it gets

0:05:34 > 0:05:40embarrassing is BP four example has a high proportion of shares, so

0:05:40 > 0:05:43there are economic connections. But Russia is not a major trading

0:05:43 > 0:05:49partner this country.So we can afford to be mean to them?We need

0:05:49 > 0:05:53to be on the other hand... And she should do this, be even more

0:05:53 > 0:05:57specific about the fact this is not that the Russian people because we

0:05:57 > 0:06:01are in a very fragile time anyway and we do not need to have another

0:06:01 > 0:06:06group that will be yelled on the streets. We should be careful about

0:06:06 > 0:06:13that. She should be specific. These are specific instances it is

0:06:13 > 0:06:19money-laundering bus stop Londoners a nice place to live, why not?The

0:06:19 > 0:06:23Sunday Times, the same sort of story, blackout threat to Britain as

0:06:23 > 0:06:32Putin hits back. What is that about? Apparently, it is a part of GCHQ

0:06:32 > 0:06:37suggesting that there could be Russian cyber attacks on the

0:06:37 > 0:06:43National Grid, for example, that could put the lights out. In other

0:06:43 > 0:06:47words, computer systems which are very sophisticated, it could make

0:06:47 > 0:06:50them dysfunctional. I do wonder if this is scaremongering although,

0:06:50 > 0:06:55having said that, I will hope the lights do not go out. But I do

0:06:55 > 0:06:59wonder if this is scaremongering. It is fair enough. If the security

0:06:59 > 0:07:04services do think there is a threat from cyber attacks from Russia, the

0:07:04 > 0:07:10right to say it, but it is all part and parcel of the rhetoric that is

0:07:10 > 0:07:15surrounding this whole Russian British thing which is getting a tad

0:07:15 > 0:07:19out of control.Apparently, the will of God some kind of heads up from

0:07:19 > 0:07:24American intelligence because for sure there is a threat and it is a

0:07:24 > 0:07:29credible threat. If there is a credible threat to this happening to

0:07:29 > 0:07:33the American great. Maybe this is something that is going back and

0:07:33 > 0:07:38forth. I take your point about Russia, but Russia is a bad actor

0:07:38 > 0:07:44and everybody knows this. If this is in fact true that this happened in

0:07:44 > 0:07:50this country, we need to take this seriously.Going back to energy,

0:07:50 > 0:07:55about gas, there is a lot of talk about, oh, well, we do not depend on

0:07:55 > 0:07:59Russian gas, but it plays an important part in energy supplies

0:07:59 > 0:08:03across Europe, so when they and we might find that difficult.Only

0:08:03 > 0:08:07about 1% of our gas supplies actually come from Russia were as

0:08:07 > 0:08:1336% of German mystic gas consumption comes from Russia. A lot of eastern

0:08:13 > 0:08:18Europe is almost totally dependent on Russia for gas. It is interesting

0:08:18 > 0:08:22about this rhetoric and tit-for-tat un argy-bargy with Russia, on the

0:08:22 > 0:08:27whole, the rest of Europe is keeping remarkably quiet. If you really

0:08:27 > 0:08:31wanted a major sanction an Putin to make it hurt, it would have to be a

0:08:31 > 0:08:38concerted effort by Europe. And I do not think they would do that.It is

0:08:38 > 0:08:44gasp from. And it is also the borders as well. I think it seems to

0:08:44 > 0:08:49me, looking at Britain, taking Britain to lead, seeing how Britain

0:08:49 > 0:08:54will proceed through this, it is extremely complicated.They will not

0:08:54 > 0:09:00come in with major sanctions.It is too dangerous. But we are in a

0:09:00 > 0:09:05situation in the world where Putin has pushed the envelope once too

0:09:05 > 0:09:15often, and I do not know what people will do.Cyber attacks?Well,

0:09:15 > 0:09:18America is another... We could spend three hours in America, so we won't

0:09:18 > 0:09:22do that, but there is a long complicated chain of madness going

0:09:22 > 0:09:25on over there now in relation to this and it is becoming part of the

0:09:25 > 0:09:31narrative here.I think it is a good warning that let's not worry too

0:09:31 > 0:09:37much.Bonnie, let's go on to a by-product of what has been going

0:09:37 > 0:09:44on. And the Corbyn MP 's plan new party. A headline on the Sunday

0:09:44 > 0:09:54Times.The problem that happened was, Jeremy Corbyn's statement after

0:09:54 > 0:09:57the Prime Minister's statement which a lot of people felt was ill judged,

0:09:57 > 0:10:02not that it was wrong but ill judged. Some people are very upset

0:10:02 > 0:10:05about it, it is affecting poll numbers as well. There is always

0:10:05 > 0:10:10some kind of talk about something happening in the Labour Party. I

0:10:10 > 0:10:16would not think that would get too far.I was very interested last week

0:10:16 > 0:10:20because Theresa May gave two speeches in the Commons on Monday

0:10:20 > 0:10:25and Wednesday, and the response from Corbyn was rather ill judged. He did

0:10:25 > 0:10:31not judge the tone or the mood of it.We don't want to get too much

0:10:31 > 0:10:36into his position on this, but what he is saying is, we must be sure of

0:10:36 > 0:10:41what we're doing. Not many Labour MPs have gone as far as putting

0:10:41 > 0:10:49their names down on a piece of paper.It was the reaction by a

0:10:49 > 0:10:51Labour MP, Yvette Cooper, for example, and various others were

0:10:51 > 0:10:55saying, this is not a time to have a party political disagreements. As

0:10:55 > 0:11:01far as I could see, it really opened up the divisions in the Labour

0:11:01 > 0:11:08Party.Partly it was theatre. It was the one moment for it. Then they

0:11:08 > 0:11:15jumped into it, Yvette Cooper. This is where it is now.Let's go back

0:11:15 > 0:11:23now to the Sunday... Go to the Sunday Telegraph. Anger as Gibraltar

0:11:23 > 0:11:31is left out of Brexit transition. Gibraltar, we do not hear a lot

0:11:31 > 0:11:35about what is going on there and their views.We don't. I did

0:11:35 > 0:11:40actually look at the draft transitional agreement and Gibraltar

0:11:40 > 0:11:46was not mentioned. But there is time. Do not panic! There is plenty

0:11:46 > 0:11:50of time to actually come to a relationship for Gibraltar. It is

0:11:50 > 0:11:59also interesting that Spain is saying, what about us? Actually, I

0:11:59 > 0:12:03am not sure that Spanish position is very sound one because we are

0:12:03 > 0:12:08negotiating with the European Union. But some deal will be done.You can

0:12:08 > 0:12:15understand them being edgy about all of this.Now they have got this. And

0:12:15 > 0:12:20the EU gave Spain the veto. Now, that will have to be sorted out as

0:12:20 > 0:12:26well and I am sure Gibraltar do not see themselves in the whole mix.

0:12:26 > 0:12:33That is horrible. It is all very much of a mess.But whether it will

0:12:33 > 0:12:37actually use the veto is a different issue.But the habit on the table,

0:12:37 > 0:12:41and whether the user or not we do not know but they have it, and

0:12:41 > 0:12:44Gibraltar knows they have got it, and maybe that's why they are not in

0:12:44 > 0:12:51here.I think it will be sorted out. We would talk in a few months' time.

0:12:51 > 0:12:58This is an important week, coming up all of this. You thought things are

0:12:58 > 0:13:02broadly on track?They are broadly on track. There will be a council

0:13:02 > 0:13:09meeting at the end of this week, in March, when it looks as though it is

0:13:09 > 0:13:13highly possible that the council will actually agree to the

0:13:13 > 0:13:16transitional arrangements put in place. They had been negotiated

0:13:16 > 0:13:23already with Michel Barnier. And it looks to me as though we are almost

0:13:23 > 0:13:31there. A few concessions we do not like back-ups.I will listen and see

0:13:31 > 0:13:35what she's saying. The rest of the war does not look good at all.

0:13:35 > 0:13:39Apparently a bit it is because we did not get a lot of information. If

0:13:39 > 0:13:45this is supposed to be secret, I have no idea, but meanwhile are

0:13:45 > 0:13:48drifting out of the city and they say it is not because Brexit but we

0:13:48 > 0:13:56do not why. That is what they said. I want to get one story in quickly,

0:13:56 > 0:14:04the Sunday Times from page, it is only short, but what is this

0:14:04 > 0:14:08transgender e-mail about?What is happening in universities is that

0:14:08 > 0:14:13people are being asked, what you want to be called, he, she? Young

0:14:13 > 0:14:19people now want to determine who they are and what they are in the

0:14:19 > 0:14:22world. Universities are saying, at the end of your e-mail, put your

0:14:22 > 0:14:27name down and say how you would like to be addressed, and that is what it

0:14:27 > 0:14:31is about. That is what students want and what they deserve.Is it

0:14:31 > 0:14:39complicated?If people feel strongly about this, I have no problems about

0:14:39 > 0:14:43accommodating that strength of feeling. In other words, I am not

0:14:43 > 0:14:49worried!It is what students want and how students see themselves, and

0:14:49 > 0:14:55that is most important of all.OK, well, I am grateful to you both as

0:14:55 > 0:15:01ever. That is it for this hour. Bonnie and Ruth will be back 11:30pm

0:15:01 > 0:15:12for another look at tomorrow morning's newspapers.