04/05/2017

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:00:17. > :00:19.Billions and billions of euros right if you're

:00:20. > :00:22.a crafty Brussels Eurocrat, and we're paying.

:00:23. > :00:25.Come on down, the FT's Lionel Barber.

:00:26. > :00:29.100 billion euros, 80 billion, what will be the price

:00:30. > :00:32.for Britain leaving the EU, and who will be the winners?

:00:33. > :00:35.We're not sure Diane's got her prices right,

:00:36. > :00:40.but come on down round-up host Adrian Childs.

:00:41. > :00:42.And the contestants are getting deadly serious as they shoot

:00:43. > :00:48.And comedians would pay anything to see a political bust-up,

:00:49. > :00:58.The price is right this week, with me,

:00:59. > :01:02.your host with the most, Andrew Neil!

:01:03. > :01:09.After years of running battles with BBC Yentobs,

:01:10. > :01:13.This Week has been able to complete the greatest of exits,

:01:14. > :01:18.moving from our hovel in Millbank to take over the One Show studio.

:01:19. > :01:22.We promised you that Thexit would be a sucess and look around, it has!

:01:23. > :01:26.New cameras, new sofas, new studio, new everything!

:01:27. > :01:29.And our red, white and purple cake has a cherry on top!

:01:30. > :01:32.And all it cost us was ?100, or was it 100 billion?

:01:33. > :01:38.Where's Diane Abbott when you need her?

:01:39. > :01:45.We've shown the world of television that anyone can get a great deal,

:01:46. > :01:47.take back control and make a success of exits.

:01:48. > :01:49.We did it despite the best efforts of meddling,

:01:50. > :01:53.ungrateful cognac-sodden BBC fat cats, hell-bent on stopping us.

:01:54. > :01:57.Of course it would never have happened without my leadership.

:01:58. > :02:04.How very different from that coalition of chaos, aka Newsnight.

:02:05. > :02:06.They're just down the corridor, you know.

:02:07. > :02:12.Henceforth all of our public appearances will be strictly

:02:13. > :02:15.choreographed with absolutely no contact with any other

:02:16. > :02:21.Speaking of yobbish hecklers who nobody wants to meet,

:02:22. > :02:24.I'm joined tonight by the only part of our program still in desperately

:02:25. > :02:27.in need of an upgrade, I speak of course of Michael

:02:28. > :02:35.#ChooChoo Portillo and Lisa #NorthernSoul Nandy.

:02:36. > :02:43.Welcome to you both. Your moment of the week? It has toe be 2 the EU

:02:44. > :02:48.intervention, the haters of democracy wanting to punish the

:02:49. > :02:51.country for making a democratic decision, upping the ante with their

:02:52. > :02:55.100 billion euros now, probably knocking any hope of a settlement on

:02:56. > :02:59.the head. I don't think there probably will be a deal now. In the

:03:00. > :03:05.process in trying to interfere in our general election, probably

:03:06. > :03:09.helping Mrs May probably making a large number of remain voters seeing

:03:10. > :03:14.why those who voted Brexit voted Brexit. We'll come back to that. I

:03:15. > :03:18.believe so. There was something quite important that happened over

:03:19. > :03:23.in France, so you have this great clash in the French presidential

:03:24. > :03:27.debate. Last night? Last night. And it seems that Macron is now pulling

:03:28. > :03:33.ahead in the polls which is a relief. Madam Le Pen didn't get the

:03:34. > :03:37.game-changer in the debate she needed? There are real lessons about

:03:38. > :03:40.what is happening in France for British politics as well about

:03:41. > :03:44.people feeling that there are a number of things that have festered

:03:45. > :03:48.in French politics for a long time that haven't been addressed by

:03:49. > :03:53.mainstream politicians that seem fascist to be able to poll around

:03:54. > :03:59.40%. It looks like 30 40% at the moment. Twice what her father got in

:04:00. > :04:02.2002. It's astonishing when you consider it's within living memory

:04:03. > :04:06.that France drove the fascists out of their country. She would deny

:04:07. > :04:10.that she's a fascist and she's rebranded the party. The French

:04:11. > :04:15.courts would disagree. They don't have a say in who runs for

:04:16. > :04:18.president. Sure but there are echoes over here of the lessons that we

:04:19. > :04:23.need to learn about mainstream politicians being able to speak for

:04:24. > :04:27.people. No question. And about the Daning, playing into people's fears

:04:28. > :04:31.in not offering them real hope. We shall see the outcome on Sunday.

:04:32. > :04:33.Now, we like to think of ourselves as the BBC's diplomatic

:04:34. > :04:38.So in that spirit we decided to host a dinner for Jean-Claude Juncker,

:04:39. > :04:43.Things between Theresa May and JC have been a little tense of late

:04:44. > :04:47.so we stepped in hoping to smooth things over.

:04:48. > :04:50.But ever since our dinner, Mr Juncker has been on the war path

:04:51. > :04:51.calling us delusional, spreading fake news

:04:52. > :04:54.in the continental press and even criticising our toad in the hole.

:04:55. > :04:58.He claimed that he was forced to drink lukewarm German white wine

:04:59. > :05:01.whilst some loony in a crazy shirt droned endlessly on about the 8:46am

:05:02. > :05:04.milk train from Barton in the Beans to Nether upon Wallop.

:05:05. > :05:07.Apparently the only thing he enjoyed was the after party

:05:08. > :05:10.with Pete Doherty and Big Narstie, which probably explains why

:05:11. > :05:28.Here's the FT's Lionel Barber with his take of the week.

:05:29. > :05:32.With just three days to go before France chooses between two

:05:33. > :05:37.presidential candidates, one a centrist called Macron,

:05:38. > :05:43.another who threatens to eat the EU for breakfast.

:05:44. > :05:48.For Brussels, the election of Marine Le Pen would be

:05:49. > :05:57.Consider then the message that a successful Brexit

:05:58. > :06:00.as Theresa May wants would send - when the going gets

:06:01. > :06:06.That's why Brussels insists that we need to wake up

:06:07. > :06:18.I met Jean-Claude Juncker many times.

:06:19. > :06:25.He spent his whole career building Europe.

:06:26. > :06:29.So if his team did actually leak all those rotten

:06:30. > :06:34.details about that meal, maybe it was all about popping the

:06:35. > :06:46.Distrust is getting higher, the gap's getting wider,

:06:47. > :06:50.and now the Prime Minister has accused Brussels of

:06:51. > :06:58.This week's kerfuffle should be a wake-up call to both sides.

:06:59. > :07:01.But each believe it holds the trump card.

:07:02. > :07:04.The EU knows Britain is running against the clock to reach

:07:05. > :07:07.a financial settlement before a trade deal, but some

:07:08. > :07:10.in May's Cabinet believe we can simply walk away,

:07:11. > :07:17.bringing the temple down like Samson.

:07:18. > :07:24.But my experience is that it will be impossible to avoid making

:07:25. > :07:33.Juncker has got to balance the interests of 27

:07:34. > :07:45.So we are in for months of trench warfare.

:07:46. > :07:49.Britain needs a battle hardened Prime Minister.

:07:50. > :07:55.So that's why she called a general election.

:07:56. > :07:59.And from the FT canteen where it's fashionable to eat baked beans

:08:00. > :08:05.with your croissant, Lionel Barber joins us now.

:08:06. > :08:16.Welcome. It wasn't good. It looked good. Made me hungry. The Brexit

:08:17. > :08:21.bill, briefing against the Prime Minister. Say Mrs May can't do her

:08:22. > :08:23.own negotiations ex-trying to undermine David Davis. Is the

:08:24. > :08:34.Brussels commission out of control? No. Just distinguish between the

:08:35. > :08:38.comprehensive malicious leak from either Jean-Claude Juncker or his

:08:39. > :08:44.Chief of Staff where everything about a private dinner... Was

:08:45. > :08:48.revealed. Was revealed. That was different to what we have produced

:08:49. > :08:52.which was the 100 billion euros story which was put together. By the

:08:53. > :08:56.commission. No, no, no. Lots of other stories. That's the big story,

:08:57. > :09:00.Andrew, it's not the commission that's come up with this higher

:09:01. > :09:04.number, it's other member states, Poland, Germany France. Right but

:09:05. > :09:09.still guided and encouraged by the commission to do this? We don't seek

:09:10. > :09:12.commission Andrew to publish our stories from the commissioner. No,

:09:13. > :09:15.you shouldn't seek permission if anybody but when you look at it all

:09:16. > :09:21.together, are they so out of touch that they think this is going to

:09:22. > :09:25.weaken Mrs May? Don't they realise that they're becoming her recruiting

:09:26. > :09:31.sergeant? I think that that leak to the German newspaper of the whole

:09:32. > :09:34.dinner was utterly misguided, fundamental misunderstanding of the

:09:35. > :09:40.reaction that it would provoke in London and, as you say, helps Mrs

:09:41. > :09:44.May. Michael? Absolutely. But it helps Mrs May. She must be very

:09:45. > :09:49.pleased. And by the way, she was bold, she sees the opportunity, that

:09:50. > :09:56.address in Downing Street. That surprised us. It was a surprise move

:09:57. > :09:59.and took people's breath away. More than that, it might have scuppered

:10:00. > :10:02.the negotiation. You can imagine that the British Government might

:10:03. > :10:07.get away at the end of the day with a deal that cost it let's say ?25

:10:08. > :10:11.billion or something. So if the European Commission begun with 40

:10:12. > :10:14.billion, they could have settled at 25, everything would have been fine

:10:15. > :10:20.but at 100 billion, the British have got to say this is preposterous and

:10:21. > :10:24.we don't see why peshed way anything. Why should the commission

:10:25. > :10:29.settle at a figure that's perhaps only a small fraction. It may have

:10:30. > :10:34.scummered the whole thing. Would Labour contemplate anything like 100

:10:35. > :10:38.billion? You start by trying to get the best deal for Britain, the

:10:39. > :10:41.lowest figure as possible. There might be a compromise in there in

:10:42. > :10:45.order to get the right outcome on things like immigration, jobs and

:10:46. > :10:51.the economy. Would it contemplate anything like 100 billion? Sounds

:10:52. > :10:55.like, to me, posturing at the outset of negotiations. I think Michael

:10:56. > :11:01.might well be right about how difficult this has now become. The

:11:02. > :11:04.difficulty is that I think it's pretty clear this works for Theresa

:11:05. > :11:09.May on an electoral level because she obviously wants to try to

:11:10. > :11:14.project herself as a very strong leader, it just doesn't work at all

:11:15. > :11:17.for the British public. I think it's been fairly catastrophic to have

:11:18. > :11:21.ended up in a place where we are having a slanging match with the

:11:22. > :11:29.very people that we need to bring on side. In order to glif a decent

:11:30. > :11:35.deal. Why is it catastrophic. Mrs May made it clear in her Lancaster

:11:36. > :11:40.House speech that she wanted the E touch do well. She wanted the

:11:41. > :11:44.closest relationships with the EU, she wanted free trade, defence and

:11:45. > :11:49.security and a great relationship going forward. So she didn't start

:11:50. > :11:52.the slanging match? She made it clear in that speech how high the

:11:53. > :11:57.stakes are for the people of this country. But the problem is how

:11:58. > :12:02.we've ended up here in a situation where we have managed to... Whose

:12:03. > :12:06.fault is it? It goes right back to a Government that took a crisis in the

:12:07. > :12:11.Conservative Party and turned it into a national crisis by calling a

:12:12. > :12:16.referendum without thinking at all about what to do in the event of a

:12:17. > :12:20.leave vote. That is a lot of water under the bridge after the

:12:21. > :12:27.referendum. We are living it now. Do you think they've blown it by

:12:28. > :12:34.talking about 100 billion? First skirmish in what will be the first

:12:35. > :12:39.trench warfare. What we know is that there's always a horrible argument

:12:40. > :12:44.lasting through the night, endless months of negotiations over money.

:12:45. > :12:48.It's always been the case. Second point, 100 billion is a gross

:12:49. > :12:52.figure. There's a whole load of other assets that we have - access

:12:53. > :12:58.to building. This is a gross figure, there will be a net figure. The

:12:59. > :13:05.briefing was that we have no right to these assets. When I had lunch -

:13:06. > :13:10.not baked beans by the way, Andrew, within I had lunch with Jean-Claude

:13:11. > :13:18.Juncker about six weeks ago. Foie gras? Know wine for the President,

:13:19. > :13:21.by the way. He used the figure 60 billion, not 100 billion. So I think

:13:22. > :13:26.these figures are loose. This was the gross big figure. It's going to

:13:27. > :13:29.come down. Last point, Andrew, you and I know these are going to be

:13:30. > :13:40.paid in instalments. It's not like we are going to hand over 100

:13:41. > :13:45.billion euros in cash. It's like reparations, paid over many years.

:13:46. > :13:49.That metaphor has been used. And it's very appropriate. There is

:13:50. > :13:53.going to be a divorce bill. The purpose of reparations was really

:13:54. > :14:00.above all motivated by the French and the treaty to give Germany a

:14:01. > :14:04.punishment beating. 100 billion sounds like a punishment beating for

:14:05. > :14:07.us and surely it's inconceivable that any British Government could

:14:08. > :14:11.agree to a figure anywhere near close to that even if it is on the

:14:12. > :14:18.never-never. What we'll end up with I don't know, 50 billion over ten

:14:19. > :14:26.years. That's eminently payable. Why would we pay 50 billion? We have

:14:27. > :14:32.certain obligations under our current arrangement. We have signed

:14:33. > :14:38.up to a budget... 2020? But there are others. What about the

:14:39. > :14:44.infrastructure projects that go beyond 2020? Maybe that shouldn't be

:14:45. > :14:48.our responsibility? Well, so you just have the bridge to nowhere that

:14:49. > :14:52.you cut off half way through? No. There is going to be. The bridge

:14:53. > :14:56.takes a bit longer to build. There are some projects which we are going

:14:57. > :14:58.to have to... We are going to have to pay probably for access to the

:14:59. > :15:10.siveningle market. I think it's depressing that a

:15:11. > :15:16.British newspaper has decided on this already. We haven't. You just

:15:17. > :15:21.said 12 times that we have to pay. You are meant to be a British

:15:22. > :15:26.newspaper. Where is the national interest in this? Is that what our

:15:27. > :15:29.job is? You clearly don't think it is, because you have settled your

:15:30. > :15:36.point of view that Britain has to pay you. So there is no liability

:15:37. > :15:41.whatsoever? Is that what you are saying? We don't carry flags around

:15:42. > :15:49.when we are reporting for the Financial Times. We report the

:15:50. > :15:59.facts. No, you don't. You are the daily remain. Read our editorial,

:16:00. > :16:03.Michael. That is a complete distortion of our editorial. That is

:16:04. > :16:09.not correct. You should withdraw that. Isn't there a danger for

:16:10. > :16:12.Remainer newspapers, like the Financial Times, and for the

:16:13. > :16:17.opposition, that whenever there is a bust up between Brussels and London,

:16:18. > :16:23.you seem to be siding with the other side. Isn't that a political risk?

:16:24. > :16:28.What interests me is the risk for those I represent in Wigan. The

:16:29. > :16:32.truth is that I have a major employer in my constituency who have

:16:33. > :16:35.two constantly reassess the political situation and decide

:16:36. > :16:39.whether it is in their interest to be based in the UK and how many jobs

:16:40. > :16:44.they have here. I cannot imagine what they must be thinking,

:16:45. > :16:49.listening to this, listen to Theresa May, to Jean-Claude Juncker, to this

:16:50. > :16:51.incredibly aggressive, quite gratuitous row being played out

:16:52. > :16:57.through national and international newspapers. When you contrast the

:16:58. > :17:00.way Theresa May is behaving towards those other 27 European countries

:17:01. > :17:06.with the way that she fawned over Donald Trump recently on a trip to

:17:07. > :17:10.America, I cannot see in whose interests this is, except her own.

:17:11. > :17:16.So if Labour had been empower their would have been no response to this

:17:17. > :17:21.extraordinary provocation from the European Union? Why are we in this

:17:22. > :17:26.situation, because consistently your party has isolated itself in Europe,

:17:27. > :17:32.amongst a group of nations with whom we have co-operated on peace, on

:17:33. > :17:38.security, on the environment... I absolutely accept that the verdict

:17:39. > :17:48.was to leave the European Union and we are leaving. You almost forgot to

:17:49. > :17:51.say it. I didn't forget. I want the best possible outcome and I had seen

:17:52. > :17:55.nothing from Theresa May that suggests she agrees. It is incorrect

:17:56. > :18:01.to say that we are a Remainer newspaper. Let me leave the FT for a

:18:02. > :18:05.moment and come back to the general point. These are early days,

:18:06. > :18:10.everyone is jockeying for position, people are probably saying things

:18:11. > :18:16.they will regret later on both sides when the negotiations get under way.

:18:17. > :18:19.Can't you see the makings of a deal, that there will be some divorce

:18:20. > :18:27.Bill, size to be determined, probably under 50 billion, maybe

:18:28. > :18:31.between 30 and 50, and in return for that, there will be a generous free

:18:32. > :18:38.trade agreement with the EU? Isn't that the architecture of the deal?

:18:39. > :18:41.It is, and it is important to say that we believe that the European

:18:42. > :18:45.Union is wrong, the commission is wrong in saying that you have to

:18:46. > :18:52.have a comprehensive deal on the money and one or two other things,

:18:53. > :18:56.EU citizens' rights. They could start negotiating on a free-trade

:18:57. > :19:00.deal, the framework. They should not say, that goes in a box until

:19:01. > :19:03.everything else is settled. What we also know as part of the deal is

:19:04. > :19:09.that we are almost certainly going to have to stay in the single market

:19:10. > :19:14.beyond 2020, as part of a transition agreement, before we get a sensible

:19:15. > :19:17.trade deal that is good for Britain. We will leave it there. A long while

:19:18. > :19:20.to go yet. Thank you. Now it's late, too late to cast your

:19:21. > :19:23.vote in the local elections late - so if you've just woken up

:19:24. > :19:26.from your latest Blue Nun-induced But all is not lost,

:19:27. > :19:29.because waiting in the wings is comedian and heckler's nightmare

:19:30. > :19:32.Simon Evans here to put So bring out the Facebants,

:19:33. > :19:35.crack out the Snapchatter, we're all Twitter trolls,

:19:36. > :19:37.and we're going after Now, there's been

:19:38. > :19:41.an unlikely alliance It turns out Theresa May has named

:19:42. > :19:47.Diane Abbott her new negotiator The Prime Minister said that Diane's

:19:48. > :19:51.experience in plucking numbers out of thin air and her gift

:19:52. > :19:54.for pretending that things will cost far, far less than expected made

:19:55. > :19:58.Madame Mao the ideal candidate. In fact, Diane has been in touch

:19:59. > :20:01.to say that she's already secured a Brexit deal

:20:02. > :20:03.with the European Union offering to pay us 100 billion euros if we're

:20:04. > :20:10.prepared to go quietly, not insist on any more dinners

:20:11. > :20:13.in Downing Street and find Jean-Claude Juncker a free

:20:14. > :20:18.place in the Priory. And if that wasn't enough,

:20:19. > :20:21.they've given us Belgium as well. Which is only fair

:20:22. > :20:24.since we invented it. Here's Adrian Chiles

:20:25. > :20:43.with his round up of the week. There's the local elections,

:20:44. > :20:49.and then there's the election of the six new combined

:20:50. > :20:52.local authority mayors. And then they were all relegated

:20:53. > :20:55.to the undercard with the calling The nation is agog, just bristling

:20:56. > :21:01.with excitement at the prospect The Prime Minister thinks she's

:21:02. > :21:15.so strong and so stable that she's even picking another fight

:21:16. > :21:21.with the EU. Some have created the illusion that

:21:22. > :21:24.Brexit would have no material Or that negotiations can be

:21:25. > :21:35.concluded quickly and painlessly. And if you think about it,

:21:36. > :21:45.all that happened is Theresa May If you believe the German

:21:46. > :21:50.press, things have got We all thought we were only

:21:51. > :21:56.at the pre-fight weigh-in stage, and look at them, they've gone mad,

:21:57. > :21:59.springing out their corners, throwing haymakers

:22:00. > :22:01.all over the place. During the Conservative Party

:22:02. > :22:06.leadership campaign I was described by one of my colleagues

:22:07. > :22:09.as a bloody difficult woman. And I said at the time,

:22:10. > :22:12.the next person to find that out Your food is disgusting,

:22:13. > :22:30.ten times worse than I thought. What nonsense, it was a good dinner,

:22:31. > :22:33.it was a strong dinner, The Lib Dems, meanwhile,

:22:34. > :22:58.currently Commons featherweights, reckon they can move up a couple

:22:59. > :23:01.of weight divisions by fighting One of their few heavyweights threw

:23:02. > :23:09.a couple of big punches this week, saying their manifesto

:23:10. > :23:11.would include a commitment to a second referendum,

:23:12. > :23:13.and he said the Tories The Government, despite months

:23:14. > :23:18.and months of preparation for these Brexit talks, has started

:23:19. > :23:23.on completely the wrong foot, acting incompetently,

:23:24. > :23:25.misjudging what the rest of the European Union wants,

:23:26. > :23:28.and given that we have a very short period of time to complete these

:23:29. > :23:31.talks, it makes it all the more likely that the outcome will be

:23:32. > :23:35.a bad outcome for Britain, leaving many millions

:23:36. > :23:39.of Britons worse off. Labour tried to wrest the narrative

:23:40. > :23:43.away from Brexit so it could fight The Shadow Home Secretary,

:23:44. > :23:48.Diane Abbott, always more of a fighter than a clever boxer,

:23:49. > :23:51.announced their flagship Now, look, I know this exchange

:23:52. > :23:57.is a terrible cringe, So how much would 10,000

:23:58. > :24:06.police officers cost? Well, if we recruit the 10,000

:24:07. > :24:11.police men and women over a four-year period,

:24:12. > :24:15.we believe it will be Miss Abbott groggily lifted her head

:24:16. > :24:53.off the canvas to offer I do know my figures,

:24:54. > :24:57.and as you will know, I did seven interviews that morning

:24:58. > :25:01.and that was the seventh, and I OK, fair play, she knew the numbers

:25:02. > :25:09.but she could only get Anyway, it neatly chimed

:25:10. > :25:18.in with the Tory narrative of strong, stable competence

:25:19. > :25:23.versus chaos, thoroughly undermining Labour's insistence

:25:24. > :25:27.that they are the ones to be trusted This, in the week that

:25:28. > :25:31.Jeremy Corbyn's been going around saying they're

:25:32. > :25:34.going to have a full-scale review We will halt that process and look

:25:35. > :25:38.again at all of them, to ensure that there is an A

:25:39. > :25:43.department that is in reach of everybody across the country,

:25:44. > :25:47.and that the threats to hospitals, and the false competitions

:25:48. > :25:51.that have been set up The Tories say they've uncovered

:25:52. > :26:01.a ?45 billion shortfall Jeremy Corbyn offers a chaotic

:26:02. > :26:19.and high-risk gamble that would lead to higher taxes,

:26:20. > :26:25.more borrowing and more debt. Some activists on the left have

:26:26. > :26:29.united to form a so-called The Greens have stood aside to help

:26:30. > :26:37.Labour in some seats. Labour haven't returned the favour,

:26:38. > :26:39.annoying the Greens no end. My frustration with the Labour Party

:26:40. > :26:42.comes from having sat just alongside them on the opposition benches

:26:43. > :26:44.and seen how they have utterly failed to be the opposition this

:26:45. > :26:47.country desperately needs them In the devolved nations,

:26:48. > :26:52.the SNP and Plaid are squaring up I say this with no great sense

:26:53. > :26:59.of glee, but Labour is not going to win this election

:27:00. > :27:01.across the UK, and that standing between Scotland

:27:02. > :27:08.and an increasingly right-wing Conservative government

:27:09. > :27:10.that wants the ability to do whatever it wants,

:27:11. > :27:12.is the SNP. This election is all about defending

:27:13. > :27:14.Wales, protecting Welsh people from further privatisation and cuts

:27:15. > :27:20.and a power grab from the Tories. Perhaps she just wants us to see

:27:21. > :27:25.all this as a mere warm-up bout ahead of the title fight when,

:27:26. > :27:29.if she wins the election, she will go toe-to-toe good

:27:30. > :27:32.and proper with the EU. In the last few days we have seen

:27:33. > :27:35.just how tough these Britain's negotiating position

:27:36. > :27:40.in Europe has been misrepresented The European Commision's negotiating

:27:41. > :27:50.stance has hardened. Threats against Britain have

:27:51. > :27:52.been issued by European All of these acts have been

:27:53. > :27:58.deliberately timed to affect You, a bunch of Junckers,

:27:59. > :28:15.the lot of you! And the lovely Miranda

:28:16. > :28:28.Green is with us now. Miranda, over two weeks since Mrs

:28:29. > :28:33.May called the election. Where are we on the campaign? At a point where

:28:34. > :28:38.every fresh news story about relations between the UK and the EU

:28:39. > :28:41.has helped only Theresa May, and so little flashes of optimism I might

:28:42. > :28:46.have had ten days ago are dying quite fast. I think we are on our

:28:47. > :28:53.way to an enormous Conservative landslide and I can't see what stops

:28:54. > :28:59.it. Lisa, where do you think we are? It has been a very difficult few

:29:00. > :29:02.years for people on the progressive wing of British politics. I don't

:29:03. > :29:07.know whether I found what was in that report more frightening, or

:29:08. > :29:13.Adrian Childs in a week. I guess I would say there are 35 days to go

:29:14. > :29:18.until possibly the most important general election in my lifetime.

:29:19. > :29:21.Whoever forms the next government will go into those Brexit

:29:22. > :29:25.negotiations. If Theresa May wins the big mandate she is looking for

:29:26. > :29:31.and the big majority, I think we have a real problem because already

:29:32. > :29:36.we have seen her style is not to try to build consensus but to drive

:29:37. > :29:41.through change, and I very much agree that we do need strong and

:29:42. > :29:46.stable government, but I don't think that the way that you achieve that

:29:47. > :29:50.for one minute is by alienating other people and isolating other

:29:51. > :29:54.people, and particularly about picking sides following a referendum

:29:55. > :29:57.that has been incredibly divisive. You have to bring all people with

:29:58. > :30:07.you in what comes next as we leave the EU. Can she just bang on about

:30:08. > :30:12.leadership for another 35 days? Yes. That's really encouraging. General

:30:13. > :30:15.elections are not designed as entertainment for journalists,

:30:16. > :30:20.although journalists would like them to be that. Some policy would be

:30:21. > :30:25.interesting. All the focus is on Brexit. The European Commission is

:30:26. > :30:30.helping her because they just put that issue back in the middle of the

:30:31. > :30:34.table every time. So Jeremy might want to talk about their -- the

:30:35. > :30:39.health service but every day there is a Brexit story. Labour has tried

:30:40. > :30:43.to bring policy into the campaign but I think it has a problem in that

:30:44. > :30:50.if most people think it is going to lose, it is hard to get attention on

:30:51. > :30:53.the policies. I don't know if it is hard to get attention on the

:30:54. > :30:58.policies. I think the problem this week with the interview that Diane

:30:59. > :31:05.gave... That was a one-off. That was Diane. Sure, but if people are

:31:06. > :31:10.unable to hear what the message is, then we can't convince people that

:31:11. > :31:15.that is what they need to vote for. The tragedy of that is that when you

:31:16. > :31:18.do talk to people about crime going up, and about needing more police on

:31:19. > :31:23.the streets and about the policy that Diane was trying to launch, it

:31:24. > :31:26.absolutely does resonate with people. I know that Brexit is

:31:27. > :31:32.important and I think the British people feel that, too, but the

:31:33. > :31:35.issues that come up on the doorstep, still, are issues about people not

:31:36. > :31:40.being able to get decent social care for their parents, or not feeling

:31:41. > :31:44.that their children will have the same opportunities that they had. It

:31:45. > :31:48.is quite telling that this government has not got anything to

:31:49. > :31:52.say about that. I don't think they want to talk about their track

:31:53. > :31:56.record. When Theresa May came to the north of England she did not even

:31:57. > :32:01.want to talk about being a Tory. There is a reason for that. We have

:32:02. > :32:04.35 days and we have to make sure those issues are front and centre.

:32:05. > :32:11.Why are the Liberal Democrats having such a bad campaign? They have some

:32:12. > :32:14.structural problems, which is that if you have an enormous Conservative

:32:15. > :32:18.surge going on, which is what people are coming back from on the doorstop

:32:19. > :32:22.edge the doorstep, and is what the polls are saying, then all of these

:32:23. > :32:25.subtleties about the structure of the opposition and who would provide

:32:26. > :32:32.the healthiest challenge to the government at this historic time are

:32:33. > :32:35.slightly for the birds. Those yellow on blue seats, which would be the

:32:36. > :32:40.ones the Lib Dems would be hoping to take back in this general election,

:32:41. > :32:44.if you have an enormous swing towards the Conservative Party, it

:32:45. > :32:48.is a tough hill to climb. In a way, it is different to the problems of

:32:49. > :32:52.the Labour Party, because the Labour Party is trying to move the debate

:32:53. > :32:57.to domestic policy. The Lib Dems have decided to fight on Brexit, on

:32:58. > :33:01.the Remain ticket, softening Brexit as much as possible. But

:33:02. > :33:05.unfortunately the psychology of a general election is not like a

:33:06. > :33:09.by-election and so this Tory message about leadership and who you want in

:33:10. > :33:20.Downing Street plays well. That's really tough for the Lib Dems. Are

:33:21. > :33:26.we not awe struck by the political talent? I'm making a general point.

:33:27. > :33:30.The fact that the election appears to be about one slogan, strong and

:33:31. > :33:34.stable Government, I think it's quite depressing. I think the

:33:35. > :33:38.Liberal Democrats suffer from poor leadership, I think you suffer from

:33:39. > :33:42.poor leadership and I think the Conservatives suffer from what I

:33:43. > :33:44.would call thin leadership. There are hardly layers and layers of

:33:45. > :33:48.ability in evidence there and people come away from the election feeling

:33:49. > :33:52.depressed. Something that is depressing is the need for, given

:33:53. > :33:55.Theresa May's incredibly unassailable position at the

:33:56. > :34:01.moment... That is how you see it? Absolutely. She doesn't need to go

:34:02. > :34:06.with this rhetoric about crushing all opposition and blame the

:34:07. > :34:11.saboteurs who want to do down the country because actually that's

:34:12. > :34:17.unhealthy and we know we are in an unhealthy situation. For the very

:34:18. > :34:23.dominant governing party to say let's smash opposition even further

:34:24. > :34:32.comes across as slightly authoritarian. What about Diane

:34:33. > :34:47.Abbott's interview? There was a figure got wrong by a factor of a

:34:48. > :34:51.thousand, 90-100 million was said instead of 900 million. People do

:34:52. > :34:57.make errors in broadcast. It got worse for Diane after that because

:34:58. > :35:01.then the 80 million came in you know and she wasn't really getting

:35:02. > :35:07.anywhere. It was surprising. She was launching a policy and, particularly

:35:08. > :35:11.on the radio, you have figures on a bit of paper.

:35:12. > :35:14.Now people have been voting in local elections.

:35:15. > :35:17.Let's cross now to Chris Mason who's in Salford, but not,

:35:18. > :35:26.Chris any early indication no how things are going?

:35:27. > :35:32.I aspire to be only out by a factor of ten in the next coupling of

:35:33. > :35:37.minutes. You know what happens on nights like this. We love a smidgen

:35:38. > :35:42.on extrapolation and speculation, it's on the basis of a handful of

:35:43. > :35:51.results here goes. People will look at the results in upper Scruffington

:35:52. > :35:56.and guess what the figures will be like. We have barely anything here.

:35:57. > :36:01.We have news coming out of the counting in Wales though. The first

:36:02. > :36:06.lot of the night for Labour which came in at about 11. 20, losing a

:36:07. > :36:10.relatively marginal ward in Wrexham to an independent candidate. They

:36:11. > :36:15.lost their second seat to an independent on Wrexham in a ward in

:36:16. > :36:20.which they won as much as 72% of the vote four years ago. Taking a look

:36:21. > :36:25.into Warwickshire, the Conservatives taking a seat from Labour there. And

:36:26. > :36:30.what else have we got? A gain for the Liberal Democrats. It's an

:36:31. > :36:36.advance for the Liberal Democrats in Gloucestershire, increasing their

:36:37. > :36:42.share of the vote by eight points on 2013 on a ward they won in 2013. One

:36:43. > :36:48.other result suggests a big fall in the vote for Ukip. We are in the, to

:36:49. > :36:51.put it mildly, I was going to say the foothills, we have barely left

:36:52. > :36:58.the beach as we look up towards the mountain of results to come between

:36:59. > :37:02.now and about 7 or 8 o'clock of what is now tonight, on Friday.

:37:03. > :37:06.Interesting early indications, Chris, thank you for that. We'll

:37:07. > :37:12.leave you to plough up the mountain, careful as you go! The elections are

:37:13. > :37:17.very important for Labour in the sense that if it does better than

:37:18. > :37:21.predicted, it's not a wipe-out or a ah crash, that would be a sign that

:37:22. > :37:25.hey, there's still something to play for on June 8th, all is not lost,

:37:26. > :37:30.use this as a spring board. If they are as bad as expected or even

:37:31. > :37:35.worse, then even more despair sets in? Well, I think there is a general

:37:36. > :37:40.view in the Labour Party actually that we've got 35 days to go until a

:37:41. > :37:46.general election, it might even be 34 now because we've past Midnight.

:37:47. > :37:50.Help, sorry I've got to go! But we've got now a clock ticking in

:37:51. > :37:57.order to get out there and make the case to the country. The mood in

:37:58. > :38:02.Labour changed very substantially. Being in opposition is really hard.

:38:03. > :38:07.You will know this, you have a front row seat to see what the Government

:38:08. > :38:11.are doing, you tend to disagree with almost all of it, you see the effect

:38:12. > :38:14.of it on your own constituents, yet you troop around the divisional

:38:15. > :38:19.lobbies over and again and you lose. You may win the argument but not the

:38:20. > :38:23.vote. The point was a simple one - the outcome of the local elections

:38:24. > :38:32.will affect Labour more Real for good or bad surely? No. -- morale.

:38:33. > :38:36.No, I think we'll still be out there fighting for every vote. I think you

:38:37. > :38:41.will probably see some interesting dynamics through the local elections

:38:42. > :38:45.that might give you pointers to the general. It feels going round

:38:46. > :38:49.different seats in this election that there are lots of different

:38:50. > :38:53.battles and dynamics playing out and there'll be some surprising ruts.

:38:54. > :38:58.The one thing that helped the Tories, a number of things have, but

:38:59. > :39:03.one thing that gives them a perfect storm in their favour, is the

:39:04. > :39:07.collapse of Ukip. Yes, exactly. That helps them take back and win some

:39:08. > :39:11.Labour seats in the Midlands and the north. If that Ukip vote goes to

:39:12. > :39:16.them where Labour has smaller majorities, they win? Absolutely and

:39:17. > :39:19.Ukip's not standing in lots of those Tory Lib Dem battle grounds in the

:39:20. > :39:24.South West for example. Ukip's not standing in Boris Johnson's seat.

:39:25. > :39:27.There's a limit to how much the opposition parties can try the trick

:39:28. > :39:32.of calling the Conservative candidate the Conservative and Ukip

:39:33. > :39:36.candidate to try to solidify the tactical vote against them. Even if

:39:37. > :39:41.only half of that vote share goes across to the Tories, it's a huge

:39:42. > :39:47.boost, making it a relentless oncoming tide of blue. I have to

:39:48. > :39:51.say, I salute you, Lisa, for you determination and pluck, but I think

:39:52. > :40:02.it's... Indefacability is what Galloway gal

:40:03. > :40:05.once said. Now, since we've been on air we've

:40:06. > :40:09.received an urgent call from the This Week accounting team

:40:10. > :40:12.in the Cayman Islands It turns out we've blown this

:40:13. > :40:16.month's entire budget on a fact-finding mission

:40:17. > :40:19.to Fyre Festival, the exclusive VIP We wanted to see at first-hand how

:40:20. > :40:24.to spend vast amounts of other people's money and create

:40:25. > :40:26.a hugely disappointing product. Turns out we don't really

:40:27. > :40:28.have anything to learn But the BBC suits are

:40:29. > :40:33.on the war-path which is why we're putting confrontation

:40:34. > :40:41.in the Spotlight. Voters always find ways

:40:42. > :40:48.of confronting politicians # Please go back to Eton,

:40:49. > :40:53.# please go back to Eton, # with all your Eton chums #.

:40:54. > :40:56.And on Tuesday, Theresa May got a taste of it.

:40:57. > :41:01.Brexit has huge opportunities for us.

:41:02. > :41:04.It can do if we get the right deal...

:41:05. > :41:06.It doesn't help when Boris Johnson said it's

:41:07. > :41:11.How should politicians react when things get heated, as they did

:41:12. > :41:19.Because you say those who voted leave are racist.

:41:20. > :41:22.My mates voted leave, I don't think they're racist.

:41:23. > :41:26.Staying polite seems to do the trick.

:41:27. > :41:34.What should a politician do when they're confronted by a rival

:41:35. > :41:37.In France you give as good as you get.

:41:38. > :41:41.TRANSLATION: Mr Macron is the candidate of

:41:42. > :41:44.savage globalisation, uberisation, economic uncertainty.

:41:45. > :41:45.Do the people want the defeatist attitude.

:41:46. > :41:49.And should politicians stay out of the line of fire all together?

:41:50. > :41:53.When it came to the White House correspondents dinner this week,

:41:54. > :41:57.Donald Trump kept away and dodged a bullet.

:41:58. > :42:02.They're gathered together for the White House correspondents

:42:03. > :42:09.The leader of our country is not here.

:42:10. > :42:10.And that's because he lives in Moscow.

:42:11. > :42:15.It would be hard for Vlad to make it.

:42:16. > :42:19.Stand up comic Simon Evans loves the challenge of confronting

:42:20. > :42:25.hecklers, but is it just a lose-lose scenario for politicians?

:42:26. > :42:39.It's a lose-lose scenario being forced to confront your own previous

:42:40. > :42:45.hair cut. Three years makes all the difference! Politicians used to get

:42:46. > :42:49.much closer to the public, I don't know whether it's security concerns

:42:50. > :42:54.or the rise of spin doctors, but I wonder now if they face more

:42:55. > :42:56.confrontation when they do meet the public because it's actually quite

:42:57. > :43:00.scarce when they meet the public so the public say here is an

:43:01. > :43:07.opportunity, I'm going to have a go at you? I don't know if that's true

:43:08. > :43:11.or whether it doesn't show up at on the TV. I was at a NUT conference

:43:12. > :43:17.and Jeremy Corbyn appeared in the middle of the crowd and started

:43:18. > :43:24.taking questions like a third-rate celebrity. That is unusual. I live

:43:25. > :43:31.in Brighton so we see a lot of these things going on. Once people come

:43:32. > :43:41.in, people do mingle. It may be the awareness that politicians come off

:43:42. > :43:47.not very well after these things. We've become a less deferential

:43:48. > :43:57.nation. That's usually the point isn't it. Maybe that makes the

:43:58. > :44:02.ordinary voter more confident to confront politicians? Yes. I think

:44:03. > :44:07.everyone has their own as well. As much as we were hearing about the 27

:44:08. > :44:09.nations, at least the number of varieties of ordinary members of the

:44:10. > :44:13.public there are as well and they all think if they have an

:44:14. > :44:19.opportunity to raise things a little bit higher. The funny thing is, I

:44:20. > :44:23.personally always kind of feel for the politician in that situation

:44:24. > :44:27.because they're being expected to respond to an unexpectedly magnified

:44:28. > :44:30.version of a single consideration. I mean everyone remembers the time

:44:31. > :44:34.Blair was confronted by the woman outside the hospital. That was a

:44:35. > :44:42.time when he was soaring in the polls. All the way back in the 60s

:44:43. > :44:47.Harold Wilson was hit by an egg on a surprise visit to Harrow and Ted

:44:48. > :44:51.Heath made the joke that things were so desperate that men and women were

:44:52. > :45:01.wandering around with boxes of eggs on the off chance of meeting him. Ed

:45:02. > :45:15.Miliband, John Prescott The bigoted woman with Gordon Brown. It ended

:45:16. > :45:21.with the comment that the whole western democracy hinged upon. Do

:45:22. > :45:25.you find that more confrontational? Aisle only been doing it for seven

:45:26. > :45:29.years. I represent a seat where people are direct, they will tell

:45:30. > :45:33.you what they think and they'll tell you what they think about it,

:45:34. > :45:38.whether you're at the cheese aisle at Tesco or are in a suit at a

:45:39. > :45:42.street stall. I agree with you, we are incredibly accessible even with

:45:43. > :45:47.everything that's happened recently. I get the same train as Tim Farron

:45:48. > :45:52.often from Parliament and both of us will be sitting in the carriage with

:45:53. > :45:56.people chatting to us, they'll sit down and have a Natter then they'll

:45:57. > :46:00.leave. I don't think it's odd to meet people who're very angry.

:46:01. > :46:04.Sometimes what happens is that people have stored that up, that

:46:05. > :46:08.sense of frustration and when they see somebody who may be able to give

:46:09. > :46:12.that a national voice, they really, really want to tell you. Sometimes

:46:13. > :46:19.that level of anger can dissipate very, very quickly if they feel that

:46:20. > :46:24.you actually do care. Can I ask, do you get trained in how to deal with

:46:25. > :46:28.it from that point of view? God, no. You don't actually get trained in

:46:29. > :46:33.anything as a Member of Parliament. Tim Farron handled that rather well.

:46:34. > :46:38.You need discipline to remain polite, global worst thing to do is

:46:39. > :46:44.not to be polite. Yes I think that's right. The public don't play by what

:46:45. > :46:48.politicians think of as rules. So in an interview with a politician, the

:46:49. > :46:52.understanding about how the conversation is going to progress,

:46:53. > :47:02.the public aren't versed in that and go off all over the place. Margaret

:47:03. > :47:05.Thatcher, the sinking of the Belgrano, the lady talking about

:47:06. > :47:12.that simply wouldn't get go. Wouldn't be palmed off. Would not be

:47:13. > :47:17.palmed off. If you wanted a further sound bite answer, you would think,

:47:18. > :47:21.I've got to move on. I'm not sure the public always want us to be

:47:22. > :47:26.polite. I think they are on our side and want us to stick up for

:47:27. > :47:31.ourselves. John Prescott is a good example. Most people who got hit

:47:32. > :47:37.hard by an egg would probably respond robustly, you know. You

:47:38. > :47:42.quite like confrontation, don't you? It was interesting watching Michael

:47:43. > :47:47.have a confrontation earlier. However, borderline ugly it may have

:47:48. > :47:53.been but it makes the thing more compelling. If you get a

:47:54. > :47:56.confrontation in a a comedy club, that represents tension that's been

:47:57. > :47:59.built, possibly because the comedian isn't goings down well or the

:48:00. > :48:05.audience is drunk, but whatever it needs to come to a head. If the

:48:06. > :48:08.comedian has the chops to deal with it, that ignites the night and

:48:09. > :48:13.that's everybody's favourite point. If you are doing a 20-minute set,

:48:14. > :48:17.you hope the heckler comes at the end because to sustain that level of

:48:18. > :48:25.excitement, you have to coast to the end. What are we up to now, in

:48:26. > :48:32.touring? I thought you meant for my confrontation! Edinburgh previews

:48:33. > :48:37.getting read dwri for the festival doing a show called Genius. If

:48:38. > :48:41.anybody else has thoughts on that in the green room! Thank you, Simon.

:48:42. > :48:44.That's your lot for tonight folks, but not for us.

:48:45. > :48:46.We're off to Lou Lou's for Tony Blair's big return

:48:47. > :48:52.Jezza's put five quid behind the bar in a spirit of party unity

:48:53. > :48:57.I'm worried it will all be a bit awkward since we're only allowed

:48:58. > :48:59.to talk in sound bites and use sentences with no verbs.

:49:00. > :49:03.And no one, and I mean no one, Lisa, is allowed to mention his past

:49:04. > :49:06.proclivity for invading places that weren't really a threat to us,

:49:07. > :49:08.which rather leaves us caught between Iraq and a hard place.

:49:09. > :49:11.For political junkies, who don't have an invite,

:49:12. > :49:15.there's continuing coverage and analysis of the local election

:49:16. > :49:17.results in England and Wales on Election Night Live,

:49:18. > :49:22.with James Naughtie and Carolyn Quinn, on BBC Radio 4 and Five Live.

:49:23. > :49:26.Folks in Scotland will have to wait until Friday lunchtime

:49:27. > :49:31.Nighty night don't let Westminster's finest bite.

:49:32. > :49:34.Why should the public, on this issue, as regards

:49:35. > :49:37.the future of the Royal Navy, believe you, a transient,

:49:38. > :49:41.here today, and if I may say so, gone tomorrow politician,

:49:42. > :49:43.rather than a senior officer of many years?

:49:44. > :49:46.I'm sorry, I'm fed up with this interview really.

:49:47. > :49:51.A lot of people in this country use prescription painkillers and pills

:49:52. > :49:59.The Pakistani general has just been elected.

:50:00. > :50:04.He appears he's going to bring stability to the country

:50:05. > :50:07.and I think that's good news for the subcontinent.

:50:08. > :50:15.The fact of using underspends for this means that our plan

:50:16. > :50:17.is absolutely intact and that is rightly what we seek

:50:18. > :50:25.I and the Press Complaints Commission were very badly misled

:50:26. > :50:28.by the News of the World, and I know you're laughing at that.

:50:29. > :50:31.Actually being able to endure a discussion like this

:50:32. > :50:34.without getting up and smashing your face in, which is what most people

:50:35. > :50:37.would do if they'd been through what I have been.

:50:38. > :50:41.You are the worst person I've ever interviewed.

:50:42. > :50:43.No, no, it's basically off with their heads!

:50:44. > :50:45.I really want to answer these questions.

:50:46. > :50:49.Can we do a television interview, or can we do a press interview?

:50:50. > :50:52.I'd almost like to start completely...