18/01/2018 This Week

Tonight on This Week. Faster than a

speeding bullet.

It's very sharp an

intact.

Powerful than a locomotive.

It could be 200 years old. I don't

know.

Able to leap single buildings

in a bound.

He has genius.

Who can

it be?

It a bird.

It it a plane.

Don't be silly. It's Jeremy Corbyn.

He's a man with a lot of momentum.

No it's Superman a strange visitor

from another planet who came to

earth with powers and abilities far

beyond those of mortal men.

There is

a superhero in all of us, at least

that's what Andrew told me. You need

to be a superhero to do the Round

Up. Oh, there he is.

Politics is

just one big stunt. Superman's not a

political stunt, he can change the

course of mighty rivers, bend steel

in his bare hands and disguised as

President Trump fights a

never-ending battle for truth,

justice and the American way. Now

another exciting episode of This

Week.

Evenin' all welcome to This Week.

And as we come on air,

we can report the latest

tweets from Donald Trump,

the monitoring of which is what

passes for journalism these days.

So here they are...

"The Dali Lama is not a lama".

#fake news.

"My favourite Britisher friend,

who likes to hold my hand,

Mother Theresa, is not

actually a mother.

#more fake news.

"Bear Grylls is not a bear."

#fake news is everywhere.

And, "Mark Reckless is too

boring to be reckless."

#who the hell is Mark Reckless?

At This Week we were disappointed

not to be included in

the President's Fake News Awards

because truth decay is what we've

specialised in long before

it became fashionable.

But we couldn't have afforded to go

and pick up the award

anyway because this week,

after years of extravagance and

appalling management, we went bust.

Of course we immediately

went to the Government

and they stuffed our pockets

with gold-plated contracts.

But after we'd doubled our pay

and bonuses and quadrupled

the dividend, we had to go back cap

in hand to the Government again.

This time they turned us down

flat saying that instead

they were spending £44 million

on the Calais Border Force.

This is yet another

example of government

waste and extravagance.

I just don't think it will deter

diehard Remainers from trying

to escape across the Channel.

Speaking of those who you'd pay

to leave the country, I'm joined

on the sofa tonight by two failed

politicians so bereft and bankrupt

that even the liquidator said

he wouldn't tough them

with a bargepole.

I speak of course of

Liz #4%Kendall and Michael

#ChooChooPortillo.

Good evening to you both. Michael

your moment of the week?

your moment of the week?

Paul

Grugman who works for the New York

Times. He got the top fake news from

Donald Trump. Jon Sopel the BBC

editor in Washington said he was

just an economist who got his

prediction wrong his prediction was

the stock market would slump if

Donald Trump became President. The

stock market has soared ahead. I

don't agree it's a bad prediction. I

think he's a number of people who

allowed their political prejudice to

overcome their professional

judgment. Who lent the prestige of

their position of their authority,

of their reputations to make a

political point. I think it's

absolutely right that he's denounced

for fake news and I would like to

nominate Georg Osborne who made

outrageous claims before Brexit and

has gone object to be the editor of

the Spectator.

No.

For give me.

That

is a bit of fake news.

I think -

that has ruined my point, hasn't it.

I think he deserves to be called out

for fake news.

He has a Nobel Prize.

I know. Using the prestige -

The

stock market went up 30%. A wee bit

out.

It Was not...

All right.

It was

not just an error.

We get the point.

Did you get the point, Liz.

I did.

Let's move on. What was your That

life expectancy moment.

In some

parts of the country has decreased

by a whole year.

I saw that.

This is

quite extraordinary. And I think it

should have got a lot more coverage.

Former industrial areas, isolated

rural parts of the country have seen

the biggest falls. Whilst it is hard

to make a clear cause and effect

case, we have to look at the root

causes of ill-health, poverty, poor

employment, poor education.

Bad

lifestyle.

Also the impact of what

is happening on front-line services.

This is a seriouses issues about

regional inequalities that are

having an affect on people's lives.

This should be much higher up the

agenda.

Good moment.

It's a very British Labour coup.

Slowly, but so far unstoppably,

in an effective but unshowy way,

the bearded face of Jeremy Corbyn

is being carved into his party.

Forget New Labour.

Forget Old Labour.

This is Jezza Labour,

with the promise of Labour

as we've never known it.

The Labour leader's grip

was significantly boosted this week

when Corbynistas won all three

positions vacant on the party's

governing body, the NEC.

More important in the wider world,

the news agenda tilted

in a Corbynista direction with daily

stories about an NHS stretched

to the limit and the outsourcing

of public services to the private

sector discredited by the corporate

mess, even scandal,

that became Carillion.

So is the future bright?

Is the future Corbyn?

Barbara Ntumy is a Labour activist

and Jezza supporter.

Here she is with our

Take of the Week.

It's not easy to fix a broken

party in a broken system.

Jeremy hasn't gone for

the easy option of putting

the pieces back together.

Instead, he's put together

an exciting and new vision

for his party and the country.

This week the ruling committee,

the NEC, welcomed three new members

directly elected for the first time

by the party's membership.

Jeremy has rightly

strengthened his hold,

but this is more than just that.

It's about building the party

into a more democratic organisation.

The elected candidates share

members' determination to win

the next election with the focus

on the many, and not the few.

Labour Party members have backed

Jeremy's agenda and that is why

support for the Labour Party

from the general

public is increasing.

This result has been spung by some

as a further move away

from the Labour Party

as a broad church.

A plan to oust

so-called moderate MPs.

But the Labour Party rules

on selection haven't changed.

Constituent party members

automatically made a democratic

decision on who will

represent them best.

If MPs don't share the views

of the leadership and membership,

they are entitled to take action.

This is also the week we've

seen the wheel come off

a failed capitalist model.

Carillion's collapse has seen

firefighters deliver meals

in Oxfordshire and contingency plans

enacted across 14 NHS Trusts.

It's sad that it's taken this

to vindicate Jeremy's position.

Our leader has transformed

the party for the better.

Now, he must transform the country.

Our thanks to Kite

Studios in west London.

Welcome to our new potter

in residence, Barbara Ntumy.

Welcome to the programme, Barbara.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So are the they in

control of the Labour Party?

They

weren't the candidates that I voted

for and how I see this is there are

many momentum members like I believe

you, Barbara, who really do want to

change the party and change the

world but I'm concerned about

elements of the hard left who seem

more bothered about fighting

internal battles. You may disagree

with me on that, but I think one of

the first moves of those new members

was to get rid of Ann Black.

On the

left her self.

Elected by over

100,000 members on to the NEC. I

think it is really important that

this internal fighting has got to

stop and that we have to focus on

changing the country. I hope you're

right and that doesn't happen, but I

do have concerns.

What do you say to

that, Barbara?

I'd say I think it's

really great for the first time ever

the thousands of members we have in

the Labour Party were able to have a

say on who was going to be part of

the National Executive Committee. In

regards to Anne Black and the chair

she has done a wonderful job in

representing the Labour Party. I

have been part of organisations

where someone has been elected a

chair of the committee I think the

new Chair will do a great job. It's

about us coming together and

transforming this country for the

better, like you said Liz.

You

replaced someone on the left of the

party who wasn't a Corbynista with

somebody who is a Corbynista. Is

that the aim?

No.

Is that the aim to

put like minded people into top

positions.

It's about giving other

people an opportunity to serve the

Labour Party. Like I said, Anne

Black has done a terrific job and

I'm sure Christine will do a

terrific job. It's an opportunity

for other expertise, with confidence

and passion who want to be part of

the Labour Party to serve the

members of the Labour Party.

It was

a hard line momentum member that

replaced her?

Christine is a great

representative. She's a member of

the Labour Party and member of the

Labour Party. Like you said, chairs

change hands at different times.

Loads of people leave. There are

reshuffles and stuff like that.

Again, Anne Black did a great job

serving the party -

Let us move on.

Most people don't know who Ann Black

is. Should MPs undergo an automatic

reselection process?

In terms of

selection to become MPs the Labour

Party rules haven't changed. From

what I've heard Jeremy or anybody I

know isn't advocating -

Should

existing Labour MPs before the next

election go through a reselect

process?

That is the process for the

Labour Party.

There is already a

process which is your branches have

to decide whether you will carry on

being an MP. If more than half say,

no, you have to go through that it's

really important that we don't get

distracted with changing all of

that.

Of course.

I think that will

be a real disaster. Democracy is

about Labour members having their

views heard. I really hope that

happens on Europe, by the way. Where

the vast ha yort of Labour members

would like us to stay in the single

market and customs union. Democracy

is about respecting different views.

We have always been a broad church

and that has got to remain.

Should Liz Kendall have to go

through reselection?

She has

explained how the rules work and a

lot of the conversation we are

having about people who do not

believe MPs are maybe acting or

voting and taking up issues in their

interest and I would say those

individuals, constituency Labour

Party should discuss with the MPs.

Just like Liz described there is a

process. If half of people want to

carry on and if not it will trigger

a process that is the process we

will continue to have and I think it

is fair.

Is the political tide

running in Jeremy Corbyn's

direction.

It has run in his

direction and from now on I think it

will not run in his direction

because if the government makes it

another three, four years it will

run considerably against him, he

will have gone past his peak. I

think the government has the better

chance that appeared the case at the

beginning to survive a long period,

if only because the Ulster Unionists

will not want to put in a person

they see as an IRA sympathiser.

If

against the odds this parliament

runs until 2022, which nobody last

year thought there was a chance of

doing, now some people are saying

maybe it will stumble through. In

your view should Jeremy Corbyn, who

would then be 73, should he lead the

Labour Party into that election?

Are

we asking if he is still competent

in policies he put over or just

talking about his age? I do not know

what his age has to do with it.

Not

one has stood to be British Prime

Minister at the age.

We did not

think we would leave the European

Union but there we are.

If it takes

awhile to get to the next election,

Mr Corbyn is the man to lead you

into that election?

Of course, if he

is still leader and the majority of

membership support him I do not see

why not and I do not see what his

age has to do with anything. It is

the vision of the country we are

trying to create is the key thing.

What will stop Momentum to extend in

the Labour Party?

Understanding if

we want to win our focus should be

on the public. I was talking earlier

about parts of the country, rural

areas, post-industrial towns, where

we saw a swing towards the Tories

and away from Labour, our

traditional heartland and I think it

is important...

They think they are

in tune. They think they are more

representative now of Labour voters,

particularly younger ones, the new.

My experience of new members in my

own patch is they understand we have

a huge task in those areas,

traditionally low turnout, and also

who are concerned about the

direction of the country. I am not

yet convinced we have the right

answers. I think that has got to be

our focus. Not about these internal

battles.

I would say we can do two

things at the same time.

Strengthening democracy so members

have the say in a party is important

because you want people who have

given up time and energy and I get

e-mails about getting involved in

something and doing something for

the Labour Party, they should be

able to have a say. Momentum

galvanises people to turn up and

campus for candidates and help and

support and we are the army on the

ground and that is important.

I

think all of this is really good

news from a Conservative point of

view. It would be easy to portray

Momentum as a sinister organisation

that has taken over the Labour

Party.

I do not think that is true.

It is sinister because it imposes a

single view of what it is. If you

listen to Barbara talking about

democracy she talks about a self

appointed group who have made

themselves Labour Party members and

that is not democracy, democracy is

the 60 million people in this

country and the more Barbara

convinces herself that democracy is

people who have paid £3 to be

members of the Labour Party the

happier I am because democracy is

something quite different. When we

get to a general election there is a

difference between what you think is

democracy, which is 500,000 people,

and the millions of votes needed to

win an election.

win an election.

You did a lot

better than mainstream opinion

thought in the last election.

In

circumstances where people thought

Jeremy Corbyn would be trounced. At

the next election they will be aware

Jeremy Corbyn may win and that is a

terrific advantage to...

That is

lighting fire under the feet. We

will work harder and more people

will come out in campus.

Mobilising

members is essential but we have to

look at those places that we lost

where the swing went against us. I

am very pleased we have so more...

Why would the Momentum message

resonate with these areas?

In some

of those traditional areas people

are still worried, can they trust us

with their money, taxes, national

security? That they want to know we

believe in success and aspiration,

that we would be strong on defence,

those are issues I picked up in some

parts of my constituency that are

reflected in those towns,

post-industrial small towns we need

to win back.

A final word in

response. Jeremy has gone a long way

of winning people back. The

manifesto is the start. You talk

about the Hartland post-industrial

places, asked leaving Europe will

have a massive impact almost people

and in relation to the economy

Jeremy has proven we can be trusted

and we put a great manifesto forward

people voted for that. It is pass

and party members going out and

making the case in convincing people

Labour is better for this country

than the Conservatives.

Thank you.

Now it's late.

Desmond Swayne late.

Shhhh!

The New Forest West MP says

he is "embarrassed" and "annoyed"

with himself for nodding off

during a Ken Clarke speech.

Dessie, my man, don't fret.

It's happened to the best of us.

Even Ken Clarke's fallen asleep

in the middle of his speeches.

So, now you're suitably refreshed,

stay with us Des because comedian

and writer Matt Forde will be

putting political stunts

in the Spotlight.

And if, dear viewer,

we've roused you out

of your Blue Nun stupor and you feel

like contacting us on the Tweeter,

the Fleecebook

and the Snapnumpty,

well have another snooze

and it'll soon pass.

Because frankly, your messages

are about as welcome as Ukip leader

Henry Bolton at a convention

of the Meghan Markle Fan Club.

Now, embarrassing as it is to admit,

but I have to confess we may have

overstretched ourselves.

Waffling on about politics

we can just about manage,

but taking on those contracts

to scrub the loos in the Commons,

dry-clean Michael's 300 green

and pink silk shirts and to build

a new shoe locker for

the Maybot's kitten heels -

well, it's all just too much.

And the blunt truth is -

we've gone bust.

So, while I supplement our meagre

income trying to pick a winner

in the 4.30 at Aintree,

here's June Sarpong

with a round-up of the week.

with a round-up of the week.

I am here, you wanted me for the

round-up? Hello, hello. Where is

everyone?

everyone? Hello? Yes, it is June.

What do you mean no one is coming

in? This week's contract has

collapsed. What about my rider? I

will have to do this myself.

This week construction giant

Carillion went into liquidation

leaving 20,000 jobs at risk and

racking up £1.5 billion in debt. The

government refused to bail out. In

spite of this the Environment

Secretary Michael Gove did not sound

the death knell for PFI contracts.

With a National Audit Office report

showing PFI contracts will cost the

taxpayer billions over the next

decades.

Look at the specific

circumstances of this company's

operation. Our heart goes out to the

people employed by Carillion.

Jeremy

Corbyn spotted the opportunity to

bang the drum for nationalisation

and criticise the government to

continue to offer the firm

contracts.

We need our public

services provided by public

employees with a public service

ethos and stronger public oversight.

As the ruins of Carillion lie around

her, will the Prime Minister act to

end this costly racket of the

relationship between government and

some of these companies?

But Theresa

May hit back with condemnation of

Labour's approach to business.

What

Labour opposes not just a role for

private companies in public services

but the private sector as a whole,

the majority of people in this

country in employment are employed

by the private sector. The Shadow

Chancellor calls businesses the real

enemy.

At least somebody was sure of a

helping hand with Corbyn's position

shored up with three of the hard

left on the NEC including the

momentum chief. Could somebody help

me with this film?

I have dreamt for

members led Labour Party and I hope

that is what we will get.

It looks

like I am on my own them. Also out

in the cold, a moderate -- aren't

Modric Labour MPs with call for

deselection is hotting up. There are

jobs going at This Week if anybody

is interested -- with moderate

Labour MPs.

I want once in every

five years to have it hanging over

every lawmaker they could be

reselected if they do not do their

job properly.

Jeremy Corbyn may

revel in his success at the NEC but

caused consternation over claims

that Brexit may not allow for

continued membership of the single

market.

Do we have a trading

relationship with Europe which is

tariff free and based on access to

that market and access of Europe to

our market? Yes. Do we push that?

Yes. Is that what we have said to

the European in opposition?

Yes.

Shadow Brexit Minister Jenny Chapman

could not clear up the confusion.

People are capable of getting their

heads around this. We want the

benefits of the single market but we

are uneasy about accepting all of

the...

Hang on, you are

criticising...

?

criticising...

? Someone other than

me wanting to return to business as

usual is Donald Tusk, who reiterated

his calls for Britain to remain in

the EU.

Was it David Davis who said

if a democracy cannot change its

mind, it ceases to be a democracy?

We on the continent have not had a

change of heart. Our hearts are

open.

His words fell on deaf ears

among Brexiteers, like veteran

Europhile Ken Clarke.

I address some

of them in committee and well put

today but I am astonished we have

got to report without actually

having as yet an adequate response

to any of them.

Now to spruce up the

place we need a bit of class,

something with history behind it,

and I do not just mean Michael.

Perhaps we could

Perhaps we could borrow the Bayeux

tapestry, but it would be costly

with Macron wanting Britain to speed

up accepting migrants currently on

French soil but eligible to seek

asylum in the UK and also to spend

an extra £44.5 million on beefing up

channel border security.

TRANSLATION:

We need diplomacy and

to build peace to that effect and we

will be doing it so we are somehow

making a new tapestry together.

Also

struggling to move the story on is

Ukip leader Henry Bolton who had to

choose between love and politics

when his short lived relationship

with glamour model Jo Marney came to

an end after she was found to have

sent racist text messages.

As of

last night the romantic element of

the relationship is over. I have no

intention of resigning and people

calling for my resignation have been

at some time working to undermine

the leadership of the party in any

case.

The Ukip leader show must go

one, as must this one. I am

exhausted. Putting this shambles of

a programme together is more

complicated than it looks. I think I

will have a rest.

June is probably in bed, we are

still working. Michael, as the

private provision of public services

had its day?

No, but public-private

partnerships had, which is

different. There is no reason the

government should not contract with

private people and pay them but what

was happening in public-private

partnerships and under Tony Blair

and Gordon Brown was we were trying

to have today something we would pay

for tomorrow. The irony of Labour's

criticism of PFI, is Jeremy Corbyn's

policy is generally the same, by

borrowing, we will have today which

people tomorrow have to pay for so

the

ideology is the same. PFI grew

under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown,

although it started under John

Major. It increased when Gordon

Brown was in the Treasury and Jeremy

Corbyn was always against it and he

now feels vindicated. Another for

him unravelling of new Labour.

I think that's right. I agree with

Michael. It's like - we said would

use PFI for our schools and

hospitals and have you to pay for

it. The cost have gone up. I have no

problem with the private-sector

building our roads and the

buildings. Building our hospitals

and schools.

That is what Carillion

was doing of course.

Those were the

projects that caused -

That

undermined it.

Caused it collapse.

We needed to rethink how to do this.

We need more transparency in the

system. Better skills in the civil

service. We have these companies too

big to fail. We need decent ethical

standards. This is a crisis I think

for the public sector, for the

state, but also the private-sector.

What was happening with the

corporate governance of that

organisation. Quite frankly we've

seen it before with unethical

behaviour.

It wasn't too big to fail

though in the end, was it? It's

failed. It's gone bust. It I saw

someone say, this is the

privatisation of gain and the

socialisation of profit. Actually

the shareholders have been wiped

out. They have lost everything and

the creditors will be lucky to get

1p in the £1.

We will be interesting

to see what happens to the senior

employees. The public wants to see

the senior employees ruined.

The

liquidator has been told to

investigate that. There will is a

question mark that comes back to

corporate governance.

I won't mind

making a bet that they won't.

That

is could be a point because we are

waiting to see what happens with

BHS. When dividends can be increased

year after year and bonuses too

there is a £600 million hole in the

pension pot.

Absolutely. The

Government is saying the taxpayer

isn't going to pay. We don't know

yet. We don't know what will happen

on pensions. What I would say here,

Andrew, is. I think that we need to

change the way that we do this, but

I don't want to see... If I think

about getting a flu jab as an an

older person there is nothing wrong

with going to the far I to get it.

We shouldn't have a blanket ban on

examples like that. You have to put

the needs of the user first. It's a

wake-up call for the state, but also

the private-sector. Quite frankly,

capitalism has to save itself. If

you believe in a market economy,

that has to work. It hasn't happened

this time.

It hasn't. The end of the

consensus for sure that was around

PFI. That's gone. We don't know what

will replace it yet. Michael, has a

new era in Anglo-French relations

broken out today?

No. But I think

what's happened today is, you know,

broadly encouraging. I think what's

been done about the border is

sensible. Just think about the

border for a moment. Thank goodness,

not only did we never join

not only did we never join the the

body when you can move around

without a passport. We have kept

that immigration problem abay. It's

been a miracle that the French have

been willing to allow asylum

applications to be processed in

France. That's a miracle.

Mr Macron

said he was going to tear up the Le

Touquet Treaty and has replaced it

with what he's calling the Sandhurst

Treaty all for £44 million.

The

biggest bargain that we have ever

bought. At the same time, the

Frenchman who has been given the

task of attracting business away

from the City of London has made a

very interesting statement. I think

it's just a statement of common

sense, that the City of London will

go on being the predominant

financial market in Europe after

we've left the European Union.

We

are giving Calais £44 million, all

we got back was as tatty old

tapestry.

I'm excited to see it.

So

am I. It was a bad joke. At thes it

is quite exciting. There is an

excellent replica in Reading. I

don't know why it's in Reading. It

seemed significant in it that

seemed significant in it that it

could be bilateral relations. Macron

and May talked about military

co-operation, the five intelligence

chiefs of Britain met the five

intelligence chiefs of France. Again

about - our intelligence and French

intelligence has never been closer.

The French are embedded half a mile

frl here in MI6 now almost on a

permanent basis. You began to see a

bilateral relationship. Liz.

That

may well be right. I think Macron

doesn't want to wait for anybody. He

wants to shape the world around him.

My sense from this meeting, I have

to say, was how much Macron puts

himself out there as a world player

and how I worry that we aren't now.

That we know longer - whenever have

you seen Theresa May go out to China

all the things that Macron's doing.

He wants to shape, let me say this.

Chinooks in Africa.

He wants to

shape the world. It's not just the

deal around Calais and migration. He

rightly said, we have to work with

other countries to deal with the

root course causes -

The point today

was that he wants Britain to be an

ally in the shaping of the world

because when it comes to pro general

election of force or intelligence,

the Germans aren't in the same

league.

That's right.

As the

British.

A happy coincidence of

objectives here. The British are

desperate to show that they can have

goodbye lateral relationships after

Brexit. The French are determined to

do anything military which is

outside Nato and which in fact has

the tendency to undermine Nato. That

has always been the French game. Now

the British need to be very careful

of we can go so far with the French,

we must not undermine Nato. Why,

Nato carries with it the United

States.

The one point you haven't

said, he quite clearly would like us

to keep that option of us being part

of the single market on the table.

He saw Britain -

He saw that as an

He is a option.

Reformer too.

Before

we go. Yes or no. Is Ukip heading

for the knackers yard

The underlying

issues they tapped into are still

there.

So not.

Yes.

One for and one

against. I don't know if Ukip will

take comfort from that or not.

Now, we're having a party.

To celebrate our 15th anniversary

of broadcasting some

of the worst public-service TV

in the BBC's history.

How can we afford such

extravagance, I hear you ask.

Well, we've hacked into

the DG's Cayman Island's

account and emptied it.

Since there wasn't a lot in it,

we can only afford a location

south of the river.

But look on the bright side, it

means Donald Trump won't be coming.

There's room for 120 lucky -

or do I mean plucky - viewers.

To try for a place follow the link

on the BBC This Week inter web site

or you can use Fleecebook

and the Tweeter.

Tell us in two sentences why

you want to come and if you make us

laugh or cry you'll get the tickets.

It should be a night

of fun, puns and Blue Nun.

And the star of the show,

Molly the Dog, is flying

in by private jet from Nice just

to be with us.

How could you miss that?

Oh for the days when you could get

one over on the cheese-eating

surrender monkeys by sending a bunch

of burly archers with anger

management issues on a long stag

weekend to Agincourt.

Nowadays we're reduced

to stuffing the pockets

of the Calais Border Force

with £45 million and trying to look

grateful because we got an ancient

tatty tapestry in return.

Just a joke, Liz.

Or projecting luminous expletives

on the humble hotel of our favourite

genius president and pretending it's

a revolutionary act.

All good fun and games, I suppose.

Or is it?

Good question.

So we're putting political stunts

in this week's Spotlight.

Politicians love a stunt,

but maybe not when it backfires.

Oh.

Little red book...

Gold medal.

Or when they're the target.

Oh, careful.

Stick one on him.

Boris, job done there.

Is it possible to snatch a moral

victory from the jaws

of public humiliation?

As the former...

Well, the London Mayor gave

it a go on Saturday.

We were distracted by the actions

of what some would call

very stable geniuses.

But is this very stable genius now

the master of the political stunt?

Well apparently those tweets

are carefully crafted.

When he's saying this his button

is bigger than the other guys

button, it's a joke.

So does the Donald anticipate

that his social media capers might

provoke a prank in response.

Got any statement to

make, Mr President?

Well after the week he's had,

maybe the President's getting

used to the backlash.

Shitholes.

The exact word used

by the President.

Emmanuel Macron's medieval

charm offensive impressed

the Prime Minister on Tuesday.

It is very significant

that the Bayeux Tapestry

is going to be coming

to the United Kingdom.

But is he taking the mick

anticipating French victory

in the battle of Brexit?

Either way the Europeans think

they can see through Mrs May stunts.

Prime Minister May announced that

after Brexit Britain would return

to the blue passport.

The whole story is a scam.

EU law does not say anything

about passport colours.

Or is everyone being bamboozled

by North Korea's display of unity.

We should not be naive

about their intent.

Nor should we be blinded

by North Korea's charm offensive.

Matt Ford thinks every

politician is a stunt man.

Does it degrade public office?

Pulling no political stunts to get

here, Matt Forde is on our sofa.

Welcome back to the programme.

Pleasure to be here.

Are any

political stunts effective or do

they always backfire?

Some of them

can be highly effective. It's a way

of lodging an image in the public

brain that perhaps words on play

paper or plain audio doesn't do. The

referendum campaign the bus with

£350 million on the side of it.

It

was a stunt. It's probably the

symbol of the referendum.

Most

famous political vehicle in my

lifetime apart from Harriet's Pink

Bus.

Indeed.

You have to be careful.

I worked for the Labour Party for

many years and came up with and was

charged with carrying out some of

these stunts. We had a by-election

in Northampton, I don't remember the

week when Tony Blair had cleaned

graffiti, about the Respect Agenda.

Any local by-elections you get your

candidate out scrubbing gra feet

iffy. The press officer said, get a

bucket and a mop, scrum it off. I

realised we didn't have water.

Northampton is not sounding a great

place at the moment.

I went to

Waitrose and bought eight pints of

Evian. I mixed it with Ajax, the

local reporter saw me do this. The

story wasn't that we removed

graffiti. It probably didn't need

removed. It was

removed. It was that some Labour

flunky who bought Evian.

I want to

apologise to the people of

Northampton about this unprovoked

attack on their city by Mr Ford. The

P45 stunt with Mrs May. That pro

general election there. The egging

of Mr Press rot and so on. That's

not good for a political debate

these sort of things?

There is a

line. Never make a the person a

victim. When you get Nick Griffin, o

most people in pilot society is

reprehencible, when the egg lands on

his head you think, that's gone far

too far.

Can John Major and Ed Miliband were

egged. Anything that's too

disrespectful back fires. How brutal

it looked in print. It's a word that

people use now, back then it it felt

a step too far. You do have to be

careful. The public, there is a

natural sense of fair play.

They are

also not true. When Blair and Brown

had the ice creams. Everyone knew

they weren't get getting on at that

point. It only works... I remember

when Blair did

when Blair did his keepiy uppies and

Margaret Thatcher did her basket of

goods the groccer daughter.

Something of a lamb as well.

They

lack the scale of the political

stunts of the past. Lord Palmerston

sent a gun boat to rescue someone.

Winston Churchill appeared at the

siege of Sydney Street wearing a top

hat and carrying a revolver. A

loaded revolver.

Yes.

Our

politicians really do have to rise

to the standards that were set in

the past by these great men.

look at a stunt must not turn

someone into a victim because that

turns off voters, I take your point

but a good stunt can attract people.

The last few years, it did not get

much coverage but when the SNP sat

on the Labour benches in the

Commons, it was immature and

provocative but a funny moment and

what the SNP has been good at is

weaponising Parliamentary

attendance. Taking screen grabs of

Parliament. Often these things are

manipulated that saying we are in

the chamber and other MPs are not.

When on earth have the British

public cared about their MPs in the

chamber. It was an large in a

different direction.

You can see the

initiative with these. And it was a

symbol of them saying we are the

real opposition.

And they had a

poster with tartan benches.

Photoshopping the benches with a

tartan effect.

Do you have a

favourite? I liked when the pasty

tax came out and I thought thank

goodness it is not me, when they

were eating the pasties because they

would say you have never eaten a

pasty in your life.

Margaret

Thatcher on top of the tank,

brilliant. It was translated into

Spitting Image, and the people who

made it thought it was damaging to

her but it was brilliant.

Because it

made her out to be the only real man

in the Cabinet!

What are you up to?

I have a TV show, serious four. It

starts a week on Sunday on Dave.

We

thank you for your time.

So that's your lot for tonight,

folks, but not for us.

We're off to Loulou's

to celebrate its selection

as the new home of the Bayeux

Tapestry.

Michael's taking his stepladder

and tool box and he's going to pin

it around the bar wall,

next to his Battle of Britain

mural and his framed

Union Jack underpants,

signed by Mrs T, natch.

As for me, I'm keeping

away from the dartboard.

Last time Liz had the darts

she was on the oche

and almost took my eye out.

Which came as a surprise

since I was standing behind her.

Nighty-night.

Don't let the new fine art

doppleganger app bite.

MUSIC: Me, Myself and I.