0:00:15 > 0:00:22This Week was born with a silver spoon in its mouth.
0:00:24 > 0:00:31spoon in its mouth. We trained alongside the snowflake Yentobs at
0:00:31 > 0:00:36the BBC. We ran our own independent television programme out of a broom
0:00:36 > 0:00:42cupboard in Westminster. We liked the way it was. But this week, has
0:00:42 > 0:00:47everything changed?
0:00:48 > 0:00:51everything changed? There is a distinct chill in the air, so are we
0:00:51 > 0:00:58heading for a new Cold War?The British government wants you to
0:00:58 > 0:01:02think you are not safe from Vladimir Putin. This is straight out of a
0:01:02 > 0:01:08Cold War play, but it is all hot air.And is the economy safe under
0:01:08 > 0:01:16spreadsheet Phil?Spreadsheet Phil says he feels like Tigger, and at
0:01:16 > 0:01:21least his non-statement had some good jokes.These are topsy-turvy
0:01:21 > 0:01:25times, but are we seeing a fightback from those who find themselves on
0:01:25 > 0:01:31the wrong side of history?America has a President on the wrong side of
0:01:31 > 0:01:39history. We've got to fight back. There's only one way to fix it.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Endure tonight's edition of this week.
0:01:43 > 0:01:44Evenin' all.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Welcome to This Week, the week in which McMafia went
0:01:46 > 0:01:50from expensive BBC Drama to scary lead on BBC News.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52The British Government, its major allies and pretty much
0:01:52 > 0:01:55all chemical weapons experts are in little doubt that the use
0:01:55 > 0:01:59of the deadly nerve gas Novichok in the attempt to assassinate
0:01:59 > 0:02:03a former Russian spy now living in Salisbury clearly puts
0:02:03 > 0:02:06President Putin's Russia in the frame.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The Maybot managed two statements in the Commons this week saying
0:02:09 > 0:02:11as much, without malfunction.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14She even managed a fist bump with an onlooker
0:02:14 > 0:02:15when she visited Salisbury today.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20That new people-friendly software seems to be bedding in nicely.
0:02:20 > 0:02:21But Dear Jezza was widely criticised, not least
0:02:21 > 0:02:24by his own side, for being less than convinced about Kremlin
0:02:24 > 0:02:27culpability and for seeming more angry about rich Russian emigres
0:02:27 > 0:02:32making donations to the Tory party than a foreign power sanctioning
0:02:32 > 0:02:35murder on British soil.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36But that's unfair.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38I can see where Jezza's coming from.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41After all, in almost every major foreign policy issue for the past 40
0:02:41 > 0:02:44years you've unfailingly taken the anti-Western line.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48You've rarely said anything hostile about the Soviet Union
0:02:48 > 0:02:51or the Russian Federation which succeeded it.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54You even went on a motorbike holiday to one of its colonies.
0:02:54 > 0:02:55With Diane Abbott.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57That's sacrifice for you.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59You've never mustered your Stop the War mates outside
0:02:59 > 0:03:01the Russian Embassy to embarrass those within.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05You've toiled under the studio lights of Russia Today,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08even when only three conspiracy nut jobs and your cat were watching.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12You've even hired a chief spin doctor who's opined that
0:03:12 > 0:03:15old Uncle Joe Stalin wasn't such a bad chap and the Soviet Union
0:03:15 > 0:03:18not such a bad place.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22And yet still these damned Ruskies give all their ill-gotten gains
0:03:22 > 0:03:25to the bloody Tories!
0:03:25 > 0:03:27I mean, I can see why he's miffed.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29I'll bet you would be too.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Speaking of those who never get their just desserts,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35I'm joined on the sofa tonight by two lost causes who've never done
0:03:35 > 0:03:37anything to deserve any payback whatsoever and to whom no sentient
0:03:37 > 0:03:42Russian oligarch would dream of donating a single kopeck.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46I speak of course of Michael #choochoo Portillo and Lisa
0:03:46 > 0:03:53#northernsoul Nandy.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59Welcome to you both. Your moment of the week.It came this morning, or
0:03:59 > 0:04:03at the end of yesterday, when the United States, Britain, France and
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Germany issued a joint statement condemning the Russian action. The
0:04:07 > 0:04:13reason it was the moment of the week was that I fear that Putin had
0:04:13 > 0:04:16succeeded in splitting Nato apart. At the beginning of the week, Donald
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Trump could not find words to condemn Russia. There was an
0:04:20 > 0:04:24irresponsible statement from a French diplomat yesterday talking
0:04:24 > 0:04:28about fantasy politics being practised in Britain. I thought,
0:04:28 > 0:04:33this is what Putin wanted, to show the West split asunder, and he has
0:04:33 > 0:04:38succeeded. Luckily, at the last moment both France and the United
0:04:38 > 0:04:42States have recognised the danger inherent in that. If we do not stand
0:04:42 > 0:04:46united we are in great difficulty and he will have won an enormous
0:04:46 > 0:04:49victory, Putin, so thank goodness even the Trump White House and the
0:04:49 > 0:04:55Macron presidency have rowed in behind and there was a strong
0:04:55 > 0:05:00statement, backed up by the Secretary-General of Nato. This is a
0:05:00 > 0:05:07moment where one says a disaster has been averted.Lisa.This is why we
0:05:07 > 0:05:10shouldn't just sit and gossip about what we had 30 in the Green room,
0:05:10 > 0:05:17because I was going to say the same thing. We had these moments of
0:05:17 > 0:05:21hydrometer or week in the House of Commons with a big clash over the
0:05:21 > 0:05:26spring statement, free school meals. But this is the moment where it felt
0:05:26 > 0:05:32like we stopped talking about who was responsible for the attack on
0:05:32 > 0:05:37British soil and started thinking seriously about how we would deal
0:05:37 > 0:05:40with Russian aggression collectively rather than as individual nations
0:05:40 > 0:05:44which is not productive. It was a good thing for the country.Two
0:05:44 > 0:05:47similar moments, with a different nuance.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Britain's major allies, from Canada to Germany
0:05:49 > 0:05:51and including Mr Trump's America, rallied behind the country
0:05:51 > 0:05:54today, less than 24 hours after the Prime Minister unveiled
0:05:54 > 0:05:56a range of retaliatory measures against Russia,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59in response to the attempted murder of a former Russian spy
0:05:59 > 0:06:03in the genteel cathedral city of Salisbury.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05The British government believes that the deadly nerve gas used
0:06:05 > 0:06:09was Russian and that it was deployed on British soil by the Russian
0:06:09 > 0:06:12state or its surrogates.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Nato in general and America in particular agree.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Washington today announced fresh sanctions against major Kremlin
0:06:18 > 0:06:20figures in response to hostile and illegal Russian
0:06:20 > 0:06:24activity in the US.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Britain is braced for a Russian response to its sanctions
0:06:27 > 0:06:30by the weekend and I'm told tonight that the UK has further measures
0:06:30 > 0:06:34to announce when that happens.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37Even the Leader of the Opposition says the evidence now points
0:06:37 > 0:06:39to Russian complicity.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45But, of course, the Putin government denies it.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Here's former Kremlin adviser Alexander Nekrassov
0:06:48 > 0:06:51with his Take of the Week.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15There's a chill in the air in Britain.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Theresa May, the ice queen, has sent a message to President Putin.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22"Take back half of your diplomats and get ready for your oligarchs
0:07:22 > 0:07:24"in London to get frisked.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29"And no Prince William or Boris Johnson going to your World Cup".
0:07:29 > 0:07:32But jokes aside, the situation is serious, with three people,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36including the ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, in a critical
0:07:36 > 0:07:42condition after a suspected chemical attacks in Salisbury.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44The British government thinks Russia is behind it.
0:07:44 > 0:07:51Moscow is denying it, but London isn't buying it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Let's make one thing clear.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Mr Skripal ended up in the UK in a spy swap nearly ten years ago,
0:08:05 > 0:08:12and security services never go after spooks who've been exchanged.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15It's naive to assume that only Russia has access to the nerve
0:08:15 > 0:08:17agent dubbed Novichok, which had first been produced
0:08:17 > 0:08:23in the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25It is very probable that most laboratories, like Porton Down,
0:08:25 > 0:08:33have possession of it.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Rogue agents and terrorists could have got their hands
0:08:44 > 0:08:47on the nerve agents, not forgetting groups
0:08:47 > 0:08:53and individuals that have an interest in framing Russia,
0:08:53 > 0:09:01like Isis or some oligarchs living in London.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Theresa May has allowed herself to be dragged into the media's
0:09:10 > 0:09:12anti-Russian frenzy, so she had no choice but to act.
0:09:12 > 0:09:19And she sent an ultimatum to Moscow.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22"Explain yourself, or your diplomats get it".
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Moscow ignored the ultimatum and 23 Russian diplomats were told
0:09:24 > 0:09:32to leave, and no British officials are going to the World Cup.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Make no mistake, the incident in Salisbury is a grave one.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42But Russian gas will continue to heat British homes and BP
0:09:42 > 0:09:46will continue to make billions in Russia.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48While politicians argue, life goes on.
0:09:48 > 0:09:55I know it's Machiavellian, but that's how it is.
0:10:00 > 0:10:06And Alexander is with us now.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11Welcome to the programme. Michael, how sure are you that Russia is
0:10:11 > 0:10:15behind the Salisbury attack?I am behind what the Prime Minister said,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18it is either that Russia has attacked us, or it has lost control
0:10:18 > 0:10:24of this agent. And the Russians were invited to give an explanation. Can
0:10:24 > 0:10:29I say broadly I think this week has made me so thankful that I live in a
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Liberal democracy with an accountable government whose main
0:10:31 > 0:10:37purpose is to protect its citizens, and Russia, I'm afraid, is a
0:10:37 > 0:10:44kleptocracy which has turned into a Mafia state. The Russian state has,
0:10:44 > 0:10:50for centuries I would say, murdered its own citizens. It did so under
0:10:50 > 0:10:54the Czar, under Stalin on an industrial scale, and it continues
0:10:54 > 0:10:59today.It is not murdering its own citizens on an industrial scale
0:10:59 > 0:11:05today.Why don't you listen to me, I said Stalin did it on an industrial
0:11:05 > 0:11:08scale, and it is continuing to murder its citizens today but not on
0:11:08 > 0:11:14an industrial scale.How sure are you that Russia is behind the
0:11:14 > 0:11:20attack?I think it's fairly clear that all roads point to Russia. It's
0:11:20 > 0:11:25not just a question of the nerve agent that was used. It's also that
0:11:25 > 0:11:28this fits with a pattern of behaviour we have seen from Russia
0:11:28 > 0:11:32across the world, but including in Britain in recent years. And it is
0:11:32 > 0:11:37also the fact that there is a fairly clear motive. It is not just the
0:11:37 > 0:11:42identity of the person targeted, alongside his family, but also that
0:11:42 > 0:11:45we have presidential elections on Sunday in Russia and it seems there
0:11:45 > 0:11:50is a very clear reason why the Russian government would want to
0:11:50 > 0:11:55see...What would the reason be?It seems fairly obvious to me that
0:11:55 > 0:12:01Putin is very, very keen to see turnout increased. And that provides
0:12:01 > 0:12:06a motive. It says to me that when Theresa May said, we want you to
0:12:06 > 0:12:09come and explain yourselves, we should have seen a much better
0:12:09 > 0:12:13reaction from the Russian government if there wasn't a clear motive.All
0:12:13 > 0:12:19roads lead to Russia.I don't see that. First of all, why would Putin
0:12:19 > 0:12:24wants this before the election? Do you think Russians are keen on
0:12:24 > 0:12:31seeing chemical weapons used to kill somebody abroad?All of the state
0:12:31 > 0:12:33media organisations immediately started pumping out a message about
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Western conspiracies, the sort of thing you were repeating on that
0:12:36 > 0:12:43screen, to be honest. It suits Putin's agenda to have some kind of
0:12:43 > 0:12:50alliance of Western powers being tough about Russia, because it works
0:12:50 > 0:12:54with his narrative.Most Russians, you don't have to be a supporter of
0:12:54 > 0:13:00Putin, will regard the victim of the attack as a traitor.Yes, but he was
0:13:00 > 0:13:06exchanged in a Speidi swap and security services do not go after
0:13:06 > 0:13:09these people, because the whole concept -- concept of a spy swap is
0:13:09 > 0:13:14that you don't go after these people. It is a sort of immunity
0:13:14 > 0:13:18from attack.Remake it sounds as if Russia plays by the rules but it
0:13:18 > 0:13:23does not.Security services have to play by the rules about -- otherwise
0:13:23 > 0:13:29they kill each other randomly.One of the reasons why British
0:13:29 > 0:13:32authorities, particularly chemical weapons experts, are sure it is
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Russia is because of the Novichok nerve gas, which only Russia has
0:13:36 > 0:13:40produced. Russia did not tell us it was producing it. It was only when
0:13:40 > 0:13:45the Soviet Union broke up that we discovered it. The idea, as you
0:13:45 > 0:13:49said, that Isis or other terrorists could use it, it is a really
0:13:49 > 0:13:54dangerous thing to use and has to be done in a skilled way. If you make a
0:13:54 > 0:13:58mistake preparing it, not only would you kill yourself but everybody in
0:13:58 > 0:14:03all of the streets around you.You went further and said it might be a
0:14:03 > 0:14:08Russian dissident or plutocrat. First, let me give you some facts
0:14:08 > 0:14:14which point to other countries and groups. The inventor and creator of
0:14:14 > 0:14:19Novichok lives in America since 1996. Do you really believe that the
0:14:19 > 0:14:27Americans did not talk to him, did not find out his secrets, what he
0:14:27 > 0:14:32invented and so on?So the Americans are behind it?No, I'm telling you
0:14:32 > 0:14:37about the spread of Novichok.Under the international chemical
0:14:37 > 0:14:41agreements, to which Russia is a party, Britain, Russia and America
0:14:41 > 0:14:45are allowed to hold minute quantities of this, so they can work
0:14:45 > 0:14:50on antidotes, if it should appear, as happened in Salisbury, and so
0:14:50 > 0:14:53they can keep an eye on whether it is spreading around the world. That
0:14:53 > 0:14:58is not in doubt. The question is, the only country that has produced
0:14:58 > 0:15:04it as a weapon is Russia.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11Why do you think it could have disappeared from other laboratories
0:15:11 > 0:15:15in the world?Other than Porton down, an American one and Russian
0:15:15 > 0:15:20one, it has not been in other laboratories in the world that there
0:15:20 > 0:15:29was one major laboratory in central Russia that produced weapons grade
0:15:29 > 0:15:35stuff that was found in Salisbury. The words highly possible applying
0:15:35 > 0:15:39to Russian involvement is not definite. A follow-up on Twitter
0:15:39 > 0:15:48said that if you are told if something is highly possible will
0:15:48 > 0:15:57open, you will not jump. It is not dead certain evidence.They said
0:15:57 > 0:16:02highly possible. We do not have definitive evidence. I understand
0:16:02 > 0:16:08that. There seems to be a lot of accumulating stuff. If not Russia
0:16:08 > 0:16:15then who? If it was Russia, what was the purpose?I think it might
0:16:15 > 0:16:20firstly be to see if Nato had been split at a time when Britain is
0:16:20 > 0:16:24involved in Brexit and Donald Trump by highly difficult to come out and
0:16:24 > 0:16:30condemn Russia. It could be to send a warning to people who are involved
0:16:30 > 0:16:34in counterintelligence at the moment. It may be that the British
0:16:34 > 0:16:37are having success in penetrating Russian intelligence at the moment
0:16:37 > 0:16:44and then need to be people who warned.Russians who are helping our
0:16:44 > 0:16:50intelligence services?I think Putin might firstly to deny it but denies
0:16:50 > 0:16:54it was such an arrogance that it is difficult to take that denial is
0:16:54 > 0:16:58seriously. On the one hand he is saying to the Russian people we are
0:16:58 > 0:17:02not murderers and on the other hand he is saying, look, we can get
0:17:02 > 0:17:06people wherever they are in the world. This traitor has died and we
0:17:06 > 0:17:10are a world power and we have recovered from our humiliation. We
0:17:10 > 0:17:15are dictating terms to the west. That is a popular message.He
0:17:15 > 0:17:23manages to have it both ways by these smug denials which no one can
0:17:23 > 0:17:26take seriously, in my view.I think you treat Russian people as if they
0:17:26 > 0:17:34are bloodthirsty.I love the Russian people.The Russian government. They
0:17:34 > 0:17:38are saying, wonderful, our president can order a hit and it is carried
0:17:38 > 0:17:44out. They don't like that. I don't understand. Andrew asked a very good
0:17:44 > 0:17:48question. What is the reasoning behind hit? They have the World Cup
0:17:48 > 0:17:55which is in danger. They have the election, which causes a problem.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59The timing is already questionable for Russia. I don't understand the
0:17:59 > 0:18:06logic.It does not work. The only credible alternative candidate in
0:18:06 > 0:18:10the election has been brutally attacked and has been badly injured.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14All the other candidates have been forced to withdraw from the
0:18:14 > 0:18:19election.The election is a farce. Why does he need to do this? Why did
0:18:19 > 0:18:25he need to do this.I did not say it particularly had anything to do with
0:18:25 > 0:18:30the election. To be fair to Alexander, when we kill a terrorist
0:18:30 > 0:18:35with a drone, British people are happy about that. I don't dispute
0:18:35 > 0:18:39that the Russian people might be quite happy that the traitor is
0:18:39 > 0:18:44killed.Was the response from Theresa May robust enough?I think
0:18:44 > 0:18:52it was right. If you look at what happened in Salisbury, there is... I
0:18:52 > 0:18:57think there is a real question about the timing of this attack. As I was
0:18:57 > 0:19:02saying earlier, the question about presidential elections, a president
0:19:02 > 0:19:06who was worried about turnout in those elections and the level of the
0:19:06 > 0:19:13attack demanded a response from the UK but not necessarily a collective,
0:19:13 > 0:19:18serious response that would seriously frightened Russia. You can
0:19:18 > 0:19:21feel it from the sense of this conversation we are having. If
0:19:21 > 0:19:26anyone sees the things that Russia is upset we are not sending
0:19:26 > 0:19:33ministers to the World Cup then think again.Sanctions are hurting
0:19:33 > 0:19:38them.The sanctions that would really hurt Russia is if we went
0:19:38 > 0:19:48after...You have made that point very well. I wonder if Mr Putin, who
0:19:48 > 0:19:52is clearly going to have a landslide victory, is he in the long ones
0:19:52 > 0:19:58still dealing with a position of weakness and does he need to do
0:19:58 > 0:20:04things like this almost in a bread and circuses way because it keeps
0:20:04 > 0:20:09the population? He presides over an economy smaller than Italy. He
0:20:09 > 0:20:11presides over an economy overwhelmingly dependent on fossil
0:20:11 > 0:20:20fuels. It has an industrial capacity which is crumbling. Many Russians
0:20:20 > 0:20:28have left the country in recent years there is almost of third World
0:20:28 > 0:20:35standards in places. Is he not the strongman we think he is?We are
0:20:35 > 0:20:38discussing a very specific problem about this incident in Salisbury and
0:20:38 > 0:20:44have Russia can be connected or not connected to it. And I don't really
0:20:44 > 0:20:50see any connection. OK, here's a weak leader. Let's assume that. I am
0:20:50 > 0:20:57just trying to balance this with the problem. He is a weak leader. How
0:20:57 > 0:21:02does that help him? It does not. I cannot see a logical explanation for
0:21:02 > 0:21:07Putin and his people to go after a man who is not even known in Russia.
0:21:07 > 0:21:15Nobody knows about him. Very low grade. There is no point.Unless you
0:21:15 > 0:21:21consider the point was to provoke a response.There are people here in
0:21:21 > 0:21:33Britain where there is damage, serious damage.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37serious damage. Litvinenko a small fish as well. Why was he murdered?
0:21:37 > 0:21:42In my opinion, the Russian state had nothing to do with it at all.We
0:21:42 > 0:21:49don't have time for that.I'm grateful to you for coming in. Thank
0:21:49 > 0:21:51you very much.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52It's late.
0:21:52 > 0:21:53Mark Lynas late.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Who he, I hear you ask?
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Well, Mr Lynas is a former eco-warrior who has lately
0:21:57 > 0:21:58repented his activist past.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01He revealed, this week, how he attempted to kidnap Dolly
0:22:01 > 0:22:03the cloned sheep from her shed at the Roslin Institute
0:22:03 > 0:22:04in Edinburgh.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07The plot was foiled because the raiders found the shed
0:22:07 > 0:22:11so full of the little woolly baa-baaing blighters that Dolly
0:22:11 > 0:22:14was impossible to single out.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17It was probably then that it dawned on Mr Lynas
0:22:17 > 0:22:18what the word clone means.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21One man who will always stand out in a crowd
0:22:21 > 0:22:24is the larger-than-life TV presenter, lawyer, and former mayor
0:22:24 > 0:22:26of Cincinnati, Jerry Springer, who's putting "fighting back"
0:22:26 > 0:22:29in the Spotlight.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32And, if you'd like to get in touch via the Tweeter, the Fleecebook,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35and the jolly old Snapnumpty, well, I await your missives
0:22:35 > 0:22:38with all the enthusiasm of a Scottish panda anticipating
0:22:38 > 0:22:43an Edinburgh Zoo booty call on a chilly March evening.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48In other words, not...at...all.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50There is a saying, attributed to sundry famous figures,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52that "a lie can travel half way around the world before
0:22:52 > 0:22:54the truth puts its boots on".
0:22:54 > 0:22:57This week, a study of more than 120,000 rumours
0:22:57 > 0:23:00and false news stories, spread on Twitter,
0:23:00 > 0:23:01seemed to bear this out.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that
0:23:04 > 0:23:07fake news travelled faster and reached more
0:23:07 > 0:23:10people than the truth.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12In fact, false stories were 70% more likely to be
0:23:12 > 0:23:17retweeted than true stories.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Isn't citizen journalism wonderful?
0:23:20 > 0:23:22The most common subject matter, of course, was false political news.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24But don't get too downhearted, dear viewer.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Spring is a-coming, despite this weekend's reprise
0:23:28 > 0:23:31of the beast from the east, and the truth is out there.
0:23:31 > 0:23:32Somewhere.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34I'm sure we'll find it one day.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38We sent the Telegraph's Liam Halligan to search for any green
0:23:38 > 0:23:46shoots of recovery in our weekly, 100% trustworthy, political roundup.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11The Chancellor says there's light at the end of the tunnel.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13He's feeling positively Tigger-like.
0:24:13 > 0:24:14The economy's resurgent.
0:24:14 > 0:24:20Spring has surely sprung.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22If, in the autumn, the public finances continue to reflect
0:24:22 > 0:24:27the improvement that today's report hints at, then, in accordance
0:24:27 > 0:24:30with our balanced approach, and using the flexibility provided
0:24:30 > 0:24:35by the fiscal rules, I would have capacity to enable
0:24:35 > 0:24:42further increases in public spending and investment in the years ahead.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46That's a deluge on those hoping for a springtime spending boost.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48We'll have to wait till the autumn at least
0:24:48 > 0:24:52for the succour of state largesse.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58So where are those fabled green shoots?
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Rummaging in the fiscal undergrowth - a tribute there to David Bellamy -
0:25:01 > 0:25:04it's difficult to spot any kind of announcement in this hacked
0:25:04 > 0:25:08back spring statement.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10I won't be producing a red book today, Mr Speaker,
0:25:10 > 0:25:17but of course I can't speak for the right honourable gentleman.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19No mention indeed by John McDonnell of his hero, Chairman Mao.
0:25:19 > 0:25:25No chance in his mind a thousand Tory flowers might bloom.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Does the Chancellor really believe the NHS can wait another eight
0:25:28 > 0:25:32months for the life-saving funds that it needs?
0:25:32 > 0:25:40How many people have to die waiting in an ambulance before he acts?
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Theresa May's convinced Moscow's to blame for the attack in Salisbury
0:25:44 > 0:25:47on double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51She gave Putin a midnight deadline.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Either this was a direct act by the Russian state
0:25:53 > 0:25:56against our country, or the Russian government lost
0:25:56 > 0:26:00control of its potentially catastrophically damaging nerve
0:26:00 > 0:26:03agent, and allowed it to get into the hands of others.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Jeremy Corbyn focused his ire not so much on Moscow
0:26:07 > 0:26:10as on the British government.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16He cast aspersions on Conservative Party finances.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19There has been over £800,000 worth of donations
0:26:19 > 0:26:23to the Conservative Party, to the Conservative Party
0:26:23 > 0:26:28from Russian oligarchs and their associates.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30So...
0:26:30 > 0:26:33So...
0:26:33 > 0:26:36The Absolute Boy was scolded by Matron May and some on
0:26:36 > 0:26:38on his own backbenches.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39And when it came to dealing with Russia,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43the Prime Minister was adamant.
0:26:43 > 0:26:44Calling a spade a spade.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Under the Vienna Convention, the United Kingdom will now expel 23
0:26:47 > 0:26:52Russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared
0:26:52 > 0:26:55intelligence officers.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58They have just one week to leave.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01This will be the single biggest expulsion for over 30 years and it
0:27:01 > 0:27:04reflects the fact that this is not the first time that the Russian
0:27:04 > 0:27:06state has acted against our country.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11Corbyn has condemned these attacks, but he says before expelling
0:27:11 > 0:27:15diplomats, Britain should have heeded Russian requests
0:27:15 > 0:27:17for the nerve agent to be independently tested.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19America and France have backed Britain, for now,
0:27:19 > 0:27:25but they will want to see test results, too.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29How has she responded to the Russian government's request for a sample
0:27:29 > 0:27:34of the agent used in the Salisbury attack, to run its own tests?
0:27:34 > 0:27:37And while suspending planned high-level contacts,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40does the Prime Minister agree that it is essential to maintain
0:27:40 > 0:27:48a robust dialogue with Russia?
0:27:50 > 0:27:53More sobering news from MP Lucy Allen, who highlighted
0:27:53 > 0:27:56systemic sexual abuse, often against white working-class
0:27:56 > 0:28:01girls, in her Telford constituency.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03These young girls are too often white, working-class,
0:28:03 > 0:28:08with multiple vulnerabilities.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12And that is what the perpetrators, that is why the perpetrators
0:28:12 > 0:28:14are targeting them.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17And it is also why, so often they are miscast
0:28:17 > 0:28:20as bringing it on themselves.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24They are miscast as being indulging in risky behaviour,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28as being promiscuous, as somehow being to blame
0:28:28 > 0:28:31for what is happening to them.
0:28:31 > 0:28:39What's that?
0:28:39 > 0:28:42A lesser spotted Lib Dem?
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Oh, it's Vince Cable, using his party conference speech
0:28:45 > 0:28:48to brand all Brexit voters racist.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Springtime, or a new yellow dawn?
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Too many were driven by nostalgia for a world
0:28:56 > 0:29:00where passports were blue, faces were white and the map
0:29:00 > 0:29:08was coloured Imperial think.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14-- pink.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Well, if none of the news can warm the cockles of my heart,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20I'll have to have a good old-fashioned cup of tea and bask
0:29:20 > 0:29:25in those lovely warm winds blowing across the sea from Brussels.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28It's time that we go beyond what I should say
0:29:28 > 0:29:30the slogans, the sound bites.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33We present what I should call a concept, a vision,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35an architecture for the future, because that is what is
0:29:35 > 0:29:39lacking for the moment.
0:29:39 > 0:29:47Then the time will come when you'll regret your decision.
0:29:47 > 0:29:55It's time to face up the hard facts.
0:29:57 > 0:30:06Beware the Ides of March, or a Belgian scorned.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Well, at least in Britain's Brexit Phoenix must be about to hatch.
0:30:08 > 0:30:09Any signs of life?
0:30:09 > 0:30:16Something, surely, soon?
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Our apologies to Camley Street Natural Park in King's Cross
0:30:19 > 0:30:27for the havoc Liam Halligan wreaked on your shrubs.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33Has Jeremy Corbyn misjudged the Russian business or is he being true
0:30:33 > 0:30:38to his views?The problem is that in the statement Theresa May made,
0:30:38 > 0:30:42Labour were not clear about the very, very strong probability, let
0:30:42 > 0:30:47me put it that way, that Russia was responsible, which diverted all of
0:30:47 > 0:30:52the focus of the debate onto whether Russia actually did it which seems
0:30:52 > 0:30:58not really, despite the conversation we have just had, to be a topic much
0:30:58 > 0:31:04up for discussion, and diverted that away from quite a serious point. It
0:31:04 > 0:31:07wasn't very well received and it shouldn't be party political, the
0:31:07 > 0:31:12point about where the money years. If you are serious about taking on
0:31:12 > 0:31:16Russian aggression, you have to think seriously about taking on
0:31:16 > 0:31:19where Russian money lies, and much of it is in London, laundered
0:31:19 > 0:31:24through the UK. That means you have to start thinking about doing things
0:31:24 > 0:31:28like Labour has been doing, tabling amendments to the money-laundering
0:31:28 > 0:31:35Bill, which means we will be able to clamp down on that money.If you can
0:31:35 > 0:31:38identify it as money from people involved in human rights abuses,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41corruption or close to the Putin regime. The British have not gone
0:31:41 > 0:31:48far enough on that, have they?On the money? No. You said earlier that
0:31:48 > 0:31:56further measures are expected in response to the retaliation.That is
0:31:56 > 0:32:01why they have kept some stuff back. I think that is probably the case. I
0:32:01 > 0:32:05think Corbyn did get it wrong. I think he got it wrong basically
0:32:05 > 0:32:10because he does not like the West. He does not like the United States
0:32:10 > 0:32:19in particular, does not like Nato. So he is being consistent.To be
0:32:19 > 0:32:25fair, he has been cleared today.He is not a credible turn to Prime
0:32:25 > 0:32:30Minister.He wrote a piece for the Guardian online today in which he
0:32:30 > 0:32:35said clearly that Russia was responsible.He didn't, actually. He
0:32:35 > 0:32:38said that the evidence points towards Russia but that it could
0:32:38 > 0:32:47have been Russian gangsters.He echoed a lot of Theresa May's
0:32:47 > 0:32:51language today. I appreciate that wasn't clear earlier in the week,
0:32:51 > 0:32:55certainly not when his spokespeople did a media briefing. But it has
0:32:55 > 0:33:04been made clear. Not just in this piece today but the Labour Shadow
0:33:04 > 0:33:07Defence Secretary, the Shadow Foreign Secretary and the shadow
0:33:07 > 0:33:12Brexit secretary on Question Time today have all been clear.You are
0:33:12 > 0:33:16talking over each other. People will not be able to hear.If you raise
0:33:16 > 0:33:21the serious possibility that this could be Russian Mafia, rather than
0:33:21 > 0:33:29Mr Putin, then why would you support expelling 23 diplomats?I am not
0:33:29 > 0:33:33completely sure we are disagreeing with each other here. My point is
0:33:33 > 0:33:37that that is the problem, that we shouldn't be discussing who was
0:33:37 > 0:33:43responsible for this attack. We should be discussing how the UK
0:33:43 > 0:33:46responds, and particularly the importance that we both opened the
0:33:46 > 0:33:51programme with, making sure Russia cannot divide the UK, the US, France
0:33:51 > 0:33:56and Germany in responding in a united way.Labour's Social
0:33:56 > 0:34:01Democrats have found their voice on this. For how long?For how long
0:34:01 > 0:34:09what?Do they continue to speak up? I think what you have seen emerge
0:34:09 > 0:34:13over the last few days is the social Democratic position, and a fairly
0:34:13 > 0:34:18clear position. If you look at the range of voices across the Shadow
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Cabinet and the backbenchers, there has been much made of the split
0:34:21 > 0:34:25between the front and back bench in the Labour Party in recent years,
0:34:25 > 0:34:29but actually you are hearing us speaking with one voice. That has
0:34:29 > 0:34:33been very important, not least because if we are serious about
0:34:33 > 0:34:37going after, standing up to Russian aggression, we have to go after the
0:34:37 > 0:34:41money and there has been far too little debate about that.I am not
0:34:41 > 0:34:46sure you are speaking with one voice at all, because I have three
0:34:46 > 0:34:51different voices down here from Mr Corbyn to Emily Thornbury to Seamus
0:34:51 > 0:34:56Milne, saying different things. Then they come to the Tories. When you
0:34:56 > 0:35:00look at our growth prospects as outlined by the OBR, why did Philip
0:35:00 > 0:35:07Hammond have any right to be cheerful?Well, the deficit
0:35:07 > 0:35:10reduction has been quite impressive so he has the right to be cheerful
0:35:10 > 0:35:16about that.At last.Well, yes, it has taken a long time but it was the
0:35:16 > 0:35:20point of the whole thing. We could not go on having the largest deficit
0:35:20 > 0:35:26in the European Union, adding to national debt that has reached 85%
0:35:26 > 0:35:32of GDP.If you look at the forecast, it forecasts an average of 1.5%
0:35:32 > 0:35:38growth per year for the next five years. There is no appear reared in
0:35:38 > 0:35:42post-war British history when there has been five years of growth that
0:35:42 > 0:35:47low. Never. If it was to happen, I would suggest to you the Tories have
0:35:47 > 0:35:53no right to be cheerful at all.One reason he would have been cheerful
0:35:53 > 0:35:58was that the OBR forecast in November was inverted by the
0:35:58 > 0:36:03forecasted produced in time for the May statement. So he probably
0:36:03 > 0:36:06thinks, as I think, that the OBR forecasts are not worth the paper
0:36:06 > 0:36:13they are not written on.The OBR changed its forecast this year by
0:36:13 > 0:36:190.1%.On growth. It got the productivity figure madly wrong. I
0:36:19 > 0:36:24think he probably thinks there is better ahead and he will not be too
0:36:24 > 0:36:27depressed by OBR forecasts.He must be worried about the trend in
0:36:27 > 0:36:31household debt, because in recent years we have seen a government very
0:36:31 > 0:36:34determined to get debt of the public balance sheet but instead it has
0:36:34 > 0:36:39been pushing it to families, individuals and institutions. We
0:36:39 > 0:36:44have hospital trusts now across the country £1 billion in debt, families
0:36:44 > 0:36:48whose debt levels have now reached almost 50% of household income. And
0:36:48 > 0:36:54this is a real economic problem, because as we leave the EU, the
0:36:54 > 0:36:58resilience in the country is not there.I want to come onto one other
0:36:58 > 0:37:05thing which is really important. Rochdale, rather, Oxford, now
0:37:05 > 0:37:08Telford. Everybody knows what I'm talking about. Why is this so
0:37:08 > 0:37:17widespread? And if it has been revealed in these towns, it must, I
0:37:17 > 0:37:22would suggest, still be happening in other places in this country, to our
0:37:22 > 0:37:28national shame. Do you agree? Completely. And what is worse about
0:37:28 > 0:37:32it is that what we are learning coming out of Telford is repeating
0:37:32 > 0:37:35exactly the same patterns and messages we have seen coming out of
0:37:35 > 0:37:41those other areas. You have a pattern of grooming gangs preying on
0:37:41 > 0:37:45young people, not just young women but young men as well, variety of
0:37:45 > 0:37:51backgrounds, who are particularly vulnerable. And then you have a
0:37:51 > 0:37:54pattern of people in authority either not recognising it, or seeing
0:37:54 > 0:37:59those young people as part of the problem.Final thought from you on
0:37:59 > 0:38:05this, Michael?Which bit?The whole pattern of Telford.I would endorse
0:38:05 > 0:38:11what Lisa has said.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13what Lisa has said. Failure to investigate, obstructed by political
0:38:13 > 0:38:15correctness and unwillingness to look into the thing in case they are
0:38:15 > 0:38:23accused of racial bias.Sometimes blaming the girls.Certainly, but
0:38:23 > 0:38:27Lisa made that point already. All of this is terrible and it has to
0:38:27 > 0:38:32change. Let's hope it is changing. But I think the MP that we saw there
0:38:32 > 0:38:35raising the issue has raised it extremely well and has put it
0:38:35 > 0:38:40absolutely back in focus. And police forces and other agencies need to be
0:38:40 > 0:38:43very aware of this now.Thank you both.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45These days politics increasingly resembles an episode
0:38:45 > 0:38:46of the over-the-top cult tabloid shock-fest which once
0:38:46 > 0:38:48was the Jerry Springer Show.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50If it was still around, this week alone would have given
0:38:50 > 0:38:54us a robust exchange on "The President Sacked Me
0:38:54 > 0:38:58Because I Called Him a Moron", a confessional
0:38:58 > 0:39:04"Bad Vlad's Made Me Mad", and a whimsical "My Chancellor
0:39:04 > 0:39:09Thinks He's A Winnie The Pooh Character".
0:39:09 > 0:39:12Rowdiest of all, of course, would have been "I'm a Porn Star
0:39:12 > 0:39:15and I Slept with the President".
0:39:15 > 0:39:16Obviously, I made that last one up.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19At least that's what the White House lawyers insisted I say.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Like the Jerry Springer Show of old, these sorts of stories thrive
0:39:22 > 0:39:25on a desire to grab control of the narrative, set
0:39:25 > 0:39:28the record straight, right perceived or hushed up wrongs.
0:39:28 > 0:39:35That's why we're putting "fight back" in the Spotlight.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41We have all been reminded this week, it is tough at the top.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Just when you think you have got your rivals licked,
0:39:44 > 0:39:45they all fight back at once.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Across the country and further afield, we saw that nobody
0:39:48 > 0:39:51stays on top for long.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53The Democrats snatched a surprise victory after
0:39:53 > 0:39:58going the full 12 rounds in Pennsylvanian Trump territory.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00We are still fighting the fight.
0:40:00 > 0:40:01It's not over yet.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03We're going to fight all the way to...
0:40:03 > 0:40:05All the way to the end.
0:40:05 > 0:40:11It took a little longer than we thought but we did it.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Down but not out, Steve Bannon is still trying to fight
0:40:14 > 0:40:15everyone and everything, all at once.
0:40:15 > 0:40:16Let them call you racists.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Let them call you xenophobes.
0:40:18 > 0:40:19Let them call you nativists.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23Wear it is a badge of honour.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25And this week, animal rights activists tried to fight back
0:40:25 > 0:40:29on behalf of the underdog, storming Crufts in an attempt
0:40:29 > 0:40:36to steal, or should that be rescue, the winning animal.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Angela Merkel showed the world you didn't need to be taught any
0:40:39 > 0:40:41new tricks as the German Chancellor knocked out
0:40:41 > 0:40:43the competition yet again.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Sort of.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49And, after years of political sparring, of gun violence,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52the schoolchildren in the USA have decided that enough is enough
0:40:52 > 0:40:57as they organised mass walk-outs across the country and took
0:40:57 > 0:41:00the fight to Washington.
0:41:00 > 0:41:06There has been a fight for change for a long time.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08But there's never been a more powerful movement
0:41:08 > 0:41:11than what the students of Brooklyn and New York City in this nation
0:41:11 > 0:41:14have done these last few weeks.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17We will not sit in our classrooms wondering why Congress is not
0:41:17 > 0:41:25working as hard as we are.
0:41:26 > 0:41:27I admire you and I appreciate you.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29Keep fighting.
0:41:29 > 0:41:30Thank you.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Jerry Springer knows a thing or two about fighting back.
0:41:32 > 0:41:39But can you always stay on top?
0:41:41 > 0:41:48And Jerry is with us now.
0:41:48 > 0:41:54Welcome back.That was a great film. That brought back memories, the
0:41:54 > 0:41:59final shot. The big fight back for you, in America, from your point of
0:41:59 > 0:42:04view, are the Democrats. They had a good result in Pennsylvania in the
0:42:04 > 0:42:1018th district, a district that had gone over the 20% lead for Mr Trump
0:42:10 > 0:42:16over Mrs Clinton, and the Democrats just got it back, they just won it.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18It is quite Trump territory, but overall how would you rate the
0:42:18 > 0:42:24fightback.I don't think there is any question that in November the
0:42:24 > 0:42:29Democrats are going to do very well. Will it be enough of a wave to take
0:42:29 > 0:42:35control of Congress again? That, we don't know. But clearly right now
0:42:35 > 0:42:40the resistance to Trump, President Trump, is significant. In every
0:42:40 > 0:42:44poll, you never gets above 40%, and that is unheard of for a sitting
0:42:44 > 0:42:49President in his first year.So shouldn't you be more confident that
0:42:49 > 0:42:54you would at least take the House and maybe the Senate?The reason you
0:42:54 > 0:42:57can't be totally confident is because we have a system where the
0:42:57 > 0:43:02congressional districts are drawn every ten years by state legislature
0:43:02 > 0:43:06laws. So the way they are drawn, they favour the Republicans, because
0:43:06 > 0:43:12what the Republican state houses did, they piled the democratic
0:43:12 > 0:43:15population all into one district and then spread the Republicans out so
0:43:15 > 0:43:20they would win more. So even though more Americans vote for Democrats
0:43:20 > 0:43:24than Republicans, we have more Republican congressman than
0:43:24 > 0:43:29Democrats.Who is leading the fight back? This is the thing I find
0:43:29 > 0:43:34interesting. Every time I look at the Democrats and, we are on our way
0:43:34 > 0:43:40back, the people saying this, their combined is about 350.Well, yes.
0:43:40 > 0:43:47But here is the deal. The person who is leading the fight back, in a
0:43:47 > 0:43:51sense, is Trump. It is the reaction, America's reaction to the fact that
0:43:51 > 0:43:57we have Trump as President. And I think it's important to say, when we
0:43:57 > 0:44:00are in another country, for example, when people make fun of us because
0:44:00 > 0:44:05we have Trump as President, it's important to remember that Hillary
0:44:05 > 0:44:10Clinton got 3 million more votes than Trump. I understand Trump is
0:44:10 > 0:44:14the President, but let me just say it is not a reflection of America to
0:44:14 > 0:44:20say that Trump is the President, because America voted for Clinton.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24If you were not fighting an electoral college election, it you
0:44:24 > 0:44:28would fight it entirely different, so I am not sure of the comparison.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31I am more concerned about the future and I don't know how you fight back
0:44:31 > 0:44:38unless you have a leader. And is Bernie Sanders the leader again?
0:44:38 > 0:44:44Probably not.Who would it be?It's not a personality thing. I'm telling
0:44:44 > 0:44:49you, right now the women's movement is very significant in America. And
0:44:49 > 0:44:53then on the issue of race and multicultural America, this is the
0:44:53 > 0:44:57first time in American history we have had a President who is opposed
0:44:57 > 0:45:01to the idea of a multicultural America. We are the only country in
0:45:01 > 0:45:05the history of the world to have been created by an idea. Most
0:45:05 > 0:45:11countries start out either as a religion, a race, ethnic group. We
0:45:11 > 0:45:15started out, first there was the idea, let's have one place on earth
0:45:15 > 0:45:18where it would not matter where your parents were from. That's the dream,
0:45:18 > 0:45:22the goal, and Trump is opposed to that. And then the Muslims, the
0:45:22 > 0:45:30Mexicans.I know you don't like Trump, that's not the point.He's a
0:45:30 > 0:45:34nice person, he shouldn't be President.I would not even go down
0:45:34 > 0:45:40that road with you. On fightback, I still don't see, given that the
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Democrats have the demography in their favour, they have young people
0:45:43 > 0:45:48in their favour as well and more increasingly they have women, too.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53But I don't know of any fightback that works unless you coalesce
0:45:53 > 0:45:57around one or two people who represent all that.The presidential
0:45:57 > 0:46:04election is in 2020. The primary 's will start towards the beginning of
0:46:04 > 0:46:122019. Excuse me, 2020. Once the primary 's start, the candidates
0:46:12 > 0:46:17that will enter the race, someone will emerge.Who is your person?I
0:46:17 > 0:46:24don't have one yet.I understand that but a moment ago you said it is
0:46:24 > 0:46:29not a personality thing, but it is. We are not so concerned over here
0:46:29 > 0:46:33about congressional elections. We are worried about the presidency
0:46:33 > 0:46:36because it affects people outside the United States. And of course you
0:46:36 > 0:46:42need a candidate. Last time, you put up a candidate said Nick -- 70% of
0:46:42 > 0:46:47Americans disliked, and that is why you lost.Most of them voted for
0:46:47 > 0:46:52her. They might not have wanted to date her.Everybody knows the rules
0:46:52 > 0:46:55of the American system and Hillary Clinton for the bad campaign because
0:46:55 > 0:46:58she was fighting in the wrong places under the rules of that election.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03She lost fair and square, firstly because she was incompetent and
0:47:03 > 0:47:08secondly because Americans disliked. So you've got to find a candidate
0:47:08 > 0:47:12better than that.I understand but I don't agree with your assumptions,
0:47:12 > 0:47:18with all Jura Specht. In terms of competency, it wasn't even
0:47:18 > 0:47:24competition.Competency in fighting the election.It ignores the
0:47:24 > 0:47:27structural problems the Democrats have, which you see for centre-left
0:47:27 > 0:47:31parties across the world. One of the problems the Democrats had when I
0:47:31 > 0:47:34went to visit after the EU referendum, they were talking very
0:47:34 > 0:47:38much about the same thing Labour is grappling with, about younger people
0:47:38 > 0:47:43in cities who have a different outlook from older people in towns.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48I have to interrupt because we have overrun. Briefly, what are you doing
0:47:48 > 0:47:52here, other than being with us? Everyone always says that, what are
0:47:52 > 0:47:58you doing here? I am appearing on some programmes, but none as good as
0:47:58 > 0:48:06yours. And I am going to Dublin on Saturday night.I am glad you found
0:48:06 > 0:48:13time to be with us. Never come here without visiting us. I can reveal
0:48:13 > 0:48:17that CBS News is going to run the Stormy Daniels 60 minute interview
0:48:17 > 0:48:23on the 25th of March. Stormy Daniels is the pawn star.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25That's your lot for tonight, but not for us.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27Because, inspired by news that humans survived a super-volcano
0:48:27 > 0:48:30eruption 74,000 years ago by hiding out in South African caves,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33we're off to Loulou's, which is as close as you can get
0:48:33 > 0:48:34to a cave in Mayfair.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36Lisa is bringing her ethically-sourced Camden Market
0:48:36 > 0:48:39black-out curtains and Michael has his SAS survival
0:48:39 > 0:48:41guide, signed by Mrs T, as well as his souvenir
0:48:41 > 0:48:45Bluebell Railway penknife.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49We're going to hole up in the bar until all this nerve gas
0:48:49 > 0:48:50and depressing news blows over.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54And, if the months go by and we have to subsist on pork scratchings
0:48:54 > 0:48:57and Molly's dog biscuits, well, at least they'll take
0:48:57 > 0:49:00the taste away from the Blue Nun.
0:49:00 > 0:49:01Nighty-night, don't let Vladimir Putin's
0:49:01 > 0:49:09election memorabilia bite.