Transcripts For BBCNEWS Newsnight 20171127

To you straightaway. Over the last 33 years, being barked at. This one walks in, absolutely nothing. Just laying on my feet during tea, it was very sweet. Wagging tails, it wasjust like ugh shes also called herself a strong, confident mixed race woman. How much of a moment is this for others of mixed heritage . Good evening. Tonight, ireland stands on the verge of snap elections, as their Prime Minister promises to do everything he can to bring the country back from the brink. The dispute is a domestic one, but the implications would be profound for the eu and for brexit. Leo varadkar has threatened to block brexit talks next month, if he believes insufficient progress has been made on the future of the border within the island of ireland. This border is one of the most intractable issues brexit has thrown up how to preserve the openness between north and south, and how to comply with the new terms that britains vote to leave the eu demands. Theresa may is desperate to start pushing talks with brussels onto trade, when she meets negotiators next week. But they will not be willing to do so until the ireland question is resolved. Lets head straight to dublin and mark urban whos there. Emily, the things were queueing up, political pressure, messages, everything queueing up just the way ireland wanted it on the border issues. A couple of weeks back, the commission in brussels had got squarely behind them with more explicit language than wed heard before saying, well, their preferred solution was that a border be on the irish sea, ie that Northern Ireland be taken into the same customs and Single Market regime if, indeed, britain was going to push on and leave the Single Market and Customs Union. Now suddenly, this political crisis has blown up. Its about a Police Whistle blower and what the Prime Ministers Justice Minister did or didnt know at certain points in this, the opposition, have called for her resignation. Hes refused, Prime Minister, varadkar, the taoiseach. Its supposed to come to a head tomorrow in the parliament here right at the time that he wanted to be honing the final positions before the brexit summit, the european summit in brussels in mid december. Its all remarkable in just how intense and difficult the political crisis has become. Times arrow is flying in dublin. A minority government could collapse tomorrow while what some are calling an existential question about brexit and the border with the north needs answering quickly. And an election poll suggests would change little. There is no appetite for a pre christmas election. Tds, members of parliament, went back to their constituencies this weekend and people were very vocal about the fact we dont want an election, especially on december 19, 20th. Can you think of a worse time for an election . People are deeply concerned about brexit. Irish people on the ground are very alarmed about whats happening on the border and for the economy in ireland. In these politically tense times, the European Union at least stands foursquare behind the government position on the border. Ready to block progress in decembers eu summit. And on that issue of the border, the ruling party and opposition fine gael are agreed to. If the uk insists on proceeding with this, and there isnt any compromise from the British Government on this, then border controls in Northern Ireland are inevitable. That simply cant be countenanced, theres just too much at stake. We must have a written guarantee and if it isnt met, obviously, its a condition of the trade talks that this would be met, then i think that would be helpful. I think it would be very helpful if the British Government was willing to look at a special Economic Zone for Northern Ireland. The potential damage to the north and indeed parts of ireland, the potential damage is catastrophic. The border between north and south runs a shade under 500 kilometres. People, goods, money and electricity move across it without let or hindrance. So how can this unique arrangement be preserved if the uk leaves the eus economic space . Their hand will be significantly weakened. Lucinda crichton was once irelands europe minister and now she advises companies on brexit. I think its really interesting how robustly and strongly the rest of the eu has stood behind ireland. I expect that to continue up to the summit. Theres no question of an irish veto. There never really has been a question of the irish veto. The eu position will be determined by whether dublin is happy and can accede to whatever wording is on the table in december and my view is that if the Irish Government believes its not sufficient progress, then the eu will adopt the same position. So, the issue of a veto wont arise. The issue will simply be delayed for another few months. Youre in the driving seat then . Absolutely. On this issue. And the reason, and you know, always in politics tactics are important. The reason that the Irish Government has engaged in such strong messaging and taken such a strong position on this in the last number of weeks in particular, is because this is the period of so called maximum leverage. This is the time that the Irish Government can really play its hand. And the reason, always in politics, tactics are important, the reason the Irish Government has engaged in such strong messaging and taken such a strong position on this in the last number of weeks is because irelands economy is deeply links to that of the United Kingdom, were deeply concerned that bearing no responsibility for the United Kingdom removing itself from the European Union that were going to suffer. And may indeed suffer a great deal more than the United Kingdom in terms of economic growth. In dublin bay, that volume of trade moving across the irish sea to britain, rather than over the border to the north, is obvious enough. The border issue is one that is elemental in irish politics. This is a moment for irish politicians with the backing of the eu to gain reassurances about a much bigger picture, the wider trading relationship that they want understandings on at this critical time in the brexit process. If the border issue can be settled, its the very depth of those ties that could then lead ireland to act as an advocate of liberal eu Market Access for the uk. But that discussion seems a long way off right now. Marks still with us in dublin, and our Political Editor nick watt is with me. First back to you mark, William Hague is warning tonight that any veto by the Irish Government on this would be a grave miscalculation. We heard voices in yourfilm there saying it simply wont happen. What will leo varadkar make of that . Well, in a sense, they know it all too well. They understand just how vulnerable ireland is in this situation, particularly were it to come to that disaster scenario of a disorderly brexit, ie, one without a deal in march 2019. They also know, by the way and its whispered here, that in that disorderly brexit scenario, eu rules lay on ireland the responsibility for putting that hard border into place. So before they get near that kind of situation, they want to use what leverage they v they believe that now is the moment, because theresa may wants to move the discussion on to the so called phase two issues, get beyond those initial separation issues, citizens rights, the budget and the irish border and get to the wider relationship discussions. They know that because of her desire to do that and the potential cost to the uk economy, if that doesnt happen in december, that now is the time to try and get the assurances they want on the border. They know theyre not going to get a done deal on the border and that the wider relationship also has to be defined, but they want in the key eu words sufficient progress. They want reassurances this ethere wont be a hard border. They also want a nod and a wink about future trade terms between the uk and ireland as well. Mark, thanks very much. So nick then. Briefly, the uk position on this . Well the uk is acknowledging this question of the irish border is now a greater threat than the actual brexit financial settlement and unless progress is made then it will derail uk hopes of moving to the next stage, which is talking about transition and talking about the future trading relationship. The uk is looking at some new wording, but this has got to be agreed with the Irish Republic and with Michel Barnier and looking in two areas reassuring leo varadkar by talking about where there is north south cooperation. This is really serious stuff. Animal health is an all ireland issue, as is the energy market. Its talking about those areas. Theres quite a feeling, reflected in the William Hague article that leo varadkar has taken himself to the edge a cliff and the uk needs to walk him back to that in a way that is comfortable for him, but in a way that respects the key uk red line respect the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom. Nick, thanks very much indeed. Back to nick later. Sammy wilson is brexit spokesman for the Democratic Unionist Party who, of course, have strong feelings about the future of ireland and a strong voice in the debate thanks to their agreement with theresa mays government. Very nice of you to come in this is a massive problem for you, just to work out where this border lies and what it looks like . No, its not a massive problem. Dont forget this was a commitment that the uk government made before we entered into any arrangement with them. They said that the uk would leave the eu as a whole, would have the same arrangements and as unionists we were happy with that. Had the same arrangements as you, as ulster . That Northern Ireland would have the same arrangements as the rest of the uk when we left the eu. But this is, just help us understand it. For anyone thinking about it, it is a real brain pain this. Either you have, dont you, a hard border between ulster and the republic or else you have a soft border between those two and the uk mainland stays outside, which i know you dont want. Or else there has to be something that includes all three parts of this, which is it . To a certain extent, i know that some of your reports there said tonight that the eu were backing the irish position. I think the irish are being used by the eu who are trying to force the uk to look again at its commitment to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union. What do you think will happen then . First of all, the uk government has put forward, in august, a very, very detailed position paper in which they made clear the kind of anningments which could be put in place to ensure that there was no hard border. Dont forget you definitely dont want a hard border . No, we dont want a hard border. The irish have said they dont want a hard border. The uk government doesnt want a hard border. The only people who are pushing this now are mr barnier, who is really wanting to try and force the uks hand on Single Market membership as the Customs Union. Away from the negotiations, help us envisage what this looks like if its not a hard border, then you have an ease of movement of goods between ulster and the republic. Right. If im a british firm, i could set up my headquarters now in dublin and then have access through to the eu like that . And dont forget is that a yes . Theres already a physical border on the island of ireland. Lets take this as a template. Currently, there are goods which move freely across the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic with different tax rates on them. They dont require to be stopped at the border we know that. Yes, but we havent gone through brexit yet. No. Look, let me explain something. The difficulty which some people see is that once we leave the eu, therell be different tax rates in the uk and in the Irish Republic. Therell be duties to be paid. That is already a situation which exists at present. You envisage that we would trade does not have to be checked on a day to day basis because what happens under trusted trader status because the traders invoice the goods theyre going to sell in Northern Ireland. Then pay the tax on a awerly basis. Would the uk still be inside the Customs Union . No, it would not be. But if i wanted to have a head quarter of a british firm in dublin or a dublin firm wanted access to other trade deals they could just move to belfast and that would be ok . Well, what would happen, the government has led down just answer that, would that be ok . What do you mean youre talking about is an imagination where none of the rules applied and people could do what they wanted . No, the rules would apply. You would simply have a different way of tracing the trade which takes place, of measuring that trade. If there were taxes to be paid, paying those taxes, as happens at the physical border at present. You think they would chase tariffs, chase goods . They wouldnt have to chase them, because you would have invoicing when the goods leave the Irish Republic, coming into Northern Ireland. Its a complete fantasy, that. Theyve said it absolutely makes it ripe for smuggling and piracy. You know what people are saying about this . I dont think youre listening to me. Iam. Im trying to work out how it works in practice . It works at present. For example, if guinness send a load from dublin to belfast. Because were all in the Customs Union. Of course it works. No, there are different tax rates when it comes to the uk than it would be in the Irish Republic. That tax has to be collected. You dont stop the lorry at the border. You simply have an invoice that under trusted trader status, the business will submit and then will pay the tax on a quarterly basis. One of the proposals that the government has put forward is that 80 of the trade across the border is done by small businesses. I like your optimism. Let me ask you briefly. No, youve asked me a question, let me answer it. 80 of the trade is done by small businesses. I want to move. That would be exempt and regarded as local trade not International Trade so therell be no restrictions on it. Id be interested to hear what our Political Editor thinks of that. If youre suggesting something that you think is going to go through, well see it in practice. Those are the proposals that the government has put. Theyve simply been dismissed without any thought of the Irish Government or the eu because they seem intent on making this an issue which it doesnt need to be made. Thank you very much. Picking up on that, before we throw forward is that a realistic budget . Possibly in the future but i think the view of the eu is that this is a huge challenge that needs a huge answer is about what the relationship is going to be in the context of the good friday agreement. Things like the trusted trader status, electronic mapping. Maybe you can have that at some time in the future when you have a future trade relationship between the uk and the eu embedded. A quick word on the brexit papers, as we are calling them, rumblings with keir starmer. The shadow brexit secretary saying that david davies is arguably in contempt of the house because these papers have been released to the Brexit Select Committee but in heavily redacted terms. David davies says that is because it is commercially sensitive and they dont want to do things that harm the negotiations. Keir starmer said that you were meant to be posted in their entirety. Thank you very much. Meghan markle gave her First Television interview since her engagement to prince harry to the bbc this evening, and in one fell swoop she wowed a nation. Confident, articulate, and unafraid to express her emotion. She reassured many she was her own person and already had an easy relationship with her husband to be. This is how the couple described the moment prince harry proposed. It was, what were we doing, just roasting chicken . Roasting a chicken, trying to roast a chicken. And itjust, just an amazing surprise. It was so sweet and natural and very romantic. He got on one knee. Shes already a celebrity in her own right, of course. An actress and an american. And shes described her pride at being in her words a strong, confident, mixed race woman. Last year Kensington Palace issued a statement which revealed how worried prince harry had been about the wave of abuse and harassment meghan had faced from some quarters when their relationship began. It pointed to the racial undertones of comment pieces, the sexism and racism of social media trolls, the smear on the front page of a national newspaper. In a 2015 piece for elle magazine, Meghan Markle herself wrote of her own difficulties in the past with describing her ethnicity. Her words here are spoken by an actor. There was a mandatory census i had to complete in my english class. You had to check one of the boxes to indicate your ethnicity. White, black, hispanic orasian. There i was, my curly hair, my freckled face, my pale skin, my mixed race. Looking down at these boxes, not wanting to mess up but not knowing what to do. You could only choose one but that would be to choose one parent over the other and one half of myself over the other. My teacher told me to check the box for caucasian, because thats how you look, meghan she said. I put down my pen, not as an act of defiance but rather a symptom of my confusion. So what does this wedding tell us about britain now . Does it feel like a watershed moment for those of mixed heritage . Or is it anachronistic to even think it matters any more . Joining me now are the guardian columnist georgina lawton, Charlie Brinkhurst cuff of gal dem, an online magazine for women of colour and with us from madrid is the presenter amal fashanu. Thank you forjoining us. Is it a moment for you . Personally i think it is a moment. For me, i grew up in spain and went to school and a log of what meghan was saying, i really identified with. The fact that shes standing out, saying she is mixed race, for me it helps me a lot. Ive been in many occasions at school, exactly what she describes, i didnt know who i was, why do i have to choose, do i have to be white or black . If i want to straighten my hair and im more white . It is a big deal. People have said it shouldnt be a big deal, but it is, for people who are mixed race i think this is a big step forward. I am so excited. Im over the moon, i couldnt be happier. Does it feel like a big deal for you, is it important to talk about being mixed race without being one thing or the other . To a degree but when it comes to the representation of mixed race and black people we have to remember that extra race people are the acce pta ble face of blackness already. And thats why we are fetishised by the elite. So im not that excited at the prospect of Meghan Markle marrying prince harry, because im aware of the nuances around it and i suppose there is a long way to go when it comes to the representation of black people, mixed race people, in general. Does this confuse you, as a republican . It does, i found it quite funny because a lot of my black peers are very excited by everything thats going on today whereas i think we should abolish the monarchy lets bring an end to it all. Georgina, could it have that effect, could it bring more people of colour towards the monarchy . Definitely, i think its going to make the royal family more relevant i think its important to have greater representation there is a limited representation of mixed race people. We are held up as a beacon of a post Racial Society and meghans closeness to the palace destroys the notion that to be regal or accepted into society you must be white. Its interesting that we have someone close to the palace like meghan and its exciting times for mixed race people. It is a huge burden on a young womans shoulders to think shes suddenly carrying all these expectations with her in this new role. To be honest with you i think shes going to be great. Can you hear me, sorry . Yes. I think shes going to be a great role model and i think we dont have anyone who is mixed race in the royal family until now and, look, its something positive. I understand theres a lot of work to be done but any step is a good step. The fact that she stood up and said she doesnt have to choose who she is, she can be mixed race, it gives a lot of mixed race girls the chance to just be mixed race, you dont have to be white or black, you are simply mixed race. Can i come in on that . Its interesting because i know that growing up i really resisted being called black, i strongly identified with being mixed race and not being one or the other but as i got older i realised a lot of the reasons i felt i did not want to be called black is because i had internalised anti blackness. Thats why we have to be careful when we discussed that, as mixed race people, the reason why we dont want to be identified as black even though that ceremony people see us, and not tied up with our own prejudices. Do you agree with that . Sorry to interrupt. Personally, i dont agree, i think, you know, ive never wanted to be not called black or white. My mum is white and my father is black and i embrace both races, so why do i need to choose . I dont think you have do, i think thats the beautiful thing about being mixed race. It was an interesting phrase, you talked about the acceptable face of a woman of colour. If she had identified as black or if she was black . If she was darker skinned it is unlikely shed be marrying prince harry. This is uncomfortable territory. If harry, lets say, was next in line to the throne, do you think there would have been more racism that would have surfaced . Would it have been harder . I definitely think there would have been. People who are commenting on the issue and saying we dont need to discuss it, itsjust two people falling in love, you only need to look at his Statement Last year, them in the racial undertones of the press coverage, going through the horrific twitter comments on the article is about the relationship and about the marriage being announced to see that we dont live in a post Racial Society and we need greater representation of extra race people and greater proximity to Buckingham Palace will promote cultural change. Let me give you the last word. I totally agree with that. You know, it is opening up the conversation. Yeah, fair enough, if harry was next in line, you know, maybe it would be more important or maybe she would have suffered more abuse but i dont think it wouldnt have happened. I think that love conquers all, we are in 2018 and they prove it. We have a very modern royal family which is great. Thank you forjoining us. The eighth round of syrian peace talks begins tomorrow. Syrias government will not attend. This long, bloody and seemingly intractable civil war has now been going on six years. You could be forgiven for having lost your way in the twists and turns of this conflict. A brief reminder then of how we got here. The pro democracy protests of the arab spring erupted in 2011. Security forces opened fire on demonstrators and by the end of that year the violence had escalated into war. Casualties are estimated to be over a00000 and the un believes there are some 5 million syrian refugees. The unrest allowed the so called Islamic State to rise in the region. By 2015, the country was split between the government, Anti Government forces and isis. One of the bloodiest battles centred around aleppo. Government forces surrounded the rebel held city. Ordinary civilians, unable to escape. Many starved until an evacuation corridor was agreed. Since then, isis has been in retreat. The assad regime in the ascendant but there are areas still held by the rebels. One is Eastern Ghouta, just east of damascus, where there are fears that another aleppo style crisis could emerge. Mike thomson reports. We should warn you that his film features distressing scenes which some may find upsetting. Many believe the war in syria is now virtually over. Try telling that to the people of bombed and besieged Eastern Ghouta. This has been the areas last two weeks. A senior un spokesman has called whats been happening an outrage. Casualty figures are impossible to verify given the siege situation. But theyve evidently been mounting steadily. We have more than 121 civilians killed and 905 injuries by 336 air strikes and 2450 mortars. Thats all in only ten days. The Syrian Government claims they are responding to an attack by rebel forces on a military base in ghouta but residents there say they are the ones in the crosshairs. Translation these missiles were targeted at civilians. We dont understand why they keep aiming at civilians. Behind me you can see an example of this. A whole family, a mother and herfour children died there. We found them in pieces under the rubble. Eastern ghouta has known horrors before. In august, 2013, it was the site of a sarin gas attack by syrian Government Forces. Hundreds died. Now, locals claim, similar tactics are being used against them again. Translation three days ago the regime has targeted our brothers with chlorine gas in harasta. There are no Deadly Weapons that we havent been targeted with. You who are listening to me, what more are you waiting for . Our extermination . There is nothing we can do. A doctor at dummar hospital in Eastern Ghouta tells me hes seen signs that back up such claims. Yes, actually we had several casualties in harasta where there was a chemical attack took place. We have signs of phosphorus material were used. We cant tell the material because we dont have the analysis but from the signs we can say that it is phosphoral gas. The evidence, he says, was plain to see with many patients suffering from severe breathing difficulties after air strikes. Malnutrition is another killer in this long besieged area. Few will forget this photo, taken last month. The baby died soon after. Its very widespread now. We have very large number of children. From one statistic we have around 30 of children have malnutrition from severe or moderate. Two relief convoys were allowed into Eastern Ghouta recently but the missile hit the roof of a Food Warehouse and destroyed much of the aid they brought in. And this man told me he and many others see little point in sending in any more. If the United Nations get or enters every day, aid convoys, that will not be enough for the people here and people demand to break the siege and open the crossing of Eastern Ghouta, not to have aid. Some see a parallel here with another formerly besieged rebel enclave. The regime seems to be following a strategy in ghouta similar to what it followed in eastern aleppo, a strategy of besiegement and starvation followed by heavy bombardment. Yesterday, 23 more people are reported to have died in the latest air attack by Syrian Government planes. And with winter closing in, bitter cold will be added to the growing casualties. Malnutrition and lack of fuel and medicines. There are children here, there are women here, there are 400,000 people in this small place in the world. Nobody is talking about them. All of the world will regret not doing anything when the worst will happen. There is hope. Peace talks are due to begin in geneva tomorrow and today, russia called for a ceasefire to be imposed in Eastern Ghouta. But with Government Forces seemingly determined to retake this shrinking rebel enclave, its people may need to see it before they believe it. Joining me now is panos mountzsis, uns Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the syria crisis. Hes in amman injordan tonight and joins us on skype. How does this compare to aleppo . We have seen the horrific scenes in the film. How on the ground does this compare to what happened in aleppo . The situation is really extreme in terms of military needs. In terms of civilians, people being caught up in extreme situations, inaudible civilians are being caught up in the situation. inaudible in the last two weeks or several months, i would say, going recently from raqqa itself, including the last few days, looking at actually multiple locations where civilians have been caught up and lost their lives. So thats really a huge concern from us. But also, in terms of the humanitarian need, and assistance, looking at malnutrition, we were there with a convoy about 11 days ago. A number of children are severely malnourished. We have close to 500 cases of people who need to be medically evacuated out of ghouta. Sadly every day we get reports of several of them who lose their lights because the evacuations do not take place. Very importantly, the need to urgently be able to provide humanitarian assistance to people who are besieged. There is over 420,000 syrians who are besieged at the moment in ghouta in an extreme situation. Clearly your concentration is whats happening on the ground. When you look to the peace talks tomorrow, which damascus will not attend, do you see any relief coming from there . Well, the need for peace, the need for stability is really of huge urgency, a conflict on its sixth year with huge impact. On the ground there is more than six million internally displaced people. Just this year, we have had an average of close to 7,000 people leaving their homes every day since january 1, because of the insecurity. More than five million refugees in the neighbouring countries. More than 13 Million People who are in need of life saving humanitarian assistance. So the peace talks really are desperately needed to bring some stability on the ground. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you forjoining us. It was 11 long months ago that the Prime Minister first launched her vision of an industrial strategy a more hands on approach by government to a part of the economy her conservative predecessors would have been much happier to let the market dictate. Today, we saw it intervention in to boost growth in four key sectors construction, life sciences, automotive, and artificial intelligence. The announcement came with news of a major new investment from the Healthcare Firm msd. Labour has condemned the strategy as reannounced policies and old spending commitments. So does it stack up . And can a policy on industry ever actually work . Heres helen thomas. There is a long history of governments trying to put their stamp on the economy. The rationalisation of industry in the 1930s, nationalisation a few decades later. Archive the britain that is going to be born in the white heat of this revolution will be no place for restrictive practices or for outdated methods on either side of industry. Then, privatisation. Three and a half years ago, defenders of the status quo tried to ban denationalisation as irrelevant. How absurd it would seem in a few years time for the state to run pickfords removals and gleneagles hotel. And heres the latest iteration. The future is unfolding before our very eyes. New technology is creating new industries are changing interesting ones and transforming the way that we live our lives. We need to ensure that we are well prepared to prosper in this future. Its been a long time since any government tried to put industrial strategy at the centre of strategy. The problems frankly are rather familiar. Ailing productivity, stagnant wages, a london centric economy. And so are some of the solutions, skills, infrastructure, digital. So what determines if this is another helping of government jargon or is the basis of a long term overhaul . One criteria for success will be whether the benefits are genuinely spread around. The main problem we have pain related to colonoscopy. Work at Leeds University ticks a lot of government boxes. This colonoscopy robot could mean a pain free experience for patients. High tech robotics solving Real Life Health problems and outside london. It would be as easy as playing a video game. This robot finds and fixes potholes. Its come out of the National Robotics facility in leeds but only about 10 of Research Spending goes to the north of the country. And the bulk of planned infrastructure is earmarked for the south. Some see benefits from money being spent more widely. I think its great that the government is recognising that excellence is across the entire uk. Every part of the uk has been to offer, be it through research, training, skills. I think thats important. Here at leeds and i think we are a good example of a Success Story where investment has come in, its made a massive difference, notjust to the university but more widely, also the region. When it comes to sectors, every government has its favourites. But focusing on the biggest or most advanced may not yield the best result. 60 ofjobs are at firms with productivity below the uk average. Many in services. About 40 times as many people work in retail as in pharmaceuticals. The uk has a huge productivity problem. Sectors such as retail, tourism and hospitality, like manufacturing, thats where our productivity is much less than that of our major competitors in europe and the united states. What we need to see in an industrial strategy is a focus on those sectors and not always on the frontier sectors that are the sexy ones for government announcements. So, good industrial strategy needs to be about leeds as well as london, shopping as well as a science but it also needs to do something simpler. It needs to last. This stalwart of british retail started here in 1884 and to be successful, industrial strategy also needs to go the distance. No chopping, no changing. This needs to survive a new business minister, a new Prime Minister and yes, successive governments, meaning cross party support. My biggest concern about the strategy is that it wont necessarily be embedded over the long term. They are recommending an advisory council. Its a different arrangement from the office for budget responsibility for example which is an obvious analogue where it has independent experts, its own staff and budget. Theres nothing like that so theres nothing to stop the seesaw in policy that weve seen so often in the past thats been incredibly damaging. Will todays government blueprint still be thought useful or relevant in 20 or 30 years time . Lets briefly whiz you through the front pages. Theres happy smiles on the front of the daily mail. The stars were all aligned, this beautiful woman just fell into my life. A radiant markle and harry there. The daily mirror has something similar. She tripped and fell into my life a line from the bbc interview this afternoon. He surprised her on one knee as he tooked her roast chicken. The guardian has the mps fury over edited Brexit Impact report. Davis in context risk as politically embarrassing facts are level out of studies that. Was the story that nick brought us earlier. A story at the bottom that john profumo, the conservative minister who resigned over the sex scandal in the 60s, had previously had a long running relationship with a glamorous nazi spy. Thats all weve got time for this evening. No doubt youve spent the whole day watching the wall to wall coverage of Meghan Markles engagement to prince harry. An all around feel good story you might think . Well, not if youve watched the drama ms markle used to act in. Fans of suits will know that, somewhere out there, theres a lawyer called mike who may well be crying his eyes out. Good night. Music best thing i never had beyonce what goes around comes back around hey my baby isay what goes around comes back around hey my baby there was. Dont talk to me. A time. I thought that you did everything right no lies, no wrong boy i, mustve been outta my mind so when i think of the time that i almost loved you you showed your ass and i, i saw the real you thank god you blew it was it romantic . Thank god i dodged the bullet good evening. Any mild weather you might have encountered today is not a sign of things to come. The rest of the week cold with a strong wind. Yes, some crisp sunshine but some wintry showers as well. Showers in Western Areas during the rest of the night into tomorrow. Could be some ice to start the day in the Northern Ireland scotland and through the day there will be a lot of sunshine. Still some showers in the west but increasingly plentiful showers in the east, the showers wintry on high ground ona the east, the showers wintry on high ground on a day which will deliver highs ofjust ground on a day which will deliver highs of just five to ground on a day which will deliver highs ofjust five to seven degrees tomorrow night stays windy, it stays cold, still some showers feeding into eastern areas. Wintry over high ground and perhaps even lower levels at times. Largely dry out west. A touch of frost possible wherever you are. Into wednesday and thursday, a lot of dry weather. Some sunshine to the south west. Plenty of showers to come further east in those showers increasingly will turn wintry. This is newsday on the bbc. Im rico hizon in singapore. The headlines indonesia braces itself for the fury of mount agung. This is the volcano live from bali. It could erupt at any moment, as authorities race to move everyone to safety and halt flights. Pope francis is on a visit to myanmar, a country accused of ethnic cleansing. How will he broach the plight of the Rohingya Muslims . Im kasia madera in london. Also in the programme its on britain prepares for a royal wedding, as prince harry and the american actress Meghan Markle announce their marriage plans. The fact i fell