one thing we ve been consistent in saying is, ok, if stormont comes back, so be it. but let s not pretend that a border in the irish sea is a good thing. let s not gloss things. let s be honest about, well, there s brexit and there s this happened and the other thing happened and this is the situation that we re in and we have to manage it. but we re quite clear editorially about that, that a barrier to internal uk trade is a bad thing. i grew up overlooking belfast lough. there were ships coming in and out when i was a child. i remember it clearly. all my life that s been the situation. it was unthinkable. you could see scotland on a clear day. it was unthinkable in my lifetime that there would be any significant barrier or checking on that route. and that s a big deal that there now is. i think really this is now a test of sir jeffrey s authority. he has to bring his party with them. he has to go in and sell that deal and face down his internal critics. an academic sees a m
regina ip in hong kong, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. good to talk to you. let me ask you a very simple first question. 0k. since 2020, hong kong has been living with a very draconian national security law that was imposed from beijing. now, it seems that the hong kong government is determined to legislate an even tougher national security law during 202a. why? well, our national security law, mandated by beijing, is not draconian at all. it is far less comprehensive and sweeping than the national security act that your parliament enacted lastjuly, you know? you created a lot more new offences. our national security law enacted by beijing is nothing compared to what you have. what you have is far more stringent, comprehensive and draconian. well, i think a lot of it depends on the implementation, doesn t it? and when your territory uses the laws that you have through the national security legislation to lock up opposition politicians, pro democracy activists, to eliminate i
calls for president putin to end the invasion. nato s secretary general, jens stoltenberg, insisted that ukraine must prevail as an independent state. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m sarah montague. when the uk handed hong kong back to china 25 years ago, the last words of the departing british governor to the people of the territory were, now hong kong people are to run hong kong. that is the promise, and that is the unshakeable destiny. the man who said those words, chris patten, now lord patten, is my guest today. has that promise been broken? and could the uk have done more to honour it? lord patten, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. has that promise, that hong kong would be run by hong kong people, been broken? yes. and it was based on the perhaps misguided assumption, which some of us had occasional doubts about, that the chinese were. the chinese communist party, let me make a distinction, would keep their word, and they have pretty comprehens
the man who said those words, chris patten, now lord patten, is my guest today. has that promise been broken? and could the uk have done more to honour it? lord patten, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. has that promise, that hong kong would be run by hong kong people, been broken? yes. and it was based on the perhaps misguided assumption, which some of us had occasional doubts about, that the chinese were. the chinese communist party, let me make a distinction, would keep their word, and they have pretty comprehensively broken their word, which is contained in an international treaty lodged at the united nations called thejoint declaration. you said at the time, you wrote at the time in the hong kong diaries, which you ve just published, that, ultimately, after the handover, much will depend on whether the chinese communist party can actually be trusted to honour one country, two systems, which was the deal agreed. hong kong s former chief executive, cy leung, who s now v
as long as it takes in its fight against russia. president vladimir putin has accused nato of having imperial ambitions and said its members had no interest in the well being of ukrainians. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m sarah montague. when the uk handed hong kong back to china 25 years ago, the last words of the departing british governor to the people of the territory were, now hong kong people are to run hong kong. that is the promise, and that is the unshakeable destiny. the man who said those words, chris patten, now lord patten, is my guest today. has that promise been broken? and could the uk have done more to honour it? lord patten, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. has that promise, that hong kong would be run by hong kong people, been broken? yes. and it was based on the perhaps misguided assumption, which some of us had occasional doubts about, that the chinese were. the chinese communist party, let me make a distinction, would keep thei