Transcripts For BBCNEWS Newsnight 20170503

Well, you can argue about who started it, but there has been a decided deterioration in the governments relationship with the eu in the last few days. The Prime Minister thinks there are people in brussels not from all the other Member States but brussels itself whove been stirring things up, and in the process, interfering in our election. If that was the case, the effect has probably been to help her. But for the europeans, the point is simply that they have now agreed their shared negotiating position that was over the weekend and if it appears tough well, thats not their doing, thats brexit. You might say this is alljust the dynamics of nationalism one side asserts itself, then so does the other. But has it poisoned the atmosphere for the real negotiation about to hit us . Well hear eu and uk perspectives, but first heres nick watt. Dont know why theres no sun up in the sky, stormy weather. The outlook for theresa may in this election has so far been pretty benign but an ill wind lewin from the continent today, benign but an ill wind blew in from the continent today, prompting another occasion for Harold Wilsons quip, events, dear boy. This follows a damaging leak from brussels and an ft report demanding the uk pays a brexit bill of upwards of 100 Billion Euros. Threats against britain have been issued by eu politicians and officials. All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the General Election that will take place on the 8th ofjune. Theresa mays strongly worded intervention highlights her belief that the strongly worded rhetoric from brussels means and eight to fight britains corner. Labour and the Liberal Democrats condemned her language but there was agreement that the proposed brexit bill was far too high. Until now, the eu has suggested the uk pays around 60 billion euros. That is calculated by saying the uk should be responsible for a third of its share of the eu budget up to the end of 2020, that it needs to pay its share of the eus deficit and pension liabilities, but all of that will be reduced when the uks share of eu acids is taken into account. Assets is taken into account. Todays higher figure was calculated after france and poland took the lead in saying britain should pay all of its share of the eu budget until december 2020, and it should not have any share of the eus assets. This was too high even for one britains most passionate pro europeans. Yes, the risk is particularly in these early stages where one is staking out positions, and not least in reaction perhaps to the kind of belligerent combat of language which has been emanating from the British Government and the British Brexit press and so on for month after month after month. But the eu 27 starts adopting its own less than reasonable positions. The former deputy Prime Minister believes the eu is newly emboldened after the far right Geert Wilders was defeated in the dutch election and finds that Emmanuel Macron may win the french president ial election. The risk is the rest of the eu assumed that theyre back to Business As Usual in terms of the development of the European Union, they are out of the woods, they have dodged the bullet as far as populism is concerned and all will be well. There is always a danger on both sides that both sides overstate their relative strength to each other. The worst bust up so far dates back to number ten dinner last week when theresa may hosted the European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker. Downing street believed his aides leaked details to undermine the uk. Were going to have to get used this sort of language come out from brussels. Brussels does not negotiate in secret, it negotiates publicly. There will be a lot of rhetoric, a great deal of hot air, and if we are going to achieve our goals, the best thing the government can do is largely ignore it and focus on negotiations going. One can equally say this is not in our interests either. I can understand why the Prime Minister is critical of it. It serves no purpose whatsoever. The eus chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, also attended the dinner. The real deals are always done behind the scenes. We know we have to get the French Election out of the way, we know we have to get the german election out of the way. In germany you have chancellor schultz or chancellor merkel. I think economic imperative will always prevail and that will be an important thing, not kind of after dinner leak. Theresa may will be hoping for brighter climbs on the campaign trail, after being granted her a Regional Election wish, that voters should have Brexit Uppermost in their minds. The past because she in this most controlling of Prime Minister s will not be in charge of that capricious force, events. Nick what there. A lot seems to have happened since that dinner. Before we came on air, i spoke to the Irish Foreign minister Charles Flanagan in dublin. I asked him whether the leaking of details from a Downing Street dinner that took place between theresa may, david davis and Jean Claude Juncker could be interpreted as an attempt to interfere in the British Election campaign. I wouldnt like to see any undue interference in any sovereign Election Campaign in any part of the European Union. I wasnt at the dinner. Maybe unfortunately i wasnt at the dinner. So i cant really comment on what took place or otherwise. But what i will say is that the reports afterwards from both sides seemed to suggest that a meeting took place in an atmosphere of certain cordiality. But as soon as the British Election is over, and certainly not before then because people will be actively campaigning, but as soon as the election is over its expected that negotiations proper will commence, along the lines of the parameters set down by the European Union. The 100 Billion Euro bill for leaving the eu, is that real . Well, you can talk about the 100 billion, you can talk about 60 billion. You can talk about 50 billion. I think we need to agree early on the principle of the liabilities and, of course there is going to be a liability. There have been commitments already entered into by all members of the European Union. All 28 have committed. I think there was a big issue over the actual price, because the commission had suggested the principles that got you there would add up to about 60 billion. And then the french and the poles came in with an alternative way of measuring it that took it up to 100 billion. Now that may seem like quite a lot of money to people, because it is quite a lot of money. Which is the right way, the commission way, or the french and the polish way . I accept that the figures that have been mentioned and proposed amount to a lot of money. I acknowledge that perhaps some people in the uk have been taken by surprise at the amount of money, but there was always going to be an element of liability in regard to funds already committed. I think early on in the negotiations, and this is what commissioner Michel Barnier was saying, early on in negotiations, we need to work out a, the manner in which the sum will be measured, and b, the final amount. And then, of course, how this is going to be paid over a period of years, presumably. Let me ask you this, is it reasonable for the british not to get a share of the eus assets, netted off the share of the eu liabilities. Because the suggestion has been that the british wont get any of the assets. All these are issues that, with respect, will be on the agenda for an early meeting of the negotiating team. Of course there are assets and of course it is important to acknowledge that the European Union has benefited greatly by the influence and the involvement of the United Kingdom over the past 44 years. I am sorry, i am not talking about all of that, i am talking about the monetary assets. If we have a share of the liabilities, shouldnt a share of the assets be netted off . Of course, and im satisfied that will be factored in and acknowledged. Lets just go onto another one. I want to quickfire through these. Ecj, the European Courtjurisdiction over eu citizens in the uk. So the british are saying we are happy to keep the eu citizens here, that is not a problem. Then being told, actually the European Court must have jurisdiction over the rights of those citizens and the implementation of those rights. Is that reasonable . Well, there will be a transition period. Obviously, this is a very complex legal and political issue that is going to take quite some time to unravel. Firstly there is the divorce. I am a solicitor, i know there is no such thing as an easy divorce. And then once the divorce terms are agreed we have then to sit down and negotiate the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. There has been a lot of rhetoric over the past number of days but i have spoken to each and every one of my 26 eu foreign ministerial colleagues over the past number of months. At no stage have i detected any intent or any disposition or any wish or desire on the part of the European Union to exact retribution or to punish britain. What were talking about is how to deal with the issue of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union after 44 years in an orderly way. I heard what the british Prime Minister has said, that no deal is better than a bad deal. I am not sure i agree with that because no deal will amount to a very challenging situation which, in my opinion, will not only be bad for the uk, but will be bad for ireland and will also be bad for the entire European Union. The point is. It is upon the Negotiating Parties to ensure that we do get a deal and a deal that will ultimately result in as close as possible a relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, albeit from outside the single market. Charles flanagan there, the Irish Foreign minister. Lets discuss now with tory mep and leading Brexiteer Dan Hannan in brussels. With me here is radoslav sikorski, the former polish foreign minister. We know brexit is causing ructions. What has got us to this point as opposed to where we were two weeks ago, whos to blame . Leaks are not helpful, but equally, an electioneering atmosphere heightens the motions. Heightens the emotions. I dont think serious governments respond to newspaper articles. We need serious people to discuss serious issues because otherwise this could be the beginning of a train wreck. Is theresa mays government and borisjohnson and david davis, are they a serious government . What was leaked and theresa may has confirmed. We learned nothing else that we have heard from british politicians on the record. That they really believed in their own propaganda, and they tried to signal, look, you need to become more realistic. Of course, in the terms of the British Election campaign, daniel hannan, it is a dangerous game, isnt it . If theresa may wins the election she will have to deal with these people and been negotiating with them . I expect that to be a cordial negotiation. It is what people say on the record that matters. Leaks you cannot be held to, but you have to think about what you say on paper and if you look at the eu formal position, the guidelines agreed in the short meeting, they are not so far off what the British Government is pushing for. We agree there should be a Free Trade Agreement and we agree on military and security. We agree on not being a hard border in ireland. It does not need to be a process that spins out of control but it was fortunate to have this leak and story about the money. But it was unfortunate to have this leak and story about the money. Was theresa may right to ramp it up by saying they are interfering in the election, reminiscent of claims about putin and donald trump. This was not a situation of her making. She has this supposedly private dinner and finds herself been plucked out of the air for theatrical effects. It would be bizarre for her not to say this reminds us of the magnitude of the choice in front of the country. Do you want me in our corner or would you rather have Jeremy Corbyn batting for britain in these talks . Do you think the eu has been blameless on this . You accept the leak is not good and inner sense provoked the latest scuffles. It was 60 billion and it seems to have gone up to 100 billion. The eu is a 15 Trillion Euro economy. 60,100 billion, is not. It is quite a lot to us. Ten of that is liabilities of british bureaucrats pensions. Why should continental taxpayers pay for that . This is an outcome of a budget in whose negotiation britain participated. I think the figure could be cut significantly if britain gets an extension on the negotiation period because then some of the liabilities will be covered. I think there are ways of handling it. There needs to be trust and goodwill on both sides. Otherwise we will have a really mean train wreck. Everybody agrees there needs to be goodwill. Daniel hannan, if the bill is 60 billion, 100 billion, whatever it is, is it Worth Britain paying the bill to get a deal, or would you say no deal is better than a deal that involves than a bad deal. If the bill were a trillion, everybody would accept, except nick clegg. I think the only fair way of resolving the financial issue is to ask an independent tribunal, some International Court or other arbitrator, to look at the assets and liabilities and both sides to agree to abide by the outcome, which will take the issue off the table. To act in a spirit of goodwill and cordiality and these are important friends and allies. I will take from that that paying quite a bit of money is part of that. But not 100 billion. Thanks, both. The General Election maybe Preoccu Pying us, but large parts of the country get to vote tomorrow. There are lots of local elections around britain. Among others, county Council Elections in england, all councils in scotland and wales. And there will also be elections for six metro mayors around england a new construct, and a potentially quite important one a George Osborne legacy. These are seen as the big names that will develop city regions around the country. One of the hardest fought of those contests is for the new West Midlands mayor. Katie razall has been there to see how that battle is playing out. It is the only manufacturer of Litmus Test Paper in the uk and is based just outside dudley. Here they produce the Testing Papers used in School Chemistry and laboratories across britain and beyond. With voter apathy an issue, will workers here vote in the regions first mayor . I dont think one person can make a massive change. It is an important step for us, something we cannot take light heartedly. It depends what they stand for as to whether i will vote. You only have a day or two to find out. That is enough time. With the West Midlands Mayoral Election is seen as a litmus test for what might happen onjune the 8th, where Better Thanjohnson test papers to test out whether this significant political Battle Ground might change from Tory Blue To Labour Red come the General Election. The conservative candidates had a heftier war chest at his disposal, spending up to1 million before election rules kicked in. With six mayoral contests across england, the former john lewis managing director is seen as the tories Best Hope Of Clinching A job and on labour territory it would bring predictions of a landside injune. The whole West Midlands has been traditionally labour. The fact we think it is all to play for shows how far we have come in this campaign. You cannot run it entirely as a business but there are Transferable Skills and the most important thing is to build a team of leaders. This is about the group of people who would lead and i have shown an ability to bring people together and work as a team. The new mayor will oversee 28 parliamentary constituencies. 2 million residents vote for a mayor who will have a budget of 36. 5 million a year, less than 1 of the turnover andy street presided over atjohn lewis. It is not conservative blue but labour read that appears to have the advantage in this region. Labour have an active Campaign Based to mobilise. In this heavily brexit voting area, sion simon has come up with a slogan that sums up what he believes the mayor can do. He wants to keep the campaign locally focused. Take back control, i have heard that before. I have made this argument for seven years. Here being in charge of our destiny, running our own services, being in charge of our own money. Dont underestimate how much of the shark the election of a conservative mayor will be to the Labour Establishment that runs so much of this region. With just over a month to the General Election it would allow the conservatives to claim they have broken down the red wall in one of labours urban heartlands, and perhaps can become a party of more than the english shires and suburbs. Injune, a Uniform Swing of 5 to the conservatives would see six labour seats in this region go blue. If it was 10 , as tony blair experienced in 97, five more would become conservative. If labour does better than predicted, a uniform 5 swing would deliver them one conservative seat, 10 swing, three. Unlike in the General Election, voters in the regions first mayoral contests get two votes, a first choice and second preference if that candidate is eliminated, which makes this battle interesting to outside eyes, as it will give an insight into where supporters of the smaller parties might transfer allegiance. Whether brexit ukip voters prefer labour or the tories for example. Is there much of a market for a liberal democrat offer in somewhere that votes brexit . People are unhappy with the cuts the conservative government has implemented in this region and i am picking up discontent among labour voters. I do not think it is as clear as you suggest. It is an open situation. As for ukip, has the party lost its appeal since the referendum . Sometimes they say what is the point of ukip . But when you explain brexit is a long way away and there are a lot of negotiations to do. We want to be a Mainstream Party and there is a place for something that is not labour or conservative. The Green Party Candidate hopes to benefit with widespread dissatisfaction. Left right isnt as important as it was. A lot of people vote green because they are fed up with the big three. It is about saying the current plans have not worked. This region voted brexit because they said we do not feel we have power over our lives and want to try something new. Candidates. In. We 55. 99. 1125 ghee 7. ,. ,. fl likeJeremy Corbyns labour so much. The polls suggest we will do well in the first round and then there will be the elimination of the four smaller parties and then a fight between tory and labour and the majority of people will be voting for me will vote for labour and i am in favour of that. Election forecasting is an inexact science but after tomorrow we will be clearer on what colours may emerge. It was fight night, the big televised debate between the two candidates, the liberal internationalist, Emmanuel Macron, and the far right populist, Marine Le Pen. This was a huge test for macron in particular, because some of his own supporters wondered whether the populist case always tends to sound more immediately gratifying than the liberal one, whatever the long term merits of the argument. So how did it go . Translation i am telling you your plan is hidden. You talked about gifts. But giving money back. To give back money. To the french, that is a gift . Who else would you like to give it to . When you lower taxes, if you have not also lowered spending, all listening understand. Youre not lowering spending. You will either increase the deficit and depend on Financial Markets so, or increase the debt and at that moment our children will lose out and i do not want anything to do with those solutions. Those exchanges do not work in voice over. Gabriel, what did you take out of it . It was pretty scrappy and the exchange indicative of a lot of it. Emmanuel macron on top of his Brief Throwing out facts and figures and policies and Marine Le Pen, less detail and fewer policies, but coming back with stinging one liners. You just want to give gifts to big corporations. They will play well with some people who feel let down by the status quo. It was an angry exchange. Talking over each other. The moderators lost control, pleading with them to let the other speak. It was messy. Macron accused le pen of lying and talking rubbish. He must have said madamme le pen 100 times. It highlighted how stark the choices is for the voters. It was not two politicians vying for the Centre Ground but two politicians with starkly different visions. Marine le pen populist, even nationalistic. Emmanuel macron internationalist, globalist and liberal. I suppose the crux is did the debate, probably the biggest single event of the campaign, did it move the dial enough to change the story of the polls, which is macron is probably 60 , le pen about a0. Roughly that. 59, a0 one. If as a french photo you were looking for somebody who looks president ial and in command of their brief, who looks competent, like they may be comfortable from day one on the job, they might go for macron, but they probably have made up their minds already to vote for him. The question is who won the debate to present themselves as a candidate of change . Neither comes from an established party. Where le pen did well was pushing back on macrons presentation of himself as somebody who can shake things up. She came out with the problems france is facing and put them at the door of Emmanuel Macron. Whether that is enough to shift voters into hm cargag; 7 7 , or keep them away from the polls, we will see on sunday. Well, the us knows a lot about the appeal of arguments based on populism, or nationalism. Not just from president trump, but also the tradition of shock jocks, with strong views and big audiences. In that category is glenn beck, one of the giants having served on fox tv, his own radio and tv programmes. Hes a radical conservative mormon, with idiosyncratic views. This is him talking about president obama. He has exposed himself as a guy with a deep seated hatred for white people, the white culture, i dont know what it is. You cannot say he does not like white people. 70 of the people we see everyday is white. I am not saying he does not like white people. I say he has a problem. I believe he is a racist. Now, heres the thing glenn beck, unlike some of his conservative shockjock counterparts, is no fan of donald trump. Beck has even compared him to hitler. A sign of some conservative confusion over how to react to trump. Perhaps these kinds of wrinkles come with a reconfiguration of old political divides into new ones. A little earlier, i spoke to glenn beck about his current political leanings, and his regrets of the past. Well, i had such a low bar for him that its, you know, its hard to be disappointed. I think hes doing fine for what he was saying he was going to do. Im glad hes not getting done some of the stuff that he wanted to do. Im gravely concerned about his attack on the press, his constant, relentless attack on the press, even though part of me feels good that they are getting their head handed to them in some regard. But this isnt going to go anywhere, except bad places. The divide is getting worse and worse in america and i dont think its based on anything that resembles facts or principles. Why do you think he appeals to the public . Were they gullible, were they stupid . Why did they vote for him . I think you can relate to it with brexit. I think people are tired of feeling though theyre being pushed around, feeling as though Somebody Else that is disconnected from them is telling them what to do. They are tired of the playing by the rules and then having the banks win, having the people in washington or in london, who you know are corrupt, yet they seem to get away with it. I think people are just tired of that. Do you think trump or other populists, take Marine Le Pen in france, do you think they are creating the anger among the public, or are they reflecting an anger . To speak about donald trump, i think he recognised the anger and is playing into the anger and then magnifying it. Where a truly great leader sees anger and then says, lets channel this into something positive and move in a different direction, instead we are seeing people channel it into even more anger and populism and nationalism, which, as europe knows, has a very bad record. Lets talk about you, because youre sitting here, youre sounding like a very measured guy and youve got your criticisms of trump and those who would seek to divide. You are one of them. I mean, where have you been for the last 20 years . Youve been doing exactly that stuff. Youve been making comments about mexicans. You said mexico is a country being overtaken by lawbreakers from the bottom to the top. You have written a book called it is about islam. I mean, do you feel some guilt . If i went back in time and knew what i know now, i would do it differently. Knowing what i knew then, i didnt understand it and i think that what is happening, at least in america with the press, is they dont understand it either. This is why i keep saying to people like samantha bee and others here in America Stephen colbert is stop. Stop. You are doing what i did. You are assuming that half of the country is, you know, either stupid, orthey are going. If i break it for these, they are going to get it and they are going to come along. No. You are dividing the country. So, right now, the left has switched places in america and the media doesnt understand it. We are all involved, whether we are on facebook, or we are on a national broadcast, we are all making the same mistake to one degree or another, and i, unfortunately, made more mistakes than most. One thing common in your career is negativism because you basically hated quite a few president s. I mean, you hated obama. Now you are hating trump. I didnt like george bush, either. You are a defender of the constitution. Indeed obama was a constitutionally elected president , and yet you do spend your whole time pulling them down. Well, ok, first of all, i am a political commentator in america, so thats kind of myjob. Unfortunately, thats what people pay to hear me talk about. Beyond that, i am not calling for them to be toppled or anything. I respect the office of the president , i respect what each of them are doing. I just feel what each of them are doing is an affront to liberty and honour. Glenn beck, thanks so much. Nice talking to you. Thank you. The novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi burst onto the scene 30 years ago with an oscar nomination for his debut film, my beautiful laundrette. Until then, you would never have believed a film about a laundrette could be that good. Well, kureishi is now in his 60s, but as the one time enfant terrible of anglo asian letters, he shows little sign of mellowing. His new novel, the nothing, published tomorrow, is about the sexual jealously of an ageing cuckold. Now interestingly, the villain of the piece is based on a conman who went to prison after swindling kureishi out of his savings, as hes been explaining to our culture editor stephen smith. Hes usually sweaty with anxiety and smelling of drink, if not pubs. This overgrown schoolboy with his balding hair, luminous scalp and cheap watch. Some disaster involving his wallet, a train, a change of trousers and perhaps a woman or two has inevitably befallen him on his way to you. I dislike unsightly people when i dont pity them. They are always at a disadvantage when it comes to entitlement. If eddie were good looking, we wouldnt be having this trouble. Eddie is an unprincipled soho chancer and the third corner of a Love Triangle in Hanif Kureishis slim new novel. He is modelled on a real life money man who cheated the author out of his savings. The first person i rang up after i found out, gone to my bank and found out my accounts had been emptied, the first person i rang up was the man who did it. And ive remember ringing him up and him expressing shock. And i expressed shock and he came down. We talked to the bank. So you think youre going. Later on, when you look back, obviously you think youre going completely mad. I spent quite a lot of time with him and i became quite interested in him, as well as hating him. So i found myself writing a story about a conman. But one of the things that i noticed thats happened in the culture recently is the criminals are not really any more on the margins. That the criminality has moved, as it were, to the centre. So after the financial crash of 2008, we began to realise that the banks and the hedge funds and other financiers, and so on, were extremely dodgy. I still have a 19605 sensibility. We took it for granted that the good things, equality, feminism, antiracism, freedom for sexual minorities, would be extended. We believed we were enlightened. The good things would be good for everyone. But people didnt want them. We were elitists, thats all. Nigel farage and i come from the same place. Do you . Yeah. Were very, very similar in our background. He comes from bromley. Indeed, lived in a Little Village called downe, just outside where i was born and brought up. And the idea that were going back to england in the 19505 is a horrifying, narrowing and enervating idea. I think theres been a real shift and i dont think people believe any more in there is a left alternative. Its a tragedy, the collapse of the left. And corbyn is a tragedy, really, for the labour party, but corbyn really came out of blair. And was a reaction to blair and i think we all thought it was a good time that we got someone really left wing in. Did you have a vote . Are you a party member . At the beginning, i thought corbyn was a good idea. And i think, like a lot of people, thought, at last, we were returning to our labour roots. And it hasnt really worked. I think we need a real rethink on the left about what a Progressive Left in britain and in europe would mean. I think macron in france, actually, has been rather illuminating and rather exciting. Lets hope something similar could happen in the uk. Sex outside the vanilla hetero norm. Racial tensions. Leave it out these have been themes of kureishis work since he won an oscar nod 30 years ago for the screenplay of my beautiful launderette. I want to do some work for a change, instead of all this hanging around. What, are you jealous . He says racism has been getting worse and muslims in particular are stigmatised. They came over here to work for us. Thats why we brought them over. 0k . And the muslim is responsible for. Is medieval, is backward, hates gays and hates women and has been captured. Millions, indeed a billion people have been captured in this terrible cliche. Dont you think most people, or a lot of people, do see beyond that . I wish i had your optimism because, i mean, at least 7 Million People voted for Marine Le Pen and Marine Le Pen is a full on right wing fascist and comes from, as it were, a proper fascist background. And during the Brexit Campaign and so on, and during the trump election, we have seen a huge rise in racism. And the establishment of this new paradigm of the muslim, which i think is terrifying. People might be watching this saying we have a mayor of london whos a muslim. You know, its no longer exceptional to see minority mps, members of the cabinet. In a lot of ways, things have changed for the better, havent they . There has been huge changes for the better, actually, in britain. Certainly far more, say, in britain than in france, where there is real separation, you feel, between the Muslim Population and these so called elite, or metropolitan elite. So britain is exceptional in that sense. But when you look at the rest of europe, whats happening in hungary, in poland and so on, its very, very worrying to see the rise of, i guess, fascism. Kureishis latest protagonist, an ageing film maker, recounts an unsparing black comedy of sexual jealousy and cuckoldry. Ive never regretted my candour. The only thing i regret are the occasions when i havent been as candid as i could have been, actually. I mean, its really important to speak. Its really important to speak and to see where your words, as it were, might take you. My books are getting a bit shorter because it is a bit of a huff and puff to get from the beginning to the end, but also i feel more merciful towards the public. Old age is the new childhood. She strokes and kisses me, her husband and baby. She says my name. I drift away. This is as decent a way to die as any. Everything has been said, except her name. Zee, zee, you forgot about me for a time, but now you remember me. Thats all i want. There was only ever you. The breath of her love on my face. Dyings not so bad, you should try it sometime. Thats it for tonight. Kirsty will be in this chair tomorrow. Goodnight. Good evening. A day of contrast again. The cloud was there, bringing rain and drizzle. Clearer skies north and west. Given the fact that east winds with us for the next few days, clean in the north more bands in the south. Bands of cloud. A great start for much of east anglia with spots of rain. Ltd breaks in the cloud. A bit of sunshine cannot be ruled out. The Western Wales not as much as we saw this morning. A lovely sunny start for northern england. Northern ireland and scotla nd england. Northern ireland and scotland as well. A bit of frost to start with. Low cloud coming and going through the day. A bit more sunshine developing in north midlands and north wales. In the east anglia, still some spots of rain particularly further south and east. Chilly along the eastern coast. Gusty wind in Western Wales western cumbria. Scotland temperatures around freezing. In the friday morning, in rural parts, scotland, northern ireland, maybe A Touch Of Frost around. So much breeze around southern countries. Friday, the cloud still there. Mostly dry. Further north, the sunny on the conditions stop temperatures dropping a little day by day but still warm enough. A bit of a change into the weekend. Winds more easterly. Some rain to channel islands. Potentially also devon and cornwall. A bit of uncertainty. Keep checking the forecast. It may not feel quite as chilly across east anglia. If it arrives, the rain through the south coast, it moves out of the way. North easterly wind developing. More sunshine here and there. The best of which in the west. Welcome to newsday. Im rico hizon in singapore. The headlines head to head. The two contenders for the french presidency trade barbs in a highly charged tv debate ahead of sundays run off vote. A stinging attack. Britains Prime Minister accuses european politicians of using threats to influence the uks General Election. Im kasia madera in london. Also in the programme a massive drug crisis up close. How the Opioid Epidemic in america is affecting one city and how authorities are fighting back. We meet the pakistani imam locally hailed as a hero for saving a man accused of blasphemy from a violent mob. Live from our studios in london and singapore