tv The Papers BBC News December 9, 2019 10:45pm-11:00pm GMT
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uurm "as“azém sn’f the election campaign, a handful of days to go until polling day, and the tories want to spend this week talking about brexit and doubling down on their messages, not talking about the nhs widely, which is labour's preferred topic, and they particularly do not want to talk about the nhs when it comes to a shortage of funding. because we have had dreadful statistics about waiting times. exactly, and the idea there was a crisis in the nhs, and i think this will run on at least until tomorrow. it's unusual for a government, not without precedent, but unusual for a government to have any sense almost no record to campaign on and to focus almost entirely on what it promises it will do in the future, because brexit has been so dominant in the last two and half years, it's fair to say, not a lot else has happened. there is a long list of achievements they can
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point to. it's certainly not in the mayjohnson government. point to. it's certainly not in the may johnson government. that is what borisjohnson wants may johnson government. that is what boris johnson wants voters to may johnson government. that is what boris johnson wants voters to think. i was boris johnson wants voters to think. iwas in boris johnson wants voters to think. i was in the north—east today, watching him give a speech in front of factory workers, when he was confronted about his photograph, and his message is, we are a new government, we have got new ideas, we will put new money in. of course, his party has been in for a decade. he has been a cabinet minister. he is trying to completely disassociate himself with all of that, and one of the big questions of this election, that what we will point out, is has he convinced voters that all of that nastiness and all of that stuff that happened in the last ten years isn't anything to do with me, golf, or will some of it get pinned on him as well as david cameron and george osborne and theresa may and the rest? it's interesting that the ft should put it on the front page, because there are a lot of other big international stories. it clearly
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shows the resonance of this, in terms of the politics. to be honest to journalists, it's terms of the politics. to be honest tojournalists, it's been quite terms of the politics. to be honest to journalists, it's been quite a boring campaign, hasn't it? people tend to leap on these things because they are unexpected moments, where people are caught off—guard. they are unexpected moments, where people are caught off—guardlj they are unexpected moments, where people are caught off-guard. i think that's right. boris johnson people are caught off-guard. i think that's right. borisjohnson hasn't made a lot of mistakes in this campaign. he has had a very steady as she goes campaign, he didn't really announce many policies, trying to keep it on the straight and narrow. today, he got it wrong and narrow. today, he got it wrong and came across emotionless. it was almost a bit theresa may! all he ke pt almost a bit theresa may! all he kept it was parroting the same thing. and he was being confronted with this horrific photo of this child, and what people would have expected some empathy, and he didn't show it. it's not often he slips up like that, but do it in front of the cameras and you get damaged. hungary the independent has got at the moment withjoe the independent has got at the moment with joe pike the independent has got at the moment withjoe pike holding up his phone and the prime minister, presumably before it was taken
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taking it and putting it in his pocket. they've tried to broaden the story into other examples, and i suppose that is where the risk lies, that it prompts other similar stories which might not have made it onto the front pages of national papers suddenly gaining extra traction. the tories are clearly on the back foot today and they want to move the conversation on. it is still firmly on the nhs and failures under a tory government. they have unearthed another incident... this isa unearthed another incident... this is a horror story, a 12—year—old with disabilities and mental health problems, 57 hours in a&e. yes, 40 specialist bed become available. i think one reason this has the potential to cut through is because it isa potential to cut through is because it is a specific incident. we can talk about general figures in the nhs... talk about general figures in the nhs. .. this means so talk about general figures in the nhs... this means so much. talk about general figures in the nhs. .. this means so much. the young child gives it a cut through, so it is difficult. for this election, there is was the risk with a winter
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election that they will be hit by a winter crisis in the nhs, and it's something that the tory party have been braced for generally, and it's risky to have an election in this period for that reason, because the nhs is traditionally a weak spot for the tories. because it is so u nsta ble the tories. because it is so unstable in parliament, there was a lwa ys unstable in parliament, there was always the sense there would be an election sooner rather than later, andi election sooner rather than later, and i think they thought was a lower chance of a crisis story before christmas than after. you are starting to see again the tories wa nt to starting to see again the tories want to have a quiet three days until polling day and i think lots of people are beginning to think that things had calmed down to the point that it was just going to be going through the motions. if this story keeps going and if there is three days of nhs failures, i think it is difficult for the tories. with the sort of stories about bed shortages, the stats are in black and white, and everybody knows who the government has been and everybody can see who is responsible for that, and it's pretty difficult
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for that, and it's pretty difficult for them to squirm out of. as we saw johnson today, or he could really do was keep talking about the future, putting more money in and getting brexit done, and that didn't address the issue. the yorkshire post editorial for tomorrow, already online, talking to a yorkshire post reporter here just after 8pm, absolutely scathing about how the party handled this today. obviously, thatis party handled this today. obviously, that is an area which is rich, several counties in administrative terms, west yorkshire, south yorkshire, rich with potentially winnable labour marginals. the reason it's a problem is, ultimately, when the tories replaced theresa may, you tend to replace your leader with the opposite, and i think that, in choosing boris johnson, they thought they had a charismatic leader who could empathise. who could do human. exactly. and it wasn't there today
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but it might be they are so risk averse he was worried about saying the wrong thing, but it's backfired. something he did say today that was perhaps a bit unexpected, were you there for this? yes. this was later in the day. he was doing a question session with some factory workers in sunderland. the tyre factory? yes, and a logistics firm. a tough crowd for borisjohnson, additionally and a logistics firm. a tough crowd for boris johnson, additionally a labour area, although lots of people there working class people, were telling us they were going to vote for him this time. one of them asked about the licence fee, and out of nowhere he suddenly announced that may be whole thing should be scrapped. asjournalists may be whole thing should be scrapped. as journalists watching, you are looking at going, hang on! this is the prime minister three days before an election calling into question the whole way the bbc has performed the last 100 years. my instinct straightaway was he wants us instinct straightaway was he wants us to talk about this and not the
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nhs. this came after the photo? yes, and after the confrontation with the itb journalist mid—morning, and and after the confrontation with the itbjournalist mid—morning, and then suddenly in the afternoon, look, he is announcing a big review of the bbc licence fee and, sure enough, the daily mail, a conservative supporting newspaper, and no big fan of the bbc, i should add, is putting this on the front of its page. if you look at the front page, you will not see references to the nhs crisis or anything else. boris johnson's point of view, job done. is a journalist, sceptical about the motive for this story? we know boris johnson likes a dead cat, as you might call it, which is the language ofa might call it, which is the language of a former election guru. if there isa of a former election guru. if there is a story you don't like, you throw a dead cat on the table, not an actual dead cat but something distracting. it might be a nice story, but it gets everybody‘s
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attention and they talk about that. it has worked in previous elections. the only reason i'm sceptical is because boris johnson the only reason i'm sceptical is because borisjohnson is not across all the detail, and we previously saw him accidentally announcing what was supposed to be a later detail of a tax cut. there is a part of my mind which wonders this was a blunder. but it has managed to move the story. i spoke to officials in his headquarters who said, no, we have been talking about this for weeks, are serious about this, so it could be cynical, but the timing is... there is obviously a more certain argument going on between the conservatives and the bbc over the conservatives and the bbc over the funding for the licence for the over 755, with the bbc saying they will no longer fund this, and 5ugge5tion5 they met make the bbc do it. talking to people in the tory
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campaign tonight, what they are really thinking about is whether to decriminalise the offence of not paying the licence fee. sort of a halfway house. that would move us in the direction of scrapping the licence fee without doing so. the telegraph i5 licence fee without doing so. the telegraph is interesting, because of precisely what we have been talking about, the fact that this conservative lead which exists in the polls might not translate from votes to 5eat5. the polls might not translate from votes to seats. the telegraph have an official tory memo suggesting that the race is very tight and it could come down to just 12 constituencies. in terms of getting information, i think this will help the conservatives, because it is exactly the message they want to 5end, which is not to be complacent, every vote counts. just because some poll5 predict a large majority, you 5till poll5 predict a large majority, you still need to do it. the weather is a bit rough, i won't bother going
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out. exactly. looking at the detail5, it says, if you have wins for various opposition parties in a handful of seats, the picture starts to look different. i think there is some truth in it, but it's been well established in this election that ultimately the tories need a majority. they don't really have any friends in parliament. potentially, if they were a couple of seats short, they could try and work with the dup, but... can come arlene fo5ter says she doesn't trust boris johnson any more. he'd have to change is practically he spent the whole campaign talking about! government without that would be difficult. jeremy corbyn has a lot more options when it comes to forming a government. so he doesn't need to win a majority. i think very few people believe labour can win a majority, the reason the race is clo5er, even with the tories far ahead in the polls, i5 clo5er, even with the tories far ahead in the polls, is it's the arithmetic. i was struck by a group
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that it 5ingle5 arithmetic. i was struck by a group that it singles out, which is a remainer tory group, who might think the election in the bag for the tories and might want to make a prote5t vote, they might think they can do it safely, so they can 5alve their conscience by not voting conservative without fearing a non—conservative to emerge. conservative without fearing a non-conservative to emerge. yes, i think it's a group of people who have been under discussed, and we've heard a lot about labour leave vote rs heard a lot about labour leave voters who support brexit, don't much like jeremy corbyn, thinking about voting conservative, and boris johnson has been meeting some of them today. we have heard less about remain sporting conservatives who don't like borisjohnson remain sporting conservatives who don't like boris johnson and remain sporting conservatives who don't like borisjohnson and don't feel comfortable voting for him and supporting his brexit deal, so the question is, will they do that on thursday or will they back labour? more questions than answer5. that's it for the papers this hour. katy balls and jack blanchard will be back at 11:30pm for another look at the papers, and you can see all the front pages
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good evening. for many, monday has offered a brief respite from the wet and windy conditions, but it's going to be short lived. we have been under a transient ridge of high pressure which built in from the west, but look what is waiting in the wings. ye5, west, but look what is waiting in the wings. yes, it's going to be turning milder. you can see this wedge of milder air in the atlantic, but with that comes wet and windy conditions. for many, it's been a fine end to the day. this guy is certainly initially, as we head overnight, but cloud will start increasing from the west. while temperatures plummet initially, gradually, through the night, especially towards the west, they start to recover. east anglia and the far south—east of england may hang on to clear skies for much of the night, and we could see a patchy frost here, but the winds will strengthen out to the west, accompanied by rain, turning heavy
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and persistent as we head towards dawn. temperatures close to freezing in east anglia, more like 10 celsius in the far south—west. tuesday, wind and rain will dominate the scene. some of the rain would be happy, the winds will be gale force in some areas, likely to cause some disruption. the strongest winds will be for western facing coasts the hills over the northern half of the uk and up into the northern aisles. the rain will be persistent and heavy, especially for the western half of the uk, and the wind turning squally a little later in the day. temperature wise, we are seeing those temperatures back up into double figures but, adding in the strength of the wind, it will be irrelevant. the milder air we have in place through tuesday gets squeezed away overnight. still low pressure in charge, but cooler conditions follow on behind. through wednesday, closer to that area of low pressure, we still expect to see gales for northern scotland.
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elsewhere, the winds will not be as strong as tuesday. it will be noticeably breezy. we start with some sunshine but the showers will get going through the day, some of them heavy with the risk of hail and thunder, and maybe some winteriness over the hills in the northern half of the uk. temperatures back down in single figures. another area of low pressure brings a spell of wet and windy weather on thursday, and an improving story for most places on friday.
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this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: borisjohnson on the campaign trail tonight after a day of being accused of not caring for the plight of nhs patients. it followed a report in today's press about a young boy with suspected pneumonia who had to sleep on the floor of a hospital in leeds. 40 new hospitals... i'm talking about this boy, prime minister. how do you feel, looking at that photo? let me tell you... i haven't had a chance to look. look at it now, prime minister. look at it now. two british women were among those injured after a volcano erupted off the coast of new zealand. five people have died. joseph mccann, who carried out a series of sex attacks, is sentenced to 33 life sentences. the judge says he will always be a danger to society.
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