good morning, it is 8:00. syrian rebel forces say the president asad has fled the country and they have captured the capital. the capital. sounds of gunfire and chance of freedom are heard in central damascus as residents take to the streets in celebration. rebel forces say president asad has led to a unknown location potentially ending his 24 year rule. serious prime minister says he is ready to hand over the government to the opposition and a peaceful transition of power. rebels announced the release of all prisoners as a notorious military gel is liberated on the outskirts of the capital. good morning we start with the breaking news. syrian rebel forces is that they have captured damascus and

ousted the syrian president who has fled the capital appearing to and his 24 years of rule. meanwhile the country's prime minister says he is ready to hand over the government to the opposition in a peaceful transition of power. thousands of people have gathered in the main square of damascus waiting and chanting freedom. our correspondent has the story. >> it is all over, 54 years of brutal dynasty will has come to a finish. the streets of damascus has erupted in celebration. president asad has fled the country and the capital has fallen. political prisoners have been freed from the country's notorious jails. this appears to show prisoners leaving this military prison. the syrian army has abandoned its post. rebel commanders have warned people not to harm them.

serious prime minister has stayed in damascus and has offered the rebels a peaceful transition of power. >> this country can be a normal country. a country that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world. without entering any regional alliances but we will leave this matter to any new leadership chosen by the syrian people and we are ready to cooperate with any new leadership and facilitate what they need so the various government parliaments can be transferred smoothly and systematically in a way that preserves the state's facilities. >> rebels only reached the outskirts of damascus yesterday afternoon. this happened a few miles from the center of the syrian capital. a statue of syrians last leader was pulled down. the rebels since the victory was in their sights but this has happened more quickly than

anyone predicted. >> dear brothers, we are living in the final moments of the liberation of the city, this is a historic event that we will dusting was between truth and falsehood. we advise our brothers and the resistance as we previously advised, to show compassion towards the people. those who lay down their weapons should be granted safety and those that flee should not be caught. >> syrian government forces acting to be fleeing. the military base was abandoned. regime soldiers on the right of the video are abandoning their posts to the west of damascus. they are seen changing out of their military fatigues into civilian clothing and fading into the population. every building in town square the rebels take, symbols and images of the regime are being torn down as syria faces a new and unknown reality. the coming hours and days will be crucial.

not just for the future of syria but for wider middle east stability. >> let's get the reflections of our middle east correspondent who joins me live. good morning alastair. clearly a new reality for people waking up. a new dawn for syria. >> yes dark clouds on the horizon because how the transition of power is managed will be crucial to serious future. there are signs of optimism early. we understand that the leader of hts the rebel group has been in contact the last couple of days with the syrian prime minister who himself has remained in damascus to try to make sure that there has been dialogue so that the power transition can be managed in some way. there are pictures coming out showing the prime minister has

been moved from his office to a five-star hotel. the photos i have seen show him being escorted by rebel forces, not under arrest in any way and not manhandled out of the office. those are signs that perhaps this can be done in a bloodless way and that is encouraging. they took damascus as well as hammer, not without a fight but not with the violence that some people might have expected. those are some positives to hope for. i think if we are being pessimistic the euphoria we are seeing today is entirely understandable and to be expected. after 54 years of dynasty role that has been murderous and brutal. thousands have been killed. thousands have been locked up in prisons. as political prisoners.

at some point you would expect that anger and hatred that has been stored away and festered over the decades will come out against anyone who has been a loyalist to the regime in the past. how that is managed and controlled will be key to all of this. then you have the fact that there are multiple groups. there is not one singular opposition, there are multiple groups who have been a part of the overthrow of asad. again it is a assumption that many or all of them will want some slice of the power that is now up for grabs. that could cause tensions. the fact that the main rebel group has past links with al qaeda and elements in it that are unsavory is also worrying the world as well. so this morning it is a moment

for celebration for so many millions of the syrian people after so many decades of living under asad role but what comes next has a almighty question mark over it. >> thank you. let's go live to our security and defense editor deborah haynes for the bigger picture here. who are the big players that will be watching this and what will their next move be? mainly russia and iran. >> they will both be watching what has happened with horror. there have been reports that iran has been pulling out its military commanders over the past few days in the wake of this rapid rebel advance. iran and russia were both absolutely instrumental in propping up the regime from 2011 when you will remember the

uprising, a peaceful uprising first began inside syria calling for change, calling for a and two a regime that ruled with such brutality for so long even back then. it was part of that wider arab spring that started and you saw it move into egypt. it exploded across libya and also in syria and yet in response to the uprising in syria the asad regime cracked down with absolute brutality. you will remember they even resorted to using chemical weapons against its people. they used barrel bombs. there was absolute carnage across places. huge swathes of the city reduced to rubble under the force of the asad regime backed by iran and russia. russia has two strategic military bases inside of syria.

a naval facility which is key for projecting russian influence across the region and also for sending forces further to a airbase along the mediterranean coast, as well as sending forces to africa, it is a important hub for russia and russia has been a key ally to outside but russia and iran have both been massively distracted by even bigger challenges so russia launched a full-scale invasion of ukraine which has sucked up huge amounts of manpower and military equipment. for iran it has been locked for decades in a shadow war with israel and that has erupted into real war with israel's operations against hamas funded and supported by iran and gaza

as well as against hezbollah. a key ally of iran. the militants in lebanon has been a important force inside of syria as well. as a aside, it seems the militants operations inside of syria in support of the regime enabled israel to gather intelligence on the militants which was a instrumental part in the demolition of the leadership we have seen over the last few months. which has culminated in dramatic changes across that part of the region as well. so while yes iran and russia will be looking on in horror, it would appear given the rapid collapse of the regime without its key backers that they are very limited in what they can do so presumably they will be

trying to work out how best to contain the crisis and maybe for russia how best to protect its military bases inside of syria. will it be trying to cut some kind of deal with the new power leaders that will be emerging on the ground? a lot of questions but not many answers i'm afraid. >> thank you for your insight deborah. let's bring you some pictures of the presidential alice in damascus. we are being told that the president has fled the capital. on a plane to a unknown location. these are the latest pictures of that presidential palace. rebels were marching onto damascus, the presidential palace. the syrian prime minister has been speaking this

morning. let's listen to what he has been saying. to make this country can be a normal country. a country that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world. without entering into any regional alliances. we believe this matter to any new leadership chosen by the syrian people. we are ready to cooperate with any new leadership and facilitate what they need so various government the parties can be transferred smoothly and systematically in a way that preserves the state's facilities. >> let's take a look back at what has happened over the past few days for you. until recently there has been a static division of control between the three factions. the rebels led by the group and kurdish led troops to the north. the rebels began their offensive from the province. for years it had been the last

anti-regime stronghold in syria. they moved west into serious second city taking it in three days. on thursday they dealt another blow to the regime as they pushed south into the city of hammer. yesterday's rebels seized the third-biggest city. already taking nearby towns. now rebels claim to have captured damascus. the president's seat of power forcing the president of lee. earlier we heard from a journalist in damascus. >> it has been quite a spectacularly big evening damascus. we are seeing a number of stunning effects we have not seen in years. we have seen damascus, the capital city fall to the rebels completely almost for the first time in 15 years.

there is still fighting ongoing within the city, i can still hear gunfire and the occasional explosion but but apart from that i can safely tell you by the morning the hold of the capital will be under the control of the rebels. this will probably herald a new dawn for syrians. this is something people have been pushing towards and it has culminated in this offensive in damascus which is actually supported by people within damascus themselves taking to the streets and picking up arms and taking it to another level. there is a lot of anger and a lot of people are starving. people that are fed up with the long war and the lack of development in the country and definitely change was on the agenda. with the loss of syrian army morale, army positions are being abandoned and soldiers are taking off their military attire and putting on civilian clothes. escaping anywhere to safety. we have just seen chaos today

and something that was completely unexpected. nobody envisioned things would happen in this particular way. the sheer chaos of it all is really something to take in this evening. we are looking forward to a new syria now. something that is one population. a lot of people from different sides have to come together and see where this goes. we know remnants of the old regime are still here and they are probably willing to play a part in taking the country forward. in the fighting stops which should be soon you will find a city united here. >> in the past few minutes we have seen rebels storm the iranian embassy in damascus. you can see the exterior of the building. it has been badly defaced and the interior is completely ransacked. this comes as the asad regime has been toppled.

let's take a look at asad's tenure as syrian president. he became president in 2000 following the death of his father. inheriting a political system dominated by the party and security forces. in 2005 the assassination of lebanon's former prime minister led to widespread accusations of syrian involvement forcing syria to withdraw troops from lebanon after 29 years of occupation. pro-democracy protests in march 2011 has parts of the arab spring escalated into a civil war after the government cracked down on demonstrators. in 2012 many western and arab countries severed diplomatic ties with the regime and syria was suspended from the arab league over its handling of the uprising. in 2014 the islamic state

expanded its control in syria during the war. meanwhile asad was reelected in a controversial election held only in government controlled areas. in 2015 russia lost airstrikes and syria in support of asad shifting the balance of power in the conflict and bolstering the regime. syrian government forces backed by russia and iran retake a major rebel stronghold in 2016 marking a pivotal moment in the war. then between 2018 and 2021 the regime's forces regained most of the country with russian and ukrainian support despite ongoing skirmishes. cease-fires produced active fighting in some areas. after more than a decade of isolation the regime is readmitted to the arab league shifting a the regional

politics an effort to normalize relations and as we have been telling you this morning, reports came in that the syrian president has fled damascus. earlier i spoke to the managing editor and head of political risk at the international interest and he told us what this means for allies of the asad regime. >> it is unclear whether regional powers stand in terms of what is happening. we are seeing for example the russians until now, it is unclear where they stand with regards to their relationship with the new powers that be in damascus. there are still concerns over whether turkey has sufficient influence over the rebel groups and the iranians although they have withdrawn a number of their malicious it is unclear to what extent they still remain in the southern parts of syria itself. it is important to note in past experiences with the arab spring usually the sitting per minister is usually generally handle the power. we saw i met with mohammed when he was the prime minister, we

solved with these others handing over power and i think in this particular case i think the transition from the current prime minister to the new powers might be peaceful but it remains to be seen what a new authority looks like given the various different factions and that syria remains geographically very important and strategic. a country that is not considered one that can be left alone by regional powers to become independent and it remains to be seen if that results in a fallout similar to what we see in libya or if there will be a national dialogue. >> were you surprised by the speed of this rebel offensive? >> i think everybody was taken by surprise of the speed of the offensive, i think a number of factors contributed. first it is for them to note this is not the first time the rebels were able to threatened the regime, they were able to do so in 2013 and 2015. in both cases when the regime was on the verge of falling it was the russians and irradiance who rushed in to rescue him.

it appears the state was never able to be rebuilt. the regime remained dependent on iran and the russians. with their proxies being hurt by the lack of public support they have within syria itself, i think the second dynamic is the russians are so concerned with ukraine and perhaps they were lulled into a perception that syria was a frozen conflict and no longer a priority. it is important to remember over the past 6-7 months, we saw instead of any anticipation of a offensive there was a view in the region that perhaps the regime is going to stay and it was time to rehabilitate. saudi arabia rehabilitated him into the arab league. turkey was coming out and saying we want to talk with the regime and they wanted to invite him to the turkish capital to discuss.

russia was talking about how to pressure him to sit at the table to negotiate. there was talk that maybe the u.s. would agree to him sting in power if he would give the kurds in the northeast some autonomous region. the general sense of discussion was that the regime was staying, he will not take all of syria but the negotiations would revolve around him staying. therefore the rapid advance of the rebels who displayed a agency of their own and marching and taking everybody by surprise, i think the weakness of the iranian malicious allowed the rebels to march unopposed and the region was not able to call on the allies. there are reports that he was making pleas to the u.s. because the arrhenius did not have the power to give them either. we solved the proxy military in iraq refused to cross over, a recognition on the part of the iranians that they no longer

have the power to keep asad and therefore asad who was dependent on foreign support to stay in power in the absence of the foreign support, it felt like a spider's web. >> turkey which borders syria supports some of the rebels in the countries president has been public about where he stands on the latest development saying a few days ago he hoped the rebels would continue their advances. the president says there is now a new reality in syria following the rapid advance of antigovernment forces. >> everyone must now see and accept this truth. there is now a new reality in syria. politically and diplomatically. syria belongs to the syrians with all of its ethnic and religious elements. it is the syrian people who decide the future of their own country. >> meanwhile yesterday the un special envoy for syria called for orderly peace talks to ensure a smooth handover of power.

>> the need for a orderly political transition has never been more urgent. starting with the urgent formation of inclusive and credible transitional arrangements in syria. for this, we need a urgent and serious process. fundamentally different from what has gone on before. this must be the start of a process that leads to the realization of the legitimate aspirations of the syrian people and the restoration of the serenity, independence, and unity and integrity of syria. i reiterate my call for de- escalation, for call him, for the avoidance of bloodshed and the protection of civilians in line with international humanitarian law. >> let's cross to westminster

and speak to our political correspondent amanda. have we heard anything from the uk government? >> i am afraid we still have not heard anything formal from either number 10 or the foreign office. i imagine however that this is a development that would be welcomed by the uk government who clearly have been opposed to the regime. since the outbreak of the conflict and indeed earlier last week a statement was released from the uk and u.s. and germany and france in response to the latest developments then. urging the protection of civilians and infrastructure and calling for a syrian led political solution to the conflict. i think that is unlikely to change as a message despite the latest developments. politicians calling for the un resolutions for a democratic solution in syria to be

followed. clearly i think western politicians will be mindful of what happened after the fall of gadhafi in libya and other situations where there has been more intervention from the west and the chaos that has ensued. they will be trying to tread lightly but hoping that a democratic process which protects the rights of the civilians in syria can be followed. he is on a trip to the middle east today. he is going to visit the leaders of saudi arabia and the uae. he was meant to be talking about trade agreements between the uk and the gulf states but likely it will instead focus on the instability in the middle east as part of those conversations. the uk government clearly will want to tread quite carefully.

remember when he was by minister he was hoping to intervene following the use of chemical weapons by the regime on its own people which was voted down by mps wary of interventions in the middle east which led to obama not taking action either and then russia entering into the vacuum so there is a lot of history here. now the immediate concerns for the government will be around the impact it has on migration. we have had a lot of refugees coming over of course, will some of them go back or could more people be displaced as a result of this? also issues about security is a debate at the moment and defense spending, it could mean instability in that region for the uk. >> thank you. that is all for me this morning. next it is sunday morning with trevor phillips. he will speak to deputy minister angelo to get reaction to the toppling of the regime. syrian rebel forces claim to have toppled damascus and ousted the regime. e regime.

we are waking up to extraordinary news from the middle east. rebel forces in syria have taken the capital and the regime has fallen. gunfire and chance of freedom in central damascus as residents take to the streets in celebration. syrian rebel forces say president asad has fled the country. the prime minister says he is ready to hand over the government to the opposition. we will get immediate reaction from the averment here to those extraordinary events in syria from the deputy prime minister angela. from the opposition we are joined by the shadow foreign secretary. we speak to nato foreign minister from that the when yeah gabriella. the former head of mi six who

has worked in syria, sir john. with us throughout the show, director of the telegraph, economist linda and the former number 10 speechwriter, philip collins. welcome to sunday morning with trevor phillips. it will be a slightly different program this morning as we focus on the breaking news from syria overnight. rebels said they have captured the capital damascus and the president is thought to have fled the country. let's start by getting the latest from the region. i can speak to our middle east correspondent alastair. good morning. is it all over for the regime? >> yes, it is. his location right now is unknown. we are told he has left damascus but no confirmation that he has actually left syria

itself. it is possible that he is gone to a region where his father grew up. it is a regime stronghold but also there is a possibility that he may have fled to a ally country like moscow or to iran. his location is unknown but confirmation he has left the capital and we are seeing celebrations on the streets of the city and across syria. there is a feeling of euphoria and jubilation after the collapse of 54 years of dynasty rule. 54 years of murderous, brutal crackdown on any opposition within the country and yet it has been the opposition that has risen up against the regime over the past few days and has moved through the major urban areas of syria with lightning speed that has surprised

everybody and they have done it really without facing much of a fight. there was concerns that when they reached damascus, that would be the final stand, that the troops would put up a fight and it would become bloodied but it did not happen. his troops faded away, we have photos of some of them changing out of their military fatigues and putting on civilian clothing to blend into the local population. his two major backers, russia and iran decided not to prop him up this time. they have their own issues to deal with so he was left isolated with no real options and he has fled. his will is over but what comes next is the major question. >> indeed, we know a little bit about the main opposition force though there is more than one. hts. what can you tell us about what

to expect from them? >> i think it is important to note that syria is divided many ways. geographically and socially. the euphoria we are seeing at the moment is entirely to be expected and entirely understandable. after what syrians have lived through for so many decades. at some point in the coming days, that will give way perhaps to feelings of hatred and anger because of what they have lived through and containing that anger and making sure that the anger is not directed at former regime loyalists in a violent way, that will be hard to try to control. syria is also divided geographically. it is not the opposition against the regime, there are many rebel groups around syria that control different parts of the country. all a result of the uprisings

in 2011. these rebel groups have combined and coordinated to some degree in order to achieve this success. who then governs syria? who takes power? that is the next unknown and i think we can expect a lot of them will want their own slice of that power so will they be able to coordinated in an orderly fashion? there are positive signs we need to cling onto in the early stages. there seems to have been a link between serious prime minister who remains in damascus and hts, the main rebel group in the last couple of days. he has been taken to a five- star hotel and he said he will oversee a orderly transition of power. what role he has to play, we will have to see but it does not look as though there is a desire at the moment for revenge. how they shape a future government is going to be difficult indeed.

>> thank you so much. i know we will hear from you all through the day. maybe in this program depending on what happens. let's get immediate reaction from the government here. earlier this morning i spoke to the deputy prime minister angela. what can you tell us about the situation in syria this morning? >> the situation looks very serious. if the regime has fallen then i welcome that news but what we need to see is a political resolution in line with the un resolutions and we need to see civilians and infrastructure protected. far too many people have lost their lives and we need stability in the region. >> i am interested in what you said about welcoming, before i asked about that what we know about british citizens? anything we should know about? >> the foreign secretary and our foreign office are working,

you heard last week the foreign secretary was clear about uk civilians leaving syria. we have a plan to ensure people were evacuated ahead of what has happened over the weekend. we continue to support our uk nationals. >> you have been pretty clear, you are glad to see the back of the machine but how concerned are you about what may happen next? >> this is why we want to see the un resolution implemented in a political solution, syrians deserve to live in peace and safety and that is what we want to see implemented to civilians must be protected and of course infrastructure that is desperately needed as well. >> of course one of the reasons we are always concerned about this is that the results line up on our sure, millions of refugees who have already left syria and some of them turn up in europe and some turn up here. any concerns about that? what would we do if syrian

refugees start turning up here? >> as i said if the regime has fallen i welcome that, he was not exactly good to the syrian people so we want to see a political resolution so we can get that stability for syrians and make sure they have the infrastructure so they have a political government there that is working in the interest of the syrian people. that is what we need long-term for the area and hopefully working with their allies in the un we can make sure it happens. >> yes nobody can predict what is going to happen but of course it seems like we have been here before and let's call this a frying pan fire situation, at least one of the forces entering damascus used to be a offshoot of al qaeda. is there a danger that we are exchanging a stable unpleasant regime for something worse? >> that is why we have to keep

pushing with our un resolution and our allies to make sure -- dictatorship and terrorism creates problems for the people of syria that have faced so much already and also destabilizes the region, that is why we need a political solution with the government is acting in the interest of the syrian people. that is what we want to see, that is the type of democracy that we say is right for the world and hopefully that is what the syrian people will get. if the regime is gone that is a welcome change but what comes next has to be a political solution and they have to be working in the interest of the syrian people. >> unlike some situations that have led to instability, this may be a opportunity for something new in the region. >> as i said, the regime was not good for the syrian people. let's hope that working with

the un and our allies we can get a government in syria that is working in the interest of the syrian people and we can show democracy does work and people of syria deserve to feel safe and have the basic services and liberties that people like ourselves have. to make if the new regime, whatever it is, appeals to us for help with refugees, we will be open to that? >> the foreign secretary, the prime minister is in the region over the next couple of days in the foreign secretary will continue to work with our allies and make sure we do, as we always do, support people across the world. >> let's turn to some domestic issues. i want to focus on how you plan to affect the prime minister's six milestones, to save you the trouble of repeating them we will put them up graphically during the interview. >> 1 1/2 million new homes, that is mine. >> i am happy you want to talk

about that. that milestone has not been achieved since 72. since that year, there have been 28 predecessors in your job including two deputy prime ministers. they all failed. what are you going to do that they did not? >> to contextualize it even more, to ramp it up to the rate i need to to meet the target but we have nothing housebuilding like that since the 50s. after the second world war so it is a stretch. >> mcmillan was the last time. >> really that is why the pie minister says we will make sure we streamline planning and coming for this next week with our national planning policy framework which i consulted on which will be tough and put clarity in the planning system. i told local authorities they have to have a local plan. that means counselors and local people will decide what the general plan is for the area and i am going to streamline planning.

we cannot carry on like this. we are not getting the development we need, the houses we need, we have eight times average income for first-time buyers, people are priced out of getting a home and i am determined to change it. i have been underestimated quite a lot in my life and i would not allow the promised her to put that target up there if i did not think i could meet it and i convinced him to do it. having a home is not just about a home, it is about security, a job, raising a family and far too many people now cannot do that. >> there is never going to be any underestimating of angela in this studio so let's start from this point. if you are talking in four years time, can you guarantee you are going to say trevor i have done it. >> i hate failure trevor, that target is my target so i have to deliver it.

it does mean we are going to have to make real changes to the planning system. we already put 5 billion next year into additional funding into housing. 500 billion into affordable homes. there has to be lots of different parts of the system that works and that includes and i want to reassure people listening to this, and the structure. >> i want to come to all of that and let's deal with this lovely word you used, streamlining. the prime minster this morning is saying local councils will get more powers. they will also have more responsibilities. they are basically not to stand in the way. those that streamlining me that local councils will be more powerful as long as you do what you tell them. >> kind of in a way. >> you are not going to consult, if you're telling them today, it is perfectly reasonable, you're the boss, if you tell them today we are consulting you, by the end of the day you're going to do what

we tell you. that is a clear message from angela. >> let me say it simply, i consulted on the national planning policy framework from july when we were elected, last next week i will outline the structure so it will be clarity from the sensor. mandatory targets for local councils mean they have to have a local plan and that will be developed with local people. so therefore planning nationally with the local plan means we all know what the strategy is, we all know where the development is going to be. there is no need them for things to be constantly clogged up in a system that is causing chaos for people. people know where we are going and they noted destination and the inputted into the process. >> i get the rhetoric but in the end, what happens when they say okay angela, we love the plan but you know what, we cannot build this number of houses in this place because we will not have it. are you going to tell them

you're going to do it? >> to have mandatory housing target so they will develop a local plan. >> what happens if they do not? what will you do? >> the me be clear the system at the moment we inherited because conservatives took away local housing targets, needs we have speculative development at the moment with they can get permitted development rights and go on to the greenbelt, built houses that people in the local area did not want, this will be a engagement and a plant that has been agreed upon to take it forward. >> i love all of the diplomacy but let's get down to the point where you say or they say to you yes, we cannot put 100 homes there, we will not do it and you say, i do want you to put them there, will you just instruct them? >> me as's housing secretary sets out a national framework

and then local areas puts the local plan together that says here is the site come here is where we can build houses and then developers say this is where we want to build and if they are building within the local plan and the mpp f, they would get a fast track process, if they say actually i am not following the local plan, it has to then have to have consultation. >> i am asking you, what happens if they say to you, we do not agree with you, does your new streamlining mean you are going to say to them yes you may not agree but you are going to do it anyway and if you do not do it, what are the sanctions? >> they have to have a local plan. >> i am not talking about a local plan. >> you're missing the point. >> what happens if they do not hit the plan? to make you are missing the point. >> i do not think so. >> it is compulsory under the

new mpf to have a local plan. counselors and councils will identify areas for development. then it goes forward. >> i am talking about your boss's favorite word, delivery. if they say they cannot deliver this or will not deliver it, what are you going to do? >> they have to have to plan it is compulsory. what happened to the say i am not doing it? >> ultimately if they do not have a local plan then we will have to look at delivery. but they will have a local plan because they know that is what they need to do. councils are going to say we have to have a local plan. he will deliver a local plan. >> you can have as many plans as you like. what i am hearing is there will be councils that will stand in your way. let's deal with some of the actual objectives you have got. you say when and a half million homes.

is this incredibly ambitious? look at this graphic. you can see here that actually, if you hit your target, you are only delivering a extra nine homes per 1000 people. it is not very much. >> as i said before we have not seen housebuilding on this scale since the 50s after the second world war. it is a incredibly ambitious program but we are determined to deliver it, that is around planning reform so we get the systems up and running quicker. many developments are always stuck in the planning system. we have to have the infrastructure alongside that. that is why we are focusing ministers on planning reforms later this year to make sure the national infrastructure as part of the program. we are making sure we are injecting more money into the affordable homes program and housebuilding. typically receive i can be helpful. it would speed things up if some of the reasons for objections were removed, for example, in your own borough,

projects like housing developments have been stopped on the grounds that they are shading somebody else's land or they do not quite fit in with the local ambience and so on, are you going to take out some of the conditions by which some people can object and stop development? >> yes, that is why we are coming forward with the national plan. >> give me a couple of examples of things that are not going to be reasons to object. >> we are clarifying the national planning policy framework which has clear guidance which will mean if they meet the environmental standards, do not worry, they still have to be beautiful, that is all still in there but actually it is about unblocking some of the subjective reasons as to why planning does not go ahead. >> this is really interesting. for example this is not a big

project but housing. the boss of the national infrastructure commission pointed out there is a bunch of projects that were stopped because of the protection of the black leg kitty wake, so under this regulation denise to look to its future because it will not stop housing. >> environmental factors will be taken into account but we cannot have a situation where we have a desperate housing crisis and we cannot resolve things like neutrality which we believe we can and making sure that nature is protected but we cannot have a situation where we cannot build those houses. there is medication to can make but i cannot accept the situation as it stands currently. >> seriously some of the regulations are going to go as far as you are concerned. >> there will be clarity to ensure we do not see buildings stalled for years and years and you will see that next week. we are being very punchy about it because we will build the

homes. >> you say you're being punchy but why can you not just say look guys, the bats, the news, you will have to take second place to getting houses for people. >> i believe we can look after them and at the same time not stop building because we cannot have it situation with the new's are more protected than people that are desperately needing housing. need a process that says protect the nature and wild fight but not at the expense of building houses, we can do both. >> let me ask you about another element of this. on the president densities you are adding 3 .4 million people were homes for 3 .4 million people. on your own figures we are also going to add to our population 2 1/2 million people over the same period. are you content that more than

5% of new homes will go to immigrants? >> that is not the truth. that is not the reality. >> where are the 2 1/2 million immigrants that are in the budget figures going to turn up? where are they going to live? >> there is 20 of housing in the uk. >> hang on. you cannot on the one hand say we have to build one and half million and and say there's plenty of housing already. >> there is pretty of housing already but not enough for the people that desperately need it so the homes under our affordable homes program which is social and affordable homes, they will be there for people that desperately need them, local people. we already outlined how we are going to support veterans, people that are fleeing domestic violence, councils need homes for people on the waiting list. i already announced changes to the right to buy, making sure -- >> this does not quite make sense.

you start the interview by telling me there is a housing crisis and when i remind you that you have said yourselves as a government we are going to need to and a half million migrants, some of them, people that will build the houses, suddenly there is a lot of housing. where are these people going to go? >> first of all when you say about building as well, the previous government did use migrant labor too much instead of actually building skills in the uk. i announced 140 million pounds for new construction hubs so we can train people to deliver the houses so i do not accept we will bring migrants in for that. we have always said we need to scale our own people up. equally we need to build the homes that people need. nobody has had a focus on social housing for a generation and i am going to build those homes because far too many people at the moment are waiting on counsel housing lists and i have to fix that. >> i really wish we had more

time. come back and talk more about it we start building the houses. thank you for your time. to the panel now, we are joined all morning by director of audio telegraph conrad, the number 10 speechwriter philip collins and economist linda. you have probably been in damascus more recently than any of us. >> i do not know. >> i have not been there at all. what do you make of it? >> the first thing to say is let's be optimistic. we know that since 9/11 with iraq, afghanistan, libya, we have had optimism and then the optimism has been dashed. now syria is a fascinating country that has constantly flirted with a liberal future. i was there in the back end of 2009 or 2010. at that time the regime was

going through the periodic let's be more liberal. they were building all of these new oil refineries, there are looking at education. just before the arab spring and you went with a sense of optimism. within two years they were in a civil war. the issue for syria as with so many middle eastern states but also my family is from sudan and what is happening there at the moment, that optimism of the people is dashed by the inability of the leadership. just as allie was saying earlier, the problem now is, what is the leadership going to look like for syria? >> what you think? >> i would agree, we need to be optimistic but history tells us there is a lot of challenges. in that region. since the arab spring in 2011, i think the misery of syria throughout this period, this is why we must hope that listening to the deputy prime minister that will work with the un and others in the region to try to restore peace and if not

stability and we need to start with this even though i know we are all extremely worried because as we know there is different factions and oppositions, hts the leader of whom is actually -- there is a bounty on his head from the u.s. so this is quite a volatile situation but this is a good starting point i think. >> you have been in the middle of all of this, what are they doing this morning in number 10? what is the drill? >> they are doing what we are doing though hopefully with more information at their fingertips and trying to work out what comes next. what if anything the role of the uk can be. i never thought i would ever be thinking that i cannot unequivocally welcome the demise of somebody as brutal as that regime but the question you asked is a personal one, what happens next and the

character of hts is disputed. it began as a affiliate of al qaeda. kissinger's famous remark comes to mind about the wars, it is a shame both sides cannot lose. i am not sure i am convinced by the transformation of hts into some other group. so the shape of the opposition forces now is the pivotal question. obviously it is too early for anybody to say how that will work through but it is a very worrying power vacuum. >> the most striking thing about the situation is essentially what is not there. russian backing. iranian intervention. where have they gone? >> russia is totally focused on ukraine with trump coming in. russia wants to get as much land as he can in ukraine

assured before trump demands some kind of peace deal. iran has clearly been badly damaged by the attacks i israel. the militants, it's proxy, a lot of its leadership has been killed by israeli forces. so the two main allies of the regime have been super weekend. interesting, if we were talking about this when blair was in number 10 you know blair would have a significant role. that was huge undermined by what happened in iraq. the issue now if we look at what the uk will do, nobody really cares today? because we do not have the same role that we had pre-iraq in world diplomacy. >> are we outside of the circle now? >> i do think we have a role to play. at a time where the u.s. will change leadership i think international relations

scholars call it middle powers, we have a role to play to try to move the consensus forward. you mentioned the un resolution quite a lot, that is an example of middle powers engaging through a global forum. it is also worth mentioning the region itself and he mentioned both russia and iran, the air cover from russia had been a presence before they became very engaged in ukraine. so what we have in the region is a shadow war or a proxy war and i think as you see the proxy pullback because they have other things to do, i think that is why you see the movement of the opposition because there is a hole here but it does raise a question the there is a hole here. it does raise this question that if the shadow war and the proxy war in the region can have such pivotal moments, what else could there be? >> okay. we're going