it's absolutely perfect so in the absence of perfection from the prime minister united watering for actions to produce a policy on almost two years after about a referendum which brought them to power to govern is to choose where there are no fitted to the charm so we're going to able to choose is to give the appearance of being unable to govern this week we'll look at movies customs conundrum for over two thirds me know if you tweet julie mills and your messages. what we've had a terrific response to last week's show particular in a way shinto are fantastic young american activists from the us we me says what amazing articulate mature and intelligent young women i hope the go out into this world and make the changes happen for all our sakes alex listen talk he's a brilliant host bob says i think maybe trump lives on feedback he treats something outrageous and then reads the feedback then tracks to marry and after working the mumbo jumbo through his heads what scotty says medea benjamin we love your three

wishes kid and says fantastic final show of the usa special highlighting the rural urban divide young old and the changing demographic of the us see if only the average americans were as educated as these lovely young women and could just have says your she was a breath of fresh air interesting guests would never get the chance to highlight their cause and activism on any show in the u.k. so more power to you thank you uncle joseph bob says i no fan of alex salmond but yes i'd agree one hundred percent that the show was a triumph for example the recent programme on. the rambling one the following week not so good i sympathise with you were trying to stop alex from rambling but it's not easy then susan says so lovely alex i'm unsure we need the sense making conversation daily learning loads and feeling cheated by the mainstream t.v. even more than before now the picture of what we're missing out on here is the scottish broadcasting taking all thank you so much susan now back to our eggs.

from deadlock in downing street to good block in the palace of westminster where the bombs and butter masses of the coughing up are often the government. having over top of the government no less than fourteen times on the legislation is this a case of the peals against the people or is in fact the house the logs who have caught the public mood today we look at the government's lamma through the lens of thought ireland beyond the silent island of ireland because behind tony's amazing. inability to solve the irish a big to manage but. with no border in ireland no one to watch talk of programs in ireland at the start of this year we're told surprise at the government's present danger style emma the three key figures we interviewed then puts gone on the u.k. proposals this is what they had to say. david davies lights to mention is the

american canadian border. and i don't know why he keeps mentioning that because they always have to do is google this and you'll see the massive queues of traffic . waiting for the checkpoints so that's precisely the example you use this is precisely our fear i listened to theresa may and i listened to others from the english tories saying that. don't worry about the border in ireland ireland will be fine on the one hand and then insisting that britain will leave the customs union leave to single marcus and so on and of course the reality is that those two positions are completely at odds with each other i think the tories have played a very dangerous game no way can our and our show darren and or will arlen's be the collateral damage in the midst of all of that us my worry is of course that the

parliament some of the paramilitaries the smaller operations have not gone away they do not enjoy public support but give them a cause and that cause could be a camera on the border it could be you know it could be a mobile patrol on the border because here's the thing we enjoy a completely open and free border after brags that whatever we get will be less than that so i have a government caught between the irish rock and some very hard cases among the blacks that the i'm a democratic unionist party on whom they depend for the commons majority i asked john tong professor of politics of the university of liverpool how much of the european impasse is being dictated by the board of politics of ireland how surprised are you professor tong that the prime minister has reached this impasse on the customs union issue. i'm not surprised at all this was always going to be

a major problem and basically treason is now casting around for solutions which frankly appear workable anyway and would almost certainly be rejected by the european union and by the irish government it doesn't matter whether it's the so-called max flack solution maximum facilitation which frankly is a betrayal of what the government initially said because initially said they said that there would be no new infrastructure the board of relies upon the installation of new technology so it's inconceivable that's going that's going to be accepted or whether you go for the customs partnership arrangement in which you get the bizarre spectacle of the u.k. leaving the european union elect and yet still collecting the e use taxes or tariffs and basically reimbursing traders neither is a very practical solution neither addresses the essential problem of a reinvigorated border which the vast bulk of people on the island of ireland do

not want where you go from where you go for customs partnership you do have a stronger border and that was what we were told simply would not happen and that is the issue of the irish border that's very much at the heart of this customs. absolutely and it was treason may who said in the briggs it referendum campaign one of the very few assurances about that border it was treason a herself who said it was inconceivable that the border could remain the same but if you go back to december it was quite clear what the agreement was between the u.k. ireland and the e.u. that there would be full regulator eone customs alignment if a satisfactory deal could not be found between britain and ireland and we're still miles away from a satisfactory arrangement between britain and ireland so the default position will be full customs and regulator of the alignment that simply has to take place and britain is almost friendless on this at this. remarkable professor tong that the

small island of ireland or at least the irish interest for north border has marshalled the total solidarity of the european negotiators and do you see that situation changing here used to be said the irish question dominated british politics but the irish question is dominating european union politics now because you know that frankly the u.k. is almost bereft of allies on this issue all the sympathy across europe or lies with ireland the fact is that the border. whilst it was silent whilst it was a political fact rather than a fence most people could tolerate that most european union countries knowledge than hailed the good friday agreement as a fantastic piece of peace making its architects won the nobel peace prize it was internationally lauded for a government to try and drive a coach and horses through that agreement really you know we will be considered as reckless by the vast bulk of european union countries the all ireland i mention of

the good friday agreement strand two makes little sense in the context of bragg's it. the good friday good was predicated upon seamless cross border trade and therefore you know although the good friday agreement only assumed common e.u. membership it's it really is struggling to function once the actuality of briggs it takes place assuming it goes ahead on the twenty ninth of march two thousand and nineteen and that's an acceptable you've got to remember the good friday agreement was voted for by huge majorities on both parts of the on the violence it was supported right across the globe frankly and countries are not going to stand aside and simply see the good friday agreement torn asunder by e. a unilateral action from the united kingdom the mission of bomb is a a well read man but do you think is familiar with the churchill quote that the dewey steeples of for man and tyrone are no dominating british landscape are you. saying they know dominate the politics of the continent of europe. and european

union more broadly have been insistent almost from day one the day after the referendum took place that they will stand by island and that on the border question the has to be a solution that is acceptable to the republic of ireland they've not budge from that position now the u.k. government has come up with a whole variety of slogans and cliches since that referendum saying there will be no return to a hard border that we no infrastructure the british women's already hinting that rowing back from that no you infrastructure because it's talking about technological solutions well you technology has to be put in place somewhere i wouldn't want to be the first person in strand to install border installations it's not just myself that would say that the chief constable of northern ireland has warned that it would be reckless to try and install anything at the border to try and reinvigorate a border there was a conflict about that border that cost three thousand six hundred lives only recently to try and reactivate

a border which was you know which had largely gone silence and were people whether they be yunus or nationalist on the island of ireland were enjoying the benefits of seamless cross border trade and activity to try and jeopardise that by making the border more than a political fact and turning it into something more serious you know i think it's damaging it's been devoted see the damages done to british irish relations which it hugely improved a governmental level in the context of shared e.u. membership you can almost trace the improvement in relations to the day they both join the e.u. way back in january one nine hundred seventy three you saw the contribution of the european union in terms of massive peace programs which benefited the situation in northern ireland now what you've got is the first really retrograde step that reinvade reinvigorates of border which has long been unpopular. and finally a professor of toll the prime minister has

a divided cabinet the house of lords isn't revolt scotland and wales are not happy and the irish bar the issue is dominating all how long has the visa me got to come up of a solution well time is ticking i mean the e.u. won't be solved by june this year i suspect the latest the british government could push it back would be october. the government is getting defeated regularly in the house of lords fourteen amendments fourteen defeats for the government within one week some of very serious defeats i think it would be difficult for the government to reverse all of those defeats in the house of commons even with the piece of port frankly there are north conservatives who are pro membership retaining our membership of the customs union for them to inflict a defeat upon the government so for all the the bombast of the government's initial white paper which says we will be leaving the customs union i'm not sure there's a majority there in parliament for the government to get that through so the

chances are the u.k. will remain part of the customs union will be unable to conduct these wonderful free trade deals that we were promised will retain a lot of adherents to the european union and in some ways it's the worst worst of all worlds we leave the e.u. we give up all the influence that we had within the european union and don't really again any influence or sovereignty ourselves then there's the issue of scotland and obviously the scottish parliament withholding legislative consent the first time that it's done for any westminster item and the embarrassment of that and you've got to remember that the bulk of scots did not vote for braggs it in the same way that the bulk of the northern irish did not vote for it and frankly there's been no respect given to either of those countries in terms of of the what they said in terms of break that referendum instead westminster's tried to steamroller. ed and you know it's got into ever greater difficulty in resolving these questions so

ultimately we're looking at a scenario in which the bridge city is will not get their way i'm fairly clear i don't i also don't think they've got the power to bring down trees or may either and what you have is a softer bragg's in the what was originally envisaged professor john tong of the university of liverpool thank you so much for being on the alex salmon show my pleasure. in twenty forty you know bloody revolution to the demonstration going from being relatively peaceful political protests to be creasing the violent revolution is always spontaneous or is it you still were here i mean your list put me in the. school and you go to the former ukrainian president recalls the events of twenty four. those who took part in this to do over five billion dollars to assist ukraine

in these an article that will ensure a secure and prosperous and democratic. twenty eight team coverage we've signed one of the greatest goal. but there was one more question and by the way was going to be our coach. guys i know you are nervous he's a huge star and the huge amount of pressure you have to the center of the pole with you and do all the great. good you are the rock at the back nobody gets past you we need you to get going let's go. alone. and i'm really happy to join the team for the two thousand and thirteen world cup in russia meet the special one. needs to just take the radio beyond

the team's latest edition to make up a big. welcome back to this breaks special we're looking at to resume a. customs union. i'm joined by a prominent liberal member of parliament approved. someone of a great interest in the irish issue welcome to the exam and to. labor member of parliament with a strong interest in irish affairs what's your assessment of the reason the customs union. well i think she's getting herself into a bit of a mess because the arrangement customs arrangement she's absolute determined not to say in the customs union that the customs arrangement is incredibly difficult and technical and has been very much a ready by the e.u.

and i think has been ruled out by probably the majority of our m.p.'s so i think that's remember there is a border there in northern ireland that may not be seen but there's an excise border there's a border on the currency there's a border and all those kind of things and it's all dealt with remotely and doesn't have any physical structures to what extent has to be caught by surprise by how strongly the irish board the issue has a managed in the negotiations well it's been it's a marriage because the irish government changed it its tea shock and the new tea shock has made this a big issue for his own political reasons and also because he wants to be seen very much as backing the e.u. the previous teashop was already involved in committees looking at technological solutions he stopped on that and i think it is using the border now and the belfast agreement good friday agreement as a way of trying to force the united kingdom into staying in the customs union which

of course would be totally against everything that we voted for because if you stay in the customs union you don't have your access to trade you don't have to follow the e.u. law and you have to pay money so it's not leaving the e.u. but have you been surprised by the extent to which the teacher has managed to marshal the entire negotiating team of the european union behind this cause. i know i'm not surprised because the irish have always had a very very clever role in the e.u. after all they got millions of millions of pounds over many years they're not beginning to become a net contributor and that might change the the attitude of the public but no i'm not surprised and the e.u. the commission and have seen the northern ireland or order as a way again of trying to thwart i mean they really do think that if this keeps going on that eventually people will say let's have another referendum that is not going to happen and finally cape if i may money just you might have

a big f perhaps a man present something to the commons does she then we'll have a majority took over the pool customs union vote from the house of lords yes and the customs union vote in the house of lords was a very peculiar kind of wording it wasn't actually saying stay in the customs union but yes i think the more important one coming back to the lords of course is the date to keep the date in they took the date and i'd be i would just say something that most people talk about that i think will be a lot more labor m.p.'s who will abstain and there were a number of labor m.p. substandard last time gets hardly noticed but after the council elections after what's happened up in leave areas i think we'll find that a lot of people will say we're not going to let the nords actually try to really give us an exit in a moment where you're a liberal woman to your fingertips are you really going to come to the rescue of a beleaguered tory prime minister i be coming to the rescue of of the people of this country who voted to leave no no it's the box to leave and also i think to

help jeremy corbett who has stuck very in a very difficult situation to what was in our manifesto and what he knows is long term the right thing for this country thank you so much thank you. who are demonstrating the breadth of views i'm not consigning to the tory benches. and then all of my one universe views are not confined to the do you p.c. this is what the prime minister had to say on the issue earlier this week we want to ensure that we are able to continue to trade in this frictionless away as possible and the suggestion now the suggestion of the suggestion and trade at the moment is entirely fiction this is actually not correct we have set we have set free very simple objectives for the future cost of us you know i will say to this house that achieving those objectives which i just sat out is not is not easy it is

difficult but what we saw here will say actually forget about an independent trade policy that is not the position of this government. so maybe some here say don't worry about the northern irish border that is not the position. that was to these are mere prime minister's questions yesterday imo joined in the studio by should say in members of the european parliament martin i understand welcome to the exam and show martina the lady to be here thank you for having mail but i wonder so hold out not just the shin theme but i've been really successful in getting the european parliament members did the european commission to to support islands objectives in the in the brics that negotiations on them. well i would actually say that it has been chanting it's been that it's about the irish government and also the european parliament and the kind still understand the importance of the

good friday agreement an international agreement that's large that the united nations and the european parliament has a duty and an obligation to uphold international treaties and the county anything that's going to facilitate the damage or finally i'm not knowledgeable sort of the the good friday agreement among you know the hundreds of european parliament period absolutely none. i have to say that other than the fact in fairness to the m.e. pieces but they're all of them saying that in the context of the peace accord handshake. when we went on the diplomatic offensive almost leading up to the referendum because no almost talking about ireland everyone was talking about scotland everyone was talking about scotland during the debate and even the british government like we were an afterthought even i don't even think we were an afterthought that said we went on a diplomatic offensive try to ensure that we could jar nurse support for the remain fault and we did it in the north but then after the referendum martin mcguinness

led that offensive for us in the european parliament and we met with hundreds and hundreds of m e p's i personally have sat time with them all and when the first resolution came to the parliament after article fifty was triggered i am one of the lead negotiators for the left on bracks it for the group where a member of and i resisted are signed up to the joint resolution unless until we secured that it would protect the good friday agreement in all of its parts that there would be no hardening of the border in ireland and the unique and special circumstances were taken in their kind in fairness when the five hundred sixteen emmy piece folded for that across the parliament those that didn't consisted of the two you other unionists and me please ukip and british conservatives but all of the other parliamentary and any piece of where there they supported it but they didn't really understand what all of its parts meant so i took from april until the second

resolution and tobar knocking on any piece stores and that was one of the reasons why when we first knocked at the doors we asked them for support for designated special status for the north to remain within the nurses the problem for your production that we're there for you andrew lam went to them and because they didn't understand the different strands of the agreements we says here is my good friday agreement big. cause unionism and the british government was saying that the e.u. didn't feature in the good friday agreement well as actually features fifteen times to the agreement i made your opinion were you able to convince people that breaks it was by jeopardizing the good friday agreement was professionally produced the piece at risk when you yourself were released from prison as a result of the good friday agreement well i think someone like myself personifies what we as irish republicans how much not just that we have stretched ourselves but what we have done through this peace and political process that we have been

engaged in and i think people could see where we're at where we're at and where we intend to go and there was to be no damage done to the agreement and the second resolution of the parliament the parliament was very clear and the parliament folded not just for the good friday agreement protection and all of its part but it also said that if britain did not really remain in the custom union in the single market that the north needed to in some form so the parliament at that time there were five hundred sixty ammi pieces and that's because they understood that we couldn't have to diverge in standards of european regulations in an island if they were going to pursue their strand to the all ireland element of the good friday agreement so overwhelming support for ireland not just in the parliament but also in the kinds of as well the chief constable of more recently the has any physical infrastructure on the board of becomes a potential target for terrorists or do you agree with the war's over. and we need

to be clear about that and there is no support whatsoever in ireland north or sorry for return to conflict that said we shouldn't ignore want the chief constable has sent and what we need to do is ensure that there are no circumstances created that would allow anyone to explore to situation the british government as a coal garant or of a peace process as the irish government and its lords to the united nations and so when the british government said in the joint report in december that there would be no physical infrastructure no checks no controls at the border at all and ireland that they would do that with a backstop arrangement if they didn't have the other two options and they haven't secured those so far and the backstop was going to ensure that we would have full alignment with the custom union of the single market for the island for the north that we would do so to support the erisa cooperation in ireland as well as that we

would also support the good friday agreement and the all around economy but most importantly and no one's really talking about it apart from shin fame but they will there will be no diminution of our rights have been no reduction of russian from the war is over the war is over of that there is no doubt and the republican movement and ireland that has got support for a drive in the peace and political process and shin fein i under the leadership of our president mary lee make government will be driving forward a scenario for irish unity done so in a way based on the principle of consent the principle of consent was built into the good friday agreement and up with something that we all have to be very clear by the constitutional position of the north should not change unless we consent to it or we didn't consent to this before to remain within the law two hundred thank you very much indeed thank you. two years ago during the european referendum campaign

in any one of the black city years gave a second thought to what was going to happen to ireland if they achieve that ambition and a majority and not after the end of last thought it would be the stumbling block to that ambitions but that is no exactly what has happened to these i'm a doesn't have our problems to see she has a split cabinet the lords are revolting scotland and wales are deeply unhappy but it is the irish issue and the issue of the irish border which is transcending the negotiations the european union had three objectives when they started to negotiating process one was to make sure that britain paid its jews true was to protect the rights of european citizens they have been achieved and the third was to make sure there was no border and ireland i have no doubt two years ago when campaigning in delhi. was incompatible with a soft border and ireland and that chicken is no well and truly. perhaps not

for the first time in british politics what chuck show called the steeples of tyrone have a man's to dominate the landscape because whatever else to these army has to worry about there is no doubt that that island beyond the island island of ireland now has the key cards in the negotiations. do not stance is not only enough they cannot be a part and. they have taken. the solution in this region to what is

no listeners extremists in this region have been doing since and bravado demolition is a decisions and actions more than any time before moderates and people like me have been destroyed but it was such actions such fascism such opposite side being exercised by israel and israel getting away with it i think this is opening the get off this speech.

looking at the latest of the first. shot well. with friends like the. rift between the e.u. and the us is deepening bloc leaders push for greater independence from washington . with numerous probes into alleged russian interference with the us election republican senators concluded that russia did help donald trump get elected despite an republican house probe finding that there was no kind of. reporter q which is the tanzanian government of. thousands of indigenous people. so all of that to make way for so-called luxury tourism.