might tourism and fisheries show finish tens of thousands of miles of oil pipelines transects in this entire region and if you've got a pipeline in. two hundred leaks so i think all the latest headlines at the top of the hour we'll see you then. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics all this less i'm show business i'll see you then.

time action returns and we're going underground as the saudis doubles in the deserts attended by britain's largest manufacturer be a systems as well as deloitte turns to the young mckinsey m.p.w. see as millions face famine in yemen coming up in the show what kind of riot act can to raise a mate's bag at today's nine hundred twenty two committee meeting the decide to premiership the united kingdom we speak to northern ireland's former first minister and republican column line on which post is better than belfast brussels dublin listen more coming up in today's show but first what is troubling the u.k. prime minister more today a backbench meeting on brics it that could decide a future all this money arabia's crown prince mohammed bin summoned help the first of two meetings with british prime minister theresa may the red carpet has been

rolled out early at the prince had lunch with britain's queen elizabeth at buckingham palace and during his three day visit the aide to the family friend what meets with all the senior royals and dine with the queen's son and grandson that's the way even chinese t.v. covered razor maze arguable genuflection to someone she know appears to be labeling a murderer a mind you this is the kind of questioning u.k. state mandated media presented its questions to journalist jamal khashoggi when he was alive apologies for the quality robertson solomon seems to be saying. i know we have to transform ourselves we have to modernize we have to change and i will be that agent of change your course of an autocrat your compare them to approach. and others but surely the message of the last few years is that the best hope that our nation like saudi arabia has a link or is prepared for you. for genuine reform and change choice.

the best choice for saudi how do you view on a minute so the b.b.c. a year ago was devil's advocating for the now ne a pariah crown prince and so was democracy o.-g. in fact the late journalist was it once in russia advocating more russian input in the middle east as he was tweeting for the defacto his name is rebels in syria of course there is another dimension to the whole story saudi could stop bombing yemen with british bomb stop buying nato weapons and make friends with iran let alone this man. the leader of the world's biggest oil producer russia they're meeting the world's second biggest saudi and of course saudi has also made friends with this man yes she jinping sent his people to the saudi investment conference just as vladimir putin did but if saudi realignment is a piece of cake well to some that is something else entirely threatening not only say italian membership of the e.u. but the very existence of the united kingdom joining me now is former first

minister with all the knowledge and current ulster unionist party chairman lord m.p. what have the welcome to going underground if we leave aside the party politics of the ninety two to two committee how has the union this movement got it's of involved with a bunch he is bricks and negotiations and i know this is the deal being or do you be. breaks in negotiations that are arguably threatening to break up the union where my party the recommended remain vote reluctantly but on the basis that there were two major issues one was the border because we didn't even when we went to see former prime minister cameron before the campaign. we didn't get the impression that number ten firmly understood the implications for the porter the second thing was you go to your volvo not explaining it to him well we did our best i assure you and the second thing was you've got to remember we were two years

closer to the scottish referendum so at that particular stage the decision of scotland to remain in the union would have appeared to have been final but within a matter of weeks the nationalists were starting up again and we felt there was a great risk of reigniting not independence movement which supposed to some extent has happened so and those two reasons we recommended remain but on a free vote however not only the decision was taken we our position is that we have to respect thumbs and we try and and get the best possible deal that we can for the united kingdom as a whole do you think that there will be a border in the irish sea there will be a border between the irish republic and great britain between eighty and ninety percent of our exports either go to or via great britain britain is alarmed bridge so arlen can't send its goods directly from its own

shores to mainland europe there on the reason the ferry capacity so it goes across their r.e.c. primarily to ports in wales and then it goes either to the u.k. as a who or it goes to the country to dover or other southern ports we don't want it to be extended up they are a sea to our shores because the boss spoke of our trade is done with. great britain and the op is is the case the total exports to the whole of the world. from they are sure public all of those exports one point six percent go to northern ireland. of the irish republic total imports from the whole of the world one point six percent come from northern hutton's so thought is people don't get that they level of trade not even reporting on earth there is no real border there the

movement you see you've got you've got a currency border you've got a v a t. border you've got all that talk so the tax authorities in each side reporter of those or irish government figures by the way what i'm giving it but there are goods in transit that go up and down the road but the actual level of trade is modest and is primarily are good culture and we've had all this talk about a hard border let me tell you there isn't going to be a hard porter who is going to put it up and the problem that they are should public house is that there. fear is that brussels in the event of a no deal arrangement would say well you've got to put up an external border that's what the speculation is no government could stay in politically putting up a border they could they wouldn't last five minutes so there isn't going to be a border so if there is a new deal because dublin doesn't accept what you're saying regardless of

the border between the six counties of the south do you find it ironic that a union is posey seems to be threatening the existence of the u.k. and in fame remain in fame. when there's a navy union there's an irony in this insofar as shin fein originally opposed arlen joining the european economic community there's decider in fact in the one nine hundred seventy s. they were opposed to those that the do you have taken a position on this we have been very concerned about the approach that they are taking it so. my feeling is and our party's feeling is that the way breaks it's been handled by the d.p. they were part of the negotiations last december for this boxed up which is now a millstone around our necks i believe that the relationship with the republic should be negotiated in the final phase when we know what our future relationship

is going to be that's when it should have been dumped we should never have accepted it david davis should never have accepted it as one of the preconditions for negotiations up was the rock on which we perished you know what find it strange that you appear i mean we had to pull mesquite before as. chair had will see saying that the be all in it for itself that seems to set off a leg the god of thing you in what used to be the dominant force in your world well that's what i suppose yes but that probably is in the strawman context which i think you're coming on to the moment well i think they said that nigel daubs is a bit of trying to be che guevara and you and those who wrote this one as if he was the kids in a sweet show he was talking. he was going your mind to guerrilla campaign in parliament. hard to you as a unionist state in the union if you're a guerrilla campaign against your own government a government which he has a confidence a supply arrangement with you know well in the sense that if there is i'm

a did put into the irish sea they have been here but checked to talk to if you are in arrangement with stops government which in my view opinion there was no need for the deal between them a told but surely to raise them a needed the d p otherwise the queen was going to give a permission to be but i mean as the queen would give her permission because she was the largest party in parliament she was automatically going to be given the first opportunity to form a government so then the question is who was going to vote her right. you don't go to order right and perjury corben then because that's the most obvious you know the old suspicions that he was always the breaks it is a yeah but he's also i mean his shadow chancellor announced last week to the world that he long for united ireland i'm sure they would say this is what a diary civil rights. then surely you can understand that is as it came up the idea of a border in the irish sea. the other alternative they're just going to bring down

in the deal that is presented and then we'll still vocal for them well first of all well they can do that but you know in practice with the for expression parliament socked they say the dynamics are different from what that they used to be years ago but look if you're in a situation and you have a conference of why they have a joint committee that meets regularly why weren't they engaged in the drafting of the document last december it was obvious that it came as a complete shock to them and a surprise to them and then they scrambled to run to see if they could get a bit odd that in which they did but it is totally contradictory because on the one hand it's saying all the mild will be regularly regularly three aligned with brussels and on the other hand saying they'll be no impediment to trade east west and we're live free and equal access to the united kingdom market the only way you can see the whole of the united kingdom can stay aligned with brussels is

defectively stand the customs union which is the very opposite of breaks it doesn't or the labor party say anyway we'll get the d b's. view on why they weren't privy to that information i'm sure you know people are going to speculate that's because the reason we didn't tell them certainly this kind of thing boris johnson was always saying in stormont i mean people often oversleep talking about the good friday agreement you know so what is the bedrock of the good friday agreement. do you think you'll ever meet again it's possible. i think that the will be nothing in the short term i'm quite sure until after breakfast or at least until it breaks that situation clarifies itself to some extent because i don't think she wants to be implementing brags that and it would have to if it was in government storm in the event that we leave on the twenty ninth of march so the other thing was there was a failed. negotiation in february of this year the republican movement said

that there was a no wonder standing that arlene foster would put to her party a number of proposals that they had discussed including an artist's language and when it came to the point of her doing so it became obvious that her colleagues weren't prepared to even agree to it so she didn't formally put any proposals to them unfair or nice saying well who do we negotiate with so as a full of us minister you're encouraged then that both sides neither of them are saying they're of the good friday agreement even those stormont says no we wouldn't no no well i mean there's no it is kind of you've got a meeting again we had twenty years ago when the agreement was done we had a there was a referendum in old man the referendum they are sure public must of majorities ninety something in the republic over seventy percent and all supported that the do you piece of course oh posed that. ironically initially.

they still say they oppose it but ironically they operate it and it is the only thing going for them the principle of consent that we negotiated about no longer stay part of the united kingdom and that's the people of no nonsense otherwise. they use that continuously as their major defense when they're dealing with drugs that will just finally then. figure it's only about referendums we know the good friday agreement and it's specification what do you think is dr paul nolan from queens saying. i mean in fact this conversation has been about the date. the real date is twenty one when the catholics number the borders of the north you're but you see. the two things. twenty twenty one but that doesn't mean that. it's

a question of what is the balance you can't apply root just strictly on numerical because don't forget we've a lot of catholics who come from poland i mean the last census one percent of the population is probably bigger not. sure that's going to make the difference or could make a huge difference i mean if you do two percent majority for brags that one and a half or two percent can make a big difference they're going to be able to remain in this country have to break. and that's why i've no doubt the republican house to vote they have to accept that they would want unite and i wouldn't like to take out. at the present moment thank you thank you after the break we hear a different view on the border from a man who lives on the. john mearsheimer. international.

right. welcome back well in the first off we heard from northern ireland's former first minister. may in the future all of the. joining me now is called him lying there who actually lives on the border between the six counties and the republic called thanks for coming on going underground so when you watch mainstream media beaming down to your place in the morning and. you think the journalists and the pundits and the politicians little and tourism is going wrong a. i don't believe that in the main commentary has any real concern for ireland.

that ireland is prefer to remain separate from the perspectives of journalism and commentary are largely driven by the major forces that are still controlling us and settle subjugated as i would argue the people of ireland we have ceded most of our of our powers to europe and that's evidenced in our inability to stop europe foisted on us a huge debt in the very recent past that which we are still burdened with. in order to see if the markets and the economies of europe and we don't know the problem is exit personally i would be for a legs that left exit that would. get rid of the power of europe but and retain sovereignty within the nation state but that would be in the interests of the vast majority of people i suspect that breaks it in british context is being

manipulated by a powerful elite that will that hopes to. tax haven a bust and a race to the bottom we're not sure nobody knows and this will be all to be fought for but in there is context none of this we are caught in a dilemma where we're controlled in the north by british imperialism under the sun us by the imperial force of europe. our interests are never hurt never mentioned in that our only recourse apart is to beg some kind of business from the bin if sense from either of these powers. and the irony is that in one nine hundred twenty s. irish republicans broke with the british union because they saw their interests being in. represent themselves represent their economy in a democracy that a plate and responded to the needs of the people and in the north the unionists

demanded not to be included not because they saw their need for some executive power and then they saw that in a link with britain but very much that they would cover control of their destinies and a large say in that we come to two thousand and the a team and neither side sees any . any need for their own sovereignty and they look to. almost a bipolar. perspective of if we must defer to this power or that part not seen that the both of them are actually there is to dis disenfranchise disempower and to impoverish or broken the deal is. over the holds for the future of tourism or. yes because they come from their rationale and rushnell they're caught and trapped in the history that doesn't

a lot of them are just not there making very good political sense that they say in order to maintain the integrity of the united kingdom and in the fierce of burgeoning catholic potential majority in the norse that their only state in the only thing that will maintain that union is that they are bracket all of the good friday stuff that the potential for unity and this is actually offering a chance for a union that was almost defunct earlier and republican. leaders to it they voted to leave the european union before bringing to remind us how his it came not to be leaving the european union to voting to leave the euro but and ireland to maintain . their scant regard for to marcus and we have no vote in aren't it can be that the population can be asked to vote again at any time. they would be pretty

big going on here in britain if yes of course. i think the irish rolled over in fear because our our economy is tied if you have to realize there's khana me our population is part of society's manchester we're peripheral in every way to the interests of both britain and europe and always have been our problem is we have been the first colony and probably the last colony but we have no concept. the to control our economy separately from from these two two powers. so i think there is bad leadership in ireland there it's almost got to a stage where the european union is no the new holy catholic empire and any and it creates of it is almost blasphemy. well. if that's the case. why do you think here it's all about the law in the irish sea

i think the line in the air or sea in britain there are parts of force i don't believe that britain ever lost its strategic interests in ireland a lot of the good friday stuff and the peace process that we enjoy in ireland. was premised on the base on the mission from britain that they had no strategic or selfish interests in ireland i think as this to be it unravels it becomes quite apart and that the british have a strategic interest in ireland that they are quite willing to share the good friday agreement the integrity of the union asarco st and you have these jingoistic forces working but so i guess it could be argued that the economic interests of the elite in england could work fairly well within the city of london but it needs a territorial to exist on and i think the turret oriel integrity of the united kingdom

of the kali empire becomes much more important in this context and we may be seeing a position where all of what. been agreed in terms of peace process has not been torn up not pay republicans or dissidents but the middle classes. on both sides of the of the to it in their own selfish interests but for brigadiers watching the twenty eight crisis was. the war of liberalism was britain voted to leave but in your country they voted to leave and then after being bailed out. all the banks fail there will be worse for the we weren't built in fact we were don't what was done what we were forced at like serfs with and with a huge debt now we live as indentured labor theory ireland unions are a pyramid there is the world's eyes we don't have our budget goes to germany for

for assessment and check and correction before we don't we have a housing crisis where huge homeless crisis. to rent a property in dublin in the capital it cost twice as much as a mortgage we have no ability to build houses because the european union would say that with goes beyond the budget we see italy during two to flout the laws of fiscal policy europe interscope policy. and you can see the reaction to it in ireland we qatar we have a completely compliant government that doesn't see itself as being sovereign. any criticism it's almost servile. so this is why and huge propaganda here. molly carrot and stick both the threats of what will happen if we dare to. not told the line of europe

but i would say watch this space we were given huge assurances journey the last couple of crisis that europe would look after us. in effect they dumped us in order to see if those markets watch this space where. we're told that europe will defend the interests of little ireland. i suspect strongly and has been muted last week through social democratic lines that cam the leader of the irish labor party said that he had heard rumblings that europe was preparing to ditch the irish position the backstop and all of that watch this space where the little irish economy becomes so insignificant if it's stopping a deal between britain and europe both of whom need each other because there are so many synergies in their economy that ireland's issues will be. enjoyed happens

then the border where you live for the border i think the reality is. i predicted non profit that i predict that there is going to be a really hard crash here because there is no logical way out of this because the interests are mutually. incompatible we will have a crash there will be. a border that will be maintained by the british on one side and possibly the europeans on the other side we will have a border that never existed before because even in the twenty's we had bilateral agreements that meant in we had common travel area. shared currency lots of different arrangements. no in our context the irish state has no ability to make bilateral agreements with britain so we will possibly fear

a tragedy that is worse than we can ever conceive of in ireland for people it's mostly denial and they've been fed this will never happen this couldn't happen it's too polly. unconscionable and we couldn't but the truth is that. they are on the road good for accusing brit. meatier of comparing the border area to pakistani tribal areas in the into a garage but if there was actually support there. the rise of militancy the rise of militancy and this is it i watch with it it's actually quite funny i think a moment that the last twenty odd years have been spent on. producing a process that would lead republicans to disavow any claims to sovereignty to independence to bring the whole population to a position where they were think that irish n.t.

was a nonsense and here the people who are very opposed to republican militarism and militant islam are now the people threatening the other side it with the possibilities of it so i think the most dangerous people in ireland the most militant people in ireland are possibly the irish middle class who see their business interests threatened. almost we saw varadkar last week. showing pictures of a bombed. to customs post. it's almost comic that that these people who couldn't understand any of this are not almost use it as the potential threat for the truth is that the threat is not there they've been so successful in using fear and using fear and. killing home rule with kindness to use an old apartments that that there is very little

radical republicanism left there they're almost going to have to create it and i watch the space where they will bring about issues and incidents and use it as a pretext to to threaten each other. thank you and that's what the show will be back on saturday just because legendary queen guitarist and astrophysicist dr brian may about the politics behind the space race injuries i'm a going to space without the you will be usa till then human judgment of social media will be back on saturday one hears of a day that catalonia declared independence from spain leading to violence and imprisonment of elected politicians in the european union.

after world war two we ruled the world we have the most gold we have the sound this current say we have low interest rates and we were american century ready to go. like the offer of your lottery winner blows it all here we are twenty eight having. packages containing suspected explosive device in boston ten leading democrats including hillary clinton and barack obama as well as to say and then must be described as an act of terror the former u.s. secretary of state has expressed her concern over the incident. it is a troubling times. and it's a time of. deep. divisions.