s david cameron faces further dissent from within the ranks of his conservative party some m.p.'s try to scupper the government by proposing straight couples be allowed civil marriage rights it was rival labor party support that say the prime minister divisive issue by london correspondent sarah ferguson details. this is a real headache for the prime minister he could be about to have the worst possible start to his week with the potential for a house of commons to be over one of his flagship policies that of equal marriage that's fact being debated over the next two days in the house of commons one of the things things abated one of the amendments is this extension of civil partnerships to heterosexual couples that's being dubbed the wrecking amendments so is cool because if it's very soon three that could be set to delay or possibly even the rail the equal marriage bill all together so a huge amounts of debate that we're seeing this morning around this this is really going to hinge on what the labor party what the liberal democrats decide to do in this state because it's not ju

is desperate to get on side the younger softer image the conservative party trying to forward despite the dissent from their own party now they say the sense to say that this is simply an attempt to detract from some of the much more. important is she is right now the facing the vote is that when the vote is put forth what they see as a priority it's not about equal marriage it's about issues like the economy about europe about immigration these are issues that many quasi weeks activists still are not being addressed within their own policy or bend harris quiney from the british right wing policy center the bow group says the gay marriage debate distracts public attention from the real problems facing the u.k. i have no idea why david cameron bought gay marriage forward in this way because it's tearing the conservative party apart both in parliament but probably more significantly in the membership of the conservative party there really wasn't a great demand for it in a country in which facing the real crisis was the growth of britain's position in the world and their economy n

independence party we can see here that the conservative party they've suffered quite a significant defeat losing three hundred twenty seats so far we can see the labor party not doing too badly with two hundred sixty significant gains they're gaining those seats and the liberal democrats the tories the conservative parties partners in government the coalition partners they're losing one hundred six seats in the u.k. independence party there it is with one hundred thirty six councillors getting a seat in the u.k. so far now many see this as a potential threat to the three main political parties and the next general election in twenty fifteen. stevenson he's editor of the u.k. political news websites politics dot co dot u.k. he's been talking to us here. here at r.t. and he says it's too early to predict that ukip could perhaps win those parliamentary seats in the next election in twenty fifteen but by touching on issues like immigration it really is clearly striking a chord in u.k. politics. although they're getting a decent vote in this year's local elections which are for councils around

is desperate to get inside the younger softer image the conservative party are trying to forward despite the dissent from their own party now they say the sense to say that this is simply an attempt to detract from some of the much more. more important issues right now the facing the vote is that when the votes is put forward what they see as a priority it's not about equal marriage it's about issues like the economy about europe about immigration these are issues that many quasi activists fail and not being addressed within their own party. more knees in around a half an hour's time but if you're a company of abby martin with breaking news. although i was born after the vietnam era i remember t.v. discussions about that buddhist monk who burned himself to death as a form of protest the commentators on the news said that people there just have a different mindset that westerners could never understand you know which is probably true but they were implying that people in the west are just different and would never use this absolutely extreme form of protest which is also probably

a long lasting political party their success hasn't been short time and the chairman of the conservative party this morning had to concede that clearly their party is failing to get their message across and they're going to have a think about what they can do to change that. they're well let's look at the closing stages of these results in the u.k. we have the three main political parties and of course the big surprise results ukip seems to be the big surprise today and we can see here on the screen that the conservative party losing three hundred twenty seats their partners in government the coalition partners the liberal democrats they've lost one hundred six seats the labor party they've had a good day they've gained two hundred sixty seats but i was talking about the u.k. independence party a little earlier there they are with one hundred thirty six councillors now getting a seat in local councils are money people regard this perhaps a suggestion that the u.k. independence party could pose quite a serious threat to the three main political parties in the upcoming general election in twenty

out referendum by the end of two thousand and seventeen so the problem is although the conservatives as the main party of government in the prime minister david cameron is a conservative prime minister on this issue the government is not united and the liberal democrats will not allow government time to be used to bring a referendum bill before parliament well why are so many in your party keen to quit rather than be more of an e.u. power player well actually even within the conservative party there is debate about whether we'd be better off in a better off out of the european union and what this is really about is what most people agree and i think all people in the conservative party agree is that the british people should have a say we had a referendum on being a member of the european economic area in one thousand nine hundred ninety five since then europe has changed out of all recognition it is not just a free trade area it has influence in many different aspects and parts of british life much of that has been done without it ever being put to the people again to give their consent and there's a

apart both in parliament plain re more significantly in the membership of the conservative party who are leaving in droves to the chat we just heard nigel for raj. well at this point conservatives are barely clinging to power in parliament so it seems yet backbenchers are determined to put up a rebellion over gay marriage even though the public don't seem too bothered about it so why is that. well like i say it's a bizarre decision it's something that i think is perhaps the product of a disconnect between the leadership of the conservative party and the membership of the conservative party but also perhaps between a small group in central london and what we would describe as the westminster bubble going into their heads that this was a good idea that spent a lot of time with lobby groups like stonewall that really spent a lot of money and effort making it clear that this was a good idea. and this is how we've got to a point where we've got poor legislation that isn't actually going to make this country a better a more equal or less divided place. and a situation where it's done i

apart both in parliament who probably more significantly in the membership of the conservative party there really wasn't a great demand for it in the country and with the sitting room crisis was gross bridge position in the world and the economy now to distract from that agenda to spend an inordinate amount of time on a bill like this that is going to cause severe ructions in the conservative party and in the country as a whole is frankly a sleeper's on. well when we come back what's next. troubled and bloodstained general election is after the break. although i was born after the vietnam era i remember t.v. discussions about that buddhist monk who burned himself to death as a form of protest the commentators on the news said that people there just have a different mindset that westerners could never understand you know which is probably true but they were implying that people in the west are just different and would never use this absolutely extreme form of protest which is also probably true until just recently with the cost of electricity exceeding the income of the average bulgar

we've had stunning council election results we've seen the ruling coalition parties the liberal democrats and the conservatives hurts to stay in major losses in terms of council seats it's really ukip that have come out on top now this is a party that's been by many as the protest vote party the people a very keen for them if they feel too frustrated with labor conservatives liberal democrats the traditional status quo political parties but i think that a lot of people are going to have to be taking them a lot more seriously now and that a lot of people didn't take them very seriously just a few days ago the a senior conservative member called them clowns so they might have to have a rethink about that we're going to have you keep counsellors across england and wales the conservative party chairman has said that clearly the tories are failed to get their message across and they're going to have to have a rethink about how they can change that now i'm joined by the city spokesman for the u.k. independence party stephen wolf stephen chances are all well and good but they're not m.p.'s have as ukip actually made

a long lasting political party their success hasn't been short term and the chairman of the conservative party this morning had to concede that clearly their party is failing to get their message across and they're going to have a think about what they can do to change that and let's now take a closer look at the early results we have the three main parties and the rising star of the show the u.k. it dependence party and so far the tories are down one hundred and nine seats there we go coalition partners the liberal democrats seem a little less humiliating loss of twenty five sees the labor party did but are there actually six to eight seats up and the unexpected success gold fifty two new council is widely viewed as a sign it could pose a threat to the three traditional parties of the twenty fifteen election under john gaunt broadcaster and columnist her recently joined the ukip himself explains why he feels the party is a better alternative. narry people working class citizens are fed up of the political elites and the political establishment who are running the country for the past thirty o

a long lasting political party their success hasn't been short term and the chairman of the conservative party this morning had to concede that clearly their party is failing to get their message across and they're going to have a think about what they can do to change that. and let's now take a closer look at b. early results of britain's local elections we have three main parties there and the rising star of the show the u.k. independence party so far the tories are down seventy five seats so it's coming so their coalition partners the liberal here we are so empty five seats down the liberal democrats have seen a little less cumulating loss of sixteen seats the labor party did better they are forty two seats up and you keep actually go up to forty two new councillors the unexpected result widely viewed as a sign it could pose a real threat to the three traditional parties of the twenty eight fifteen general election and jungleland broadcaster and columnist her recently joined you keep himself explains why in his opinion it's a better alternative. early marry people working class citizens are

a long lasting political party their success hasn't been short term and the chairman of the conservative party this morning had to concede that clearly their party is failing to get their message across and they're going to have a think about what they can do to change that and let's not take a close look a bit early results we have the three main parties and the rising star of the show the u.k. independence party and so far the tories are down one hundred eighty two seats the coalition partners the liberal democrats have seen a little less humiliating loss of sixty four seats the labor party did much better than chile one hundred fifty seats up and then expected success you could have got seventy six in new council is widely viewed as a sign it could pose a threat to the three traditional parties of the twenty eight fifteen election of course with more supporters of the three traditional parties away by u.k. but britain's political landscape could be changing and of course we'll be watching the results rolling in throughout the day to keep you updated distinctness for. now after holding bond

are massively divisive one for the conservative party as he said this is one of the prime minister david cameron's flagship policy but a lot of questions over really his handling of it because it has come at an incredibly bad time we've seen the fallout from the e.u. referendum debate last week we've had the debacle over this a swivel i lose comment that a senior member of the conservative party was said to have made and now we've of course got this debate over equal marriage and all of these incidents all narrowed troublesome for the prime minister but when you put them all together and really is starting to build up a pretty ugly picture of a prime minister that many say is losing control of his party now whether or not that's the case it's what is certain is that equal marriage has really been an issue but david cameron wanted to take charge of questionable whether he's actually managed to do that because you've got the quarter dismissed for youth in the same party who are very much opposed to this the fire laws this is actually in a city that appeals to the bases that are exactly the

they said the conservative party had to stop, the party of root canal, of saying no, dispensing pain. why do we not become the party of santa claus and all of the good things and grow our way out of the spending problem? that debate was one of the bad things that came out of this era, and i tried to lay it out in my first book, and i think it is fairly obvious now. look at the folly of new year's this year, looking to extend the bush tax cut that we cannot afford. and all of the liberal some campaign. deficits that our children are going to pay so the top half of the households, a lot of them do not even pay income taxes, the progressive have of the population, they can go out and buy some more flat screen televisions or some other consumption expenditure. it does not make sense. that is the bad thing that came out of that era that i was trying to call attention to what i wrote the book in 1986. >> you went on to wall street yourself. you worked for goldman sachs. >> solomon brothers. -- salomon brothers. >> where are they today? >> they were bought by smith barney, and they emerged.

the conservative party is a party of business that never concealed this but in the last 20 years the have learned a lesson which is where they would have once defended out right hard-core conservative ideas and the stature and would have been elected on that basis they can no longer do so so that is moved to the center in order to be able to get command and portability. -- plurality. so they are around the center ground at the moment. there are tendencies within the society given the crisis, given the process of austerity that would lead to the position. but i don't think it would necessarily be reflected in the two major parties. >> host: a couple years ago you came out with the meeting of david cameron. what is the thesis of that book? >> guest: essentially that he is in the wide historical forces that he represents. what i did is i took a number of key words what he had used, progress, meritocracy, and the idea was that essentially the language that he was using was codifying the political project that was mainly continuous with new labor in terms of its support for privatization a

colleagues in the conservative party are perfectly free for their own reasons to change the goal posts so we have this legislation, britain has those guarantees where a referendum will take place and that is what i suggest we promote. >> area hymen. >> i am sure everyone is thrilled to see the deputy prime minister, and meant to the prime minister's and once again the prime minister is not here. the deputy prime minister, and answer question in this house. >> usually coming to the house. i think the leader who should be relieved of the prime minister's strategy is the leader of the party, and reeling with -- and said there wasn't enough comedy on radio. >> the prime minister has been doing in america, has been on a london bus in new york, something we don't see him doing a great deal. he has also been busy with president obama to benefit britain's membership of the european union. why is he doing it in the white house but not in this. >> the prime minister not withstanding differences on this subject, he made it clear he believes in continued membership of the european reforms. there i

within his own party this isn't any problem the split of the new issue is an old problem for the conservative party if you can imagine that the other parties right now are going to be absolutely gleeful so this whole family squabble is that once again being played out so publicly. and let's now get more on this from christopher klug who's a senior finance lecturer at notion them trying to unify state mr klock thank you very much indeed for your time now do you think this puts extra pressure on david cameron to hold a referendum on the e.u. membership before the next general election twenty fifteen. yes i do i do believe it's more pressure i think you know the most most of the pressure has come from the results of the local elections that were held here when twenty five percent of the british public to play you know obviously they want us out of the e.u. and i think now now cameron has to listen now yes. the british prime minister also says a free trade area between the us and the e.u. would boost the u.k. economy all these plans realistic. so you'll have to repeat the question i'm sorry of course a

within his own party this isn't any problem the split over the issue is an old problem for the conservative party if you can imagine that the other parties right now are going to be absolutely gleeful that this whole family will is once again being played out say publicly. he sounds live from london for many thanks indeed for that have changed. greece is waiting for brussels to hand over the latest part of a massive two hundred forty billion greeks have been squeezed by painful austerity measures in order to meet the bailout terms and while international lenders say athens has succeeded in bringing down the country's budget deficit other figures show the greek economy is still in a tailspin as medina explained. has been three years as greece was granted its massive bailout by international lenders since then the harshest measures have driven the economy into the ground but some claim that the risk hope on the horizon for gris and that it's about to turn a corner let's see now how greece's economy fares today compared to what it looked like in the last full year before it needed rescuing starting

making america a better tea party patriot 9-12 place to constitution america tea party nominally social welfare conservativeical action tea party secret money liberty i dare you to deny this application of america tea par party." >> that ought to do it. stephen: all right. right here? >> right there stephen: there that is and, trevor, let's do this thing. trevor potter. >> thank you. stephen: trevor potter, we'll be right back. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >> stephen: welcome back, everybody. my guest tonight is a pulitzer prize-winning environmental journalist. to pick him up tonight i sent a flaming limosine. please welcome david sassoon. [ cheers and applause ] hey, mr. sassoon, good to see you. thanks for coming on. you are the founder and publisher of something called inside climate news. three of your reporters won the pulitzer prize this year. those stories have been collected into an e-book called "inside the biggest oil spiff you've never heard of." >> that's correct stephen: first of all, what is inside climate news? >> inside climate news is a face of the new journalism. we are

own party this isn't any problem the split eight of the new issue is an old problem for the conservative party you can imagine that the other parties right now are going to be absolutely gleeful so this whole family squabble is that once again being played outside publicly. and bersin is not alone in voicing his discontent over policies in germany display of the government its terminations there are now increasing signs of division and one of germany's largest promises about various. super separatist movement is gaining momentum and he spoke with a leading advocate of bahrain independence wilfrid. playing to why his state is losing patience with germany's commitment to the. area has always shown solidarity and we continue to show solidarity even during the european crisis we bear a large share of the burden but i'd like to ask the e.u. has provided the first bailout for greece second bailout for greece a third bailout for greece billions billions and billions if i asked the german people whether they believe they will ever get even one euro back that they will all say no the politicians are aw

colleagues in the conservative party are perfectly free for their own reasons to change the goal posts so we have this legislation, britain has those guarantees where a referendum will take place and that is what i suggest we promote. >> area hymen. >> i am sure everyone is thrilled to see the deputy prime minister, and meant to the prime minister's and once again the prime minister is not here. the deputy prime minister, and answer question in this house. >> usually coming to the house. i think the leader who should be relieved of the prime minister's strategy is the leader of the party, and reeling with -- and said there wasn't enough comedy on radio. >> the prime minister has been doing in america, has been on a londonus in new york, something we don't see him doing a great deal. he has also been busy with president obama to benefit britain's memberip of the european union. why is he doing it in the white house but not in this. >> the prime minister not withstanding differences on this subject, he made it clear he believes in continued membership of the european reforms. there is a

well why are then conservatives so bothered about the same sex marriage bill in risking party unity of this point. i suppose one could argue that members of the the old tories or the backbenchers of the conservative party at least have some kind of principles behind their more anti or behind their moralistic. behavior and code of principles obviously it's the right of all people to be treated equally under the law but only open mentors they don't have those principles what we have is a parliament out of step with the british people in there. because they're all supporting. your liberal economic policies they've got a point of my throat's a bit bad today i visited one of david cameron's hospital the national health service reforms one of his big planks of his government and the effects are already being felt on the health services david cameron is desperate to take attention away from the disastrous economic policies we've got to remember the inequality and rising was rising under tony blair is going to set to rise even more under a david cameron's policies and again you've got to remem

a long lasting political party their success hasn't been short term and the chairman of the conservative party this morning had to concede that clearly the party is failing to get their message across and they're going to have a think about what they can do to change that. take a closer look at the early results are we have three main parties and there we go the rising star of the u.k. local elections the u.k. independence party and there we go so far tories tories where are they so they are down two hundred and twenty nine seats there we go their coalition partners the liberal democrats have seen the last of eighty. seats there at the labor party is it much better so they are one hundred and ninety six seats up and then we go the you keep unexpected success so would get nine seats to new council is widely viewed as a sign it could pose a threat to the three traditional parties at the twenty eight fifteen general election in the u.k. and alex stevenson at the u.k. political news web site politics dot com u.k. says it's too early to predict whether you will when parliamentary seats by touching

the world international news and comment live from a studio center here in moscow bringing conservative parties dramatically losing seats in local council elections with the form of political outside of the euro skeptic independence party making impressive gains early results show so far grabbed around twenty five percent of the vote well let's take a closer look we have the three main parties and the rising star of the show you keep the u.k. independence party was so far we can see here on screen the tories at three hundred thirty five seats a coalition partners that partners in government the liberal democrats have lost. one hundred twenty four seats so slightly less humiliating the net conservative part of the labor party did much better we can see there with two hundred ninety one seats up. there it is an unexpected success so far it seems one hundred thirty nine councillors. widely getting a place. this is widely viewed as a sort of that it could pose a threat to the three traditional polish the twenty fifth the general election the cross live to or to go she's forgiven. no this of course

making america a better tea party patriot 9-12 place to constitution america tea party nominally social welfare conservativepolitical action tea party secret money liberty i dare you to deny this application of america tea par party." >> that ought to do it. stephen: all right. right here? >> right there stephen: there that is and, trevor, let's do this thing. trevor potter. >> thank you. stephen: trevor potter, we'll be right back. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ [ man ] get the 20 piece mcnuggets. what? that lovely girl, caught your eye? 20 piece mcnuggets are only $4.99. you offer to share them. a conversation begins. that's pretty smart. i been around. [ male announcer ] 20 piece chicken mcnuggets only $4.99, just one of the awesome tastes available only on mcdonald's new extra value menu. the simple joy of being extra smart. [ cheers and applause ] >> stephen: welcome back, everybody. my guest tonight is a pulitzer prize-winning environmental journalist. to pick him up tonight i sent a flaming limosine. please welcome david sassoon. [ cheers and applause ] hey, mr. sassoon, good to see you. thanks for coming

well the pattern emerging is very clear the ruling coalition parties the conservatives and the liberal democrats have sustained losses in council seats quite significant ones in fact labor have made slight gains nothing to write home about this was really the night of u.k. independence party quite the count so far they looks like they've gained over a hundred council seats that's an average of over twenty six percent of the vote in the wards where they were represented in so overnight we've seen a real change to the british political landscape because there are now going to be ukip councillors all over the u.k. some might end up holding quite significant power and it's you know this is a party as i said it was seen as a very marginal until very recently it was the place none of the above parties a place where people launched their protest because they were so fed up with the established status quo that the lib dems the conservatives and the labor party. but that has all changed overnight we've seen nigel farage the leader of the u.k. independence party appearing on television this morn

elections securing over twenty percent of the vote sending a message to a worried governing conservative party. u.s. u.-turn america is now considering sending weapons to rebels in syria amid reports of an alleged government led village massacre we get my expert opinion on this shortly in r.t. . and seven a killed in a baghdad bomb blast the latest deaths in iraq which is suffering one of the worst waves of bonds since the would draw all of us troops two years ago our top stories this hour.

independence party has made a major breakthrough in local elections claiming one in every four votes cast the conservatives with job part of the ruling coalition of course have admitted that all mainstream parties have major lessons to learn from the group seeking the country's withdrawal from the e.u. more on this to a point. it's been amended to stay for the u.k. independence party we've seen them come seconds in the south shields by election just behind labor and that's significant because we see a pattern emerging the past six months have seen you can't come second in full by elections some of the more we've had stunning council election results we've seen the ruling coalition parties the liberal democrats and the conservatives birds to stay in major losses in terms of council seats it's really you can't that have come out on top now this is a party that's been seen by many as the protest vote party the people a very keen for them if they feel too frustrated with labor conservatives liberal democrats the traditional status quo political parties but i think that a lot of people are going to have to be t

independence party has made a major breakthrough in local elections claiming one in every four votes cast the conservatives were sharp part of the ruling coalition have admitted all mainstream parties have quote major lessons to learn from the group seeking the country's withdrawal from the european union and more on this now to r.t. correspondent polyploid. it's been a momentous day for the u.k. independence party we've seen them come second in the south shields by election just behind labor and that's significant because we see a pattern emerging the past six months have seen you can't come second in full by elections some of the more we've had stunning council election results we've seen the ruling coalition parties the liberal democrats and the conservatives very sustained major losses in terms of council seats it's really you can't that have come out on top now this is a party that's been seen by many as the protest vote party the people a very keen for them if they feel too frustrated with labor conservatives liberal democrats the traditional status quo political parties but i think that a lot of peo

anti-semitic views are the very least being tolerated by the governing national server tends -- conservative party. she explains there are various reasons for turning a blind eye. she says they hope to win votes from supporters. if a crackdown on the anti- semitic attacks, it would lose voters. she says anti-semitic views are widespread in the governing party. among those at the holocaust memorial is this man. he is the youngest rabbi and is active in community life. he is popular with young families. he is also concerned about his future as a jew in budapest. >> the rabbi says he does not think the government is doing all they could to combat anti- semitism. he says the result is that deeply held prejudices creep into public life. what i want to know is how this could happen in the european union countries. they pride themselves on the human rights. hungaryld handle question mark sanchez are not the answer. they will not tell. it is up tos time, hungary and -- hungarians to clean up the mess they made. are freewhat is needed elections. but she adds that electoral laws have been written in a way t

american politics and we ought to be worried about them. >> dana: andrea, lled the taliban of the conservative party the type of rhetoric we heard in the white house, but the media cared the water on. they were the ones reporting on the tea party that was untrue simply because the tea party wanted smaller government. nancy pelosi said this is outrageous but we should look into citizens united. even though it's bad we should continue doing it. national organization for marriages and two reporters targeted. it's the chicago way. he said he changed d.c. the way they do business -- boy, has he ever. >> dana: i'm going to spay you on the head in aacp. >> greg: this is how tolerance turns into fascism. if you are against obama you must be a racist. that gives implicit approval for persecution. i have to defend the tea party once again. they are basically your parents. they are dorky but always right. if the media had listened to the tea party when they said this was going on they wouldn't look so foolish now. >> eric: why do i have to dig them out, you is ed. don't dig them out. what wrong with the truth?