norman smith at westminster.pector of prisons has warned that youth custody centres in england and wales are so unsafe that a tragedy is inevitable. peter clarke said there'd been such a decline in standards that he'd written to ministers earlier this year. launching his annual report, mr clarke said he hadn't inspected a single establishment where it was safe to hold young people. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw is here. very strong words here, danny. strong findings in this report. he was so concerned that he wrote to philip lee, the minister, in february, and said that something has to be done about this. he is extremely worried about levels of violence. he said there is a kind of vicious circle in these young offender institutions and secure training centres, whereby a young boy is violent, they then have restrictions placed on what they can do. perhaps they are locked in their room for longer and cannot do various activities. security measures are put into place. that leads to them being more frust

norman, thank you, norman smith. africa — where the tourists have had a far better start than the home side. england's new captain joe root won the toss, and, with promising conditions, elected to bat. but so far it hasn't gone the way he planned. andy swiss is there for us. yes, england arrived here with such high hopes. their first yes, england arrived here with such high hopes. theirfirst test yes, england arrived here with such high hopes. their first test match in six months, and new captain, new optimism, but their batsmen have really struggled. 82—4 at lunch. it's been south africa's morning. the first test of the summer and of an era, of england's fans were making their entrance at lord's so was their new captain, joe root, all smiles at his first task proved a successful one. tales, england. root opted to the back row. alastair cook, back in the ranks, soon back to the pavilion. vernon philander with south africa's breakthrough, cook gone for three. moments later it got worse. keatonjennings adjudged lbw, bu

norman smith, thank you.lic sector pay, it's emerged that for the first time in nearly a decade that more nurses and midwives are leaving the profession in the uk thanjoining it. the nursing and midwifery council says working conditions, workload and poor pay are among the reasons given by staff for quitting. our health editor hugh pym reports. recruitment and retention of nurses and other nhs staff has been a problem for a while now. today's figures show it's as difficult as ever. for the first time in nearly a decade, more nurses and midwives left the profession than joined in the latest year. attention has focused recently on nurses from other eu countries being less keen to work here. but the figures show the trend was more marked among british staff. there was a fall of nearly 1800 nurses and midwives on the official uk register over 12 months. the total of above 692,000 in march 2016 had fallen below 688,000 by may of this year. quite what the answer is, i don't know, but it's telling us something. we n

norman smith. 201a that he had promised allah he would continue on the path ofjihad "until i get killed". we will have more on that story in the next few minutes. the notion that you should always finish a course of antibiotics, even if you feel better, is being challenged by a group of leading medical experts. writing in the british medical journal, it‘s argued that taking antibiotics for longer than necessary, can raise the risk of developing a resistance to the drugs. however, england‘s chief medical officer says people shouldn‘t change their behaviour. dan johnson reports. growing resistance to antibiotics is an increasing problem around the world. they become less effective because we take so many of them. that means deadly infections spread more easily. now some researchers say it is time to end the blanket prescription that every course should be completed. writing in the british medical journal, the group of experts claim there is no evidence that stopping some antibiotic treatments early i

studio: norman smith talking to sir jeremy greenstock.they believe other people were potentially involved. police have given a briefing this morning — which our news correspondentjudith moritz was following. we have been hearing from detective chief superintendent russ jackson, who is in charge of the northwest council terrorism unit here. we had a briefing inside greater manchester police headquarters which was on the record but off—camera, despite us asking on many occasions for camera interviews with the head of the unit, russ jackson, he was not prepared to do that today, so what i will use information we have been given inside the briefing. we were told he would not do those on camera interviews because it is not something which he feels able to do because of operational reasons. that's the reason he's giving. in terms of the information we are learning today, which is newcomer that point about whether or not the bomber, salman abedi, they don't believe he was pa rt abedi, they don't believe he was part of a large network. they thoug

our assistant political editor norman smith is in westminster. political she mangans, a series of leaks norman, the political she mangans, a series of lea ks over the norman, the political she mangans, a series of leaks over the weekend and downing street is now going to call for the cabinet colleagues to stop leaking. they are, but i suspect the prospect of that being heeded is small. this has become so personal, the briefing against the chancellor directed at damaging him personally uso directed at damaging him personally u so there is needle and edge in this, added to which the division over brexit which are fuelling the lea ks and the over brexit which are fuelling the leaks and the briefing war, are so profound. blu ntly, leaks and the briefing war, are so profound. bluntly, those round the chancellor fearful that we are in no shape to leave the eu in 20 months type. business in particular needs a breathing space to adapt, a transitional period of two years, maybe more than that. the brexiteers, however, view that as a ruse, to try and delay

norman smith.. well, you get the sense that theresa may has decided to dig in over this 1% pat’- has decided to dig in over this 1% pay. very striking the line which i’u ns pay. very striking the line which runs the prime minister today. acknowledging the public sector workers in her words to important workers in her words to important work but again and again stressing the need to get the deficit down, to ta ke the need to get the deficit down, to take difficult decisions, to live within our means. not to do so, she said, would riskjob losses and burdening future generations with more debt. this after we have seen a sort of public wrestling match between different members of the cabinet over the issue of public sector pay. borisjohnson and michael gove arguing for an easing of the pay. the chancellor, philip hammond, pushing back, and theresa may deliberately i think echoing some of the words used by the chancellor, saying you have to have afair chancellor, saying you have to have a fair balance b

norman smith has been speaking to the universities minister.ersity with debts of up to £50,000. this is miss mabel ‘s mac number two has suggested that a national debate needs to get under way. let's talk about this 50,000 figure. are you co mforta ble about this 50,000 figure. are you comfortable that graduates should be merging with that level of debt? we have a world—class higher education system in this country with three universities in the world's top ten, 19 in the top 100, we need to ensure it is sustainably funded and we are. the unit to resource, the per student funding that is following stu d e nts student funding that is following students into university is up 25% since the financial reforms that we re since the financial reforms that were introduced and we have got to ensure the cost of bringing that resource to our university system is shared fairly between the individual student who goes on in most circumstances to have much higher lifetime earnings and the general taxpayer pay, who will not had a chance to go to university and

norman smith is at westminster, and there are so many different messages coming out of government, whate has been a veritable hubbub of rival ministers setting out their different takes on brexit, with former remain ministers the loudest, with the chancellor saying there may need to be a three—year transitional period after we leave in march 2019, the home secretary saying eu migrants might still be able to come for a period of two years as long as they register, and you sense downing street has said, in of! stop the bickering! with the prime minister's spokesperson saying the plan remains as set out by theresa may at the start of the year, freedom of movement will end when we read. it is not going to continue in all but name, and we will not have an off—the—shelf trade deal keeping us in the single market. it looks like an attempt by number 10 to reassert control. the real question is whether ministers pay heed. norman, thank you. russia's president putin has ordered that hundreds of staff working for the us diplomatic service in the country must leave theirjobs. the move comes after t

be flexible over how long it will take to reduce the numbers. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smithstminster. should we all be any clearer today about immigration policy, norman?” suspect there has been a good deal of head scratching in the wake of this announcement. what is clear is amber rudd wants business to have a much bigger role in shaping our new immigration policy and we know business has serious concerns about restrictions on bringing in eu nationals. but the timing of all of this is frankly a little bit higgledy—piggledy. this commission will not report untiljust six months before we leave the eu. right up months before we leave the eu. right up against the buffers, after the government has published its new immigration bill and many people will say, this should have been done yonks ago. the language among ministers also a little bit higgledy—piggledy. amber rudd seeming to suggest it will be softly softly, slowly, slowly when it comes to new policy. the immigration minister, brandon lewis, come march, 2019, free movement of labour will end. borisjohnson was left open—mou

norman smith at westminster.th korea over its weapons programme. he is in poland for a summit before travelling to hamburg. he called for a tough response from the international community to north korea‘s recent missile tests. international community to north korea's recent missile tests. as far as north korea is concerned, we will see what happens. i don‘t like to talk about what i have planned. i have some pretty severe things that we are thinking about, that does not mean we will do them. i don‘t draw red lines. president obama drew a red lines. president obama drew a red lines. president obama drew a red line and i was the one that made it look a little bit better than it was, but that could have been done sooner was, but that could have been done sooner than you would not have had the same situation that you have right now in syria, that was a big mistake. i think we will take a look at what happens over the coming weeks and months with respect to north korea. it is a shame that they are behaving this way th

let's speak to our assistant political editor, norman smith. that was a combat if pmqs.ys we have had a public wwe between the big beasts of the cabinet over public pay, with figures like boris johnson saying it is time to ease the pay cap —— a public wwe the chancellor has said we must keep oui’ nerve the chancellor has said we must keep our nerve and keep our foot down on the deficit. theresa may has been standing back, unwilling to intervene. today, the prime minister stepped into the ring and on the side of the chancellor, saying that the government had to keep taking tough decisions, bearing down on the deficit, it was important to live within 1's means. this afterjeremy corbyn accused the government of flip—flopping over public sector pgy- flip—flopping over public sector pay. wages are rising by 2.196, and inflation is nearly 3%, 6 million workers already earned less than the living wage, what does the prime minister think that tells us about seven years of a conservative government and what it has done to the living standards of those people on whom we all rely?

let's go every now to our political —— assistant political and norman smith who is in westminster rightnisters questions. let's mull over that with some of these conservative mps here. i been saying all morning that there had been at the backlash among tory backbenchers against the cabinet plotters. is that right? are tory mps unhappy with the manoeuvrings in the cabinet? i think we all came back here to get on with the job. she's been making it really clear that that has been a priority and i certainly think that the commerce nation has not been about what happens next. it's aboutjobs, opportunities, schools, school funding. we had great use of 1.3 billion more for the schools that need it. we are getting on with the job at hand and i think that voters before the holiday was unhelpful and i'm sure it will disappear doing this. if it doesn't, what do you think will be message be from mps like you to any contender who tries to stand against theresa may? bye identity be message will come from the conservative party it will come from the country. never he likes to see our leaders fighting

iain watson, bbc news. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith is at downing street.n tack and how realistic is it that it will work? frankly, you are more likely to see big, fat flying pigs doing loop the loops over westminster before you are to getjeremy corbyn‘s labour party cooperating with theresa may's conservative party. on these big, thorny social issues, be it social ca re thorny social issues, be it social care or employment rights, tuition fees, the parties are miles apart. it is true to a lesser extent with other opposition parties. therein mind, too, that mrs may has never shown much appetite for working cross— party. shown much appetite for working cross—party. but there is a rather brutal reason as well, jeremy corbyn‘s labour party smell blood. they think today's 0fficemax of weakness. they are not going to help pf°p up weakness. they are not going to help prop up theresa may, babel stampede her into a general election. in a way, it seems to me, today's message is more directed at her own party, not the opposition, to say, i am brimming with ideas and

. —— norman smith is with me. this is a bold headline. how dramatic is this politically?e a drum roll with this announcement, the end of an era, the end of the internal combustion engine on our roads. when you strip it down this isa roads. when you strip it down this is a much more cautious and careful and calibrated announcement. for a start, there will not be the big, great, bonanza giveaway of a scrappage scheme to help all of us trade in our old. in part because ministers take the view that it tends to benefit people who are better off, those who are more likely to have a second—hand diesel as they ran around. secondly, the ha rd as they ran around. secondly, the hard work, the heavy lifting will be left to local authorities who are already under huge financial pressure. they are the ones who will have to introduce new transport systems to minimise congestion where most of the pollution is caused. they are the ones who are going to have to ban diesel cars from town centres. they are the ones who might have to look at charges for diesel ca rs. have to look at charges f

claiming the last labour government had "crashed the economy." 0ur assistant political editor norman smithit was evidently a rowdy last session, once again over pay, how would you assess the mood as mps leave for their summer break? you're right. it was a bit of a rough house today but they always are these end of common sessions before the summer break as the rival leaders tried to send their mps home with a spring in their step. more important for mrs may because tory mps have been like the glance, down in the dumps, arms folded following the bad election result. today much more on the front foot, bellowing their support for mrs may which underlines what appears to be a bit ofa underlines what appears to be a bit of a backlash among tory mps against those big beasts in the cabinet who have been manoeuvring against her. in partfor have been manoeuvring against her. in part for selfish reasons they wa nt to in part for selfish reasons they want to avoid a contest which might meana want to avoid a contest which might mean a general election threatening their seats. in part they've taken a l

work with anyone to make it a success, but he faces opposition. 0ur assistant political editor norman smithough maybe it has already been buried, given the scale of opposition it seems to be facing, with labour saying they will vote against it u nless saying they will vote against it unless the government gives in for some of their demands. the liberal democrats say they are prepared to create hell for the government over this legislation. joining me is their brexit spokesman, tom brake. how can you say you will create hell when you haven't seen the bill yet? the government will see it has us creating hell but what we are going to do is we are going to want to scrutinise this bill effectively, andi scrutinise this bill effectively, and i think that is something the government are unlikely to be prepared to let parliament do because, for instance, there is an estimate there might be 800 to 1000 pieces of secondary legislation that might fall off the back of this and for parliament to scrutinise those effectively will take a very effectively will take a very effectively —— a very considerable

we can cross to our assistant political editor norman smith. he is also practical and pragmatic! arrival of the king or queen of spain said thatis of the king or queen of spain said that is what that noises and it is also white mrs may and jeremy corbyn we re also white mrs may and jeremy corbyn were not facing up to each other at pmq ‘s and we had emily thornbury and damian green. main clashes were over what happens if there is no deal and emily thornbury questioned whether there was any planning and preparation of what was the plan? have a lesson. is there a contingency plan for no deal, or isn't there? if there is will he undertake to publish it? the honourable lady is happy to talk about unemployment but she cannot bring herself to talk about falling unemployment. we will clearly have to try harder to establish a consensus on what would hope would be something that were genuinely unite all sides of this house. 0n theissue unite all sides of this house. 0n the issue of the report the 0br is publishing its fiscal risks report tomorrow so if she will be patient she can see the r

parliament where theresa may's weakened position will be tested. 0ur assistant political editor, norman smithsuggested the government could be facing hell over this. is that fair? we have learned is that theresa may is facing a titanic battle to get wrecks it through parliament, because this bill is the legislative linchpin of exit, because it transfers from eu law all those bits of legislation into british law. without it, frankly we are in legislative limbo land. it is are in legislative limbo land. it is a meltdown moment. and yet, all morning, opposition mps have been lining up to say that they are now prepared to vote against this bill and, significantly, the labour party, which until now has backed the government on key brexit votes, saying that it is ready to vote against this bill. if labour and other opposition parties, plus tory rebels, vote against it, it could be defeated, which could potentially derail brexit itself. norman, going back to the interview theresa may gave to the bbc, we don't normally see this site to her. she is a private politician, she doesn't go infor private po

voting power in the commons after her election gamble backfired. 0ur assistant political editor norman smithnorman, tell us more, how open is she to working collaboratively with other parties? it is not something theresa may has shown much fondness for in the past, she has traditionally been known as a private, tightly controlled politician, no track record of working with other parties, some would say not even with her closest colleagues, but she is appealing to other parties to cooperate with her on areas such as social care, employment policy, and new industrial state had —— strategy, some of those big issues around which she believes it should be possible to forge some kind of consensus. but let's not be naive, this is also about sending a message to her party that she has big ideas about brexit. in other words, trying to sketch out an agenda and a timeline which sees theresa may continuing as prime minister well beyond the end of brexit, and this morning how close ally damian green said mrs may was full of ideas, full of energy. there are huge issues facing this country, brexit is the o

we are waiting for it to start, we can bring in norman smith.l last time. she asked six questions on one subject. she may talk about brexit again and pick up on these comments by the foreign secretary. that comment that the european union could go and whistle if they wanted the tape of payment via been talking about from the united kingdom to leave the european union. we have the first report by one of the pay review bodies, the teachers, which suggested sticking to that 1%. there is a lot of unhappiness within the conservative party about this. especially when inflation has risen to 2.9%. she may also talk about the so—called gig economy. the labour party believes a lot of these companies are hiding behind technology to avoid paying national insurance. it will be an interesting dynamic. often, these understudy prime minister's questions can be quite surprising both in subject and how they go about it. the prime minister is welcoming the king and queen of spain on the state visit to the united kingdom. as today's report that national grid made £

let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith in westminster. theresa may has said. in cabinet this morning, theresa may has reminded colleagues they must be able to have discussions in private and that ministers must not then leak contents ministers must not then leak co nte nts to ministers must not then leak contents to journalists. because ministers must not then leak contents tojournalists. because it makes the business of government pretty much impossible and that of course follows a talk to mps last night, with pretty much the same message, telling them to end the backbiting and carping. team may is just about through to the summer recess and the hope is that tory mps and cabinet ministers will go away over the summer, calm down and it will give breathing space in which the government can regroup, coming backin the government can regroup, coming back in october when hopefully things may have simmered down. you have to say that is probably an optimistic version of events given a profound tensions and divisions, not just over the personalit

let's speak to our assistant political editor norman smith at westminster. we will see, but there is no doubt there is something about a backlash developing against those big beasts in the cabinet who have thought to have been manoeuvring to put themselves in a position. primarily from ordinary tory backbenchers with figures from the 1922 put committee which represents act benchers are saying if you want to sack some of these people, just go ahead and do it. you sense among many tory mps there is a view that this sort of talk is profoundly destabilising, and above all, the fear is that if there was a leadership contest, that would inevitably prompt a general election, meaning some good lose their seats, ajeremy election, meaning some good lose their seats, a jeremy corbyn government. many of the brexit supporting tory mps are wary that if there was a midship contest, that would throw everything in the air and that made according to change, have to think again, take another look at brexit. if mrs may was toppled and there was a contest, that could scupper bre

with me now is our assistant political editor norman smith.now saying that pay review bodies should be able to determine what it should be and it is above the 1%, so be it. borisjohnson now coming out saying he thinks it can be done without adding to fiscal pressure, in other words, without tax increases, exactly the same as michael gove said at the weekend. all of this must be profoundly irking to the chancellor who sees fellow cabinet ministers canvassing for an increase in public expenditure and cautioning he does not need to bother about putting up taxes. this is added time when we have a deficit of around 50 billion, an overall debt of around 1.7 trillion, and this morning we heard from the formal tells the same could not give up on this reduction. i do not think it is right to loosen up restraint on public expenditure. we use this phrase of austerity — public expenditure has gone up and up. the total national debt is now 86.5% of gdp. despite the fact that the annual deficit has been coming down, the accumulated debts remain high. we nee

we can speak to our assistant political editor norman smith. is all this going to happen, norman?lot of enthusiasm as reports suggest today but so far from government there is no evidence that will be a legislation. we're hearing that mrs may want to sort of practices mr taylor is suggesting you see in the gig economy such as ensuring independent contractors can have access to holiday pay and sick pay and minimum wage. she was to see this spread throughout the gig economy. what is less clear is whether she will legislate to make this happen whether this will be a template of ideas which it is hoped companies will aspire to. the trades unions take the view that is not enough teeth in the proposals being outlined today and they point to the fa ct outlined today and they point to the fact that a number of big unions have already started legal action against some of those companies to try and when legally enforceable protections for people working in the so—called big economy. —— gig. given her very narrow commons majority, given the fact that the next parliamentary session is absolut

let's hear from our assistant political editor, norman smith.ing criticism of the public sector pay cap, not just from labour, but within her own cabinet. we've seen big beasts like borisjohnson and michael gove flexing their muscles, suggesting it needs to be eased. but it can be done without fiscal pressures . but it can be done without fiscal pressures. what we saw today was theresa may trying to douse that whole momentum, expectation that there's going to be any early gift on the public sector pay cap. so going out of her way to stress the need to take tough decisions, to get the deficit down and live within1‘s means, saying alternatives would mean going down the road of greece, with cuts to the nhs of up to 30% because they didn't stick to bearing down on the deficit. all this after the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, accused theresa may's government of flip—flopping and floundering over pay. wages are rising by 2.1% while inflation is nearly 3%. 6 million workers already earn less than the living wage. what does the prime minister think that

let's speak to our assistant political editor, norman smith. she was on fighting form.e. let us be honest. there has been growing criticism of the public sector pay cap notjust from labour but within her own cabinet. boris johnson and from labour but within her own cabinet. borisjohnson and michael gove have flexed their muscles suggesting that the pay cap needs to be eased and it can be done about tax rises and without any so—called fiscal pressures. today what we saw was theresa may trying to go stone that entire momentum that there is going to be any early movement on that public sector pay cap, stressing the need to make tough decisions to live within one means, saying the alternatives would mean going down the road of greece, all this after labour leaderjeremy corbyn accused the government of flip—flopping and floundering over pgy- wages are rising by 2.1% while inflation is nearly 3%. 6 million workers already earned less than the living wage. what does the prime minister think that tells us about seven minister think that tells us about seve n yea rs minister thi

let's go now to our assistant political editor, norman smith. takes place against a backdrop of discord amongst ministers here. clear signs of tension within the cabinet over brexit, between what might be termed the brexit ideologues and the brexit pragmatists around the chancellor, would philip hammond leading the demand for some sort of transitional period to be built into our departure from the eu. the thinking, to try and ensure business does not face some sort of cliff edge when we leave the eu in march 2019, to give business a breathing space, to adapt to whatever new trade arrangements we put in place. why that has caused concern amongst the so—called brexit ideologues is that they feared that is basically a ruse to delay leaving the eu. maybe forever. in other words, it is a device, a tactic, to scupper brexit. that is why, over the weekend, we saw this briefing against philip hammond from within the cabinet, over and his reported criticism of the public sector workers, suggesting they were overpaid. but the real thrust of it was that da

that's good in norman smith.med there would be a report like this years ago. that's where a lot of the criticism now is, simon. questions as to why this report is being set up months and months after the referendum. business in particular saying they need clarity now in terms of making long—term investment decisions, they have to have some idea what sort of immigration system they are going to be dealing with. bear in mind this inquiry world report until six months before we're supposed to leave the eu, so right up against the buffers. i'm joined by the chair of the home affairs select committee, labour's yvette cooper. how do you view the timing? com pletely how do you view the timing? completely ridiculous it has taken them 13 months to commission this basic evidence. we on the select committee are asking some of these basic questions back injanuary. the government should have commissioned this a long, long time ago. the idea parliament will be able to pass a new immigration bill in about six months‘ time, goin

a short while ago our assistant political editor norman smith joined me from westminster and said themps in all parties to back this legislation, to deliver on it will be british people, which would mean there is trouble ahead. the liberal democrats have said they're going to cause health, labour have signalled they will vote against it at second reading, which is the main moment of the bill is approved, what we re moment of the bill is approved, what were the snp do? what were the tories do who are not enthusiastic about brexit? i am joined by the snp's brexit andy, tawny general. what does your party do with his bail? on the bill is not good enough, so an amended we're not going to vote for this bill, we will be amending it, it does not provide provision for devilish additional powers. it doesn't provide a whole raft of eid areas that were set out in the scottish government. discovered has had a year to get this right and more than a year since we had the referendum. i still don't think we're much for the forward. you have just been looking at the bill, are you happy with it or do y

because the government was confident of securing a strong settlement. 0ur assistant political editor norman smithelling the eu to take a running borisjohnson is telling the eu to takea runningjump borisjohnson is telling the eu to take a running jump if they think the government will be paying vast sums of money for leaving the eu. we have started difficult brexit negotiations. there will be some concerns that he is going in in colourful concerns that he is going in in colou rful style concerns that he is going in in colourful style that happily eases the brexit secretary's path in trying to manage our departure from the eu because the british government have been told in fairly clear terms there is no prospect of getting a trade deal until we have agreed the divorce terms. at the front of those is agreeing the amount of money we are prepared to pat’- amount of money we are prepared to pay. if you listen to borisjohnson, he is clearly not inclined to pay very much at all. these sums i have seen that they propose to demands from this country seem to be extortionate. go whistle is entirely appropri

our political guru norman smith is in westminster. just explain first of all, what exactly is the government doing? here we are a year on from the referendum and the government decided they need to get a grip on the contribution that eu nationals make to our economy, where they work, what sort of role they play, how certain industries may depend on them, whether other countries have a greater need for them, and our labour shortages, to get a bigger picture on how much we need eu nationals, and to come up with a strategy for our new immigration system when we leave the eu. what is significant about this is the way the home secretary amber rudd has said to business, i know you are worried, i know you have concerns. i hear you, come and tell me what you are worried about. that has led to fears among some leave campaigners that this report will be a way of the government climbing down on tough immigration curbs. they will say business is very worried about this, i'm not sure we can impose quite as tight curbs as people might like. this mor

our assistant political editor norman smith.having said something different before. i think we are seeing the continued push back by philip hammond and other former continued push back by philip hammond and otherformer remain ministers in the cabinet trying to shape their distinct version of brexit was mr hammond pretty much ruling out we could start to aggressively cut taxes and regulations to make us what some have described as a singapore of europe and instead sailing week will remain in the mainstream of european economic and social models. not much change, in other words, and that contrasts with some of the language we heard from him at the start of the year went in another interview he said if there was no deal and the eu in effect chose to drive a hard bargain then we can walk away and aggressively cut taxes to compete against them. you sense we are seeing a real push back now by those former remain ministers, increasingly confident with last week we saw amber got what that announcement of an enquiry into eu migration and

with us now is political guru, norman smith. l is one thing, but getting it through the commons, something else. what we have learned is that the government is now facing a titanic battle to get its kebe brexit bill through parliament, —— its key brexit bill. not only has the liberal democrat leader tim farron said he will make life hell for the government, but more significantly labour have said they will vote against the legislation, unless there are significant changes. and when you put labour mps together with some conservative rebels, then that opens up conservative rebels, then that opens up the prospect that mrs may could be defeated on this, which would plunge brexit into chaos. and so this morning the brexit minister steve baker was appealing for all mps to work together in the national interest. we will consider what they bring forward, and after we have published the bill and everyone has had a good chance to look at it, we look forward to what they bring forward , look forward to what they bring forward, but this is a

let's speak to our poltical guru norman smith. holeable, norman. this could be done without necessarily raising taxes, —— hello, norman. boris johnson has necessarily raising taxes, —— hello, norman. borisjohnson has said something similar. how do they think it could be done? they have not actually said how it could be done, which i imagine is what the chancellor is thinking. namely, it is all very well to call for an end to the public sector pay cap, but how will you pay for? the institute for fiscal studies said it would cost around £6 billion to end the pay gap, saw an awful lot of money, but thankfully all the —— actually all the signs are it is hard to see how the government can stand by it. we have had six cabinet ministers either publicly themselves or through sources saying basically they think the public sector pay cap should go. downing street meanwhile have been sending out rather conflicting messages. they certainly don't seem to be raining in any of these ministers, so when you put all that together it would seem to me, if you are in a

we can speak now to our political guru norman smith, who can explain exactly what all this is about.hat we hope to strike with the us, and that is where the chickens come in. 0bviously, with the us, and that is where the chickens come in. obviously, the americans want access for their food and farming sector in any trade deal, but their chickens are cleaned after they are slaughtered in chlorine. that is to get all the germs and gunk off them. the difference is that in britain and the eu, we say, no thanks. if you have to do that to chickens, what kind of conditions are you keeping them in? so we have banned chlorinated chicken. those in favour ofa chlorinated chicken. those in favour of a trade deal here say we have to relax. the americans eat chicken, they are fine, and in fact, their chickens are about 20% cheaper, it is just you row, chickens are about 20% cheaper, it isjust you row, namby—pamby nonsense. it is a bigger issue than just chickens, because, the argument goes, if we give on chlorinated chickens, we will probably give on things like gm crops, which rok in the us but n

our political guru, norman smith, is in westminster this morning.affect so many people, but i wonder how much change it will really bring about? the mind behind it thinks it will be the biggest step change in employment rules in a generation. he certainly thinks it will be a very big deal and what it is trying to do is address the grey area that gig workers inhabit because they are not quite self—employed, they do not have complete control over their working lives, often beholden to these companies. at the same time, they are not really employees either, not absolutely locked into companies like uber. they are in a twilight world. what matthew taylor is suggesting there ought to be a new category of worker called independent contractor which would enjoy some but not all the rights of employees. they would get holiday pay, sickness benefits, potentially the minimum wage too. two things strike me. will it happen? that seems to me a little bit vague because although some people in government are saying, this is a good report, we like it, there is no fi

let's go to our political guru norman smith. speaking about his report publicly for the first time after the publication. what have we learned? first time after the publication. what have we learned ?|i first time after the publication. what have we learned? i think we get a sense of sirjohn's real personal views from that interview. you could see him carefully picking his words about tony blair. but when you see the whole interview, it's pretty clear that sirjohn believes tony blair was the driving force behind what he calls the rush to war. and although he doesn't say it, he pretty much implies that we would not have gone toward them but the tony blair, because in his view, he became an advocate for war. and the normal checks and balances you would expect were ignored. so the cabinet was kept out of the loop. they thought the policy towards saddam hussein was one of containment, whereas tony blair was pursuing a policy of coercion. he dismissed the legal warning sounded by the attorney general in what was described as a perfun