in the union for over 30 years, worked in the same place that had a union and had no union. roughly 125 with union. we were a service andegotiated our contracts as the years went on, management started to try to use the new workers against the union. they would try to give them a certain amount and union people had our contracts. people started to find out the union was better to bn and these people were being controlled by management. management does not want to give you more than they have to. once you are in it and you make your own deal, you are in your own deal. they started the fight and they wanted to get in the union with people who were not in the union. i don't understand what this court case is about. i don't want to pay dues, but i was getting something from it. what about that idea of getting something from it? guest: that is the choice factor. if you want to be a member and want to bargaining, that should be your right. say no and sayo i do not want to be part of that and i would rather do it myself. that is what this country has been, the principle of this cou

i'm a new death union member in new jersey. enjoying my and union retirement. i got all my benefits and him sitting back and enjoying what i paid into it. i'm glad i paid into it. i had a relative who did not want unions and now they are on fixed income. i thank my union, my brothers have a blessed day. host: not only actively as a worker is as effect, but retirement as well. guest: it does come into play. i will be very honest and candid. being a union member and working for the state has afforded me the opportunity to put my older children through college. it's afforded me to be able to take a family trip. it's afforded me the opportunity to develop a pension fund. so i can have some dignity and retirement. unions do advocate for those things and rightfully so. the workforce is second to none. so this is something this work for -- this is work for and earned. retired members approximately 3400 local unions with 58 councils and affiliates dcn0 states including puerto rico. -- d.c. and puerto rico. caller: the guest says their activities are political, but then

guest: unions support candidates which support unions, which support the right of the unions to speak collectively. nothing political about members of society calling 911 and expecting their call to be answered. there is nothing political about that. what is political is when you try to stifle my voice to be able to advocate for those in the community. if you want to ask stephen questions, call in on the lines. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. thoughts,eet us your @cspanwj. part of the brief filed by mr. advocacyds mandatory groups that individuals are forced to subsidize will have political influence far exceeding citizens' actual support for these groups and their agendas. we need to lay out the battlefield. no one that comes into state government is forced to join a union. if i decide to join a union but don't want to get involved in the political aspect the union engages in, i do not volunteer to give that portion. anyone that does not want to be involved in the union's political activities does not have to. the union still advo

to stay in a customs union.ay chief eu negotiator michel barnier responded by saying that barriers to goods and services are not affordable. he added that the time has come to make a choice. it is still not clear if the uk will stay in the single market or that customs union in any transition period. a leaked draft of the withdrawal agreement suggested uk's access to the single market would be restricted during the transition phaseif restricted during the transition phase if there is a dispute after brexit. brexit secretary david davis accused the eu of using discourteous language in the document and brexiteers claimed that continued membership of the customs union and single market would render britain a vassal state. remainers and some business groups have called for urgent government action to address uncertainty with the british chambers of commerce this week. that their patience is wearing thin. we are joined their patience is wearing thin. we arejoined now from their patience is wearing thin. we are joined

guest: unions support candidates which support unions, which support the right of the unions to speak collectively. nothing political about members of society calling 911 and expecting their call to be answered. there is nothing political about that. what is political is when you try to stifle my voice to be able to advocate for those in the community. if you want to ask stephen questions, call in on the lines. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. thoughts,eet us your @cspanwj. part of the brief filed by mr. advocacyds mandatory groups that individuals are forced to subsidize will have political influence far exceeding citizens' actual support for these groups and their agendas. we need to lay out the battlefield. no one that comes into state government is forced to join a union. if i decide to join a union but don't want to get involved in the political aspect the union engages in, i do not volunteer to give that portion. anyone that does not want to be involved in the union's political activities does not have to. the union still advo

eventually, the union army came back. the union army watched over matilda. when they were going to be pulling out again, they told her, we are leaving and you should go with us. she packed up what she could thinking she was -- and she was, she was leaving the next day. it so happened that jonas came in with a message to deliver to the officer in charge. he was able to leave with his family. when the family left in october of 1862, they took what they could and left. they found a home in missouri. then they found a home -- actually, they traveled through panama to california looking for a home. while they were there abraham lincoln was assassinated. they decided that california was not the place for them. they tried wants to come back after the war to fayetteville. it was too changed. the people were changed and living was hard. it had been almost a cold roll center on the edge of the united states of america, just before indian and wild west territory. it was not that anymore. they did not feel good feelings to stay in fayetteville. they settled in kentucky,

union, of the our 1.7 million members in our union, there are about 87,000. very few in the small district, k-12 sphere. probably half of them. this is what we know will happen because we have already seen it. the koch brothers and others have announced they are going to spend $400 million. after they got that tax cut from president trump, they have up to to --rom $400 million their words, not mine -- to break us, to break teachers unions, and try to undermine and destabilize public schools. their words again. we think what they are going to do a big public campaign that says you want a raise? get rid of your union dues. so given that, you really do not actually know. we know they want to use it as a defunding of the union, to have people opt out, but this is what we are seeing. nea, this has actually been a pretty cathartic moment for us. i do not want this case. i think this case is brought by those ideological interests that want to destroy workers' ability to have a better life, which is what unions do. let me be clear, if we did not have this case, it wo

and proclaimed he was going to liberate fayetteville for the union and all the union sympathizers could come out and he'd protect them and he wanted a union flag to put up on the town square. some people knew that jonas had a flag of the united states of america. they sent asbaugh to the house here, to the tebbetts home and jonas gave him a flag and he put it up on the town square. jonas also invited the general in to have dinner at his house and to make this house his headquarters, thinking general asbaugh would be here for a while. the general did come to the house, dined with the tebbetts and three days later he was called back up north, leaving the town again open to which ever army came through. the next army that came through was the southern army and general ben mccole you can from texas sent his -- ben mcculluck sent him to the door and knocked and said tebbetts was under arrest for being a traiter to the united states of america and he was taken to fort smith where he would be tried and hung as a trader for having a union flag and for supposedly not accepting confederate money,

it's the same with the customs union.roposed by labour is that we will have an arrangement a bit like turkey, andorra, the smaller countries on the revelry of the eu that are not eu members but have done their own agreements with the eu. -- the done their own agreements with the eu. —— the smaller countries on the margin ali. with turkey, agriculture isn't included. the labour view is that the uk should negotiate a new customs arrangement with the eu on oui’ customs arrangement with the eu on our terms to reflect our priorities andi our terms to reflect our priorities and i think, since one of the main motivations in labour embracing this is to deal with the northern ireland border question, and some of the most heavily trafficked across the border is agricultural products, i imagine it would have to include agricultural products and this would have to be negotiated, but labour's view is that this is the only way to ensure you can have less friction on the board. there would still be some, because of the fact we wouldn't

what kind of customs union do you want?toms arrangement at the moment are hard—wired customs arrangement at the moment are ha rd—wired into customs arrangement at the moment are hard—wired into the treaty. everybody will recognise has to be a new treaty. it will do the work of the customs union. it is a customs union, it is what the various amendment saying, there will have to bea amendment saying, there will have to be a new agreement, but will it do the work of the current customs union? yes, that is the intention. so under your plan, after we leave the eu, who will be in charge of foreign trade arrangements for britain? that will have to be negotiated, we will have to have a say. the real point, we all want trade agreements, we are more likely to get them if we do itjointly with that you, than on our own. and all the evidence suggests more likely if we do it with the eu. the cost—benefit analysis of coming out of the customs union and having a new trade agreementjust isn't... you have got liam fox in a minute, you could

workers should be free to join unions and organize unions but they should also be free not to join unions not have their money taken away from them. >> paul: the argument is the workers should not be compelled to support speech that they don't support or causes that they don't support, and that is just as much a violation of the first amendment as saying you can't speak at all. >> right. so what many states are requiring is to subsidize, pay agency fee toss the union, -- fe union, regardless of whether they join the union. they are plight l call. political. wages, health benefits, those are matters of public debate, including merit pay for teachers. unions take positions at the bargaining table. these are issues that do implicate free speech. >> paul: dan? >> to alicia's point. unions have changed over the years. everyone out there probably says i know what unions do, they bargain to protect wages and workers' rights. why are the unionse unions favog comprehensive sex education, voteing rights for felons and things like that. i think the justices understood that over the last 45 years the

i'm keeping my remarks specific to union square. this latter point is one in which we can all agree. the retail economy is changing. staff presented that today, and the real estate needs of retailers are changing as a result. we've analyzed the issues before and presented them to you. the presence of retailers on upper floors in union square is decreasing significantly, and vacancy is increasing. this is not just our opinion. this is reflected in the data. i would like to submit this data for the record today. given these changes, we urge the commission to take a flexible view of proposed non-retail uses on upper floors in union square. we submit that there may be circumstances under which the commission would agree that a non-retail use on the third or even the second floor may be appropriate. factors that could be considered in making such a decision just to summarize a few, could include the location of the building, how long the subject space has been vacant, the other existing uses in the building, the architecture and design o

in a customs union. some eu agencies but no answer really in terms of what would happen with freedom of movement. would jeremy corbyn be willing to go along with that to secure the strong relationship with the single market? and abiding by european court of justice ruling is to ensure the strong relationship with the single market? the paradox is the tories frequently accused of wanting their ca ke frequently accused of wanting their cake and eating it. exactly the same charge can be made againstjeremy corbyn because he wants membership ora corbyn because he wants membership or a close relationship with the single market. not at all clear he is willing to abide by the sort of rules and regulations which the eu would almost certainly the man. similarly, he wants to be in a comprehensive customs union with the eu but not at all he would forfeit the right to negotiate the uk's and trade relationship. we have a divide between the two main parties but both of them are still in the cake eating country. and che

part of any customs union.t has always been implicit, but mrs may has put it down in black and white, which has delighted them, because they want priority to be given to having the freedom to strike our own trade deals once we leave the eu. that was the point made by conservative mp kwasi kwa rteng made by conservative mp kwasi kwarteng this morning. what i would say about the customs union is that if we were members of that, it would inhibit our ability to strike deals with other countries, which is one of the benefits brexit. we can have more flexibility, and we can extend those trade deals and relationships across the world. so, i don't think that the risks, as you say, of leaving the customs union outweigh the potential benefits. leaving the customs union outweigh the potential benefitslj leaving the customs union outweigh the potential benefits. i am joined now by wes streeting, a prominent remain campaign. are we any further forward in terms of having a sense of what mrs may is seeking to negotiate? the p

union gets up to with its own customs union.world. —— free to negotiate. terrific situation if he pulls it off. he will have changed fundamentally what the eu is about. i wish him luck on that. on this programme i would have thought the whole country would sign up to it. we could have been saved all the boring brexit debate and referendum and all the rest of it. whether we can achieve this is of course another matter. mr blair at the height of its powers couldn't have spuna height of its powers couldn't have spun a better story. completely unrealistic? i think he will seriously go in and show the country that ever since he has been a parliament he and i have voted very sceptically against the eu for the very nature of the dog that we're dealing with. he is setting out, can the dog change its spots? he wants to show the country he will do it in good faith and say, oh, god am i happen right for the last 30 years, all the votes in parliament. they will not concede, they will not give us a ccess will not concede, they will not give

labour-saving want to joina customs union. labour-saving want to join a customs union.an? is it like turkey which has a customs union but only in but not agriculture? not in services, not in finance. is that what we want? will we ta ke finance. is that what we want? will we take rules in certain sectors but not others? liam fox also said the government would try and persuade all tory mps about the government was right as ishant before putting a trade bill before mps, which at the moment looks like it could be defeated if labour joined moment looks like it could be defeated if labourjoined tory rebels in calling for a new customs union. and ben is here now. what is the point of labour suggesting this when they are not in power, so how could the influence a customs union decision? if the tories were in power with a thumping commons majority think you are right, it wouldn't make a lot of difference. this would be political theatrics from the labour party, coming up with their alternative brexit position. but look at the commons arithmetic. since last summer the tories do n

in the union for over 30 years, worked in the same place that had a union and had no union.oughly 125 with union. we were a service andegotiated our contracts as the years went on, management started to try to use the new workers against the union. they would try to give them a certain amount and union people had our contracts. people started to find out the union was better to bn and these people were being controlled by management. management does not want to give you more than they have to. once you are in it and you make your own deal, you are in your own deal. they started the fight and they wanted to get in the union with people who were not in the union. i don't understand what this court case is about. i don't want to pay dues, but i was getting something from it. what about that idea of getting something from it? guest: that is the choice factor. if you want to be a member and want to bargaining, that should be your right. say no and sayo i do not want to be part of that and i would rather do it myself. that is what this country has been, the principle of this count

state chartered credit unions and federal credit unions. in all cases, the numbers have been decreasing and the asset size increasing per institution. but the most dramatic is with the commercial banksment you can see the increase in asset size by type of institution. the blue dotted line, which is jumping up the highest over time is the national commercial banks. what that means for the city, we're working now with much larger institutions. their focus is certainly national, international really in all cases. while san francisco is one of their markets, it's certainly not the focal point or key to their mission and business objectives. so back to the options and some of the benefits and limitations of each. the commercial banks and the ones that the city has been using have extensive service capable. they're highly capitalized and collateralized. it's a charter for additional depository institution such as commercial bank or industrial bank, the banks are required by state law, to get federal deposit insurance. the city of san francisco wo

visitation on the world's sixth largest economy leaving the neoliberal project that is the european union jeremy corbin supporting transitional membership of a trade union a stablished in one nine hundred fifty eight arguably confirms his opposition to the e.u. is always been about sovereignty and accountability. powers of come from. the european. commission to some extent the council of ministers these are quite serious matters joining me now is jeremy corbin's for the shadow fire and emergency services minister chris williams and chris thanks for coming back on just before we talk about the bricks and customs union initiatives or declarations in the past forty eight hours storms e the brit award winning grime artist what do you make of the fact that this petition has gone past the amount where they're going to have to debate in parliament grant felt our budget has a strength of failing and clearly the government have not covered themselves in glory at all the response has been woeful and there are i think something like a hundred families still in temporary accommodation and i really do

contracts are required to pay a portion union dues if they opt to not become members of the union. lead plaintiff, mark janus, is an illinois child-support specialist who argues that the state law allowing the union to charge a fee for collective-bargaining activities violates his first amendment rights. numerous right-wing groups have trumpeted his claim in their latest attempt to weaken the political power of public unions. the groups include the koch brothers' americans for prosperity, state policy network, alec -- american legislative exchange council and the bradley foundation. amy: over the weekend, union members gathered in cities across the country for a "working people's day of action" to speak out against the case. this is afscme president lee saunders speaking saturday at a rally in new york city. >> they are not making a legal argument a front of the supreme court, they are making a political attack on all of you. that is what this is about. it is a political attack. they don't care about the first amendment. they don't care about making they care about making more mone

we have not heard from the union , what a d funded union looks defundedwhat a union looks like, but in terms of a power, i could have a real impact. host: what about political clout? caitlin: teachers are a stall wart of grassroots organizing and fundraising. what remains to be seen is how much this decision what impact the unions financially and in terms of membership. both of those combined couldn't -- could definitely dampen their political activity. teachers unions are much an interval part of politics in their -- integral part of politics and their communities. i spoke to a number of medical leaders this week who says they're ours so holding out hope that there is power in shared numbers. every school district has teachers unions, they have teachers that are some of the most engaged in the community. you cannot find a congressional district that does not have a teacher in it. it remains to see what the ultimate impact of the case will be. that could be diminished -- there the at the table when it comes -- the teachers's seat at the table in the political committee could be diminis

that's what i think partly drives the story of the soviet union, because the soviet union is not able to adapt. two, critical for the reference for today, the domestic economic revivals were combined with international adaptations in the 1980s. without taking the detail, let me just mention these that took place in trade. they take place in monetary policy and exchange rates, g-7 policy coordination, developing country debt and reforms. and so this economic revival was not based on a narrow economic nationalism, or it also wasn't based on another idea that was current and is faded in history, which is the new international economic order, which was an international economic sort of planning model. the geopolitical analysis who now move into the economic sphere often pay attention to economic strength but what they have a very hard time recognizing is there is a dynamic element to the power. part of it is systemic ability to adapt and to change. third, the ussr could not adapt. it was very dependant on energy resources and prices. that's still true today. i note in the paper, my rough

state chartered credit unions and federal credit unions. in all cases, the numbers have been decreasing and the asset size increasing per institution. but the most dramatic is with the commercial banksment you can see the increase in asset size by type of institution. the blue dotted line, which is jumping up the highest over time is the national commercial banks. what that means for the city, we're working now with much larger institutions. their focus is certainly national, international really in all cases. while san francisco is one of their markets, it's certainly not the focal >> so back to the options and some of the limitations for each. the commercial banks that the city has been using have service capability and highly capitalized. there's no question when the city makes deposits, they can cover the amounts consistent with state law. limitations, largely this has been addressed i think, the mission of large bank and business practices are not consistent with social policy goals. credit unions have missions that are more consistent

we have not heard from the union what a defunded union looks like, but in terms of the power it could have a real impact. host: what about political clout? caitlin: teachers are a stall wart of grassroots organizing and fundraising. what remains to be seen is how much this decision what impact the unions financially and in terms of membership. both of those combined couldn't dampen their political activity. teachers are such an integral part of politics and the community, so it will be interesting to see what happens. i spoke to a number of local leaders this week ahead of the case, and they are still holding out hope that there is power in numbers. every single school district in the company has teachers that are some of the most engaged in the community. you cannot find a congressional district that does not have a teacher and it. we thank you both for being here. >> the winter meeting for the national governors association of a turn in a little while. with the future of jobs. while we wait for that to begin, here is yesterday's discussion on combating opioids.

than full union dues. so of course in our case we argued that abood was wrongly decided and should be overturned. there's lots of problems with the abu decision as i can't cover them all but i'll hit a couple of key reasons why abood was wrong. one reason is because it doesn't actually protect workers from paying for unions political speech. and one reason why is because everything that a public sector union does is inherently political. when a union bargains with the car but it tells the government things like how much it should pay workers, what benefits it should provide. how which it run its programs. if anybody else talk to the government about the subjects everybody recognizes that as quintessential political speech. if anybody else does that we call it lobbying. so if the government worker is forced to give any money at all to the public sector union, particularly to fund collective-bargaining, then that worker is being forced to pay for somebody else's political advocacy. and again that something t

that is what i think partly drives the story of the soviet union because the soviet union is not able to do that. two, critical in reference to today, the domestic economic revivals were combined with international adaptations in the 1980's. mehout taking to detail, let mention this took place in trade, monetary and exchange rates, policy coordination, developing country debt and and so this economic revival was not based on a narrow economic nationalism. it also wasn't based on another idea that was current and has faded in entry -- in history, the international set of economic planning model. analysis thatal move into the economic sphere often they attention to economic strength. but they have a hard time recognizing there is a dynamic element to the power. part of it is a systemic ability to adapt and to change. adapt.the ussr could not it was very dependent on energy resources and prices. that is still true today. i note it in the paper. 50% of0% of their gdp, the budget, and 80% of their exports. so a huge dominance in the overall economy. bush 41itional focus on is his foreign-p

unione not heard from the what a defunded union looks like , but in terms of the power it could haveeal impact. what about political clout? teachers are a stall wart of grassroots organizing and fundraising. what remains to be seen is how much this decision what impact the unions financially and in terms of membership. couldn'those combined dampen their political activity. teachers are such an integral part of politics and the community, so it will be interesting to see what happens. to a number of local leaders this week ahead of the case, and they are still holding out hope that there is power in numbers. every single school district in teachers thats are some of the most engaged in the community. >> barbecue zach's editor in chief with the help. every time congress goes on break it seems something happens to alter their agenda when they return. in this case, last week's shooting in parkland, florida. it's going toon

as is very likely, given what the european union has said.ant to make sure, and would make sure, that britain had a say in our trade relationship... but how? by negotiation. negotiations require an understanding of strengths and weaknesses of both sides by the degree of manufacturing industry, agriculture, food industries that operate on both sides of the channel. and also, as i say, we're not going to undercut the whole of europe. but what is your plan b? the plan b is to continue negotiating in order to achieve plan a. whether it's a or b, it seemingly tilts to a softer brexit. even though most labour seats in coventry and around the country voted to leave. but some brexit backing labour mps question whether it's real. there's no way they are going to agree that we would have oui’ own customs union. that we would stick our nose into any trade agreements they want to do. and thatjeremy‘s kept faith with his long—term objective that we must be free to negotiate our own trade agreements. for many voters there has been enough dancing around the

and you know western union is like a what's the word. like a mail order company. you go there send two hundred dollars and they take twenty dollars or thirty dollars for three hundred. labor follows capital and that's why we see these workers in the united states that's why we see african workers in asian countries that's why. they're going where the jobs are they live in the shadows all around us millions of them and because they live in the shadows they lose access to certain services such as the more sophisticated and by sophisticated i mean checking accounts right now that now that you know hedge funds but the. basic middle class sophistication they can't avail themselves of it they can't lay down roots they don't want to create permanent places where their money is held because they might have to move and might have to move quickly either for another job or because word is out that the immigration authorities are going to be coming to their job or coming to the place where they live and so they are forced to use these sort of quicki

but also join the majority of the european union. the united states and british public authority who raised questions yesterday to give british citizens that possible access to the potential benefit. on a proper arrogant base process. all of the medical investigations that need to be done. the sympathy of the members across the house. undergoing train. that they had applied the most rigorous founders before those drugs were used. we believe the same should be given to all the united kingdom. cost scotland 275 million pounds, and it comes out the scottish leader is much cheaper. the defense was hired for 30,000 pounds, and 35,000 pounds for the prime minister. the tory agree with me, mp's -- >> forgive me, i was struggling ask the primee i minister to respond i need assurance from the honorable gentleman he is not suggesting that the presence of a member of parliament was bought, because if he is suggesting that, that is straightforwardly out of order. is that what the honorable gentleman is saying? --in the newspaper >> i am afraid t

and we work very closely together in fact the social workers union is i believe the first. this growing union in the country at the moment what have the a story verity cuts meant for your members. well what the cuts have meant for our members is we can't do the job that we want to do properly really. and that has a terrible impact on the people that we are here to serve i think it's well documented well known that susteren say affects people in poverty affects the poorest people in society more than other groups and social workers by and large the majority of our service users are people who are suffering from poverty so sterrett is actually affecting the work of social workers every day in a whole range of ways this drill down to one specific problem as your members may perceive it i mean i understand there's been a closure of more than five hundred children centers is that how does that have a knock on effect on the work of your members not only enormous effect and that's part of a want a picture of cuts in family support services i mean that's that's a huge loss to lose

in the european union.oing to happen tomorrow in his speech at coventry. and what this seems like it's a shift for labour. and essentially a signal to many of labour's voters who backed remain by quite a large margin that potentially, labour will be following a soft brexit strategy. a customs union as part of a soft brexit strategy. anything new customs union. we cannot be in the one we are currently in. and he is... there are plenty of people in his party who will say it did not go farenough and the his party who will say it did not go far enough and the guardian have broken i hear the 80 senior labour figures emerged and made a statement that britain stays in the single market. of course, jeremy corbyn was elected by his membership with an emphasis on his membership... his membership not only overwhelmingly eroded remain, but they also would like to a different approach on brexit. i think this is putting clear water between labour and the tories in terms of the policy but at the same time, there are peopl

european union afterwards.nship they want with the european union afterwardsm relationship they want with the european union afterwards. it is not a question of we don't want to reveal everything. we don't want to reveal everything. we don't want to reveal our hand to the public or anyone in brussels. despite the fact we are meant to have had this meeting, they just we are meant to have had this meeting, theyjust can't reach agreement. i think we have got to be careful of exaggerating that because the cabinet has moved a long way since the brexit referendum 20 months ago, so they are agreed that the uk is leaving the european single market, agreed that it is leaving the customs union, which it has to because that is in the european treaties. there is an argument about what nature of free trade agreement they should try and seek with the eu and if the eu would allow the uk to have such a deal. the primary sticking point is customs arrangements and whether the uk signed a replacement for the existing customs unio

in one year the united kingdom and the european union will officially part ways a divorce that seems divorced from any and everything except mutual misgivings tonight the battle over bricks at the deadline the bottom law and in what could be a political flat why i'm burnt off in berlin this is the day. remember when we had drinks it means drinks it for you see if we want to succeed with this negotiation and i want to succeed we must speed up. today we have red white and blue brags that we will bring back control of all the walls all borders and amani and now we have ambitious managed divergence no hostility between northern ireland and on and this is the u.p.a. government that is compared to put in jeopardy the good friday agreement being capable of delivering a coherent and decisive plan for brics it before we must be ready and we are preparing for all situations russia. also coming up on the day a cyber attack on german government computers russian hackers are the suspects and there is a connection to the twenty sixteen us presidential election more on that coming up in about ten m

i think that corbyn will go for the customs union.ill go for a customs union. i think it's all aboutjobs, and the shadow foreign secretary saying, it's the right thing to think. he may well, and then not only does it put the debate in a near existential one for the challenge to the government in the house in a real way, then tory rebels must think, what do i do now, do i vote with the labour party in favour of a customs union, but i could bring down the government? they must decide whether they are a remainer before they are a tory. correct, and i think many will decide they are a tory before they are a remainer. if corbyn does do that, the other domestic thing to think about is he crushes the liberal democrats, which is a long—term labour party aim and with which i don't entirely lack sympathy. he crushes them because? they have been the pro—european party but if labour is pro—european enough and has the potential of getting into government, they hoover up lots of those lib dem votes. the lib dems have been fishing for a long time in

or a customs union, and if so, will he ta ke customs union, and if so, will he take the labour partyrnment? and the answer? i think he won't. putting your colours to the mast like that undermines him with many labour voters who voted to leave the european union, and makes a start position between him and the government with the government saying we are trying to implement the largest baby ever had in our country and you are seeking to stymie it. putting aside principles, the practical political question is, could he defeat the government? that i don't know. if you stood up for the customs union, some conservative mps would vote with him. we will come back to that. i want to go back to that checkers moments, the kind of, some called it a fudge, others called it ambitious, the prime minister playing a blinder. as someone minister playing a blinder. as someone not in the entrails of brexit everyday, do you feel you watch that episode and you now understood where the government stands on brexit? i am a political junkie so i do understand it but for much of the world, if you compile the d

secondly, northern ireland has to be covered by the union customs code. 0ur covered by the union customs is needed to avoid border checks. daily life around the border should continue as today. as i have said before, already today, northern ireland has rules in place that are different from the rest of the uk. let me repeat what i said in my last press conference. we stand by our commitment to discuss all three options set out in the joint report in parallel. and all of the issues on behalf of the 27, we will continue the dialogue with the political leaders of northern ireland. i will meet michelle o'neill and arlene foster early next week. translation: my second point on the draft agreement, after the question of ireland, our text also includes our proposals on the other separation issues. again, there is no surprise because we have translated in legal terms the union position as expressed in our essential principle papers, with which you are familiar. 0n essential principle papers, with which you are familiar. on several of the subjects, negotiations have effectively begun without our

so what will be the impact of leaving the customs union?l trade between the uk and the europena union be affected? 0ur economics editor, kamal ahmed is here. thank you sophie. first thing. trade really matters to the uk — we export 28% of everything we make. our biggest customer is the eu. 43% of all uk exports go there. and to help that trade we are a member of what is called the customs union. that means that goods and services can circulate freely throughout the eu with no import taxes and few border checks. uk farms ukfarms are uk farms are able to integrate themselves into supply chain networks so farms can have their manufacturing networks extend across countries. the second main benefit is that large multinational companies who have located the investment and jobs in the uk in the first place, to take advantage of not just the uk first place, to take advantage of notjust the uk market but also the european market, the third benefit is that as a part of the large eu trading block the uk could extract concessions in negotiating with ot

union not the customs union. might you side with jeremy corbyn?m union not the customs union. is you side with jeremy corbyn? it is our amendment. it is a discussion. i'm pleased we have had meetings with the chief whip. we will talk to the prime minister about it. the prime minister has to be in listening mode because the referendum is still divisive. we need to compromise for both sides of the argument. theresa may has been saying as well as liam fox, that we have so many opportunities to do deals with english—speaking countries and the commonwealth. if you add up all our trade with all of the commonwealth, it doesn't add up to our trade with spain, france and germany. my anxiety is that theresa may keeps on using this language. it's like she's gone seven rounds with the english language and it's come out bloodied. she uses all these phrases that simply don't mean anything. suddenly someone produces anything. suddenly someone produces a legal text, like the eu has, anything. suddenly someone produces a legaltext, like the eu has, and she says it is not what she meant. the co

probably, most others had never heard of the customs union before this blew up.nk of the government's case for leaving the u. leaving it will enable us to forge new trade deals with countries in different parts of the world where the growth in the global economy is. essential to our economic future. however, we then heard from the man who used to run liam fox's department until march last year saying pretty much the exact opposite. it's such a bad idea that we'll have two as to rejoin the customs union and the single market and will place the british economy ata and will place the british economy at a competitive disadvantage, discourage inward investment and turned britain from one of the most open economies into one of the most bureaucratic economies. why this intervention matters is because it follows a series of other interventions on the customs union. yesterday we heard from jeremy corbyn saying labour was going to back staying in a customs union. the cbi, the bosses organisation, said that they would really like to stay in the customs union. a number of to

will no longer be a member state of the european union says. that is what they wanted and on that day we need to have all denies that its withdrawal in an orderly fashion. so in london the prime minister and members of parliament continue to bicker over snow when seemingly willing to own up to the fact that breaks it still means something that's hard to define or agree upon why is it so difficult this late in the game let me pull in my guests tonight david charter here to my right he's a journalist with the times and author of several definitive books on bragg's it's good to have you back on the show david and joining us from brussels tonight our correspondent barbara to both of you well let me start with you mr barr and you made clear today that a final divorce agreement is anything but clear has he been saying this all along i mean the kind of shocked people. it shouldn't have shocked people if they have really watched the negotiations and the progress or non progress that talks have made particularly since december when we reached the point