#TheNewsAgents
host. Newsnight, BBC2 Interviews with Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, Keir Starmer James Comey , Bill Clinton. Appalling typing.
Piers Morgan just walked off the Good Morning Britain set (!!!) after co-presenter Alex Beresford defended Harry and Meghan and condemned Piers' treatment of them in yesterday's programming
What is so striking is how many conservative mps are still talking about what is “ best for the party”. It’s a real give away - that party still seemingly comes before country and constituents and democracy.
Curious that
@GaryLineker
was free to raise questions about Qatar’s human rights record - with the blessing of the bbc - over the World Cup , but cannot raise questions of human rights in this country if it involves criticism of government policy …
Wine on the walls, vomit, a fight. And cleaners - who weren’t able to see their families - regularly cleaning it all up. But yep, let’s all get on now …
The PM has apologised and is implementing all Sue Gray's recommendations.
Now we need to get on and deliver for the British people - growing our economy to tackle the cost of living, funding the NHS to clear covid backlogs and cutting crime to make our streets safer
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day.
In 1938, Sir Nicholas Winton brought Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia to safety in the UK.
Fifty years later, That’s Life reunited him with some of those children.
I’m not sure when they suggested to Gary Lineker he step back from
#MOTD
the bbc realised it might be starting a much much bigger battle.
@IanWright0
refusing to present on Saturday. In the name of solidarity
It’s riveting to watch a man so convinced of the entitlement of his position that he cannot imagine the country surviving without him. Why would anyone put themselves through something so shaming?
The damaging thing about this whole issue for gov is that Cummings instantly loses any right to tell others they are out of touch / elite / missing the public mood. That’s properly over now. He has become the thing he loathed.
NEW: Boris Johnson has watered down the ministerial code - allowing ministers to break the rules without resigning - and blocked a bid to give his ethics advisor the power to investigate him…
Bluntly ,the immigration numbers have grown bigger since Brexit not smaller. The reason is not “ marauding criminal gangs “ ( more than 80% whose cases are heard are ultimately granted asylum) but a break down in relations with France and others ..
Just spoke to a Tory MP who told me “we ( Conservative party) are just a protectionist racket right now - a gang of marauding ambition - not a serious party”.
So grateful to my friend and excellent colleague
@katierazz
for stepping in this evening . She did so because I asked for the night off -knowing tonight’s prog would be in the most excellent hands 🖐
#newsnight
Just for the record, Emily
@maitlis
has not been asked by the BBC to take tonight off - and if I thought she had been, I certainly wouldn’t have agreed to present the show
@BBCNewsnight
Yes, I did used to work in a hairdressers.
No, I didn’t learn to use clippers.
Yes, he did ask me to help with this against all my better instincts
No, we are not currently talking ...
At same event in Normandy, Labour leader Keir Starmer met Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz. Feels like a mistake for Sunak not to have been there.
The intractable truss problem: She cant fire her chancellor because theyre in it together; she cant change her mind - because her strength/ ideology is her USP; she cant call a GE because she'd lose - on current polling - badly enough to put Cons out of power for a decade..
The
@BBC
should be proud of the award-winning journalism of
@maitlis
, her forensic analysis, commitment to speak truth to power and call politicians of all parties to account. Maitlis presents Newsnight, not the News. Her voice, her views, deserve more respect from her employers.
I remember asking
#JudithKerr
Kerr if the tiger symbolised the 1960s sexual revolution where normal mores and suburban life became upended by this wild and exotic creature. She told me no, it was about a tiger coming to tea.
I find it quite frustrating when we’re told “Now is not the time” to ask questions of our politicians. Seems cowardly. Of course it is! -why should we “ wait for the post mortem” when the whole strategy should be about saving lives now ??
See what has happened here ? Hugh pym asks a simple question of why not enough testing for nhs staff and he gets a long winded reply from Health chief about why testing is important. Which ends with the words “ramp up” . Hugh knows all this. We all know all this.
What I am struggling to understand is if all the confusion sown last night was unintended, or part of a larger strategy of deniability: ie “we will give you the chance to make your own choices. Please don’t blame us for what comes next. “
The problem with the “ it was all a shitshow “ take on the
#Debates2020
is that it ignores the real possibility it was a deliberate attempt to undermine democratic process. If you make everyone believe it’s pointless to listen/ vote / count when you are trailing - it’s job done.
Sir Patrick Vallance KCB has been appointed Minister of State (Minister for Science) in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
@SciTechgovuk
.
All keir starmer has to do is repeat “ who voted for this “ to rattle the PM as she knows it wasn’t voted for by either her party , much of her cabinet or the country
#pmqs
Nevertheless, it will be a wrench to leave the BBC after 20 phenomenal years. I am so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had there. More than anything I’m grateful to have worked with the most incredible people - many of whom are dear friends. I owe my BBC colleagues everything.
“This is a very bad result for the prime minister, 117 votes against her… much worse than she thought” says Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, who insists the result is worse that it looks as an ”overwhelming majority of backbenchers have voted against her”
#newsnight
|
@Jacob_Rees_Mogg
Is “2k more tax “
the new
“350 million NHS “bus slogan .
Doesn’t need to be right. Just needs to be repeated .
Have we come so little way since the grubby days of that campaign ??
As commentators on MOTD, we have decided to step down from tomorrow night’s broadcast. We are comforted that football fans who want to watch their teams should still be able to do so, as management can use World Feed commentary if they wish.
Breaking: Jurgen Klopp
#LFC
May refuse to comment to BBC
#motd
later today in solidarity with
#lineker
. Likely to offer his message through other broadcasters
@TheNewsAgents
88 year old mum just vaccinated by the loveliest team ever. Superbly proud of
#nhs
and
#nhs
volunteers and everyone involved in getting us to this point. Thank you.
Props to the brave women who have taken Trump on & won. E Jean Carroll. Stormy Daniels. And all the women who have fought for their reproductive rights at the ballot box.
Mark Harper transport secretary has just said Tories will stop the “ misuse of 15 minute cities “ …
“what is sinister is the idea of local councils deciding how often you can go to the shops “. It is sinister. It’s also not remotely true…
#cpc23
The Boris-is-a-winner narrative seems to overlook two things. The candidate he stood against in 2019 literally delivered the worst result his own party had seen since 1936. In other words , he could not have faced an easier opponent. Lab 2022 looks v different to Lab 2019.. 2/2
“I've got a message for Johnson: Fuck you! Fuck your clams that austerity's over. Your racist, bullying, sexist attacks on our communities. Your proroguing Parliament. And Fuck your no deal Brexit too.” -
@SteveT_Unite
gives it back to Boris "Fuck business" Johnson
Worth considering this could be exactly the end game Boris Johnson had in mind when he endorsed a weak candidate he could see would quickly and irredeemably fail.
Whilst it may look like a shambles from the outside, it might just have been playbook politics…
Friend just booked Airbnb apartment in Kyiv ( that clearly he will never go to ) as Airbnb have waved their commission. There are lots of different ways to help / donate but this is one more
#kyiv
#Ukraine
To all those journalists who are calling Johnson a liar now. Why didn't you call him a liar then? During the referendum? In the Prorogation? During Covid? That was your job - not kicking him now because he's finished. We've paid a terrible price because you didn't do it.
Hugely enjoying Liz Truss explaining to an American audience that the Right have been denied power in the UK for far too long. Just wait till they discover what her last job was ..
I'm not gay, but if I was, I'd be absolutely furious about this FA armband U-turn. Makes an absolute mockery of the whole 'we're going to speak out about human rights in Qatar rather than boycott it' stance.
Ahhhh you’re right !! I keep forgetting this woman is still an actual Norfolk MP. Imagine if you need help with adult social care - or crime in your neighbourhood - and you get a funny fantasist running round Washington talking about the Deep State ..
Liz Truss to Steve Bannon: “Would you work with Nigel Farage to restructure the Tory party?"
She is, I believe, still a beneficiary of the Tory whip. In a normal party, with a half-decent leader she wouldn’t be for much longer.
“The former Health Secretary Alan Johnson joins us on the line from Hell.
“Sorry, Hull”
Hilarious! Forget the Prince Andrew interview, this is what you will be remembered for
@Maitlis
!
#Newsnight
Labour has tonight called on Rishi Sunak to block Liz Truss’ resignation honours list. 👀
“I…urge you to block these honours. You have the power to do so and any response that talks of ‘convention’ is merely a sign of weak leadership and lack of grip over your own party.
It’s a very funny line isn’t it. So much easier to say “ lying to the press” than “ lying to the public “ on whose behalf those questions about the shamelessly missing millions were being asked ..
Quite extraordinary listening to Michelle Mone: “all we did was lie to the press.” Yes, and threaten journalists who worked to expose the truth with legal letters, knowing those letters were lies. Thankfully, those journalists didn’t cower under those threats.
#bbclaurak
NEW: Rishi Sunak has pledged *mandatory* National Service for *every 18 year old* if he wins the election
— they will *have to* do either a year-long army placement or one weekend a month volunteering for a year
First ‘bold’ manifesto policy, but it will be highly controversial
There’s a lot of foreign office “disappointment” this week. Disappointment is when pret runs out of your fave lunchtime sarnie. Not when war is started.
I’ve spoken to my Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu
@MFATurkey
to express the UK’s disappointment and concern about the military incursion into NE Syria, and call for restraint. The intervention risks greater humanitarian suffering and undermines the focus on countering Daesh
I have every sympathy with the team of scientists around Trump trying to stay the course for the sake of American lives. But honestly , this reaction is not enough. It just isn’t.
Here is Dr. Birx's reaction when President Trump asks his science advisor to study using UV light on the human body and injecting disinfectant to fight the coronavirus.
V useful thread of policy timeline. One thing left off here - on the day the whole of italy went into total lockdown , we were encouraging crowds of 60,000 at Cheltenham races. Why was that not ringing alarm bells ?
The Mail on Sunday has *2 double page splashes* deflecting blame for the coronavirus onto foreigners and stirring up xenophobia.
Target 1: the EU.
Target 2: China.
The reality is, Boris Johnson bungled this crisis very, very badly. He zigged when the rest of the world zagged.
It is astonishing really what E Jean Carroll was prepared to go through to bring this about. And is utterly to her credit that the sum is off the charts huge - big enough , you’d hope , to be a future deterrent. What a woman.
“I don’t quite understand why… we had four weeks of everybody shrugging their shoulders.”
Famed surgeon Dr David Nott says governments were warned about coronavirus at the end of January and he doesn’t understand “why there seemed to be nobody that picked up this”
#Newsnight
@TheNewsAgents
We are now in a brand new world where policies that were never going to happen are being “ cancelled “ or where we are being saved from “ sinister” practices that don’t actually exist. That’s called conspiracy …
#CPC2023
.
@maitlis
: “This is the Conservative press office pretending to be a fact-check service… you were misleading the public.”
@JamesCleverly
: “We were calling out the inaccuracies that were coming out during the debate"
#Newsnight
|
#GE2019
|
#ITVDebate
Could the Prince Andrew interview have happened in this iteration of
@BBCNewsnight
? Of course not. Aside from the painstaking prep and lengthy research that demanded from the team, PA came to a flagship brand the bbc was proud of.
It doesn’t feel that way tonight.
Upsum of rhetoric so far at
#cpc23
Tory MP: No one should have their children eaten by lions. It’s horrifying .
Questioner: but no one is suggesting that ?
Tory Mp: no. But people are concerned. So we must make clear we are the party of anti child eating lions !
Just come across this extraordinary passage in
@mrjamesob
bestseller “ How they broke Britain “.
Look at the impact austerity cuts had (- according to economist Fetzer- ) on the actual Brexit vote, in the light of this week’s changes.
Watching today, it feels wrong that the broadcasters are treating Nigel Farage as a Reform Party leader when he’s not an election candidate and he’s also plying his trade as a broadcaster. His appearances as an active politician should be strictly limited.
Exclusive: Rishi Sunak is considering requiring future applicants for public sector jobs to have completed National Service
It’s one of the enforcement options that would go to the Royal Commission for consideration if he gets to enact the policy
Two nights running govt have refused to put up a spokesperson on
@BBCNewsnight
. Outrageous for them to not be open to scrutiny and accountable during this crisis
@maitlis
#COVID
Blimey this is damning - Henry Staunton - sacked post office chair - tells
@thetimes
why he was allegedly told to stall on sub post mmasters’ compensation payments to help Gov “ limp on” to election without financial liability ..
Great interview by
@TomBrady
. This is fundamentally a tragic story of a kid who lost his mother in the most appalling circumstances - and never found the support to emerge from that darkness.
#harry
Central london and its parks immaculate already this morning. Not a piece of litter in sight. A huge thank you to the hundreds who must have worked through the days and nights on this entire amazing operation.
Last night after the game, my son walked into a london pub, where a group of pissed blokes told him he was Harry McGuire, lifted him up , sang the Harry McGuire song and paraded him joyfully around the pub.
Then he walked home again.
Not sure he even had a drink
#ENG
This definitely needs a closer look: what would a Tory government do to the checks and balances of Parliament if they win ? Page 48 of the manifesto ..
We took a closer look at p48 of the Tory manifesto...
@maitlis
: Is this a shifting away from a legal framework, to a political framework?
@LordCFalconer
: It is... so if Mr Johnson becomes PM again, he won't be restrained by the courts from acting unlawfully
#Newsnight
|
#GE19
There now follows a Party Political Broadcast by Count Binface. And quite frankly it's a banger. Help me run for mayor here. Under £5k to go!
#BinDay
#LoveDemocracy
Some work news -
@BBCJonSopel
and I are going to launch a brand new podcast with
@Global
, exec produced by
@dinosofos
. It’s an amazing opportunity to do something we all love, and we are so thrilled Global is giving us this opportunity to be big and ambitious with this project.