Now on Bbc News political thinking with nick robinson. Hello, And welcome to political thinking a conversation with, rather than a newsy interrogation, of someone who shapes our political thinking about what a shape theirs. My guest this week has just celebrated ending the longest Train Drivers strike in history a strike that was blamed for crippling the railways And angered many, many travellers. His members haVe Got a 15 Pay Rise over three years. He is Mick Whelan, The General secretary of aslef. He said that his members strength, resilience, And determination was what had won that Pay Rise others say it was down to his crafty negotiation style. Mick whelan, welcome to political thinking. Thank you, nick. You finally got a deal after all that time how did you celebrate . Erm, by talking to the press. As soon as it becomes public knowledge, you And your colleagues obviously, so sky, bbc, the guardian, the usual outlets, And press will be Here Today With You And once you ve done that,
than a year, because the democratic unionist party, the biggest party which wants to keep northern ireland in the uk, is vetoing the formation of the power sharing coalition because of its concerns over brexit trade barriers with the rest of the uk. setting that aside, when you look back at the last 25 years, the change in northern ireland has been remarkable. the level of political balance has dramatically reduced to the extent that it is relatively rare now, so coming after a bitter sectarian conflict that lasted three decades, and cost the lives of three and half thousand people, it has been a very successful, peace process, most would say. the president biden is likely to again reflect on that, the fact that it was a peace process that benefits the whole island of ireland. most of ireland in northern ireland but the republic was touched by the conflict as well. so we can expect him to talk about that. with regard to the major conflict in the world today, ukraine, that has
mitchell reports, president biden in ireland revealing that investigators are closing in on the alleged person responsible for the major intelligence leak. there s a full-blown investigation going on, as you know, with the intelligence community and the justice department they are getting close i m concerned that it happened but there s nothing contemporaneous that i m aware of republican house intelligence committee chairman mike turner joins me this hour, former president trump is back in new york and testifying behind closed doors in a deposition for the state attorney general s $250 million civil probe into his business practices. the justice department is seeking emergency relief from the supreme court after a federal appeals ruling overnight keeping an fda approved abortion pill on the market for now but with many hurdles for many seeking medication abortions good day, everyone i m andrea mitchell in washington a busy news day. new details about one of the lar
the chancellor promises a back to work budget. labour says the government s following its lead. and the oscars almost here. i would say i was and the oscars almost here. i would say i was live and the oscars almost here. i would say i was live from the red carpet, but for say i was live from the red carpet, but for the say i was live from the red carpet, but for the first time in history, he doesn t but for the first time in history, he doesn t read. officially, it is champagne. to me it looks beige. good morning. england have suffered - their heaviest home defeat in history. france producing a ruthless display to score seven - tries at twickenham in the six nations, i winning 53 points to 10. and in whether it will be milder for most and in whether it will be milder for most of and in whether it will be milder for most of you and in whether it will be milder for most of you over the next few days but with most of you over the next few days but with rain at t
showers today or snow melt, there could be icy stretches first thing. in towns and city centres we are looking at below freezing, even colder where we had lying snow. early fog could be slow to lift across northern ireland, elsewhere a brief ridge of high pressure will build. some crisp winter sunshine to look out for on friday. a few scattered showers and a brisk breeze across the east coast, but generally speaking temperatures between four and 6 degrees, milder out of the south west. there is a change on its way but it will be painfully slow for some. way but it will be painfully slow forsome. it way but it will be painfully slow for some. it will bring milder air into northern ireland and scotland so we could have a rapid snowmelt for the start of the weekend, but the cold air clings on across england and wales, particularly on saturday. another chilly start. outbreaks of patchy rain and poor visibility to the west, top temperatures generally around five to 7 degrees. it w