Piers Morgan Uncensored - Piers Morgan Uncensored: GBP at record low & Greg Norman

Episode Date: September 26, 2022

On tonight's episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Piers responds to the Government's handling of the economy as the pound tanks to a record low against the dollar. After HRH Queen Elizabeth II's funer...al, Piers questions the future for Harry and Meghan. Greg Norman joins Piers in an exclusive discussing criticism from the PGA Tour and the Saudi golf tour row. Watch Piers Morgan Uncensored at 8pm on TalkTV on Sky 526, Virgin Media 627, Freeview 237 and Freesat 217. Listen on DAB+ and app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Tonight our Pierce Morgan uncensored, market mayhem, as the pound tanks against the dollar, as Britain's big tax cut gamble failed. After their momentary truce for morning, another weekend of revelations on the Royal Rift. Is there any road to redemption for Harry and Megan? Engulfing legend Greg Norman opens up exclusively on the biggest rift in world sport. Live from London, this is Pearce Morgan uncensored. Well, good evening from London. Welcome to Piers Morgan Unsented.
Starting point is 00:00:36 The Conservative Party used to be seen as a safe pair of hands for the British economy. Right now, those hands are throwing down cash at a roulette table. And it's not their money. It's yours. With their massive tax cuts, mostly for the rich, Prime Minister Liz Trust and Chancellor Quasi Quarteng have taken a reckless gamble with our economy. And so far, that gamble is failing.
Starting point is 00:00:57 The pound tanked to an all-time record low against the dollar today. That's not just some kind of psychological. blow for the nation or an inconvenience for tourists. Put simply, it means you will get poorer. It means the things Britain sells get cheaper, the things we buy get more expensive, including energy in the middle of an energy crisis. It means the cost of borrowing rockets too. At exactly the moment that this trust plans to spend more and less tax and tax less, all by piling up billions in debt, well, you haven't got to be an economist to find all this pretty terrifying. But plenty of economists do find it terrifying. What's happening today is nothing less than a massive vote of no confidence in the new
Starting point is 00:01:36 Prime Minister from the markets. So, wonder, there are already rumours swirling among Tories writing letters of no confidence in it. It's all smacks of casino politics. And this trust is rolling the dice with our entire British finances. Meanwhile, the Bank of England Governor, Andrew Bailey, sent out to put out the fire, managed to inflame it by telling us he won't hesitate to raise interest rates in a statement in which he said he was hesitating before doing anything. Maybe the people supposedly in charge of our economy do have a secret ace up their sleeves. But right now, I wouldn't bet on it. Well, joining me now is former newspaper editor, Emily Sheffield, journalist and broadcaster Jenny
Starting point is 00:02:16 Clemman, former director, deputy director of the International Monetary Fund, Mohamed Alaria. Welcome to all of you. And Mohammed, I really wanted you on the show. So thank you so much for coming, because a lot of this is simply too complicated for for mere mortals with minuscule brains to get their heads round. You have the biggest economic brain I've ever encountered. Put this into perspective.
Starting point is 00:02:38 How worried should we be about what is happening? We should be worried, and it's for the reasons you've cited. As of today, the market has lost trust and confidence in the government's policy. So that's going to mean higher inflation. That's going to mean higher borrowing costs. and that's going to mean a higher risk of a recession. So we should be worried and the government should be worried. In relation to this massive tax-cutting plan that they announced several days ago,
Starting point is 00:03:11 it just struck me as a bizarre thing to be doing, given the current financial crisis, to start slashing taxes left right and centre. Do sharp-minded economists like you? Did it make sense to you? I think the overwhelming view among economists is two-partisan, of the package were sound, one was not. What was sound is structure reform to promote economic growth.
Starting point is 00:03:38 Price stabilization for energy was sound. What was not sound was the size of the tax cut, the fact that they are totally unfunded, and they're coming at a time of global economic volatility. So the timing and the scale and shape of the tax side is what has caused this turmoil in markets, and what's causing damage to our economy. Watching what's happening to the pound,
Starting point is 00:04:03 I mean, I can remember 2007-8, I was in America when it was $2.8, I think, to the pound. And this morning I wake up and it's 103. How low can it go? And how significant is the value of the pound in all this? So let's start with the second question. It is significant because we import a lot. And it's not just weakness against the pound.
Starting point is 00:04:31 We also against the dollar. We also depreciate it against the euro. So everything we import is going to cost us more. How far can it go? It'll depend ultimately now on the Bank of England. The Bank of England is in a lose-lose situation. Not of its own making, Peers. What it should do to calm markets is hike interest rates
Starting point is 00:04:52 and hike interest rates aggressively. We're talking about at least one percentage points in an emergency meeting, not wait till November 1,000, until November when they next meet, but do it in an emergency fashion. That's what they should do. But if they do that,
Starting point is 00:05:08 they're going to be contributing, as you rightly said at the beginning, to the higher borrowing cost. The alternative is to do nothing and just wait, but that risks further market turmoil and the market forcing them later on. Can any government, and they're very new to
Starting point is 00:05:26 this trust in Quasi Quarteng, obviously, and he just had their jobs for three weeks, can any government actually withstand this failing? In other words, if this massive gamble, which is what it seems, fails and say the pound starts crashing down below parity to maybe, I don't know, you know, who knows how far I could go. And the general reaction from markets worldwide is that we are now a complete economic basket case. Could a government survive that, do you think, a British government? So that's more political question. that in the economic question.
Starting point is 00:06:03 Economically, we have the following two choices. One is to continue with the gamble, hope that somehow the markets will calm down, and wait till the growth impulse comes in. That's a high-risk, relatively low-returned strategy, because I don't think it's going to materialize. The other one is to recalibrate the package, keep the good parts,
Starting point is 00:06:30 and change the timing, timing of the tax cuts. Say we will look at these tax cuts. Now, politically, that's very difficult to go back on what you just announced a few days ago, but economically, that's what they would need to do. Yeah, I mean, I think economically, you're right. I think politically, that's a suicide note, and that's the problem. They've dunked themselves into an incredibly difficult position, but my bigger concern is the whole they've dug the country into. Mahomet, as always, a brilliant overview. Thank you so much for joining me. Greatly appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Starting point is 00:07:03 Well, we've also got former Conservative Cabinet Minister Anne Whittaker, who's been listening to this. And thank you for joining the programme. Most economists, including our last guest, think this is one hell of a gamble, and it could go horribly wrong. Well, it's beyond me how it can be a gamble when you're taking a course of action that has already been proven to work.
Starting point is 00:07:27 For example, and this is a solid fact, and no economist will dispute it, when Mrs Thatcher reduced the top rate of tax from 60 to 40, and when far more recently the top rate of tax was reduced from 50 to 45, the amount the exchequer took from that tax bracket actually rose. So in other words, it's a means of raising money. Yes, but that wasn't what, hang on, hang on, hang on, that wasn't what Margaret Thatcher did when the economy was in bad shape.
Starting point is 00:07:59 She did it after she actually put up some taxes and she put windfall taxes on energy companies, to get the economy back on track, then she slashed income tax. So, in fact, I'm glad you mentioned that because people talk about Liz Truss as the new Thatcher. I don't think Margaret Thatcher would have ever counten as taking the action Liz Truss and Quasi Quarteng have done right now,
Starting point is 00:08:21 because when she faced a similar economic situation, she didn't do this. Right. As you said to me, Piers, hang on. First of all, what I was pointing out was that we have trust, on a couple of occasions in the past, and the result has always been the same, that if you reduce the top rate of tax,
Starting point is 00:08:43 what you do is you produce incentives to take risks, you reduce incentives to go in for tax avoidance schemes, you reduce incentives to go offshore, and you actually get more money in. And then can we please look at the other very unpopular motion, which is the cap on the bankers' bonuses. Now, there is still a cap throughout the EU. therefore without a cap
Starting point is 00:09:06 we become very, very attractive. And what people forget is that the city, because the city never tells you this, because its PR is lousy, it's worse than the Vatican's, but the city contributes not billions, not tens of billions, but scores of billions in taxation.
Starting point is 00:09:24 If we can get a thriving, busy city drawing in from countries which still have the cap, that is going to make money. My turn to say, hang on again, because actually the last time we let bankers have unlimited bonuses, we had the biggest financial crash since the Great Depression. So that didn't work either.
Starting point is 00:09:42 Let me bring in my two other very patient panelists. Thank you very much indeed for waiting. Emily, I mean, my gut reaction is this is a complete chaotic situation. And the most frightening thing about it, I don't think Liz Truss or Quasi Quartet have any idea how this now plays out. They've unleashed their bomb, and now they're waiting to see what happens. I thought Mohammed was absolutely fascinating.
Starting point is 00:10:09 He really is an expert. What he picked up on is what Quasi has openly said his plan is. He said, don't worry, the markets will calm down. It all come good in a month. It's just the city boys having a go. Well, he's directly contradicting that, saying, no, I really don't think so. That's unlikely to happen.
Starting point is 00:10:28 And then the thing I've been trying to work out today, Why were they so confident the markets were going to like what they were doing? Just arrogant. Rishi Sunak made it very clear, and those clips are zooming around Twitter at the moment. He made it clear all summer. You had to get a grip on inflation. You couldn't zoom in with lots of tax cuts and a massive spend on energy. Which, by the way, is what Margaret Thatcher would have done.
Starting point is 00:10:52 Because the markets were going to react very badly. I mean, Jenny, I keep hearing Margaret Thatcher would. She wouldn't have done this. She did the opposite. The thing about Margaret Thatcher is she isn't around to say, what she thinks about what she did. We know what she did. These are very, very different times.
Starting point is 00:11:06 And they all claim to be the heir to market that. Because they want to heart back to this nostalgic time when everything was great in the conservative. What do you make of what's happened in the last few days? I think it's a complete disaster. I think it shows how the lack of thought that's gone into all of this. It shows that the markets have no faith in the government's economic policy. And the fact that Chris felt from the Treasury tweeted on Friday,
Starting point is 00:11:28 It's good to see the markets rallying around at the one point when Sterling went up. That tweet is still up this morning. And it makes the government look ridiculous because they don't even have a grip on comms. Nobody said to him maybe delete that one because this isn't looking good at all. I mean, for me, it feels like there's a kind of drunk person in charge of driving the car. Quasi Quartang this morning when reporters were following him around. He was embarrassing. He looked terrified.
Starting point is 00:11:53 They looked like there are a very inexperienced government who does not know what they were doing, who are crossing their fingers. But I also think it's a humiliating day for him. I mean, I really think we should make that clear. He confidently said the markets will be fine. They relied on the advice of three economists who said in many articles over the summer, a lot of them printed in the spectator, markets will be fine with this. They're wrong.
Starting point is 00:12:14 The markets are not fine with it. He refused to have the OBR. The OBR said that if he was doing a mini-budget, they would speed up their process. He refused that. And now today, he's had to go back, said he's going to explain to. the country in November exactly what's happening, what his fiscal policy is. And he's had to get the OBI. Right, Anne Whitaker, I can see
Starting point is 00:12:33 you shaking your head furiously, but the reality is the markets have voted with their feet. They're running a mile from this plan. The pound is tanking to an all-time record low today. All-time ever, Anne. How can you possibly put a positive spin on this?
Starting point is 00:12:51 That's right. All-time ever peers, and then it started to recover, and you carefully don't actually mention that. Now, I can't remember a single budget. If you want me to be precise, here's what's happened. One year ago, it touched 140. This morning, it was 103. It then went back to 109 and it's come back to 107.
Starting point is 00:13:15 I don't call that a tremendous bounceback, do you? No, and I didn't say tremendous bounce back. I said it had started to recover. I cannot remember a single budget. This was the point I was trying to make. in which the pound either didn't immediately after it rise or immediately after it fall because the markets are always jittery.
Starting point is 00:13:35 And for you to talk about a policy failing on the day after it's been announced, it's just ludicrous. This is what time will tell. And the only thing I do think about this is that Liz Trust doesn't have that time because it's only two years until the next election. Well, the other problems is going to have, I think, we'll be looking at this.
Starting point is 00:13:54 I think, Emily Sheffert, is that, if you look around Europe now, a lot of government changes going on, and actually a lot of reaction from the people of countries like Italy and Sweden, other parts of Scandinavia and others reacting, I think, to a few issues. One economic hardship. Secondly, the ongoing issue of illegal immigration around Europe, which has just not been resolved by anybody, and is getting worse, not better.
Starting point is 00:14:22 And also the sense that they feel like no one's listening to them. and they're gravitating to these more populist leaders like the new prime minister in Italy. What do you make of that? My issue with it is we keep calling them all far right. I'm not sure this new prime minister in Italy is what I would constitute as far right. Far right to me means Nazis.
Starting point is 00:14:43 She's not a Nazi. She's a populist, but she's singing a tune that is resonating with Italian people. Yes, and her coalition is made up of Berlusconian. Salvini. Salvini is popularity dropped dramatically, but actually he had risen in popularity when he stopped the immigration boats docking in Italy.
Starting point is 00:15:06 So immigration, I think, is a big issue for Italy. I think some people might see this government, this coalition as more right than maybe is fair to say, because I agree with you, I think they're populists. I do think they do have some more right policies than we would have here in the UK. But Salvini and Berlusconi support people.
Starting point is 00:15:25 Jenny, I mean, look, people on the left, they always immediately call everybody who opposes them or who wins an election like this far right, right. They're all far right. They're all fascists. They're all Nazis. It's ridiculous hyperbole in most cases. I actually don't think it helps at all. But secondly, there's this whole undercurrent of the kind of ultra-woke ideology dragging the left to extreme places on a lot of issues where most people don't sit. And there's a repudiation of that going on around Europe. I think, yes, if you look at what's happened in Sweden, if you look at what's happened in Poland and other countries, there is certainly a failure of social democratic parties to make an impact. I don't know whether or not this is a kind of reaction to wokeism. I think it's part of it, along with economic hardship and a failure to deal with immigration, which I'm afraid has become an issue.
Starting point is 00:16:11 It doesn't make you racist to say there is a problem with immigration. There are millions of people moving across Europe. It has to be dealt with. But nobody has a solution at the moment that works. And all of the left, though, doesn't it? No, no, but on the either side, they do. And the problem is that the, you know, the parties that are in control at the moment, certainly, you know, this win in Italy today, it's very easy to say what you're against,
Starting point is 00:16:33 but they haven't really proved what they're for and what their policies are. Well, she said she's, well, this is this woman, Georgia Maloney, she said she's for family. She's a Catholic in a predominantly Catholic country. That's not policy. Well, what she means is she's back to old-fashioned conservative values, I think. When I see her, I mean, Anne Whitigam. When you see Georgia Maloney in Italy, Anne,
Starting point is 00:16:53 do you see a traditional conservative, or do you see someone on the far right? Well, it might be an effort to be traditional, but all I would say is this, and this isn't sarcastic, it's just a genuine comment. Governments in Italy don't last more than five minutes. They really don't, and that's a serious comment. And what I would like to see in Italy is a bit of stability.
Starting point is 00:17:19 Yeah. I mean, there's one bit of good news. The Royal Air Force has announced tonight that mistakes were made with their recruitment processes. This came after the service prioritised hiring ethnic minority in female candidates over white men to hit impossible diversity targets. They've now admitted this was a strategic failure, which is good because it was.
Starting point is 00:17:38 It was a nonsensical way to go about recruiting people to fight in war. One final thing before I let you go, Pact, cricket. Not probably your number one subject, but really it's not about cricket. I want to show you something that happened between the England women's team and the Indian women's team. It was a crucial stage of the game at Lords, the home of cricket, my favourite sporting venue in the world,
Starting point is 00:18:00 and England had one wicket left, so they had two batsmen left, they were chasing down a score, they were doing well, and then the Indian bowler did this. Look at this again in slow motion. The rule is, if a batsman's out of their crease,
Starting point is 00:18:23 which is that area with the white line between that and the stumps, they're out of their crease, a bowler is technically, technically allowed to do that. But if you watch it in real slow motion, her bat was still down there when that Indian bowler went into delivery stride. And I'm sorry, that's just not cricket.
Starting point is 00:18:41 And what I mean by that is, you can have laws, and the law was changed recently to allow that kind of run out. But there are two types of cricketer now in the world. There are the type of thing that's acceptable way to win a match. And there are the types like me and actually most right-minded cricket fans
Starting point is 00:18:59 and players who think that that is a complete disgrace. And I say, shame on the Indian women's team. You shouldn't have done that. Win it fair and square. You know when you get home tonight, you'll be looking in the mirror all of you and thinking, why do we do that? At least I hope you are.
Starting point is 00:19:16 Anyway. Do you have anything to say, ladies? I think, you know, cricket is all about honour and maybe we're living in an age where you actually just need laws and rules. It's a very strange game, cricket to someone like me, that you could rub the ball but only in a certain way. It's all about the ball rubbing. Yes, Piz, can I ask, if this was reversed, Britain had won by doing that?
Starting point is 00:19:35 No, I wouldn't like it. We'd be talking about this? It's called man-cadding. And it goes back to when an Indian player called man-cad did it actually in a game. I've never liked it. Why did they change the ball? If someone had pulled that stunt when I was playing in the East Sussex League for my team, Newick, someone had pulled that stunt, punches would have been thrown.
Starting point is 00:19:51 So you can get away with it, but I think they should put into the laws you're allowed to punch people to do it. Very strange game. Why did they change the laws? That's what seems strange, I suppose. It's not sportsmanship. It's not cricket. Anyway, thank you to my panel.
Starting point is 00:20:02 Jenny, you're going to stay, I think, aren't you? You're going to talk about sports washing, ironically. Still ahead tonight, Harry, Megan, and the Palace Insiders. We know what really happened. Look at those bombshell revelations from various books, including that Megan apparently thought she was going to become the Beyonce of the UK. And pigs will be flying over the studio. Also tonight, our exclusive interview with a man behind the most bitter split in world sport,
Starting point is 00:20:26 Golfing legend Greg Norman, the CEO of the Saudi-backed live golf tour, talks to me exclusively tonight. Welcome back to baseball, and a sense. At a moment, we'll be discussing both of those any way back for Harry and Megan. But first, the biggest, but in world sport right now, involves a Saudi-funded live-golf tour, which, in the words of Rory Macaroy, has ripped golf apart. The Saudi tours lured a series of superstars with massive pay packets, and has taken heavy criticism for supposedly whitewashing the image of the Saudi Arabian government. Well, Greg Norman, the all-time golfing legend, is the boss of Livtor.
Starting point is 00:21:11 And I spoke to him and began by asking how this almighty split can be resolved. Well, I think over a period of time, it will resolve itself, Piers. There's no question about it. Look, and let's just clarify this split. I think the split or this animosity has only come from one side of the ledger, quite honestly. So what we've done is just put another competitive platform for the independent contractors, us, which we've always been, I believe, independent contractors, have a choice and have a right to go somewhere else and play the game of golf. We tried to reach out with the European tour.
Starting point is 00:21:44 We tried to reach out with the PGA tour. We wanted to integrate ourselves within their system to show that what we have is additive to the sport of golf. But they made the decision, not us. When you hear someone like Rory McElroy is one of the top players in the world right now, without any question, and a very, you know, a passionate and eloquent defender of the PGA. tour. When you hear how scathing he is about what you're doing, what is your message to him?
Starting point is 00:22:13 Well, my message is, Rory, you're an independent contractor. You have the right to make your decision. Remember, Rory started on the European tour. Then Rory decided to leave the European tour to go play where all the money is, where I went to play to the PGA tour. Why do we do that, Piers?
Starting point is 00:22:29 We did that because that was the only option we had as players. Hey, Rory, happy days. Do what he wants to do. You know, if he's comfortable over there doing that, he's an independent contractor he can. If Rory wants to go to the Middle East and get appearance money to play in tournaments, happy days. Go play in those, Rory, that's your choice. Don't begrudge the other players for making the decision. It's just a shame that people have taken this stance when you, if you look back over a period of time, they're pretty much done the same thing themselves. Do you think it's
Starting point is 00:22:59 about morality or money? And the reason I asked that is I actually wrote a column for the New York post about what I thought was the hypocrisy about a lot of the sports washing debate in the sense that the Saudis already have a Formula One Grand Prix. They own a Premier League football club, Newcastle. They stage all the big boxing bounce. And that none of that gets anything like the kind of opprobrium that you guys have had for setting up a Saudi-sponsored golf tour. And I don't understand what the distinction is. I don't also understand. I don't also understand. understand how the PGA, if they're being honest with themselves, could say that they themselves never do business with regimes,
Starting point is 00:23:41 which wouldn't hold up to much human rights scrutiny. So I see a hypocrisy there. What's your view about that? Look, Piers, you hit the nail on the head. Hypocrisy, the hypocrisy coming out of this is so deafening, it's ridiculous. Because you're right. The PGA tour has title sponsors that have a great relationship and working relationship. for a commercial opportunity with the Saudi government, with PIF.
Starting point is 00:24:08 So I don't understand why it is that way. Sadly, I got an idea because we're the monopolist. I mean, we're going in challenging the monopolist, which is a PGA tour. It's been the one place to play golf for the last 53 years. All we've done it has come in and shown another opportunity, another additive opportunity. Now, for the players to make their decision, oh, my gosh, I would have loved to have that decision.
Starting point is 00:24:32 And I've given these players where then live the opportunity to grow their wealth and give them the opportunity to go other places to play. The argument against what you're doing, as you know, is that you're just throwing huge amounts of cash
Starting point is 00:24:44 at the top players, many of whom are taking it, that the format of what you do is not as good as the PGA because you don't have a cut system. There's no kind of losing, if you like. There's just equal, you know, different degrees of winning.
Starting point is 00:24:58 And also that at the moment, you're not getting many people watching this, that the streams aren't getting much traction, if you think you were going to rise above the sport washing debate to do what you want to do? Well, 100%, Piers, 100%. Look, going back to the money issue, right?
Starting point is 00:25:13 We've been the leader. You take Liv out of the equation. The PGA tour would never have reacted the way they've reacted. Live comes along and all of a sudden all this money pops out out of nowhere, out of their reserve. How do you think the players feel that are either on live
Starting point is 00:25:29 or have been decades and decades, in the game of golf, even me included, saying, why didn't I have the right to play for this money? If you've had this in reserve all this period of time for just all of a sudden pop up out of nowhere because of Liv, you've got to ask a lot of questions about that. Okay, on the morality point, I've seen a lot of your players, some handled it pretty well when they get asked about this. Others have not handled it so well. Some have been completely buried like Phil Nicholson, which I think has been incredibly unfair, actually. and I'm sad to see a legend of the game like him be pilloried in the way that he has. But there are obviously legitimate questions about the Saudi regime,
Starting point is 00:26:08 about the murder of the journalist Khashoggi and so on. Are you free, because of your association with the Saudi government in this way, are you free to be critical of their human rights records and so on? Look, I mean, peers, what happened with Khashoggi is reprehensible. But what we're doing now is with golf and the game of golf. What we're doing is showing golf is a force for good across the world, across all platforms. There's going to be questions, no question about it. But we are a commercial entity.
Starting point is 00:26:39 We're investing into the gamer golf. We're growing the game of golf. And I'll say this, peers, I've been involved with the game of golf for 45 years. In that 45 years, I have never seen another entity willing to step up to this to date and give us $2 billion to invest into the game of golf. But again, you know, coming back to my position as a fan, I love playing golf, I'm a ropy 16 handicapper, but I love the sport and everything about it. What I really am struggling... You only have to give me eight a side?
Starting point is 00:27:10 Yeah, exactly, yeah. And I've loved watching you play over the years. What I'm sad about right now is, you know, you look at the major tournaments, for example. If your live golfers are not allowed to get ranking points and then they can't qualify for the majors, they cease to be, in my view, proper majors. If you were predicting what you think is going to happen here, where will we be in a year or two years' time? I look, I ultimately believe there will be some merging of the powers to be
Starting point is 00:27:42 to sitting down having conversation. We don't want it right now because we've tried. And going back to what you were saying before, we didn't create this turmoil. We just came in with another opportunity for the ecosystem, within the ecosystem for the players, for the fans. So we didn't really start this big fight. We didn't create this animosity.
Starting point is 00:28:04 And with the majors, quite honestly, peers, they should be Switzerland, right? If I'm a major, I want to have the best of the best in my field. They're the four Super Bowls. They're the four FAA Cups. They're the four, whatever you want to call them, that should always remain up there, Switzerland, away from anybody. For them to be dragged into this quagmire,
Starting point is 00:28:23 there's going to be a lot of questions to be needed to be asked about that. But they should be apart from that. If you're a broadcaster of any of the four majors, you should be saying to them, we want the live players in there because 26 out of the top 100 players right now today are live players.
Starting point is 00:28:39 There's 22 other tour events in this world that get OWGR points. And I can tell you, there's 21 of those 22 are far inferior than what the live tour is all. You know, it reminds me. Why are we being targeted? You've been snubbed up at the open. They wouldn't let you go to the champions dinner,
Starting point is 00:28:57 which I thought was actually very churlish. As a great golfing champion, a great sporting champion, how are you dealing with that kind of vitriol, the kind of disenfranchisement from the sport and the official bodies that you were once so welcomed by? How are you on a personal level dealing with that? I'll be honest with you, peers, at times. My heat shield gets a little bit weak,
Starting point is 00:29:20 because I am a human being. I've done a lot for the game of golf. I was number one player in the world for six years. I've done things in the game of golf. I've promoted the game of golf. I've grown the game of golf globally. What happened in the RNA was a petty, cheap, childish shot, be honest with you.
Starting point is 00:29:37 And if you can't rise above it all, shame on you. Because if you are under pressure from other people exerting pressure on you, shame on you. For you not to sit down and have a discussion and to understand what the live business model is and to see how it sits within the ecosystem, shame on you. Have you lost personal friends in the golf world as a result of all this?
Starting point is 00:30:00 100% I have, yeah. But if they want to judge me on lack of information and lack of what's out there, they're the ones with the small mind. I'm lucky to have these magnificent people behind me. I'm lucky to have an investor willing to invest into the game a golf like they're investing.
Starting point is 00:30:20 Golf is lucky to have this. What people say, Greg, what people say, they say, do you have any moral line about any of this at all in the sense that I think some of your players were asked at a press conference, what if Vladimir Putin wanted to set up a golf tour,
Starting point is 00:30:36 would you allow that to happen? Would you want to be involved in that? In other words, is there a moral line that Greg Norman wouldn't cross? My moral line is I believe in the product. My moral line is, I've been a big staunch propoter of growing the game of golf on a global basis. My moral line is golf is the force for good. So I am so proud to be in this role, Pierce, I really am, because
Starting point is 00:31:00 my whole life, somebody asked me a question the other day. Greg, do you think this is going to affect your legacy? And I said, I mean, you know what? Maybe my legacy on the golf course is not my legacy. Maybe my true legacy is what we're doing with Live for the game of golf and giving this opportunity to collegiate players, to eventually to women, to the guys we have today, to be a true competitor to show that you are additive to the system
Starting point is 00:31:27 and our product is speaking for itself. And final question, Greg, I'm going to be playing the San Andrews's old course and Kings Barnes and Carnusti in the Alfred Dunhill links. You've obviously been very successful on these courses. In particular, I had a bit of a meltdown
Starting point is 00:31:43 on the 17th, the famous roadhole of the old course, last year, live on Sky, where I hit, I think, room 416 with my T-shot. Can you just give me a little bit of advice with your old player hat on for how I should play the road hole? Well, next time you hit room 416, try and put it through that window and go exit the other window. That tells me you're hitting the golf ball hard and long. Greg Norman, thank you very much.
Starting point is 00:32:09 Thank you very much, Pears. Well, we're going to debate what Greg Norman was talking about there, because actually it goes wider than golf. It's really about world sport and this whole issue of sports washing. We'll be joined by legendary boxing promoter Frank Warren to discuss the hypocrisy or otherwise of it all. And you'll have the latest on Tyson Fury's potential showdown with Anthony Joshua. At least I hope you will. Also tonight, revelation to Harry and Megan were so diabolical to work for
Starting point is 00:32:38 that ex-staff called themselves the Sussex Survivors Club. Is there any way back to Royal Life for all these Sussexes? Well, welcome back. Before we get into the debate about the Greg Norman interview that we just heard, this is the cover of the new European newspaper, which I think pretty well sums up my views about what's been going on the last three days. That is literally trickle-down economics. A little bit near the knuckle, but I like it.
Starting point is 00:33:16 Before the break, we heard my exclusive interview with the boss of Saudi-funded golf tool, Greg Norman, who described the hypocrisy of his critics as Defeney. We're joining me now as Jenny Cleman again. I'm a legendary boxing promoter Frank Warren, who's recently been in talks with the Saudis to stage potentially Tyson Fury's next fight. Well, Frank, great to talk to you. What is your view about all this?
Starting point is 00:33:37 Because the Saudi's tentacles in sport go a long way now, whether it's football clubs, whether it's golf, whether it's boxing, Formula One. And the allegation constantly put up there is that this is morally wrong. And yet I see sport doing business with all sorts of dodgy regimes all the time that aren't Saudi Arabia.
Starting point is 00:33:58 What do you think? Good evening, Piers. What do I think about it? 24th of May this year, the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he hosted the Emir of Qatar, sorry, of Qatar. And they invested 10 billion in this country, 10 billion. And the Prime Minister said it showed a vote of confidence in Britain. the trade deal, energy deal and defence deal.
Starting point is 00:34:32 Boris went to Saudi when the energy crisis started and asked them to produce more oil. He went there on behalf of Britain. So the mixed messages going out, I find ridiculous. You know, it's okay for the government to deal with them. It's okay for the government to sell arms to them. And yet we in sport shouldn't be doing it. So, you know, where do we go?
Starting point is 00:34:58 our own government are doing and do you think Frank when you listen to Great Norman there do you think the splitting golf really is about money more than morality that the PGA tour, the big tour don't want to lose their best players to the very cash-rich
Starting point is 00:35:14 live tour and do you think inevitably there'll be a deal and they'll have to come together? They don't know up me it is about money you know I'll be very honest if you know most sportsmen not so much with golf but most sports and certainly boxers have a very short career. So using Tyson, hypothetically,
Starting point is 00:35:35 if he was to be offered to fight, say, 10 million in this country, and he was offered 30 to fight there, I mean, who's to stop him doing that? You know, they've hosted, you've said they hosted those various events, Formula One, etc. WWE regularly run shows there.
Starting point is 00:35:52 The Italian and Spanish Super Cups have been host staged there on a couple of occasions. And then I think about the other investments that Saudi have made in other countries. companies like EA, Nintendo, Walt Disney, Uber and Facebook. Yeah. So I don't get any of this. I think the lot of hypocrisy.
Starting point is 00:36:10 Let me bring in Jenny. I mean, you're shaking your head here. I mean, I saw this week a tweet from James Cleverly thanking Muhammad bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, those helping getting British hostages out of Russian hands in Ukraine. How is it the weekend of the Foreign Secretary thanking this government? if he's such a pariah that we're not allowed to have a golf tour sponsored by it. Because we as a country are unfortunately dependent on Saudi Arabia. They buy our arms.
Starting point is 00:36:42 We depend on them financially in a way that I wish we didn't. When it comes to sports, there is a choice. We don't need this investment from Saudi Arabia. It's not like Saudi Arabia desperately cares about boxing or about golf. What they want is to co-op some of the goodwill we feel about sport to make themselves look better. you look at, for example, Russia over the past five, ten years, the Sochi Winter Olympics, Formula One, all sorts of giant sporting events that took place there and we turned the other
Starting point is 00:37:13 way because at that time we're thinking, maybe Putin isn't really that bad. So is your position that we should stop having anything to do in a sporting context with any country that has a bad human rights record? I think a country... Because you do realize if that's your position, that will pretty much wipe out most major sports in the world from continuing at their same commercial levels. I think that sport has to rise above it and it shouldn't necessarily be about money. When you're talking about...
Starting point is 00:37:36 So no sport in Saudi, no sport in China? Yes. No World Cup in Qatar? Yes, I would say that too. Nothing in Russia. I mean, what you're doing, you're basically saying, right, anywhere whose regimes we don't approve of, there should be no sport. To which I would put this to you, after we illegally invaded Iraq in 2003,
Starting point is 00:37:54 should people have boycotted British sport? I'm not saying it's people whose regimes, countries are the regimes we don't agree with, but you're saying countries with an appalling human rights record where people who oppose the government are murdered, where gay people are murdered. Perhaps we should say, no, we are not going to let you burnish your image by using our... Even if our governments continue to do billions of pounds worth of business.
Starting point is 00:38:16 I think we should not vote for governments that continue to do billions of pounds worth of business. I'd love to see the Labour Party never do any business with the Saudis, particularly on oil. Let's go back to Frank. Frank, I can't let you go without ask you. Tyson Fury Anthony Joshua. There was a 5pm deadline. Tyson's gone off on one, basically saying that's it, it's off. I think there's still wriggle room.
Starting point is 00:38:35 Is there still wriggle room? Well, Tyson's adamant. He gave that deadline on Friday, and again repeated it Saturday, and I think even yesterday. And he said, enough is enough. They've had the contract for over 10 days. We've had conversations today with the other side,
Starting point is 00:38:55 but Tyson's had enough of it. So, you know, that's it. I mean, he's the guy, he's the champion, he's the guy that matters, and he makes the decision. And that's his decision at the moment. Do you think it's over? Look, personally, the only way it could happen now, if they signed the contracts and, well, they haven't even sent back the contract
Starting point is 00:39:19 with any amendments on it. So, you know, 10 days on, you thought we'd have had something back by now. And there was positive talks today. But, you know, Tyson's Tyson. You know, he feels he's giving AJ a tremendous opportunity. He's coming off for two losses. My money... I'm paying 40%.
Starting point is 00:39:36 My bet is on this fight happening. And I've got another bet if it does happen with Tyson Fury, which he made on this show live, which if he does get back in the ring, I get a million pounds off him. So I have a vested interest in this fire happening. Well, it's probably your fault. It's your fault it's not going on.
Starting point is 00:39:53 He can't afford to. Frank, brilliant to have you on the show. Thank you very much, mate. Much appreciate it. Jenny, great to see you. Thank you very much indeed. Well, coming next, of course, there's been more damaging revelations all weekend about Megan and Harry. And the big question, I guess, remains now. Can they ever rejoin the royal family? The firm will be live next to all for Tom Bauer and Royalty, Katie Nicholl.
Starting point is 00:40:26 Well, welcome back. It's been on the packed weekend of Royal Revelations, and as usual, they weren't very flattering for the Duke and Duchess of Netflix. On Palace Inside, they claimed publicity shine Megan wanted to be the Beyonce of the UK, when she married Harry. She reported he moaned she couldn't believe she wasn't getting paid for meeting the public on a royal tour of Australia. And apparently, the pair were apparently so awful to work for
Starting point is 00:40:46 that ex-staff called themselves the Sussex Survivors Club. As according to a new book by the Times Royal correspondent, Valentine Lowe. Joining me now is Vanity Fair Royal, editor Katie Nichol, and Royal biographer Tom Bauer. Well, this is the A-Team, if ever there was one, to take us to the end.
Starting point is 00:41:02 So, Tom, so many new revelations, but they all basically ball down to one question. question. Is there any way back for these two? Absolutely not. Definitely. No, I mean, I don't think they want to come back either. I mean, they've made their mark. I don't think she does, but do you think he might? I think he'll follow her. I think there's no evidence that they're not a pair tied to the hip,
Starting point is 00:41:24 and I just don't believe. I think the question now is just how hard the book will be. I think, Harry's book. I think it's out for November, because it ties in with the crowns, the crown on Netflix. I think Netflix documentaries will come out as well. They're amazing. It'll be explosive. I mean, if there's more stuff in there, Katie, attacking Charles, Camilla, the monarchy, I don't think, I mean, the British public are not going to have it.
Starting point is 00:41:51 I just think they're going to be thinking, really? The Queen's died and still yapping away, you two? I don't think the Americans will have either of here. Obviously, obviously, I write for Vanity Fair. I'm very tapped in with that international audience. And actually, Tom and I were just talking that, you know, After the April interview, there was a lot of support for the Sussexes. To the point that...
Starting point is 00:42:08 Just people believed it. Well, exactly. And to the point, a bit of a kickback against our royal family. But now, everything I'm getting on my Instagram feed on my Twitter, all my vanity fair readers is, if they go back now and literally chuck the royals under a bus again, they can't do that. And I think that's because we've seen the new king be so welcoming those olive branches, that mentioning him in their speech, you know, whether or not they're going to get the titles we've yet to see.
Starting point is 00:42:31 in my book, I say that, you know, from sources... Thank you. In sources close to Charles say he's willing to give these titles, which are rightfully theirs. But it comes with a caveat. They have to prove that they can be trusted. And as Tom says, you know, we're going to have documentaries and everything in the autobiography.
Starting point is 00:42:50 And it is, Tom, isn't it? It's kind of law of diminishing returns. If they keep just moaning about two, three years ago and the experience they had, at some point, there's nothing left to say. But there's nothing else for them to do. That's the problem. And I think that the ultimate will be
Starting point is 00:43:06 he will not make the children, Prince and Princess, and then he'll say, we're taking away the Sussex titles. Which I would think we'd cherish, last time I appeared in your programme, I said so. But I think if they're published the book the way... I think if they're going to keep trashing the royal family and the monarchy, they shouldn't have the titles. If you want to go and be celebrities and make your money that way, fine.
Starting point is 00:43:25 You can't do it with royal titles. I don't think... No, you can't. And I think we've seen Charles as quite... Titles matter to him, right? I mean, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh wanted Edward to have the Duke of Edinburgh title. Well, he hasn't got it yet.
Starting point is 00:43:37 Now, we were told by the palace that the matter of titles would be addressed after the official royal mourning period is over. Well, it's over now. So let's wait and see what happens. But, you know, Charles is very aware that he's riding on this tide of popularity at the moment. There's a lot of sympathy.
Starting point is 00:43:52 There's a lot of goodwill to the royal family. But that won't be forever. He's got a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. And I think he needs to press. protect the brand. You know what? He just doesn't need the headache, Charles. He's got so many other things to worry about. That's the problem. The honeymoon has been amazing.
Starting point is 00:44:08 I mean, the man who I, when I wrote Rebel Prince four years ago, said he'd have a very difficult problem becoming king. That has proved to be inaccurate in the sense that he had a honeymoon. He changed after the book came out, and he's done very well. But he's got a huge number of problems now, not
Starting point is 00:44:24 just Harriet. And there's Andrew. I'm sure there'll be more revelations about Epstein. He's got the problem of the union. He's got the problem of the He's got the problem with the palaces, financial, vast problems. And the one thing he doesn't need is Harry and Mekin sniping from California. Well, especially if, as is rumoured, Harry targets Camilla, who's now the Queen Consor, blaming her for the breakup of his parents' marriage and regurgitating all that stuff. Of course.
Starting point is 00:44:48 That could be very damaging. Yes, it could be. Especially with the new series of The Crown coming out with every lure in detail. I was just about to mention The Crown because, interestingly, and I put this in the book, the last series actually Camilla watched. a large glass of red wine. I think Charles gave up after a couple of episodes because it was getting a bit too close to the bone. Well, this is, this news series is going to be very close to bone. And of course, for the king who wants to shed that 90s, very hard with this. It's going to be
Starting point is 00:45:14 fascinating. I'm sure we'll be talking again. Thank you both for coming in. Really appreciate it. Well, tomorrow night, my one-on-one, exclusive interview with Jordan Peterson, one of the most fascinating and controversial people in the world right now. You won't want to miss this. That's one-on-one for the hour tomorrow night. Well, that's it from me. Keep it uncensored. Good night.

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