Browse content similar to 24/04/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Tonight on Newsnight, the school in Birmingham at the centre of Islamist | :00:00. | :00:11. | |
takeover allegation, two teachers talk about their experiences | :00:12. | :00:18. | |
tonight. In a boys' education sex lesson, a sheet was given out saying | :00:19. | :00:21. | |
a woman had to obey her husband. Questions were asked, does that mean | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
a woman can't say no, we can demand sex. Behold a Labour policy, after | :00:27. | :00:36. | |
Labour promises to say no to zero hours contracts, Ed Miliband reveals | :00:37. | :00:43. | |
his reforms. After winning independent status, is independence | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
next for the lights of pirates, pasties and Poldark. | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
# Cornwall forever my home We will be speaking to the man who is | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
practically the king of Cornwall, Jethro. And Tom Hollander swaps his | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
dog colour for a crown for tonight's celebration of Shakespeare's 450th | :01:04. | :01:13. | |
birthday. Good evening, the so called | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
operation trowing trowing allegations of co-ordinated moves by | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
a group of Islamist hardliners to take control of as many as 25 | :01:21. | :01:28. | |
schools, sentering on Park View School is sentering around | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
accusations. Amidst all the uncertainty, Newsnight has been to | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
Birmingham to find out from teachers at the school what really happened. | :01:38. | :01:40. | |
We have significant new details about what is going on. | :01:41. | :01:53. | |
Welcome to Birmingham. Right now four investigations are raking over | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
this part of the city. Largely following the trail of the so called | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
"Trojan horse letter", it apparently detailed a plot by Muslim hardliners | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
to take over some of the city's schools. It is largely thought to be | :02:07. | :02:13. | |
a forgery, but there are concerns about local state schools, and | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
whether in some cases conservatism might have drifted into something | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
worse. Much of the attention is focussed on this school, Park View, | :02:23. | :02:30. | |
this secondary school had an exceptionally high academic | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
reputation. And also the chairman of governors is very high-profile, and | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
named in the Trojan Horse document. Since 2010 a number of people have | :02:39. | :02:42. | |
made complaints to the authority about extremism in the school. The | :02:43. | :02:45. | |
latest concerns were raised in January and February of this year | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
when three ters wrote to the Department for Education, their | :02:51. | :02:54. | |
complaints, seen by Newsnight report discrimination, prejudice against | :02:55. | :02:59. | |
girls, and extreme religious views. The teachers also detailed some | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
quite specific examples. In a boys' sex education lesson a work sheet | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
was given out to them which said a woman has to obey her husband. | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
Questions were asked "does that mean a woman can't say no", "we can | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
demand sex". To be clear there, boys at the school were told that their | :03:19. | :03:21. | |
wives wouldn't be able to refuse sex? Yeah, and they were actually | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
talking to some of the girls about it. And the girls were saying to | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
some of the female staff, is that right, when we're married we can't | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
say no? Problems reached academic subjects too. The thing that shocked | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
me the most, is seeing creationism and intelligent design being taught | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
in a science class by a science teacher by children supposed to be | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
studying for GCSEs. These were 14-16-year-old children being taught | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
things not scientific and not on the curriculum. The school says | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
creationism is not school policy and it was never told about the | :03:59. | :04:01. | |
concerns. Had it heard it says it would have investigated them fully. | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
It adds that the sexual consent issue came about from a | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
misunderstanding of a historical reference to do with the cultural | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
expectations of sex within marriage. And the school held a special | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
assembly of year ten boys to make it clear that sex without informed | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
consent is rape. Among many parents living in the area the school is | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
still very popular. Many believe the allegations against Park View are | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
just part of a witch-hunt. The first thing that has attracted me is the | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
education and the results. Because you want to send your child to a | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
school where you know, blissfully they will achieve their potential. | :04:40. | :04:42. | |
And with this community as well, where we live, it is a deprived | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
area, there is lots of families that are lone single families and you | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
know you have children that are all over the place and the way that they | :04:51. | :04:53. | |
have dealt with the kids here, you know, really brought them up, giving | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
them the confidence. You have to take these things into consideration | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
as well, it is not just about having an excellent education, it does | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
depend on how you develop the child and they have, I'm telling you, they | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
have achieved. Muslim conservatism receives particular detention from | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
the authorities. That's because of the fear it creates about political | :05:13. | :05:17. | |
radicalisation. But extreme conservatism can be problematic on | :05:18. | :05:27. | |
its own. Talha Ahmad from The Muslim Council of Britain, formerly taught | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
in Birmingham schools, and we have the head of the British Humanist | :05:34. | :05:35. | |
Association. It is not acceptable is it to tell women they have to obey | :05:36. | :05:39. | |
their husbands at all times? Of course not, if any school, whether | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
it is, even if faith, Muslim faith school teaches that I think that | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
would be condemnable. Let's be clear these teachers said that they knew | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
that boys in a sex education lesson had been told and the girls then | :05:54. | :05:56. | |
knew that the boys had been told that women had to give sex to the | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
husband, there was no option? Well it appears that this is what is | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
reports, but also I noted that I think the school says that they once | :06:06. | :06:09. | |
they discovered it they did do an assembly in which they made it very | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
clear that any sex without informed consent sun acceptable. But -- is | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
unacceptable, but the bottom line is these kinds of messages, whoever | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
gives it out is not acceptable. But it is the case that the teacher who | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
delivered that message is still teaching in another Park View | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
school, is that acceptable? That's a very difficult question for me to | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
necessarily respond to. But I think the teacher has to be disciplined | :06:41. | :06:47. | |
the management has to be satisfied that the... Surely The Muslim | :06:48. | :06:50. | |
Council of Britain does not condone the idea that a teacher that | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
delivered rape and marriage is acceptable is teaching in another | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
school in Birmingham? If he's allowed to teach it is showing a | :07:01. | :07:03. | |
serious error of judgment. We know immediately this happened there was, | :07:04. | :07:11. | |
in a sense, a counter sexual education class where boys and girls | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
were told it was Australian acceptable behaviour, and it was a | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
one-off? The report says the claims about unbalanced sex education and | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
teaching creationism in science, and unbalanced RE and general religious | :07:24. | :07:27. | |
conservatism in the school have been coroborated by teachers today and | :07:28. | :07:30. | |
reports already written by the Education Funding Agency. That may | :07:31. | :07:33. | |
have been a one-off, but it does seem to speak a wider pattern. What | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
about the fact that the teacher is still in the Park View system? I | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
think that demonstrates that it is not taken seriously. Also we know | :07:42. | :07:50. | |
from the teachers from their own reports that creationism was taught | :07:51. | :07:53. | |
in science lesson, that is against the law? It is first time I'm | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
hearing that a Muslim, or rather if you like a conservatism Muslim would | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
promote creationism. I think it is utterly unacceptable and no place in | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
the 21st century that we should be teaching creationism, and The Muslim | :08:10. | :08:12. | |
Council of Britain is very clear about it. If The Muslim Council of | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
Britain is very clear about it, presumably it is having no impact on | :08:18. | :08:24. | |
the Park View School system? At Park View school, The Muslim Council of | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
Britain has to leverage over it. It is regulated and inspected by the | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
Department for Education, Ofsted and local authorities, even if these | :08:34. | :08:36. | |
things are going on, what it does show is a serious failure of | :08:37. | :08:39. | |
management and governance, but my trouble is, I think, is when you | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
look at this, this is not an incident that the Muslim community | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
has instigated. But the whole debate has moved into the future of the | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
Muslim community and how we accommodate for them. We expect | :08:53. | :08:55. | |
after the testimony of the teachers certain things to become clearer to | :08:56. | :08:58. | |
these investigations, because these teachers are saying clearly these | :08:59. | :09:01. | |
are the things they saw in terms of the teaching of creationism, in | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
science, and also essentially the teaching that actually rape and | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
marriage is acceptable? I think so far what we hear is that the serious | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
allegation has been made, by people who have said they have witnessed | :09:16. | :09:19. | |
it, for example teachers in this case. There are three investigations | :09:20. | :09:21. | |
going on. It is wise and prudent that we wait for the investigation | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
and allow them to complete it and then have a proper debate on it. The | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
accusation is nor specific on that, what the former teachers are saying | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
is they saw the work sheet and it has been quoted with verbatim, with | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
quotes saying a woman can't say no and the role of a woman is to say | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
yes, it is not just one person's word for it. These are very serious | :09:43. | :09:50. | |
issues, but this is not evidence of claims of widespread Islamist | :09:51. | :09:52. | |
takeover of Birmingham schools is it? No. Therefore, these allegations | :09:53. | :10:00. | |
are possibly overblown, we already know the question of the original | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
letter talking about, as it, were the idea of the Trojan Horse, are | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
possibly and more likely to be a forgery? That is one of the claims. | :10:09. | :10:15. | |
Claims of political extremism and that Trojan Horse letter is a | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
godsend to the school, because it seems to coroborate stories about a | :10:21. | :10:25. | |
too narrow education across RE and science being delivered. We need to | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
put it, political extremism exists, but put it to one side, we are | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
talking about a narrow curriculum in a Community School that should be | :10:36. | :10:42. | |
more open. The trouble we have, we have the testing of the will about | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
challenging what they call Islamist vaguely defined. On the other find | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
we have the left keen to show that Michael Gove's education model has | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
failed, and the Muslim community are like a political cobble, kicked from | :10:57. | :10:59. | |
left, right and centre. You are talking about teachers putting | :11:00. | :11:02. | |
forward allegations about the nature of the sex education lessons, the | :11:03. | :11:07. | |
schools has admitted the sex education lessons took place, that | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
is the atmosphere that took place in the system? If the law has been | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
broken action has to be taken. The Muslim community and Muslim council | :11:17. | :11:20. | |
supports it. What is not acceptable is to shift, at the moment what is | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
happening... If I can put this to you, would you say that for the vast | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom, the idea that a woman has | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
to obey her husband is wrong, and should not in any way be promoted? | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
No. In a way, here we have a very straight forward idea for the Muslim | :11:42. | :11:44. | |
Council of Great Britain that actually what you are seeing is | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
actually been a small individual instance in one school area, which | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
we now know has been admitted and changed? I think that focussing on | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
that one particular example of teaching that consent is not | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
necessary in sex may well be able to be dismissed and may not be | :12:02. | :12:04. | |
recurrent throughout the system. It seems to be symptomatic of a wider | :12:05. | :12:08. | |
narrowing of the curriculum in that school. This is not allegation you | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
are making, you have no proof of that? The multiple corroboration | :12:14. | :12:15. | |
between different teachers, including those we have heard of | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
today, Education Funding Agency report published in the newspapers | :12:20. | :12:22. | |
just a few days ago. But you can look at the Muslim Council of | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
Britain's own education guidance from 2007 to see they advise things | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
like girls and boys should be separate in PE, girls and boys | :12:31. | :12:33. | |
shouldn't touch in dance, girls and boys shouldn't be brought together | :12:34. | :12:36. | |
in drama. That is the narrowing we talk about. Is that what you | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
promote? There are two issues that I want to pick on, on the | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
guidelinesishued by The Muslim Council of Britain -- guidelines | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
issued by The Muslim Council of Britain, we have never promoted | :12:50. | :12:52. | |
segregation, the broad point is we are still talking about allegations, | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
and if we are asking people to investigate, I accept there are | :12:57. | :12:59. | |
serious allegations. Some of them are admitted by the school. You | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
have... Things that most people would say are wrong. We leave it | :13:05. | :13:08. | |
there and expect to hear more. Thank you very much indeed. | :13:09. | :13:11. | |
Almost 20 years Agnew Labour in opposition was young -- new Labour | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
in opposition was gung ho, saying banning zero hours contracts and | :13:18. | :13:23. | |
storming the citadel. Then zero hours contracts suddenly weren't the | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
priority any more. We have news. We hear that Ed Miliband tomorrow will | :13:31. | :13:33. | |
spell out legislation, new legal rights for employers, he worries | :13:34. | :13:39. | |
about the way that employers are treated, how they treat their | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
employees, he wants to ensure that workers can demand fixed hours | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
contracts when they have worked regular hours over six months with | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
the same employee. And that they automatically receive a fixed | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
contract working regular hours over a year, and they can work for other | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
employers at the same time. Official figures show more than half a | :14:01. | :14:03. | |
million people in the UK work force are on the contracts. Many of them | :14:04. | :14:07. | |
don't even realise. The issue has become totemic for our age. A lot of | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
people say it is a return to the Dickensian work practices that leave | :14:13. | :14:15. | |
the employee no security and power. What is interesting is when you look | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
at the proposals it is hard not to spot the wriggle room, for any | :14:21. | :14:23. | |
employer who can adjust the way they are using their employment narrowing | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
from six months to five months for example, from a year to 11 months, | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
and to find loopholes around this. Why has he done it now? It is | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
interesting isn't it, the political picture is becoming much harder for | :14:38. | :14:41. | |
Labour to find any real economic ground to make headway on the big | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
macro picture in the UK, it is getting better. Growth we know is | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
up, unemployment is down, average ges starting to turn the corner, it | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
is left to Labour to find the specific measures that they think | :14:55. | :14:57. | |
will go to the heart of people's pockets. To their sense of | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
injustice. To this cost of living crisis that we hear so much from Ed | :15:01. | :15:05. | |
Miliband. We have seen Labour do well, they have taken on vested | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
interests, the energy companies and banks. We have seen policies like a | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
raise in the minimum wage, the cap on payday loans and a freeze in gas | :15:14. | :15:17. | |
prizes, they get adopted by the other side, the Government. You can | :15:18. | :15:21. | |
read these are positive ideas they don't have the space to manoeuvre on | :15:22. | :15:26. | |
the big stuff or a distinctly clever move that will chime with a lot of | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
people working long hours and don't like it. National Heritage entered | :15:32. | :15:38. | |
-- Nigel Farage entered the fray last week in this and UKIP and | :15:39. | :15:44. | |
Labour looking for very much the same kind of vote. The zero hours | :15:45. | :15:48. | |
contract, alongside the payday loan and the bad bank has come to be seen | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
as a by-word for social injustice in recent months. The sense that those | :15:53. | :15:56. | |
with little are losing out to those with lots, the hard-pressed worker | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
with virtually no job security. It is fertile territory for Labour | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
leader who has coined the cost of living as his crisis to fix. Last | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
autumn Ed Miliband hinted a Labour Government would tackle what he | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
calls the exploitive practice. I'm in favour of flexibility, but not | :16:16. | :16:18. | |
the kind of flexibility that means that people have to be flexible | :16:19. | :16:23. | |
about whether they can feed the kids and afford the weekly shop. We have | :16:24. | :16:26. | |
to put a stop to that, that is what Labour is determined to do. Tomorrow | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
we get the first clear signs of what this would mean. He wants to ensure | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
workers can demand a fixed hours contract when they have worked | :16:36. | :16:37. | |
regular hours over six months with the same employers. And that they | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
receive a fixed hours contract automatically when they have worked | :16:44. | :16:46. | |
regular hours over a year, unless of course they opt out. He will also | :16:47. | :16:53. | |
ensure they are protected from employers forcing them to be | :16:54. | :16:57. | |
available all hours, insisting they can't work for others, and | :16:58. | :17:02. | |
cancelling shifts for no money. He will make it part of a speech in | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
Scotland, insisting it is only by offering a UK-wide policy that the | :17:07. | :17:15. | |
sides of the border won't race each other to the bottom. It will chime | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
well with people pulling pints, stacking shelves or working in the | :17:20. | :17:22. | |
construction industry. Look closely and the loophole force employers are | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
pretty easy to stop. Who is to stop a boss offering a five-month | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
contract instead of a six-month contract to get around any new | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
legislation. Who is to stop a boss firing a worker just short of a | :17:35. | :17:41. | |
year. The fear of a little bit too much commitment coming on. Critics | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
point out many of the zero contract employees are pretty vulnerable, | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
young workers, first-timers, those generally less likely to flex their | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
muscle with an all-powerful boss. And then of course there are those | :17:56. | :17:59. | |
who value the flexibility that a zero hours contract brings, | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
highly-skilled professionals, technicians, dentists, parents | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
wanting family-flexible hours. Ed Miliband has made it clear that | :18:08. | :18:10. | |
anyone can opt out of a decision if they choose, but if the zero hours | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
contract is pilloried to the point where it disappears, that may hurt | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
some in the work place more than it helps them. Here to discuss these | :18:21. | :18:27. | |
proposals are Karen Jennings, the Assistant General Secretary of | :18:28. | :18:37. | |
Unison, and broil prowl prowl -- and our other guest. Many don't like | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
these contracts? Just under 50% of people are satisfied with the hours | :18:43. | :18:45. | |
they are working. That means 50% aren't? It doesn't mean that at all. | :18:46. | :18:51. | |
30% of people wished more hours and 20% didn't feel strongly. We have a | :18:52. | :18:54. | |
majority of people happy with the number of hours they are working. | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
What we need to look in the broader terms is what is happening in the UK | :18:59. | :19:01. | |
versus what is happening in the continental countries with more | :19:02. | :19:04. | |
restrictive practices and the answer there is much higher unemployment. | :19:05. | :19:07. | |
The question comes down to are we going down the path where we are | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
restricting to the point where we take our unemployment to European | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
levels, that would be really tragic. The threat is this will lead to | :19:15. | :19:17. | |
greater unemployment, but you haven't got what you wanted which | :19:18. | :19:23. | |
was the end to zero hours contracts? Unison represents public sector | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
workers, we want to see an end to that in health and social care. He's | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
not offering that? It is definitely modest, but again he's talking more | :19:32. | :19:37. | |
broadly than the public sector. He is talking wider than that. For us | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
we need to see an end to zero hours contracts, it is not good for the | :19:43. | :19:46. | |
staff themselves, we have seen horrendous abuses of that. Not least | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
paying people below the minimum wage because they don't pay them between | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
their visits, the time it takes to travel. Have you surveyed the | :19:54. | :20:01. | |
opposite here which is said 50% on zero hours contracts like the | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
system? Yes, of course, the members we represent are low-paid members, I | :20:07. | :20:10. | |
would suggest the members that you a surveying are probably the | :20:11. | :20:14. | |
professional technical people who may want the flexibility. What I | :20:15. | :20:17. | |
would say to you is that this is about a race to the bottom. Where | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
you see employers, particularly in the public sector, they are | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
outsourced employers, they are paying little, they cans employment | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
the minute -- they exploit the minimum wage and the standards of | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
those carers drop as well. If we are talking about six months continuous | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
employment, and then we're talking about a year's employment as well, | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
both being triggers to end zero hours contracts and as emably says | :20:48. | :20:50. | |
you employ someone five months or 11 months and get round it? Precisely, | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
that probably shows the way in which Ed Miliband is really looking here | :20:56. | :20:58. | |
for. You mean this is actually what he's thinking? I think he probably S | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
he doesn't want to bring in the inflexibility which a lot of people | :21:04. | :21:06. | |
recognise. So it is just for show, if it wasn't just for show, if he | :21:07. | :21:09. | |
really was on the side of the workers as it were, he would ban | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
zero hours contracts? I think it is deeply unfortunate that we are | :21:15. | :21:16. | |
looking at one element of what Ed Miliband has suggested. This is a | :21:17. | :21:20. | |
key element, if he is saying that businesses will get round it, then | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
actually it is worthless? It is a key element, but there are other | :21:26. | :21:28. | |
elements as well. Look the coalition Government are only looking at | :21:29. | :21:34. | |
tinkering at the edges of zero hours contracts. That is to do with the | :21:35. | :21:37. | |
exclusivity element which Ed is dealing with. You have to say that | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
Vince Cable is ahead of the game on that, he has already said they are | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
looking at proposals to end the idea that there has to be exclusivity? We | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
called for the reform of that too. This is not a big idea from Ed | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
Miliband? What I'm saying is it is only one small element. Ed Miliband | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
is also saying that you should be paid where time you are expected to | :22:00. | :22:05. | |
work you don't work. Look I think it is a modest, cautious step in the | :22:06. | :22:12. | |
right direction. This is not the great horizon, it is interesting you | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
should say it is a modest, cautious, step, is this really going to earn | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
Ed Miliband plaudits? What I'm saying is he has gone further than | :22:21. | :22:23. | |
the coalition Government at the moment. We will continue to lobby | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
him, don't forget, these are proposal that is are going to Ed | :22:29. | :22:32. | |
Miliband. He has had 20 years to think about it? Coming back to you, | :22:33. | :22:39. | |
I seem to remember it was said the minimum wage would decimate | :22:40. | :22:42. | |
industry? We always said it depended upon the level it was set. That was | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
your wriggle room, the fact is nothing of the sort happened. So it | :22:47. | :22:50. | |
is possible, actually, that you know that evolutionary process will take | :22:51. | :22:53. | |
place and actually it might give comfort to employers too to know | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
they have the loyalty of their staff because they treat them well? | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
Clearly every employer wants to treat staff well that is the way you | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
get loyal staff without question. Would you like to see the end of | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
zero hours contracts, especially for poorly paid workers who are | :23:10. | :23:12. | |
unskilled? What we have is extremely good which is a situation in the | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
last few years where employers and employees have been extremely mature | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
about the level of wage increases they are demanding and various other | :23:21. | :23:23. | |
things. Lots of people might wish to work more hours, but they maintain | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
the jobs. If we looked and saw the depth of the recession we have just | :23:28. | :23:31. | |
been through, we would publicly expect unemployment to be double the | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
rate it is, and the reason it hasn't been is people have been showing a | :23:36. | :23:38. | |
good deal of maturity. There is the flexibility in the market. Zero | :23:39. | :23:43. | |
hours contracts are one small part of a flexible labour market. I'm not | :23:44. | :23:51. | |
here to stick up to for the Labour Party, I'm here to represent | :23:52. | :23:54. | |
members, the same laws of maturity has not applied to bankers and | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
financing. You represent health workers and social care workers? | :24:00. | :24:03. | |
Which have been exploited under zero hours contracts. Unison's policy is | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
you want an end to it? Yes. You represent that for your union, you | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
think these kind of workers are a special case. There is a lot of | :24:13. | :24:16. | |
difficult work? It is about our workers, but also standards of care | :24:17. | :24:19. | |
delivered to patients. On that basis, are you saying to Ed Miliband | :24:20. | :24:23. | |
right now, ban them, before it comes to the manifesto? We are saying end | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
zero hours contracts in health and social care. It is not only Ed | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
Miliband who is out of the traps with an early election pledge. David | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
Cameron who once memorably had his very own small wind turbine on his | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
roof has announced under a Conservative Government support for | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
the giant whirly gigs will be calmed. There is no supsidies and | :24:49. | :24:50. | |
local authorities will be given the power to decide on planning | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
applications as they see fit. As we report the party that once urged us | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
to vote blue and go green is blowing cold on their much-vaunted energy | :25:01. | :25:14. | |
policy. "Get off our land"! It's a road mate. Go away. The | :25:15. | :25:17. | |
countryside's howl against turbines that has pitted villager against | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
villager. This isn't your property. I can show you the deeds of whose | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
property it is, it is not their's. Is that the farmer? I'm glad I'm | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
getting under their skin, what they have put people in the village | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
through is really quite awful. We have had months of sleepless nights. | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
What I'm facing, the most likely event for me should the wind farm be | :25:43. | :25:46. | |
approved is I will have a house that nobody else will want to live in. It | :25:47. | :25:50. | |
would upset me enormously if these things went ahead, if Cameron will | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
say as a positive policy we're going to withdraw those supsidies, then it | :25:56. | :26:03. | |
might persuade me to vote for him. The Bedfordshire farmer might be | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
disappointed. The farmer expressing his views loudly. His angry | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
neighbours say he wants turbines on his fields. We did contact the farm | :26:13. | :26:16. | |
but he didn't want to tell Newsnight why. Yet isn't David Cameron running | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
away from his younger self. At least the huskies, ministers insist they | :26:22. | :26:24. | |
are not ditching their greenest Government ever promise. Taxpayer | :26:25. | :26:31. | |
support for other kinds of green energy will not go. It is a victory | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
for the kind of Conservatives who were never persuaded by "green" | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
Dave. While David Cameron was busy boasting about other infrastructure | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
projects, he was only too happy to tell the BBC about this new idea, no | :26:44. | :26:47. | |
more supsidies for turbines on the land. Do you really need to go on | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
with a subsidy from the taxpayer? And do you need to go on with a | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
planning system that gives such priority to wind forms rather than | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
-- wind farms rather than local P I think once you have got to 10% you | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
should say take away the subsidy and hear the views of local people. | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
Delight for his more sceptical supporters. It was always rather | :27:10. | :27:15. | |
bogus aspect of modernisation, it was being green, and SAS David | :27:16. | :27:19. | |
Cameron says all the green crap has been finished with, that is for him | :27:20. | :27:22. | |
part of the green crap. David Cameron is not a conviction | :27:23. | :27:26. | |
politician, he isn't a man of deep principle, all the stuff about going | :27:27. | :27:31. | |
off to the North Pole, it was all about suck up to a group of people | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
he hoped would vote for him. I have driven from Berlin to music, and you | :27:37. | :27:40. | |
drive down through eastern Germany and there are wind farms everywhere, | :27:41. | :27:43. | |
and all over France now. These are countries that have very large land | :27:44. | :27:48. | |
mass, France has the same population as us but two-and-a-half time the | :27:49. | :27:52. | |
land mass. We are a small and crowded island. Turbines are simply | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
not to the taste of many of those who enjoy the peaceful, unchanged | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
and often conservative countryside, their power is more expensive than | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
oil or carriages but still cheaper than wind farms at sea or nuclear. | :28:07. | :28:12. | |
Although it has been subsidised for 20 years, independent sources warn | :28:13. | :28:15. | |
cutting off subsidy could cut off the industry. Some firms have | :28:16. | :28:19. | |
already been scaling back, but for the Conservatives the shires have | :28:20. | :28:28. | |
won. One Tory minister told me some counties in the countryside have | :28:29. | :28:32. | |
felt under siege from turbines, he said to me he wants people to know | :28:33. | :28:38. | |
he will not have any more. Universally hates maybe not, it is | :28:39. | :28:43. | |
fair to say they have never captured many hearts, the other part of the | :28:44. | :28:48. | |
problem is they don't always look like they are doing all that much. | :28:49. | :28:54. | |
7. 1 gigawatts worth of wind farms have been build on shore. Enough to | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
power about 3. 8 million homes. But because the wind doesn't always | :28:59. | :29:01. | |
blow, it is hard to predict. So last year the 16. 5 terrawatt hours | :29:02. | :29:10. | |
generated was only 4. 6% of electricity. Turbines are idle | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
sometimes when the wind isn't blowing and not generating | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
electricity. We don't pay for it if it is not generated, it doesn't cost | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
us any more money. On the other side it doesn't provide us with | :29:24. | :29:29. | |
unreliable electricity or undermine the electricity system security. | :29:30. | :29:32. | |
Because the system is able to cope with big fluctuation in supply and | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
demand. It might make it easier on the doorstep for the kind of | :29:37. | :29:39. | |
Conservatives that were never persuaded by Green Dave, this | :29:40. | :29:43. | |
Conservative councillor won his seat opposing wind farms. I think the | :29:44. | :29:46. | |
Government has listened to the people of the country, which is what | :29:47. | :29:50. | |
any Government should do. They have done exactly what they should be | :29:51. | :29:54. | |
doing. The Conservatives would allow communities who want at the Bitcoins | :29:55. | :29:58. | |
to go ahead. But even the one that was on top of David Cameron's old | :29:59. | :30:03. | |
London house has gone. Both the Lib Dems and Labour are still keen add | :30:04. | :30:10. | |
vow baits in the field -- advocates in the field as well as the cows. So | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
we will all ultimately decide if there is room for both. China has | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
the biggest standing army in the world, but it is in the midst of a | :30:21. | :30:23. | |
radical transformation. Man power is being cut by half, but the budget | :30:24. | :30:29. | |
has increased six-fold to well over $100 billion, as China attempts to | :30:30. | :30:33. | |
sharpen up its military. For the first time the Chinese army has | :30:34. | :30:37. | |
opened its doors to foreign cameras and Steve Hewlett was invited to | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
join two British officers on an exchange programme with one of | :30:42. | :30:52. | |
China's top military academies. Jason Johnson and Richard Levin are | :30:53. | :30:57. | |
recently commissioned officers from Sandhurst in the UK. They have | :30:58. | :31:01. | |
arrived in China to take part in something unprecedented and quite | :31:02. | :31:14. | |
unique. Er They are the first British officers ever invited to | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
take part in an international cadet exchange organised by the people's | :31:20. | :31:25. | |
liberation front army in the People's Republic of China. They | :31:26. | :31:28. | |
will spend a week living and working with Chinese cadets. 1,000kms | :31:29. | :31:36. | |
thought of Beijing. -- south of Beijing. It is a good opportunity to | :31:37. | :31:41. | |
come and experience something firsthand, especially a country that | :31:42. | :31:51. | |
is emerging as somewhere very important globally. 21-year-old | :31:52. | :31:58. | |
officer here has been attached to the Brit to help them bed in. | :31:59. | :32:04. | |
Together they will take part in a prestigious military competition | :32:05. | :32:09. | |
known as the Jin Wu Cup later in the week. It will be interesting to know | :32:10. | :32:14. | |
what other international cadets are going to be in our team? I think you | :32:15. | :32:17. | |
are the best! It is 6.00 in the morning. I'm not | :32:18. | :32:40. | |
really awake yet to be honest. First off it is half an hour of drill. | :32:41. | :32:49. | |
Only then is it time for breakfast. But the exercises are far from over. | :32:50. | :32:55. | |
Almost everything is done in formation, which is not quite how | :32:56. | :33:05. | |
they do things back at Sandhurst. I can't imagine spending four years of | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
my life marching to breakfast, lunch and dinner, that would be a | :33:10. | :33:12. | |
challenge for most people at Sandhurst. Mao used to say the more | :33:13. | :33:21. | |
people you have the more power you have, and that has been the doctrine | :33:22. | :33:26. | |
that Chinese military has worked by for a very long time. But times are | :33:27. | :33:31. | |
changing. Technology becomes more important, and ways of working and | :33:32. | :33:38. | |
ways of thinking have to change. This is battle simulation room, it | :33:39. | :33:41. | |
might look like computer gaming but it is in fact part of the Chinese | :33:42. | :33:51. | |
cadets' training regime. REPORTER: How long have you been doing this? | :33:52. | :34:00. | |
Sos this is a new idea? And the PLA is looking west for pointers towards | :34:01. | :34:10. | |
this brave new world. Quite a lot of what you see here oddly looks quite | :34:11. | :34:15. | |
American, the uniform, the routines are quite American, that fascination | :34:16. | :34:19. | |
with and emlation of American military, however, runs quite a lot | :34:20. | :34:27. | |
deeper than that. The American and British militaries bring something | :34:28. | :34:31. | |
to the table which the Chinese do not have. Recent combat experience. | :34:32. | :34:36. | |
When you are marching how do you carry it, on one shoulder? Recent | :34:37. | :34:41. | |
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ha taught British and American forces | :34:42. | :34:46. | |
many tough lessons. We at that time troll like this, with the rifle | :34:47. | :34:50. | |
ready on the shoulder, if we needed to fire this will woo go all the way | :34:51. | :34:54. | |
down. The last time China went to war with another country was a brief | :34:55. | :35:00. | |
conflict in Vietnam. Way back in 1979. China | :35:01. | :35:15. | |
It is the day of the Jin Wu Cup, and for the first time ever foreign | :35:16. | :35:27. | |
cadets have been invited to compete. Three rows each consisting of three | :35:28. | :35:34. | |
international students and seven Chinese cadets. The competition | :35:35. | :35:38. | |
begins. The first challenge is orienteering. Jason's team need to | :35:39. | :35:44. | |
find and tag ten electronic touch points spread over square kilo | :35:45. | :35:48. | |
metres. But they are getting off to a bad start. The squad leader is | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
struggling to make sense of the map. There is three different people | :35:55. | :35:57. | |
looking at a map trying to decide where we are. Running out of time | :35:58. | :36:01. | |
they decide to split into two groups, each responsible for | :36:02. | :36:06. | |
locating half the electronic touch points. Jason's team manages to | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
locate four electronic touch points and return to the rendezvous with | :36:12. | :36:18. | |
five minutes to spare. That's good. But the other half of the team is | :36:19. | :36:23. | |
nowhere to be seen. It looks like they haven't made it back in time. | :36:24. | :36:33. | |
So the whole team loses now? Maybe. Jason is starting to he will | :36:34. | :36:36. | |
Israelise that amongst the Chinese cadets in his group, even allowing | :36:37. | :36:40. | |
for their relative youth, practical skills often do not match classroom | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
theory. They do need a bit more practice before they can get to each | :36:46. | :36:58. | |
point effectively and efficiently. Jason told me that while the | :36:59. | :37:01. | |
exercises were familiar, they were not all as realistic as they might | :37:02. | :37:07. | |
have been back home. I think fitness wise they are a similar standard as | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
far as officership and leadership goes they are at a lower standard. I | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
think it is because they are not given the responsibility to develop | :37:16. | :37:18. | |
that leadership. The exchange week has come to answered. And the | :37:19. | :37:22. | |
Chinese cadets have also gained new insight from the week's exchange | :37:23. | :37:24. | |
programme. These cadets may well one day have | :37:25. | :37:44. | |
leading roles in their country's Armed Forces. They have gathered | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
here to understand how their counterparts think. Invaluable | :37:49. | :37:55. | |
lessons, maybe, now that China with its new model army is poised to play | :37:56. | :38:01. | |
a far more significant role in world affairs. You can see a longer | :38:02. | :38:06. | |
version of Steve Hewlett's film on Our World on the News Channel this | :38:07. | :38:12. | |
Saturday and fund again at 9. 30. Now another complication has been | :38:13. | :38:16. | |
thrown in the way of ministers and mandarins seeking to make their | :38:17. | :38:19. | |
weighty decisions about the Government of the UK. They will now | :38:20. | :38:22. | |
have to contract views of the Cornish. It was announced today that | :38:23. | :38:25. | |
the people of Cornwall have been given the same minority status as | :38:26. | :38:32. | |
Scots, Welsh and Irish under EU law, designed to protect the rights of | :38:33. | :38:35. | |
national minorities. It doesn't mean any extra money, but it is a victory | :38:36. | :38:42. | |
for Cornish nationalists who claim England ends west of the Tamar | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
river. Jethro, the comedian, joins us from just across the border in | :38:48. | :38:52. | |
English Exeter! Jethro, many congratulations, I would have | :38:53. | :38:57. | |
thought minority status was for wimps, can't you go for | :38:58. | :39:00. | |
independence? We have known it for years, you never call a Cornishman | :39:01. | :39:07. | |
an Englishman in my lifetime. The real Cornishmen is from the west | :39:08. | :39:10. | |
where I come from. They are not telling us anything we didn't know. | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
A lot of people you would say talk about Cornwall as their own | :39:16. | :39:18. | |
identity, they said well why Cornwall and not another county. | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
They don't realise that historically Cornwall is a Celtic nation, there | :39:24. | :39:28. | |
was Scotland and the Isle of Man, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Britney | :39:29. | :39:34. | |
of course. Do you feel persecuted? Not really. Why not? We lost that | :39:35. | :39:42. | |
900 years ago. We used to have our own king once, King Mark, he's gone | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
1,000 years, we miss him still. Do you think you might try to reinstate | :39:48. | :39:52. | |
some kind of Cornish monarchy? No. You would be king? Of course not. | :39:53. | :39:57. | |
No, no, no. I couldn't stand that, could I? I can't ride a horse any | :39:58. | :40:01. | |
way! You know what's the deal here, is this going to suddenly give a | :40:02. | :40:04. | |
boost to the Cornish economy, are you going to raise the flag over the | :40:05. | :40:13. | |
tin mines, all this kind of thing? The flags have always flown over the | :40:14. | :40:17. | |
tin mines, they have flown throughout Cornwall. It is just | :40:18. | :40:20. | |
something that has gone on for years, and now the rest of the | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
country will know we have our own identity and that is what we have | :40:25. | :40:27. | |
always wanted. It didn't really matter too much. We knew where we | :40:28. | :40:33. | |
were forever. What is it to be Cornish? What is it? Well if you are | :40:34. | :40:38. | |
born there you are a Cornishman. David Cameron's daughter was born in | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
Cornwall, she will be Cornish. And I hope she's very proud of it like we | :40:44. | :40:46. | |
are. You are brought up with that, if you go to Liverpool they are born | :40:47. | :40:50. | |
Scousers and they will always be Scousers, and Cornish people that is | :40:51. | :40:54. | |
our little bit of identity and we hang on to it and viciously too. We | :40:55. | :40:57. | |
are about to hear from Tom Hollander, he says perhaps you are | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
going to celebrate your bird, your chuff, is that not your local bird? | :41:02. | :41:05. | |
And the chuffs are back on the cliffs too, that is good. Tell me | :41:06. | :41:08. | |
what else, what other kinds of things will come to the fore, now | :41:09. | :41:12. | |
that you have minority status? I don't think it will make it much | :41:13. | :41:16. | |
different. I listened to the news and they said other countries have | :41:17. | :41:20. | |
had their minority status, and it hasn't made any difference, it is no | :41:21. | :41:24. | |
financial gain. It has given us an identity that we always wanted. As | :41:25. | :41:28. | |
for independence for Cornwall that is out of the question. We can't | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
survive on three bags of potatoes and a basket full of fish. You don't | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
have a sustainable economy of your own? You have Rick Stein! We have to | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
be realistic about this. You do have a Duchess of Cornwall? That's right. | :41:44. | :41:48. | |
You have a Duke of Cornwall? He's the Prince of Wales and the Duke of | :41:49. | :41:51. | |
Cornwall, of course he is. You are speaking to us from Exeter, where do | :41:52. | :41:58. | |
you live? I live in, on the border. You live which side of the border? I | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
live just in Devon! So wait a minute, you're like Sean conry in | :42:04. | :42:11. | |
Scotland -- Conner in Scotland you don't actually live there? You can | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
take the man out of Cornwall but not the Cornwall out of the man. Pretend | :42:17. | :42:23. | |
you are in Somerset and go and have some Scrumpy! We have time for two | :42:24. | :42:27. | |
newspapers, both of the newspapers the Telegraph and the Times report | :42:28. | :42:32. | |
on a move to end the Queen's role as the head of the church. The | :42:33. | :42:37. | |
coalition according to the Times says split in the coalition on the | :42:38. | :42:40. | |
role of the church because Nick Clegg has been talking about whether | :42:41. | :42:46. | |
to end t Queen's role as head of state. On Newsnight we are holding | :42:47. | :42:51. | |
our own celebrations of Shakespeare's 450th birthday, we | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
have asked some of Britain's finest actors to deliver a favourite speech | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
and character they love. Last night David Harewood chose Eeago and ahead | :43:00. | :43:05. | |
of her performance, Kevin Mirallas said nobody should read Shakespeare | :43:06. | :43:08. | |
under the age of 15. Tonight it is Tom Hollander who is swapping his | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
dog colour for a crown. Did you read Shakespeare at school? A little bit. | :43:13. | :43:16. | |
What are you doing, this crown on your head as Richard II I? The | :43:17. | :43:24. | |
opening reach of Richard II I What about Kevin Mirallas's idea that you | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
should watch it perform but not read it on the page until you are a | :43:29. | :43:34. | |
grown-up? I don't agree with that But you can't disagree with Helen | :43:35. | :43:41. | |
Mirren can you? Not really. What about Richard II I, is it a role you | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
want to play? It is showbiz and somebody has to take your chances, | :43:46. | :43:49. | |
and somebody says what do you want to do, and I said this. It is | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
showbiz Newsnight. What about this particular speech? What is it, it is | :43:55. | :43:58. | |
like Shakespeare's revenge fantasy for anybody who has not been picked | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
for the school football team. Call it that. That is good enough for me. | :44:03. | :44:11. | |
Tom Hollander take your seat. OK. Well now is the winter of our | :44:12. | :44:17. | |
discontent says Tom Hollander, here he goes. | :44:18. | :44:25. | |
Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of | :44:26. | :44:34. | |
York. And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house in the deep bossom of | :44:35. | :44:40. | |
the ocean buried. Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, our | :44:41. | :44:47. | |
bruised arms hung up from monuments, our stern alarums changed to merry | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
meetings. Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visaged | :44:52. | :44:59. | |
war, hath smooth'd his wringled front, and now instead of mounting | :45:00. | :45:05. | |
bashed steeds to fright the souls of fearful adversaries, he capers him | :45:06. | :45:13. | |
inially in the lady's chamber to the lascivious pleasing of a lute. But | :45:14. | :45:19. | |
I, thattam not shaped for sportive tricks, nor made to court annam | :45:20. | :45:27. | |
rouse looking-glass. I that am rudely stamp'd and want love's | :45:28. | :45:33. | |
majesty to strut before a wanton ambling nymp, I that am curtail'd of | :45:34. | :45:39. | |
this fair proportion, cheated, deformed, unfinished, sent before my | :45:40. | :45:45. | |
time into this breathing world scarce half made up, and that so | :45:46. | :45:49. | |
lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me as I halt by them, why I | :45:50. | :45:57. | |
in this weak piping time of peace, have no delight to pass away the | :45:58. | :46:05. | |
time, unless to spy my shadow in the sun and descant on my own deformity. | :46:06. | :46:16. | |
The weather at the moment across the country is reverting to type, sunny | :46:17. | :46:25. | |
spells and scattered showers, it is | :46:26. | :46:26. |