19/04/2014 The Papers

Coming up on The Film Review, Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan starred

as a divorced couple plotting a jewel heist. Join me and and Smith

for more on that, and all of the other top releases. `` Anna Smith.

Hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing

us tomorrow. With me are Yasmin Alibhai`Brown, columnist from the

Independent, and Matthew Green, journalist and author.

The Observer claims that thousands in a district of Damascus are

running out of food, leading to relief agencies declaring it a

crisis that is unprecedented in living memory.

The Independent on Sunday has a special report on mounting concern

at global food security, claiming the world is on the brink of a wheat

crisis. An exclusive from The Mail on Sunday

on a businessman, re`appointed by David Cameron to head a quango,

steps down after it was disclosed that he was bankrupt.

The Sunday Telegraph leads is how Ofsted are looking at putting at

least six Birmingham schools into special measures.

The Sunday Times claims that senior Labour figures are concerned that

basing an election strategy around the cost`of`living crisis may lead

to the party looking like a one`trick pony.

And the Sunday Express tells its readers they could be in for a

refund from an energy firm that's admitted to having faulty meters.

Let's begin. We are going to start with the Independent. It is more

their picture story that we are interested in. A year on from the

terrible collapse in Bangladesh of the textile factory, and Matthew,

that is a story which at the time you were deeply involved in. Yes, I

went to Bangladesh at the time to cover the aftermath of the disaster.

It is perhaps worth remembering exactly what happened. It was a

4`storey building, known as Rana Plaza, packed with workers. The huge

crack had appeared in the wall, and the owner of the building herded

everyone in, and a few hours later it collapsed. It was one of the

worst disasters in the history of the industry. The Independent is

saying that some of the victims have still not received compensation, and

there is a campaign to avoid another disaster. Yes, and I think the

campaign will be all over the place, including here in London. I think,

these sorts of accidents are absolutely the responsibility of

those companies who are out there harvesting cheap labour, and I went

to India last year and they met people from Bhopal, which was 25

years ago, and they still haven't had any compensation. They have gone

blind, had miscarriages, all of this. That can't go on, and it is up

to us, those of us who love frocks should always be asking the

questions about, how much are you paying? That was a big campaign at

the time, wasn't it? Asking consumers to be more aware of how

their garments are made. Yes, it was very interesting to see the big

brands, shuffling quietly away, saying it wasn't anything to do with

them. They were saying they can't be responsible for monitoring the

safety in the buildings where these items have been produced. There has

been some progress since then, I think the scale of the catastrophe

was so big that some of these companies have been shocked into

action, so the Independent is talking about a new fire safety

standard that these companies are signing up to. Not all the

companies, there are still some companies that are holding out and

not doing the responsible thing. 20 years ago, Bangladesh was right on

the margins of the global economy, and it is thanks to these companies

that huge numbers of people have got jobs, particularly young women from

rural areas who might otherwise be living in extremely isolated and

bleak existence, they have found some sort of freedom through these

jobs. Of course, there is a price to be paid. I think shareholders have

got to be, have to have more of a say in this. It can't just the about

their profits, because how can you ignore something of that kind? I

remember after that disaster, there were a few scattered protests,

companies like Primark, who had clothing made there. I don't whether

there was a huge groundswell of concern among consumers. There have

been funds set up by some of the companies, hasn't it? Yes, there

has. This independent story is about a woman who hasn't received any

compensation, but it takes a long time. Looking at the Observer, Syria

is back on the front page, and then you are pleased to see it. I know

how the media works, I am part of the media, we run stories and we

leave them. Actually, when it comes to Syria, we can't and should never

leave this. I know a lot of things are happening in Ukraine and so on,

but this is the biggest, the most shocking disaster I think in the

last, I would say since World War II. It is tough to keep the stories

fresh. When it is the same story over and over again. The Observer

have done a very strong job here. They have a story about the Yarmouk

refugee camp, where convoys are being allowed in and people are

running out of food. These were Palestinian refugees, who already

work living very well, but were safe and were being fed and getting an

education, but if we stop covering this story, our politicians.

Attending to this crisis. We were talking about Ukraine earlier, that

has dominated the foreign pages and the front pages for the last few

years, and the link is unfair because the Russian President is one

of the biggest backers of the Syrian government, months back, there were

agreements to join with the US, they have really gone out the window.

Sanctions and tough words haven't really done much. I didn't

understand why we are much tougher on Iran when it comes to sanctions

and nonviolent actions we can take, and so non`specific on Syria, I find

that appalling. The Sunday Times, the story I was surprised to see on

our list, but one you feel strongly about. Prove UR 18 to watch

pornography, a new law. Children will be blocked from watching online

pornography after government moves to make website administrators seek

proof of age. This is a really good move, if it happens. Parents and

others have been pointing out the effect of easy access to pornography

on very young minds, boys as well is girls. It is really having a

demonstrable impact on the way they think about each other and so want.

Is it going to work was much a guess that is the question. I don't know,

but we have got to do something, it has been going on. I want us to stop

saying that we can't do anything. saying that we can't do anything.

That is worst in the argument, it is impossible to enforce. Arar the

story, the sinking of the ferry in South Korea. A fairy hero gave life

to save others. `` our other story. A poignant story about a 22`year`old

member of the crew who actually waded through chest high water

without a lifejacket so that other people, some of these children,

could try to escape. Of course, she wasn't among the survivors. It

reminds think of an awful story I read a couple of days ago about the

teacher who organised the trip committing suicide out of remorse

and guilt, and saying, perhaps I will be able to teach these students

in the afterlife. There has been a story of one passenger dying after

giving his life. Yes, only 17, and he gave his life vest to his friend

who was drowning. There are still over 250 people missing, young

people, and these terribly selfless people, really. Let's leave that.

The Sunday Telegraph, Islamist plot, six schools face special

measures, this is so `` after the so`called Trojan horse to commit.

This has been building up, think this is the sixth day `` Trojan

horse document. This is Ofsted inspections, Ofsted did inspect most

of these schools. And it has been asked to inspect them again, amid

allegations of then becoming Islamic. I have no doubt that this

is going on, but how we investigated, we have got to make

sure there is trust. We can't storm into schools and start behaving as

if you are storming into a place where there is a cache of weapons.

But we have to talk about it. We need to talk about how it is part of

a much bigger problem. Yes, but we need to do it, seeing that these

institutions with serious problems. There are many people who want

something done urgently. We were talking earlier about how there were

concerns not only about the schools but about other is making extremists

in places like Birmingham raising funds for extremist groups around

the world. Let's talk about Saudi Arabia. I know, you think that is

the subplot. Thank you both very much for joining us. Stay with us on

BBC News, because at midnight we will have much more on the South

Korean ferry disaster, which has claimed 36 lives. Up next, it is The

Film Review.