The Empty Chair The Honourable Woman

This programme contains strong language and some violent scenes

STREET NOISES

BABY CRIES

Who do you trust?

How do you know?

By how they appear...

..or what they say?

What they do?

How?

We all have secrets.

We all tell lies, just to keep them...

..from each other...

..and from ourselves.

But sometimes...

..rarely...

..something can happen that leaves you no choice...

..but to reveal it.

To let the world see who you really are.

-Your secret self.

-HE GASPS

GUN FIRES

LOUD THUMP

But mostly, we tell lies.

We hide our secrets from each other,

from ourselves.

And the easiest way to do this is not to even know that you are.

So when you think about it like that...

..it's a wonder we trust anyone at all.

(Don't be afraid.)

-CHILD:

-I'm safe.

-CRYING:

-I can't do this.

If it's the price...for a nation.

BELL RINGS IN DISTANCE

FOOTSTEPS ECHO

I, Nessa, Baroness Stein of Tilbury,

in the county of Essex,

do solemnly, sincerely,

and truly declare...

Wait here.

..that I will be faithful...

..and bear true allegiance

to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth...

..her heirs and successors...

..according to law...

..so help me God.

A SLIDING DOOR OPENS

ALARM WHISTLES

ALARM WHISTLES IN THE DISTANCE

ALARM WHISTLES

CORD SNAPS

VIOLIN MUSIC

PEOPLE MURMUR QUIETLY

Well, the girls won't manage any of this.

Atika, the girls won't eat any of this. Would you be a sweetheart

and ask them if they could have something simpler?

Of course, Mrs Stein.

Stay still, Kasim.

Why does she always do that?

Hmm?

Use my surname. It makes me look bad.

There you are, my lovely Rachel.

You look wonderful!

I wonder why you still keep him.

Eh, my boy.

All good?

Your sister. Ah, a Lady.

Who'd've thought?

Come here. Give old Shlomo a hug!

You all right?

So, have I got it?

I don't know.

Even if I did, I couldn't tell you, could I?

Well, you could give me a hint cos I've seen the shit in your nappies.

Nessa runs the business, Shlomo.

Now, yes. But there was a time...

I just run the foundation.

If you're looking for a job as a professor or something,

then maybe I could help you out.

Professor! I got three ways I spell my own name.

Do I need to find a new job?

Sholmo. I don't know, honestly.

All you have to do is wait a couple of minutes.

She's going to announce it in her speech.

Why so theatrical?

You can't leak these things. It wouldn't be fair, would it?

And you always got to be fair, right?

It's how we survive, Shlomo.

Is that why that Palestinian bastard, Samir Meshal, has been invited?

Everyone who's put in a tender has been invited.

Hasn't turned up yet, I see.

Well...

Waiting to make some big fucking entrance on some big fucking camel

just to prove he's such a big fucking Arab, huh?

I tell you, he wins that contract and I get my hands on his neck...

fuck the Six-Day War, it'll be over in seconds.

-CROWD APPLAUDS

-Best of luck.

So now I need luck, eh?

Shlomo!

Hello... what a day.

I can't tell you how heavy that robe is!

I do have an announcement to make,

but first I'd just like to say a couple of things.

The violinist here today is Mustapha Shamar.

He's a virtuoso,

he's a graduate of the Stein Music Centre in Ramallah

and this Saturday night, he's going to be playing

at the Royal College of Music.

I can't think of a better example of what we're trying to achieve here.

And I'm certain that he would not be here today

if it weren't for one man...

my brother, Ephra Stein.

Unlike his sister, he doesn't court the limelight,

probably because he's an awful lot cleverer than me.

But as President of the Stein Foundation, it's his educational

programmes that make sense of everything else I try to do.

So make no mistake, as this is my hand, that is his!

Thank you, Ephra.

Where is Kasim?

Have you seen Kasim?

OK. I'm looking.

So, these aliens decide to invade Earth and to show they mean business

what they do is first they destroy London then New York

and then they land, right on the Green Line

between Israel and the West Bank.

And they decide to call a meeting

between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government.

And their message is simple.

"Resistance is useless! Lay down your arms!"

I can't really tell you the detail of what happened next,

but basically by the end of it your sympathy was with the aliens.

29 years ago,

my father, Eli Stein,

was murdered here in this room.

He was a wonderful father to my brother and me.

But first and foremost, I think it's fair to say,

he was a great son of Israel.

-IN THE DISTANCE:

-He arrived here in Britain in 1939

a refugee and an orphan.

This country took him in and the protection it offered

became the defining experience of his life.

Eli Stein believed that no home could thrive

unless it was surrounded by strong walls.

And so, yes, it's true.

His company name, my family name,

was stamped on the side of mortar shells and rifles and tanks...

because that's what my father offered Israel.

Strong walls for a fledgling nation.

And that's what cost him his life, here in this room...

..29 years ago.

Kasim?

-IN THE DISTANCE:

-Last year, Israel's gross domestic product...

exceeded 220 billion dollars.

I know my father would be very proud of that figure.

A fledgling state no more, I think you'll agree,

but one that's thriving within strong walls.

Last year, the combined domestic product

of the Palestinian territories barely touched four billion dollars.

Four.

What a difference a wall makes.

I believe in Israel and I believe I can say this with heartfelt intent,

because like Her, I am also an orphan.

I lost most of my extended family to the Holocaust,

my father here in this room

and my mother to childbirth, delivering me.

My brother and I know what it means

to have to forge an existence alone, without family.

Kasim?

-IN THE DISTANCE:

-And how precious it is, no...

It's Mummy!

..how necessary it is to feel...

secure after such a loss.

But when Ephra and I took over this company,

almost a decade ago now, we decided on a fundamental change.

In our view, amongst the greatest threats to Israel

is Palestinian poverty.

Terror thrives in poverty,

it dies in wealth.

And so we decided that instead of mines, we would lay cables.

Millions of miles of cables, for telephones, for the internet,

millions of miles of communication.

Because we believe that the strongest wall

we can help Israel to maintain,

is the one through which equality of opportunity can pass.

Kasim?

And so today, after months of negotiation with both

the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government,

I am finally in a position to announce

that the Phase Three roll-out of broadband internet

throughout the West Bank has been agreed.

Fibre optic...

linking every university, every hospital,

every school to high-speed internet.

Universities we helped fund

to give hospitals we helped to build the graduates they need.

-MAN:

-Are you lost?

As you know, the Stein Group is always looking to make partnerships

and I know the competition for this particular contract has been fierce.

But I am now in a position to say that the winner

of the Phase Three contract...

..is Samir Meshal of Qassim Communications.

CROWD APPLAUDS

Is he here?

Kasim!

He was nice.

He was a stranger! And what do strangers do?

They steal little boys who don't tell their mother

where they're going, OK?

Great. Come on.

What the fuck you think you've done, hmm?

-I'm sorry.

-Oh, you're sorry?

I rolled out Phase One and Phase Two just for you and now you're sorry?

Samir fucking Meshal.

That guy is so mired in Palestinian politics,

he opens his eyes, they're still covered in shit.

He's clean, Shlomo. We checked.

Oh, you checked.

Just like we have to check on everyone who wants to work with us.

Just like we had to check on you.

Well, what's that?

In October 2009, you received a contract for 287 million dollars

from a Lebanese French private bank to supply computer systems,

which were then shipped to a West African state.

The proceeds of their resale were then returned

to a Lebanese holding account, where they were then layered through

a number of further shell companies until the laundered funds

finally arrived back to their original source.

Hezbollah.

This is bullshit.

I'm sure the original sale was perfectly legal

and you were unaware of what followed.

But unfortunately, we had to be.

(What the fuck...?)

Where'd you get this? Hmm?

All right, it's not true.

You listening to me? It's not true.

We cannot carry secrets, Shlomo. Ever.

But it isn't one of them. Whoever gave you this is lying.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Sorry! You're sorry, for Christ's sakes! Ness, I...

Ephra, pull your sister in line!

Like I said, Shlomo, she runs the business.

Oh, she runs the business.

Are you, are you mad? Are you fucking mad?

You're getting rid of me?

I've been loyal to your family longer than you've been alive.

-I know that.

-You know, you know.

You keep picking and choosing and dropping and fucking up,

pretty soon you end up on your own.

And out there...

trust me, you can't be alone.

I'm not alone.

Oh, you think a red robe is going to protect you, huh?

Is that what this is, some massive father thing?

You think that place is going to protect you, because he can't?

All they want to do is keep you so close you can't escape

when they decide to knife you.

Nessa, my daughter, you have enemies enough already.

It's the Middle East, Shlomo. Enemies is what you make.

So all the more reason to keep your friends.

I'm sorry.

MAN ON PHONE: 'So what does it finally feel like

'to be in the House of Lords?'

-A great honour.

-'But why you?'

I hope it's a reflection of the UK's continuing commitment to the

Middle East and to progressive ways of thinking about it.

'It's controversial appointment, though.'

No, no controversy.

I was interviewed extensively.

I'll serve as an independent cross-bencher

with no party affiliation whatsoever. None.

'But you're an Israeli.'

Well, I was born and raised in the UK, my companies are based here,

the Stein Group is here, we employ over 3,000 people here

with annual exports of over 350 million on which we pay UK tax,

both personal and corporate...

So I think that makes me a UK citizen, don't you?

'Well, you do hold an Israeli passport.'

Anyone with direct Jewish ancestry holds that right.

'Well, you certainly have the ancestry.

'Eli Stein, The Sword Of Israel, your father.

'That's quite an inheritance.'

Well, I hope you'll recognise that it's precisely

because of what we've chosen to do with it that I'm here today.

'Do you have close protection, Lady Stein?'

-Yes, I do.

-'Why?'

It's an unfortunate necessity.

'But you're meant to be everyone's friend, aren't you?'

There are militant factions on both sides, so realistically...

'Sorry, but are you a realist?

'Because as an idealist,

'I'd completely understand why you'd need a bodyguard.

'After all, when it comes to the history of the Middle East

'it never ends well for idealists, does it?'

Hello. Hi.

It was so good to see you! Thank you for coming...

-Hello.

-Hello!

-Wonderful speech.

It's been ages since I've seen both of you. Hope you're happy.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for coming.

-Hello.

-Monica Chatwin. Foreign Office. Washington bureau.

-Oh.

-Although I'm due to return here soon.

-I have a particular interest in the Middle East.

-I see.

And I just wanted to say hello so you can put a face to the name.

Well, now you have. Thank you.

Don't worry about it.

-IN THE DISTANCE:

-Hello. I can't tell you how much...

Run along and find Mummy, I'll come down soon.

-IN DISTANCE:

-So nice to see you all here. Thank you.

I hope from now on you'll feel you have all the support you deserve.

-From who?

-The British government.

-The support but not influence.

-Of course not.

It's simply recognition of the UK's historic responsibility

-to the Middle East.

-I hope so.

Oh, I know so. I heard it from the Prime Minister's lips.

Excuse me, what job exactly are you about to take on, Mrs...?

-Monica...

-Chatwin.

Oh, shh...

But I'm sure you'll be asking your security

the moment I've turned my back.

-Congratulations!

-Thank you very much.

-It really is a wonderful day.

-Thank you.

MI6.

Julia Walsh is bringing her back to run the Middle East desk.

-I thought Hayden-Hoyle was doing that?

-So does he.

-Why are you here?

-To congratulate your sister.

Leave her alone.

-I just offered her my help.

-She doesn't need your help.

She has before and I think she might again.

Stay away from my sister.

It's my job, Ephra, keeping secrets.

So what are you worrying about?

Yours is perfectly safe.

OK, just a couple more minutes.

RACHEL: What have you been doing with your hands?

-EPHRA:

-Sorry.

Where have you been?

Just someone I haven't seen in years.

All right? All right.

Oh, Nessa. What they do to our bodies, you would never believe.

Hello.

Hello.

That's a very big watch.

-RECORDING OF WAITER'S VOICE:

-'Are you lost?'

Well, let's hope not.

We're ready.

They're all good names.

And who might be your choice for successor?

Julia knows my choice. He's been my deputy for three years.

And if it wasn't him?

Then it wouldn't be my choice.

The next one, please.

It's not my choice.

When?

Well, obviously, we'd like you to finish up on whatever's outstanding.

And then you'll be free.

You haven't asked me who it's going to be.

-Is it you?

-Oh, no, no.

I'm not a... Actually, what are you?

Oh, a son of a...Lord?

Baronet.

Baronet. From Ireland.

Now there's a conflict.

Maybe that's why they gave me the Middle East.

It's a dangerous kind of spy,

Sir Hugh, who even lies to himself.

Wait.

You really want these so much?

And this is just so perfect.

Because we all know THAT'S how you really got the job...

Well, I don't suppose you fucked Dame Julia with them on.

Sir Hugh.

DOORBELL RINGS

Lady Hoyle.

I tore up that name with our credit cards, Hugh.

Just one of the many things I've left behind.

I like your hair.

Is that the line you always use?

Because I'm surprised it's ever worked.

What do you want?

If I'd told you the truth, would you have stayed?

I'm too tired.

I only lied because I didn't want to hurt you.

Hugh, most people get fucked by their job, not for it.

Still...least you got a nice car.

Not sure for how long.

Is that sulphur I can smell?

I'm not a devil, Angie.

Didn't say you were.

But I'm sure you've made a deal with one.

HAUNTING MUSIC DROWNS SOUNDS

Samir Meshal.

Palestinian. Multimillionaire. Telecommunications.

I know him.

He's dead.

Suicide. Approximately two o'clock this afternoon.

How?

Hung himself from a flagpole wrapped in his national flag.

How very patriotic.

Are you sure it's suicide?

From what I can gather, he left a note.

Hmm.

This...

Definitely from him?

Well, those are his fingerprints. It's addressed to his wife.

Do you think if I'd learnt to read Arabic,

-it would have made my job a whole lot easier?

-Sir.

Why'd it come to us?

This.

We need to speak to the Israelis.

I'll set up a meeting.

For a formal response, go right ahead, but for a truthful one,

-or at least the chance of it, leave it with me.

-Sir.

Someone about to win a multimillion contract

just goes and puts a rope round his neck?

Maybe he couldn't stand the wait.

You think he's been killed.

You don't?

It's odd, I agree.

Someone gets cancer, I think they've been given it.

I'll look into it.

Hmm...

I was so happy this morning.

Didn't even make the day.

MUSIC: "How To Disappear Completely" by Radiohead

I won't be going out again tonight.

-ON PHONE:

-We'll be here, sir.

-You can go home.

-Just in case.

And that's supposed to make me feel better?

Good night, sir.

Good night.

# That there

# That's not me

# I go

# Where I please

# I walk through walls

# I float down the Liffey

# I'm not here

# This isn't happening

# I'm not here

# I'm not here

# In a little while

# I'll be gone

# The moment's already passed

# Yeah, it's gone

# I'm not here

# This isn't happening

# I'm not here

# I'm not here. #

-INTO INTERCOM:

-I'm going out.

-Hello.

-Hey, good to see you.

-Lovely to see you. OK.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

DOOR BUZZES

Knight to B6.

Interesting.

It's OK. It's OK. It's OK, it's OK.

Can I get you something to drink?

Go away. NESSA SOBS

-EMOTIONAL:

-I can't do this.

-I can't...

-Yes, you can.

We're strong, you and I.

What if they find out?

-They won't.

-They might...

They will never find out. I promise.

Never. Never.

It's OK. It's OK.

I wanted to celebrate.

Everything will be fine.

Nessa.

OK? Trust me. Trust me.

OK? OK?

OK?

The Israeli government has had no hand in this.

Yes, Judah, I understand.

From what I hear, it was a suicide.

Because of the note.

Is what I hear.

They found fingerprints on the letter.

Is what I hear.

But not on the envelope, Judah.

And yet that's where we found the letter...

..inside the envelope.

Now how is that possible?

The last time I saw that trick, it was David Nixon and Ali Baba.

I don't know them.

It wasn't us.

-The Mossad?

-No.

-Kidron?

-No.

Was he on your graph?

I'm about to be retired.

-Oh?

-Hmm.

So this will probably be my last case.

And like every good spy, when I leave a case...

..I like to leave it...

..empty.

Are you all right?

She needed to see me.

She OK?

She'll be fine.

What's wrong?

She'll be fine, Ephra...

Trust me.

Good night.

ATIKA SINGS IN OWN LANGUAGE

GUNS FIRE

THE WOMEN SCREAM

SPEECH INAUDIBLE

LOCKS THUD INTO PLACE

-RECORDING OF WAITER'S VOICE:

-'Are you lost?'

We think the Israelis killed him.

And who is it exactly that's thinking that?

The entire Palestinian Authority or just you?

I speak on behalf of my country, Baroness Stein,

for whom Samir Meshal has become a martyr.

We don't know that.

They don't want you to choose a Palestinian. They want an Israeli.

It doesn't matter what anyone wants, Mr Muraji.

We want you to choose a Palestinian.

I will choose whoever best protects the aims and ideals of this company

and nothing you or anyone else wants will affect that decision.

You cannot choose an Israeli...

not after this.

I'll choose exactly who I want.

Then you will have made a mistake.

And if I do, at least it will be mine.

(Don't be afraid, hmm?)

(Everything is going to be all right.)

(OK?)

It's going to be more than that, it'll be great.

CROWD CHANTS ANGRILY

So once we're inside, we've agreed to a short interview about

the academy and what we're trying to do in Ramallah, but obviously

they'll probably want a comment on whatever's going on outside.

I don't want to be drawn.

Then don't be. The message is music.

So it's, erm, it's vocal but contained.

You're set up to go in the main entrance,

-but there is an alternative.

-Which is?

The rear loading bay. It's an easy drive in.

No. Main entrance.

It's meant to be a celebration, not a run for a bunker.

All right, straight in, OK?

CROWD CHANTS ANGRILY

Tonight, is really about celebrating this music

and celebrating this extraordinary musician.

But everywhere you go, you bring this with you.

Sorry, we really have to go now.

Do you know what? Can I say...?

I don't pretend to have an all-encompassing solution,

clearly we don't, but with what we're trying to do here,

at least we're no longer part of the problem.

-You all right?

-Yeah.

-Hey.

-Hi.

-You all right?

-Yeah.

-Sure?

-Yeah.

Where's Rachel?

Her ankles are a bit swollen, it's a late pregnancy thing.

Where's Atika?

Well, she thought it best if she stayed at home as well, it's fine.

It's fine, it's fine.

I'm quite capable of looking after my own kids...

-aren't I?

-Are you OK?

They need you backstage.

Who's looking after them?

-This gentleman's going take us in.

-Are you cleared?

Yes, of course he's cleared.

-Are you cleared? Is he cleared?

-Yeah, he's cleared, it's fine.

-Come on, glasses, drink up.

-It's fine.

SEATING BELL RINGS

Mazel, this one.

Come on, darling, do you want to take this, this last one?

Fingers crossed for the Star Wars theme.

Hello.

Welcome to this unique and historic event.

I've been asked to say a few words

and do you know what? That's literally all I'm going to do

because tonight I really think the music should speak for itself.

-So enjoy.

-AUDIENCE APPLAUDS

(What?)

LOUD ALARM BLARES

-EPHRA:

-It's all right, everything's fine. Just stay where you are.

PEOPLE SHOUT IN PANIC

-Take us to the rear loading bay now.

-OK.

Kasim. It's just a fire alarm but follow me.

Quick as you can.

Possible fire, meet us at the rear loading bay. Over.

-EPHRA:

-Kasim! Kasim?

Come back. Wait, wait, wait, wait...

-SHOUTS:

-Kasim?

Kasim?!

-Wait!

-What?

Hello?

Kasim!

MAN GRUNTS

Excuse me!

MAN GRUNTS

CAR HORN BLARES

KASIM GASPS FOR AIR

PHONE RINGS

I'll wait there.

-SHE SHOUTS:

-Kasim!

NESSA GASPS FOR AIR

NESSA PANTS

What do you want?!

GUN FIRES

SHE GASPS IN RELIEF

GUN FIRES

GUN FIRES

ENGINE ROARS

ENGINE REVS

-NESSA YELLS:

-Kasim!