:00:00. > :00:12.homes after being evacuated during earlier eruptions. That's it from
:00:13. > :00:15.me. Welcome to the ball. Could the talent band capture Afghan is done
:00:16. > :00:20.again when Americans and British leave at the end of this year. Are
:00:21. > :00:26.the downsides to being upwardly mobile? Would Scottish independence
:00:27. > :00:47.be bad for sport in Scotland and the rest of Britain? Afghanistan has
:00:48. > :00:54.gone through some terrible fighting. And many extra ordinary changes in
:00:55. > :01:00.Mac at the last 30 years. From 1996 to 2001 it was ruled by the Taliban,
:01:01. > :01:03.who turned it into the most extreme religious state on earth. When I
:01:04. > :01:06.used to come here during those years you could be worth or executed for
:01:07. > :01:11.showing an ankle, whistling a tune or having a pet of a living
:01:12. > :01:17.creature. There was little electricity and almost no tral. At
:01:18. > :01:24.night, a notice the loudest sound was the barking of dogs and the only
:01:25. > :01:28.light came from candles. When the Taliban were driven out in 2001, I
:01:29. > :01:33.assumed they were completely finished. But when the British and
:01:34. > :01:40.Americans leave at the end of this year, is there a chance the Taliban
:01:41. > :01:53.mate actually comeback? -- may actually comeback. Most people
:01:54. > :02:01.outside Afghanistan feel they know what has gone on here. The
:02:02. > :02:06.assumption is the British and Americans, ignoring all the warnings
:02:07. > :02:11.of history, came bursting in, fought an unnecessary war, infuriated the
:02:12. > :02:21.inhabitants and are now leaving with tails between their legs. But if
:02:22. > :02:25.this is true, how come so many people here are hoping President
:02:26. > :02:35.Karzai will sign a new security deal with the Americans to keep some
:02:36. > :02:38.American troops here. If the British and Americans are here, the Afghan
:02:39. > :02:43.economy is strong. Otherwise, it is weak. Tell them to sign the
:02:44. > :02:48.agreement, then Afghanistan will be peaceful. Other wise it will not.
:02:49. > :02:57.When you leave, there will be an key again. -- Anakie. What did the
:02:58. > :03:02.Taliban do here? They oppressed people. Beating them with cables.
:03:03. > :03:07.People could not work. In the name of Muslim, they killed hundreds of
:03:08. > :03:11.people every day. 100% I am worried and the people are worried.
:03:12. > :03:26.Everybody is concerned, young and old. They are worried about the
:03:27. > :03:29.Taliban coming back. After 35 dreadful years of chaos and civil
:03:30. > :03:34.war, things are starting to improve. Entrepreneurs and
:03:35. > :03:39.businessmen, even some businesswomen are setting up here. We went to the
:03:40. > :03:44.trading rooms of a new Afghan conglomerate. Here they are looking
:03:45. > :03:53.forward rather than to the past. My concern is not returning to the
:03:54. > :03:56.90s. My main concern is Will my government implement more investor
:03:57. > :04:01.friendly policies for myself to continue the business and grow. We
:04:02. > :04:09.have come a long way for us to return back to the 90s or the early
:04:10. > :04:17.to thousands. I'm not going to roll out a bumpy road ahead. Going back
:04:18. > :04:26.to a civil war seems a far sayonara right now. The reality is different
:04:27. > :04:29.on the ground. -- fast scenario. The Taliban believe women should be kept
:04:30. > :04:36.out of sight in doors. They certainly do not want them to get an
:04:37. > :04:40.education. We have distributed the papers to you. If you have any
:04:41. > :04:47.questions related to the examination ask me. At this private university
:04:48. > :04:51.in two, the veil covering the head and placed as the rule. But not even
:04:52. > :04:59.the more Islamist students want to see the Taliban back. They would
:05:00. > :05:08.limit the freedom of women. As Lum lets us free to study, to work and
:05:09. > :05:15.lets us to go anywhere we want. Taliban will take these rights from
:05:16. > :05:19.us. We Afghans, as Muslims, we want Islamist government. Nothing else.
:05:20. > :05:24.Otherwise, as they did before, they come back to power, they do the
:05:25. > :05:34.things they did before. We do not want them. They should not come
:05:35. > :05:37.back. Kabul is not like Baghdad. It is not usually dangerous for
:05:38. > :05:40.Westerners to be out on the street. Although there have been plenty of
:05:41. > :05:45.suicide bombings over the past few years, the police managed to keep
:05:46. > :05:49.the violence level here under control. We are driving to the
:05:50. > :06:03.headquarters of the police rapid reaction force. The Americans have
:06:04. > :06:08.trained and equipped them well, they are a pretty impressive group.
:06:09. > :06:12.Before, the police were feeble and easily bought. Now they are much
:06:13. > :06:21.more formidable and the commanders are more confident as a result. We
:06:22. > :06:26.are not scared of the Taliban or criminals. Around the clock we are
:06:27. > :06:32.searching for them. Wherever we find their networks we will immediately
:06:33. > :06:36.destroy them. Could you imagine the possibility the Ben Cousins might
:06:37. > :06:45.come back and take power again? -- Taliban. They will never come back.
:06:46. > :06:48.They wander endlessly scrapping. The army and police are able to destroy
:06:49. > :07:00.them immediately. God willing, we have no concerns. They face a real
:07:01. > :07:07.and growing challenge as the recent restaurant warming in Kabul has
:07:08. > :07:11.shows. But over the years, they have proved quite effective at the
:07:12. > :07:20.difficult job of combating Taliban infiltration in Kabul. Is it the
:07:21. > :07:27.same in the country? It depends where you go. In places like Helmand
:07:28. > :07:31.province, Taliban have thoroughly established themselves in spite of
:07:32. > :07:37.British and American intervention. This part of it is not safe for
:07:38. > :07:47.Westerners. We asked an Afghan cameraman to film for us here. It is
:07:48. > :07:52.classic guerrilla territory. Patrols are sniped at and roadside bombs set
:07:53. > :08:02.for them. They have just discovered a cache of explosives. Government
:08:03. > :08:08.controls the roads, the Taliban have the run of the hinterland. When the
:08:09. > :08:14.Western troops leave, will the Taliban be able to take over? Most
:08:15. > :08:22.people would say no. What we do not want here is what --. What we do not
:08:23. > :08:24.know now is what the Taliban thing. They have not given a formal
:08:25. > :08:31.interview for a year. A spokesman agreed to talk to us by phone. Parts
:08:32. > :08:34.of Helmand province are under our control. The areas under control of
:08:35. > :08:39.the enemy, it is like a checkpoint and they cannot get out of them.
:08:40. > :08:43.They cannot move freely. The places which are far away from the centres
:08:44. > :08:50.are under our control. The presence of the Taliban is completely clear.
:08:51. > :08:57.Do you really think the Taliban will ever take power again? We are
:08:58. > :09:00.confident of victory. From a historical point of view,
:09:01. > :09:04.Afghanistan has always defeated occupiers. We are certain they will
:09:05. > :09:09.be defeated and the Afghan people will again bring about an Islamic
:09:10. > :09:16.system, according to their wishes. Would the Taliban bring back those
:09:17. > :09:21.same kind of extreme punishments that were obvious in Afghanistan
:09:22. > :09:25.from 1996? There cannot be changed because the Islamist law is
:09:26. > :09:29.constant. When there is a crime we have to implement as Lum Chari. Of
:09:30. > :09:33.course that will be changes in behaviour but the law will be as
:09:34. > :09:40.before. We are sure that society is ready for this. Afterwards, thinking
:09:41. > :09:46.it over, I felt that although a lot of this was propaganda, we should
:09:47. > :09:49.not altogether forget that when the Taliban made similar claims in
:09:50. > :09:56.Machrie early 90s, they would just laughed at. In some ways, the
:09:57. > :10:02.reality of African -- of Afghanis reverse of what outsiders reckon.
:10:03. > :10:07.The Westerners are desperate to get the troops out and a large number of
:10:08. > :10:09.Athens prefer them to stay. There is a good chance that the British and
:10:10. > :10:15.Americans will just forget about Afghanistan. That is what happened
:10:16. > :10:20.in Iraq after all. Ever since the 1970s, whenever the outside world
:10:21. > :10:35.has ignored Afghanistan, disaster has invariably followed. This is the
:10:36. > :10:38.most expensive part of Kabul. The houses may not look all that Mark
:10:39. > :10:46.but they will set you back $1 million. They are often amazingly
:10:47. > :10:50.furnished inside. It is a natural human instinct for us to want to do
:10:51. > :10:54.better for ourselves and our children. We call it social
:10:55. > :11:01.mobility. But does that involve cutting yourself from your roots,
:11:02. > :11:12.your past, your family? Our contributing editor wonders of being
:11:13. > :11:17.upwardly mobile has its downsides. The upside is of opportunity are
:11:18. > :11:22.obvious, are the downsides to social mobility as will? Moving out of the
:11:23. > :11:27.cast you were born in two could be like a 1-way ticket. You leave
:11:28. > :11:34.behind family, friends and culture. It could be a rupture with the past.
:11:35. > :11:38.It is a story very familiar to this man. He is now a successful writer.
:11:39. > :11:43.He was brought up here, in Motherwell their Glasgow. In the
:11:44. > :11:51.shadow of the Ravenscraig steel is works were as father worked until
:11:52. > :11:54.the shut ten years ago. As child was poor and sometimes brutal. One of
:11:55. > :11:59.his mother's partners was often violent to him. He remains loyal to
:12:00. > :12:05.his family but he was clever and aspire to more. Back at his old
:12:06. > :12:09.secondary school, he was celebrated as one to watch. He is left behind
:12:10. > :12:17.now and become part of litter every London. His past life haunted. Last
:12:18. > :12:21.year he his memoir. A dark and touching account of growing up in
:12:22. > :12:30.Margaret Thatcher's Scotland in the zone to 80s. The culture I grew up
:12:31. > :12:38.in was very macho. Very homophobic. I could see where I was from. I knew
:12:39. > :12:43.that was not whereupon to to be. The question we are asking as are the
:12:44. > :12:48.downsides to social mobility? There are. You pay a price. Social
:12:49. > :12:55.mobility has a tack. An emotional is. Everybody who has made that
:12:56. > :13:02.progression up or down, has had to pay. When you went to university, it
:13:03. > :13:05.was as if you had a presentiment of the fact you were going to be
:13:06. > :13:14.separated from your family. Not just physically but in all sorts of ways?
:13:15. > :13:20.My father drove me to Edinburgh and I cried all the way there. He did
:13:21. > :13:23.too. This is what I wanted. My dream come true. I'm going to a
:13:24. > :13:31.university. I will become a journalist. Yet, I felt sad. I felt
:13:32. > :13:39.lost. I was grieving. I knew there and then, I was leaving them behind.
:13:40. > :13:46.It was a kind of grief. What of not just people but places left behind.
:13:47. > :13:49.Barely in Lancashire suffered a slow decline at over many years as
:13:50. > :13:58.ambitious young people left. -- Burnley. A reporter macro 2010
:13:59. > :14:03.single it out as having the highest proportion of low skilled workers in
:14:04. > :14:08.Britain. Last year it suffered the indignity of being named in the
:14:09. > :14:16.Economist as a decaying city. It said its people should be helped to
:14:17. > :14:22.move to find jobs. Empty houses, abandoned streets -
:14:23. > :14:25.the signs of an exodus from Burnley are all around. This is a previously
:14:26. > :14:27.proud community that's suffered badly. And skilled and talented
:14:28. > :14:42.people have simply moved on. But Steve Rumbelo, the chief
:14:43. > :14:47.executive of the council, says there are exciting things going on in
:14:48. > :14:52.Burnley now. And this university technical college, built in one of
:14:53. > :14:57.the city's cotton mill, is a case in point. Teecialgs here are --
:14:58. > :15:01.teenagers here are taught the technical skills they need to
:15:02. > :15:04.progress. The problems being about job, frankly, and about to some
:15:05. > :15:10.extent that's linked to education. So, young people, particularly, but
:15:11. > :15:16.the general population too, have, when they've had opportunities to
:15:17. > :15:22.become economically active outside the area, that's led them to move
:15:23. > :15:26.away. There was a flight of middle classes from Burnley? I wouldn't
:15:27. > :15:30.characterise it as that. I would characterise it as a flight of
:15:31. > :15:33.people that could get economically active again. And that led them
:15:34. > :15:39.elsewhere. And that's, I think, the reality. The key to all this is to
:15:40. > :15:42.make sure the opportunities exist. We're doing that and that should
:15:43. > :15:48.turn into an upturn in population over the next ten years.
:15:49. > :15:56.Right. Fair enough. It's not true! Terry Christian shot to fame in the
:15:57. > :16:02.early 1990s as a presenter on the cult youth show The Word. He's a
:16:03. > :16:05.Lancashire man, born and brought up in Manchester. And he still lives
:16:06. > :16:10.here, having never wanted the sort of life he saw in London. He's had a
:16:11. > :16:15.successful career in the media and is, well, a little conflicted about
:16:16. > :16:19.what he is now. So, Terry, you're a middle-class boy now, are you? Well,
:16:20. > :16:26.I suppose in terms of my lifestyle, you know, sort of ground coffee
:16:27. > :16:29.rather than instant, living in leafy Cheshire yes. And then people call
:16:30. > :16:33.you a champagne socialist and everything. But I have never felt
:16:34. > :16:38.anything other than working-class. In some ways, you took your values
:16:39. > :16:41.from the area that you grew up in. And also your kind of respect for
:16:42. > :16:46.people. So, we're asking the question - are there down sides to
:16:47. > :16:49.social mobility? I think there are from a personal perspective. When
:16:50. > :16:55.you get to that promised land, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.
:16:56. > :16:59.It seems that the assets or the skill sets that will help you become
:17:00. > :17:04.socially mobile aren't about being smart or good at your job. It's all
:17:05. > :17:10.about being ambitious, greedy and very competitive. Up sound quite
:17:11. > :17:14.contemptuous of social mobility? I'm contemptuous of the model that we've
:17:15. > :17:18.got of social mobility. This idea - why can't you be socially mobile by
:17:19. > :17:22.being brilliant at caring for people? Profit is all that matters.
:17:23. > :17:24.People making money is all that matters. Everything else, well, it's
:17:25. > :17:39.nonsense. It's a reminder to all of us
:17:40. > :17:44.pursuing a better life that it can lead to a loss of identity, or to
:17:45. > :17:47.civic decline, or simply, perhaps, to a sense of disenchantment.
:17:48. > :17:52.Opportunity and achievement remain great, but sometimes, it seems,
:17:53. > :17:54.social mobility can bring a whole new set of challenges all of its
:17:55. > :18:09.own. This is the National Football
:18:10. > :18:13.Stadium in Kabul, a place of both evil memory and of hope. Evil
:18:14. > :18:20.because this is where the Taliban used to execute their prisoners.
:18:21. > :18:24.Hope because Afghanistan started playing international matches here
:18:25. > :18:29.and has just been given FIFA's coveted Fair Play Award for doing
:18:30. > :18:32.it. Afghanistan isn't exactly a sporting giant, of course. But, like
:18:33. > :18:39.everyone else t will soon start thinking about the team it will send
:18:40. > :18:44.to the 2016 Olympics. And those Olympics will have real significance
:18:45. > :18:48.for the United Kingdom, of course, with a referendum on Scottish
:18:49. > :18:51.independence due later this year there is a genuine possibility that
:18:52. > :18:56.Scotland will be represented separately from England, Wales and
:18:57. > :19:00.Northern Ireland at the Olympics. But would that actually be good for
:19:01. > :19:08.sport in Scotland and the rest of Britain? The question for our sports
:19:09. > :19:11.editor, David Bond. CHEERING
:19:12. > :19:14.Could London be the last time we see this?
:19:15. > :19:18.CHEERING Athletes from England, Wales,
:19:19. > :19:24.Northern Ireland and Scotland united for an Olympic victory parade.
:19:25. > :19:31.The summer of 2012 was not only a record-breaking time for British
:19:32. > :19:37.Olympians and Paralympians. It marked a special moment in the --
:19:38. > :19:45.and the whole of the UK seemed to come together behind our athletes.
:19:46. > :19:54.Later this year, Scotland will be asked whether it wants to go its own
:19:55. > :20:01.way. I suppose sport may not be as important as questions of defence or
:20:02. > :20:08.the economy. But for many people, it can stir far deeper passions. Sport
:20:09. > :20:12.here in Scotland is seen as a great source of national pride. And for
:20:13. > :20:18.some the referendum in September is viewed as an opportunity to build on
:20:19. > :20:22.that sense of national identity. But pulling Scotland out of the British
:20:23. > :20:30.sports system is still a huge leap into the unknown.
:20:31. > :20:34.Sir Matthew Pinsant, one of Britain's greatist-ever Olympians,
:20:35. > :20:39.is worried about the future of Team GB without Scottish involvement. The
:20:40. > :20:43.difficulty is trying to imagine a scenario where they would be the
:20:44. > :20:46.same, separated off from Britain. And Team GW would definitely feel
:20:47. > :20:54.their loss. -- and Team GB would definitely feel
:20:55. > :20:59.their loss. Imogen is one of Great Britain's leading badminton players.
:21:00. > :21:05.She's tipped to win a medal for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games
:21:06. > :21:11.in Glasgow this summer. Like all much Scotland's top sports
:21:12. > :21:16.stars, she has the luxury of choice. She can stay in Scotland at the same
:21:17. > :21:19.time as tapping into the far better-resourced UK elite system.
:21:20. > :21:25.Would you describe yourself as a Scot or a Brit or both? How do you
:21:26. > :21:29.see that? Um, both. Obviously I represent Scotland. I'm a Scottish
:21:30. > :21:33.badminton player and I live here. But similarly, I have spent more of
:21:34. > :21:38.my adult life living in England. I trained in England. I had an English
:21:39. > :21:43.partner when I competed for Team GB, so very much I feel British as well.
:21:44. > :21:46.So, I feel like I have a dual identity in that sense. You like
:21:47. > :21:51.that? Yeah. You want that to stay the same? Well, I think - again, I
:21:52. > :21:54.think we have the best of both worlds. You know, to compete for
:21:55. > :21:56.Scotland in the Commonwealth Games but also just to have the
:21:57. > :22:03.opportunity to represent Great Britain as part of Team GB. So,
:22:04. > :22:12.that's how it is for me. At the Edinburgh Track Club, they
:22:13. > :22:19.have been producing top athletes for years. The 1980 Olympic gold
:22:20. > :22:23.medallist, Alan Wells, started here. Money is already tight and there are
:22:24. > :22:28.deep concerns at what might happen to the next generation if an
:22:29. > :22:33.independent Scotland struggled to maintain current funding levels.
:22:34. > :22:38.Bill Walker is the club's head coach. And at the moment, you know,
:22:39. > :22:42.the money - we get a lot of the support from England, the coaches.
:22:43. > :22:48.They come up here and give us a lot of help. And we don't have the depth
:22:49. > :22:52.of coaches at a high level in Scotland or the depth of athletes to
:22:53. > :22:57.cover all the events. We've got good athletes, but not in every event.
:22:58. > :23:01.And to put a team together will be difficult.
:23:02. > :23:05.But what does the possible end of Team GB mean for those young Scots
:23:06. > :23:12.dreaming of competing in the Olympics? The thing is that the one
:23:13. > :23:15.vote for yes is Scotland can compete on one stage at the Olympics if they
:23:16. > :23:20.were allowed to. So, for me, that could be mime only chance as a
:23:21. > :23:24.sprinter. It kind of gives you a lot more respect if you compete for Team
:23:25. > :23:30.GB as well. Competing for Scotland is good, but it's... Up kind of get
:23:31. > :23:35.a lot more honour and stuff if you're Team GB.
:23:36. > :23:41.For now, thoughts of the Olympics are taking a back seat. In July,
:23:42. > :23:45.Glasgow will host the Commonwealth Games and provide Scots with another
:23:46. > :23:51.opportunity to perform in front of a home crowd.
:23:52. > :23:56.This brand-new velodrome will be one of the main attractions during this
:23:57. > :23:58.summer's Commonwealth Games. And the Scottish Government hope that the
:23:59. > :24:02.national passion that will be generated here will have a big
:24:03. > :24:06.impact on the referendum. Well, I think sport - there's a
:24:07. > :24:11.range of issue that is people are concerned with in terms of the...
:24:12. > :24:15.The former first minister, Henny McLeish, is leading a Scottish
:24:16. > :24:19.government study into the future of sport. He's confident that when it
:24:20. > :24:22.comes to sport, an independent Scotland would be able to stand on
:24:23. > :24:27.its own two feet. Being a small country is not a barrier to being a
:24:28. > :24:31.successful country. It will be as big as their imagination and
:24:32. > :24:34.ambition wants to be. Therefore, whether it's yes or no in September,
:24:35. > :24:39.I believe that Scotland will have a great sporting future. Even if
:24:40. > :24:43.Scotland votes yes, athletes will be given the choice to compete for a
:24:44. > :24:50.new Team Scotland or stick with Team GB. For some, it raises the prospect
:24:51. > :24:54.of a very difficult decision. I believe that many of those
:24:55. > :24:58.athletes will want to compete for Team Scotland on the first Olympic
:24:59. > :25:01.team that Scotland would produce. So there would just be such an
:25:02. > :25:06.excitement around that. But ultimately, if our athletes choose
:25:07. > :25:10.to go elsewhere, that's a matter for them if they qualified for Team GB,
:25:11. > :25:15.that would be a matter for them. But I have no doubt whatsoever that the
:25:16. > :25:20.excitement of competing for a Scottish Olympic team would be a
:25:21. > :25:26.huge draw for many, many athletes in Scotland.
:25:27. > :25:31.This debate about sporting identity reflects the far wider questions
:25:32. > :25:36.facing this country. But whichever way the vote goes, one senses 2014
:25:37. > :25:37.will not only be a big year for Scottish sport, it could be an
:25:38. > :25:52.important one for British sport too. That's it from this Kabul edition of
:25:53. > :26:11.The Editors. Until we meet again, goodbye.
:26:12. > :26:16.Hello. After much of the UK endured a stormy start to the weekend,
:26:17. > :26:20.something a little bit more bearable in the day ahead. It will still be
:26:21. > :26:24.windy, just not as windy. There will be fewer showers around, so more of
:26:25. > :26:27.us will stay dry. There will be sunshine too. From the word go,
:26:28. > :26:32.still windy across Scotland. Plenty of showers, snow over hills. Icy
:26:33. > :26:33.start across parts of Scotland too. The showers easing a