31/10/2011 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

In the next half an hour... Speaking up - the cost of

children's heart surgery to the doctors with tiny lives in their

hands. The phone would go. My heart would

be racing. I was having anxiety about another operation. I got to

the stage where I just couldn't do it any more. $$NEWLINESpeaking out

- the North's newest converts to the fastest-growing religion.

I always had this longing in me to connect with God. It was only when

I started finding out about Islam that things started to make sense.

And keeping quiet - the Northern MP with a private passion.

YELLOW Ellen Wilkinson's private life was as colourful as her hair.

It would have been "reds in the beds". She wouldn't have been Red

Ellen, she would have been The Scarlet Woman.

Stories from the heart of the North East and Cumbria. This is Inside

Out. There is a shake-up underway that

could end children's heart surgery at one of our leading hospitals.

Yet medics here welcome the review that could see almost half the

specialist units in England close, with operations concentrated in

fewer, bigger centres. Why? Because, they say, the current

system leads to stress and burn-out for surgeons - and that is not good

for children. Tonight, for the first time, a surgeon tells Inside

Out just how unbearable that pressure can be.

Early in his short life, Ashton Glen's growing heart got the wrong

signals. Instead of developing two main vessels to carry blood to and

from his heart, it only grew one. At six weeks old, Ashton needs a

life-saving operation. He is getting more breathless. You

can tell he is struggling now, he needs it doing.

But children's heart surgery in England has a problem. We have been

lurching from one potential crisis to another, in terms of staffing.

People have just burned out. So I think it is about time to call it a

day. Why is the system in England in crisis? It all boils down to

numbers. There are 11 centres in England, employing around 30

surgeons. The argument being made is that work is spread too thinly

on the ground. Not enough cases are coming through to develop a

surgeon's skills and get the best results.

It is the day of Ashton's operation. Very nervous. I'm sure they will

look after him. Bless him. He does not know what is happening. Are you

going to have a cuddle, Mister? Ashton is prepared for surgery.

Hard. See you soon. Thanks. It is hard, but you know it is for the

best. Once we go on bypass, just flick over the heart, to have a

quick look at it. His heart is tiny - the size of a walnut. The single

main vessel will be separated, and a new trunk and valve grafted in.

This is the most difficult part of the operation, which is to separate

both the right and left ventricles. The Freeman's surgeons are now

focused on Ashton. If an emergency arose elsewhere, they could not

deal with it. Hold on a second. There's a coronary. In the small

units, they do not see enough of these rare conditions.

Massimo Griselli has only done this operation twice in his career. He's

excited. Asifhasan, who is supervising, is not. That, down

there? Yeah? As a senior consultant, I have to take the can. Things have

to go right. There is no room for error or mistake here. I do not

think my emotions are of excitement. I am more sweaty, more worried than

him. Ah, yes. Scissors, please. Thanks. There is another reason why

there is pressure to set up larger units. It is the effects on the

surgeons. They are human beings and doing demanding work in very small

teams can be stressful. In another theatre, a surgeon performs a

bypass and valve replacement on an adult. Leslie Hamilton led

children's heart surgery at the Freeman, but he stopped in 2006.

For the first time on TV, he tells Inside Out why.

The phone would go, my heart would be racing. I was having attacks of

stress and anxiety about the thought of going in to another

operation. I got to the stage where I just could not do it any more.

adult heart surgery is First Division, children's is Premier

League, but without the wages. Every operation is different. You

have you have to tailor it to the individual child. You spend a lot

of time thinking about it beforehand. You will be lying awake

the night before. There is a lot more mental pressure on children's

heart surgeons. You do not get into a comfortable phase of doing the

same operation regularly. I was fortunate that my colleagues

recognised I was feeling the pressure. They came to me and said,

"You're not enjoying it any more. Let's see how we can change

things." For me, it was a question of confidence, rather than

operating ability, because I have continued doing adults. So it has

not been a technical issue, it was just the whole psychological

pressure. For decades there have been calls

to change the system. But that would mean closing centres - and

that is unpopular. But now, the NHS is grasping the nettle. A review,

called Safe And Sustainable, has come up with four options for

shaking up children's' heart surgery. Each proposes reducing the

number of centres from eleven to either seven or six. In the first

three options, A to C, the Freeman's unit remains open. Units

in London, Leeds, Southampton and Leicester could close, depending on

which option is chosen. In the last option, the Freeman's unit closes.

Each centre would see 400 to 500 cases a year and have four surgeons.

That should make it easier to organise training and holiday cover

and give surgeons more experience of rare conditions The Freeman has

two surgeons - one in two, as it is called. One in two is a mug's game.

I've done it for 17 years. Constantly working. It is wearing

and plays havoc with personal and family life. Ashton's heart has

been divided in two. We have dismantled the heart and we are

remantling it now. But there is a problem. The main artery from

another baby is too small. They use a vein from a cow. Come on. Hold

that, please. Just outside, there. Most days, the surgeons are on the

wards checking their patients. After contracting a virus three

months ago, Scarlett is being supported by an artificial heart.

just find it hard to believe that they have a life outside of here,

because we see them so often. I just keep thinking, "What happens

if one of them is ill, then the other one's ill?" What would they

do? I think it is obviously a brilliant idea that they have more

surgeons here, to learn off two of the best surgeons. I hope it is in

this hospital. Have you seen Chloe after transplant? She's doing very

well. B$$NEWLINE We have seen two surgeons, they are coming out.

she had to get rushed on the Berlin Heart, the surgeon's been busy all

day. One is on holiday and there is only him to do everything. It is

not fair. You know, we've seen it from that side. They do need more

surgeons to cover. Ashton's operation is almost over. We're

coming to the last end of the jigsaw puzzle now. You saw the

heart completely split at one stage, yeah? This is all being

reconstructed now. This manoeuvre is a bit tricky because these are

the coronary arteries. We cannot interfere with that. If those are

damaged, you would get a heart attack. So, that is it, really. You

can see, it is all reconstructed now. Now they must see if the heart

works without the help of the bypass machine. Everything is fine,

as we expected. So, we are closing the chest. The operation is a

success. The review of children's heart surgery was backed by the

clinicians. But as the process has gone on, the proposals have

generated criticism. Questions have been asked about how the four

options were arrived at. Good, OK. Take your time. That's fine. It has

been suggested that the Freeman is in three of the four options

because Leslie Hamilton was on the review steering group. The

decision-making body is the commissioners. The clinicians, and

I'm one of those, have been on the steering group, are giving clinical

advice. We have been representing our professional bodies, not our

individual unit. And that has been really important. The decision-

making body is a separate body, so no unit has been represented.

Ashton is moved to intensive care. Mum sees him for the first time. In

the next few months, a committee of Primary Care Trusts will decide

which option to back, and the closures could start in 2013. Even

if the Freeman is amongst them, its surgeons support the review. I will

be gutted. But we will have to accept that decision. It is four

weeks since baby Ashton's operation. Before, he was breathless all the

time. Tired. Now he is doing really well, since he got out of hospital.

He is putting on weight and happy in himself. We cannot thank them

enough. We owe them the world. They have given our son a life.

Ashton will need more operations as he grows. We will know soon whether

that will be at the Freeman or elsewhere in the country.

It is always great to get your take on our stories. So, if you have a

view on the plans for children's heart surgery, why not share your

comments on my blog? Which do you think is Britain's fastest growing

religion and who are the converts? Well, the answers to both questions

might surprise you. Former tabloid journalist Richard Peppiatt has

been to meet some of Islam's newest northern followers.

'Crazy plan for Sharia law Britain'. 'Nobody knew whether I was a thief

hiding from the police or a fanatic gripping a home-made bomb'.

'Outraged council chiefs have demanded British-style toilets are

used instead of Middle East style squat-holes'.

I worked on The Daily Star for two years. I resigned because I was

sick of writing stories which I knew to be untrue. I spent most of

my career demonising Islam. Despite its media image, it is

Britain's fastest growing religion. I want to know why. I am nervous

meeting some Muslims today. They probably think that I believe that

they are all terrorists and bombers. We're off to a shaky start.

I've got a bone to pick with you! Come on. My name is Daniel Johnson.

I used to be a punk-rock singer and now I'm a Muslim.

Daniel converted to Islam aged 19, just after 9/11. No shrinking

violet, is our Daniel. You used to invent stories about

Muslims to sell papers, is that true?

Not quite as simple as that. You knew at the time what you were

doing. And people just like you, who are

still doing it, how do they sleep at night?

OK, he has got a point. But this isn't about me making up stories

anymore. It's about real lives and difficult choices.

SHE READS FROM THE KORAN. I was a teenage binge-drinker and

now I'm a Muslim. Tell me a little bit more about

your wild child days. It was drinking, smoking, things

like this. Running away from home, being really naughty. You know,

disrespectful towards my parents. I was a real nightmare.

Donna fell in love with a Muslim and changed her religion to be with

him. She's gradually become more devout, to the point where I can't

imagine the old Donna - the clubber, the boozer. Maybe a shopping trip

to Middlesbrough will help. Wind the clock back to the year

2000. Would you have worn that? Again, it's the style thing.

It's too blingy. But it wouldn't have been a problem that it was

skimpy. That wouldn't have bothered you?

That wouldn't have been a problem. It's the bling on it? Like you say,

this low-cut, that would be the style.

When you see girls wearing something like that, does it make

you feel a bit dowdy, perhaps? No, again, it's a choice that I've

made, you know? If I really wanted to do things like this, I'm still

able to do it, it's a choice. Do you miss that aspect of your

life? Yeah, I do miss going shopping for the clothes, getting

ready with your mates and having a laugh. When I'm dropping them off

to the clubs, sometimes I do wish, yeah, I would like to just take my

scarf off and go. And they do ask me, "Come on, just come with us."

But I don't think I would ever, ever, ever step foot again in a

nightclub. One of the most difficult things

for me, were I to convert to Islam, would be giving up drinking. I mean,

drinking is the religion in the north-east. Straight away, you

would be an outsider. Donna's friend Amy also converted for love,

but she hasn't sacrificed so much. I'm a party animal, but I'm also a

Muslim. I do drink and I go out with the girls and stuff. I don't

normally wear my headscarf. I've only put it on to go in the mosque.

Do you find it quite a conflict, quite a tension between trying to

balance what you might call your British lifestyle and your Muslim

lifestyle? Definitely, yes. If I want to

follow properly I've got to wear the headscarf. That means not doing

my hair, you know, I'd like to do my hair and look nice. There's

certain clothes you can't wear because you would be showing too

much or whatever. Even just showing your arms and your chest, that kind

of thing. You've got to change a lot of things.

Converting is nothing new. Popstars, actors, sportspeople, they've all

done it - including Muhammad Ali in 1965. He even visited this mosque

in South Shields. But, post-9/11 the trend is growing. Research

suggests more than 5,000 people embraced Islam in Britain last year

alone. And Amy fits the profile of the new convert perfectly. Young,

white and female - and with a crucial role to play.

I think converts could play a massive role. The fact that if

converts tell other white people, or non-Muslims why they converted,

give them the reason why they converted, that could remove a lot

of misconceptions about Islam. After our first meeting, Daniel's

calmed down a bit. We hook up at one of his favourite teenage haunts.

So, this bench, a lot of youth spent on this bench?

Yeah, wasted youth. We would sit here, we would smoke marijuana and

drink cheap cider. We liked punk- rock so much because it was so

angry. And I was so full of anger. I used to write angry, pseudo-

political tripe. Can you remember any of the lyrics?

Yes, we had a song called Give Dope and E to the Iraqis. I'm not even

going to feign nostalgia. Those were some of the most miserable

days of my life. Really? I just didn't know the purpose of life and

it was only when I started finding out about Islam that things started

to make sense. I came to Islam through Christianity. I always had

this longing in me to connect with God. And you couldn't find that

through Christianity? Well, I think I did, to some extent. But I think

the logical next step was to become a Muslim. Because, when I

discovered Islam, after 9/11, because that made me want to find

out more about Islam, I found that all the things I valued and

believed in as a Christian were there in Islam. And it also had

more to offer as well. But what on earth does Daniel's

family make of it all? When you first converted, yeah, you could be

quite annoying. There's a big part of me glad I wasn't too close to

you for a lot of it. When I first became a Muslim, I got

a serious bout of what's called convertitis. That is when you

become so full of passion and enthusiasm, you almost become

temporarily insane. Nowadays, my ethos is I like to pass on the

message of Islam. And what people do with it, that's up to them.

The Muslim community here is small - only 1% North East population

follow Islam. Less than 750 Muslims live in the whole of Cumbria. In

Middlesbrough, it is just 6,000. I am the only Muslim in my family.

My mum's side's Catholic and my dad's side are Christian. I

wouldn't say they've rejected me. But, like you said, it's a massive

shock to them. Now I feel bad because weddings, parties, funerals,

christenings, things like this within the family, I don't now

attend. Because I would say the Boro way is to have the party at a

pub, the local club. Because I won't go in these places.

You can't go to the reception itself?

No, because it's in a pub. I don't think they would fall out with me

over these things. But I can't imagine they're happy about it.

Maybe they don't understand? Amy married in this mosque four

years ago, but hasn't been back since. I want to know why.

I find it intimidating. I worry about going in there and doing

something wrong, or people looking at me and whispering, nudging each

other. Because they see me, they see blonde hair and blue eyes. They

think, like, I'm an intruder. I do feel like I'm intruding sometimes.

Do you think that Middlesbrough's a difficult place to be a Muslim?

It's difficult to be a Muslim that isn't Asian. If you're not of the

same background, culturally, they tend to leave you, like you're an

outsider, basically. A lot of new Muslims struggle

because of lack of support. It is not necessarily that they can't

come to the mosque, it is that when they do come to the mosque, they

have no-one to answer their I do regret now writing stories

about Islam when I didn't really know anything about it, or made no

effort to. On a personal level, I let myself down not learning more.

But I hope to change that. When I heard about who was going to do the

interview and what he's done, I was full of anger and really wanted to

throttle him, to be honest. But, then when I thought about the

reality of what he's done since writing those terrible headlines,

how he's tried to spread the truth, after having spread falsehood, I

actually really admire and respect him.

While I spent my tabloid career tearing at the seams of communities,

these Muslim converts are repairing my damage. They've been on a really

difficult path, but I genuinely feel they believe they're on the

right road. I hope that now I'm on 75 years ago today, local MP Ellen

Wilkinson led the Jarrow Marchers into Downing Street and the

headlines. But Red Ellen had a secret life, a passionate affair

that would have set today's red tops racing. The question is, would

Ellen have made today's headlines for entirely different reasons? We

asked another Labour leading light, Diane Abbott, to investigate. She

was a pioneer. She led from the front.

A crusader who fought injustice, poverty and inequality.

She was Ellen Wilkinson, the woman they called Red Ellen. Ellen

Wilkinson was one of the most important female political figures

of the 20th century. In her era, she was a real

political star. And yet, today, much of her life

and work is forgotten. I'm a big fan of Ellen, but I'm

keen to find out why she's not better known outside the North East.

Maybe her private life had something to do with it.

Ellen Wilkinson's private life was as colourful as her hair.

She loved very well. Perhaps wisely, I don't know.

Ellen Wilkinson was the MP for Middlesbrough East for seven years

and then the MP for Jarrow for 12. She was the only female cabinet

minister in the 1945 Labour government.

Ellen Wilkinson is an heroic figure. She was a pathfinder as one of the

first women MPs, one of the first women cabinet ministers, the first

woman Education Secretary. Above all else, she stood up for

what she believed in and she stood up for Jarrow.

But Jarrow has not forgotten Ellen. Here in the town centre, everywhere

you look there are memorials to Ellen and the Jarrow Crusade which

she led. 200 marchers travelled the 300

miles from Jarrow to London to protest against unemployment and

extreme poverty. They carried a petition with 12,000

names. This was Ellen Wilkinson's defining

moment - the iconic image of the 1930s depression.

Behind us is the Town Hall in Jarrow, where the march started in

1936. They walked down here, down Grange

Road. They turned left into Hill Street and into immortality, of a

sort. Was she was the only woman on the

march? She was the only woman on the march.

She was that. One dog, 200 men and Ellen!

The local paper had a reporter alongside her and the links between

the press and the protest remain to this day.

My Uncle Jonny was a marcher and they all felt a great affinity with

the woman. I don't know whether it was her stature or passion - I

suspect it was both of those things together. She was a firebrand and

they took to her as their own, as though she a Jarrow woman. My dad

often talked about how she would do the meetings beside the railway

station in Jarrow, how she started to speak and held people. She was

passionate, she was small, she was a red head, she was all the cliches

rolled into one. She was honoured and loved by the people of Jarrow.

She is remembered in the North East, with great affection. Many other

MPs have been and gone. But she is still remembered. Partly because

she was a women, partly because she was a cabinet minister, but she

stood up for Jarrow. And that shock of red hair meant she was, with her

politics, Red Ellen. Ellen Wilkinson wrote this book

three years after the Jarrow March. "One thing is constant through the

whole story of Jarrow. And that is the poverty of the working people

of Jarrow. They built vast fortunes, but for others.

She is the eldest of a family of 10 children. And she is only 13

herself. It's no light undertaking

addressing a mass meeting in the open air. What strikes me is how

she manages to bond with her audience. But it's remarkable,

because the audience is almost entirely men. And there is this

tiny woman holding them in the palm of her hand.

Well, surely it is the number of happy homes, the number of children

who have a chance in life? Did the people of Jarrow like her?

Yes, definitely. When she died, it broke all their hearts. It did,

honestly. Well, all except the Tories!

A month after they set out, Ellen Wilkinson and the Jarrow Crusade

arrived here in Westminster, almost 75 years ago to the day. But, sadly,

the Prime Minister of the day, Stanley Baldwin, refused to meet

them, so the petition was politely submitted, but nothing was done for

the unemployed of Jarrow. But the march did achieve one thing

- it put Ellen Wilkinson in the public eye like never before. Her

star was rising fast. But, behind the scenes, Ellen had

secrets - she had love affairs with married men.

By this time, Ellen had a new lover, titan of the Labour movement and

soon-to-be Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison.

Discovery might have ruined them both.

But the affair remained secret and, in 1945, Ellen Wilkinson became

Education Secretary in the new Labour Government.

Would Ellen Wilkinson's love affairs have landed her in hot

water with today's tabloid media? It would have been 'Red in the

Beds'. She wouldn't have been Red Ellen,

she would have been The Scarlet Woman. The right-wing tabloids

would have gone for her and savaged her. And I think that would have

really affected her. She might never have made it into the cabinet,

because, certainly in the 1930s, there was a lot of hypocrisy in

public life. The political leaders, the establishment were hopping in

and out of each other's beds. But if you've got a fiery left-wing MP

for Jarrow doing that, she would have been crucified by the right-

wing media. I think now we have 24/7 media

coverage, she could have well become the victim of a tabloid

sting or a lot of coverage which would have perhaps turned the

working class people of Jarrow against her.

Perhaps if Ellen had lived in the days of 24 hour news, all the

rather prurient scrutiny that politicians' private lives get now,

perhaps she would have behaved differently? She was a single woman,

she never married. She was a very remarkable young woman. I would

prefer that we think of her for her achievements and not for her

private life. But then I would say that, wouldn't I?

Overworked and under pressure, Ellen Wilkinson's health was

failing. Shortly after her break up with Herbert Morrison, she died

from a drug overdose. I think the question of whether

Ellen Wilkinson committed suicide or simply took an overdose of

barbiturates by mistake is something that we will never

resolve. The passing of our dear colleague,

Ellen, came as a great shock to all of us. Ellen, all her life, had

been a very great fighter, a fighter for the common people.

Farewell, Ellen - great, little, courageous soul.

We will carry on your work. Despite these warm words, her death

had the whiff of scandal. Rumours persisted, but the Labour

establishment closed ranks. Her status within Labour Party is

diminished to this very day. But I think that needs to change.

Without women like Ellen Wilkinson, Margaret Thatcher's tenure in the

Ministry of Education, the Prime Ministership, would not have been

possible. She was a significant figure. She

was a very attractive figure. She was, in many ways, a romantic

figure and one who cared passionately about the people she

represented. But, in the end, she didn't achieve very much.

The world needs to remember Ellen Wilkinson, the woman they called