28/10/2013 Inside Out West

Hello from Easton in Bristol. Tonight we go undercover across the

city to investigate Islamophobia. We discover vacancies that mysteriously

disappear for our Muslim job`seeker. And flats that are suddenly no

longer available. Lso tonight, we meet the family who have been

thatching since 1721. However, if you're aged between 16

and 24 years old and Muslim, you're twice as likely to be unemployed

than non`Muslims. Muslim men find it harder to get a job, they have to

make more applications and get more interviews to get an offer. They are

much more worse off than the average male population. I have been

concerned about the rise of anti`Muslim hatred and low`level

anti`Muslim sentiment. So what's going on? Is there another type of

discrimination in our midst today? An anti`Muslim bias or Islamaphobia?

We're going undercover to try and find out.

Our journalists are very similar to each other. But there's a major

difference. One of them is a practicing Muslim. His clothes are

the only way you'd know what faith he follows. They'll both apply for

jobs and rented accommodation across Bristol, secretly filming the

results. Our undercover reporters are based

at this hotel in Clifton. They're both from Manchester and today is

the first time they've met. Zoltan converted to Islam eight years ago.

Throughout his stay here he'll be observing Ramadan. It's the holiest

month of the year for Muslims. He must pray five times a day and not

eat or drink anything during daylight hours. We've scowered all

four corners of the city for job vacancies. The type that are

advertised on shop windows as "apply within". Both our reporters have

amended their CVs so their experience and education are equal.

Zoltan has also changed his name to Mohammad so that on paper, at least,

it's clear he's Muslim. We're in one of the city's suburbs. There's a job

being advertised as a delivery driver for a fast food outlet.

Before applying for it they have to put their secret filming gear on.

Zoltan tries his luck first. He shows the person that he has

relevant experience on his CV. He's told he needs to own a car and have

a clean drivers licence and be insured.

Five minutes later and it's Ian s turn. Unlike Zoltan he's given an

application form and told to fill it in straightaway.

Ian's treatment is very different to Zoltan's. He's given the opportunity

to apply for the job rather than just leave a CV. We're in another

part of the city applying for a job in a cafe and bar. Zoltan's up

first. After a very brief chat he tells Zoltan he's only collecting

CVs at the moment. He'll look at all of them next week and choose the

best candidates for trial shifts. Ian tries his luck ten minutes

later. Immediately it's clear things are different.

The two exchange a bit of banter. He's then offered a trial shift Oh

can you come in for a trial on Saturday night?

The manager suddenly spots Zoltan who returns momentarily.

Ian's treatment was obviously different to Zoltan's. He tells

Zoltan what happened. I'm not actually surprised. It's a bar. It's

a coffee shop by day, bar by night. So that kind of role is not

something you'd find too many Muslims in general, if they're

practicing that is. But as far as he's concerened, you're going for a

job there so you must be OK working there. Yeah, as far as he's

concerned, yeah. We've since contacted the manager of the cafe

who says he didn't discriminate against Zoltan and had more things

in common with Ian and struck up a better rapport with him. Our

reporters also try and apply for jobs being advertised at two

branches of a supermarket. At the first the manager treats them both

equally, telling them to apply online. But at the other, it's a

different story. There are three jobs being advertised here, Store

Manager, Store Supervisor and Delivery Driver. Zoltan's up first.

She goes to ask the manager about the vacancy.

So Ian walks away with an application form while Zoltan was

told there was nothing until Christmas. Our reporters have a

chance to reflect. They are so very nice to your face. But the reality

is different. I don't know what inside that person, but we can only

judge the result that has come back. We've since contacted the

supermarket. It's thanked us and is investigating our findings. In total

we applied for 40 jobs across the city. These ranged from delivering

newspapers to managing shops. Zoltan was only successful in getting three

interviews. For Ian, the number was much higher. He secured 13. That's

more than four times the amount Ian was also offered a job at one place

without having an interview. It does concern me that somebody's

opportunity is being curbed because of the religion they appear to

follow. In this country we have a law which protects against

discrimination. We need to make sure these policies are being applied at

the grassroots level. It's Friday, the holiest day of the week for

Muslims. Zoltan's faith requires him to pray with others. So where we're

going now is Totterdown Mosque. It is an opportunity to show Ian what

it is all about. It is his first time inside a mosque. People will be

reading on their own, maybe reading some of the Koran. Then we have the

sermon in Arabic and Urdu. Then followed by the congregational

prayer, praying together. Afterwards they get a chance to speak to the

congregation and see if they have experienced any discrimination

themselves. I have experienced that as a member of this community. But

things have changed. Even writing references for students. I think to

myself, you are a smart kid, you have done well and you should get an

interview. The students contact me back and say, why am I not getting

it rushed to market and the last thing I want to say to them it is

because your name is not Bob Smith. Have you felt any sort of

discrimination against yourself in terms of jobs because you are a

Muslim? I have in the past. I have gone to the positions where I felt I

was the better candidate for the job, but I wasn't given the job I

can appeal it, but if I did get the role afterwards, I would feel

awkward. If they do not work, they will be more likely to be involved

in drug behaviour and gangs. And also be recruited in two groups with

nasty causes. How can you ask people to integrate and then treat them

negatively and exclude them from job opportunities or other

opportunities? You are sowing a division into the next generation

and into the future. Our reporters were treated very differently when

applying for jobs. But what about when looking for somewhere to live?

We are using an online advertising site to search for one`bedroom flats

that are being rented by their owners. We don't want to complicate

our results by involving agents Can I come and view it if possible?

They head off to see it. Zoltan is up first.

Half an hour later and it is Ian's turn. It is the same drill.

They then take it in turn to call the landlady to say they both want

the flat. By rights, Zoltan should have preference over Ian, if she

treats them on a first`come, first`served basis. OK, thanks.

Goodbye. I told her I wanted to take the flat and will give some money

for the deposit so she can hold it. That is that. I will ring her now

and see if it is on hold for you. How are you doing, all right? I was

just ringing up because I have had a think and I think I want to say yes,

if it is still available? Do you need that like tomorrow? OK. So you

were hoping I was going to call then? OK, that's great, I appreciate

that. She thought you were strange. Wait, she's calling me. Hello. Hi,

you all right? Oh, the other guy rang first? The other guy got the

flat, basically, is that it? Yeah. Despite promising it to Zoltan, she

gives the flat to Ian, telling him a lie in the process. And the same

happens on the other side of the city. The reporters are each shown

around another flat by a different landlord. Zoltan rings to say he

wants it and is told it's his. He just needs to supply references

Five minutes later, Ian calls. He tells him he's already promised the

flat to Zoltan. Ok, yeah, that would be great, yeah. What would I need to

do to secure it? But he still offers him it anyway, telling Ian that he's

a better candidate. Another flat viewing and Ian doesn't do so well

this time. Have you had much interest? When Zoltan calls, she

offers him the flat. And she stays true to her word when Ian calls I

would like to give you a yes if it is still available. She tells him

that Zoltan was before him and the flat's his. In total, we viewed ten

flats around the city. Ian was offered five. Despite Zoltan being

promised them first, he only managed to get two. It is deeply concerning

when people are not able to fulfil their full potential when they are

applying for a tenancy or going for a job. It is concerning if people's

opportunities being stopped because of the faith that they follow

because it will impact on their life but it will also impact on society.

It's the end of our two`week investigation and time for our

reporters to reflect on their findings. What's your overriding

feeling about what's happened? We need to start talking about this.

Because of the way Muslims are portrayed in the media,

unfortunately this has led to this sort of undercurrent of

discrimination. We need to start speaking about it. Because if we

keep quiet, it's just going to embed further and become worse. Now, it's

said jobs often run in the family. But what if your family's been

involved in the same skilled craft for nearly 300 years? Meet the

Wright family, who've been thatching since 1781.

It's an ancient craft thought to go back to the Bronze Age. Thatchers

have traditionally passed their skills from generation to

generation, the methods changing little over the centuries. The

Wright family are no exception, tracing their thatching heritage

back to the 18th century. But even thatchers have bad days. There is no

justification to remove that. I might say something. Richard Wright

is one in a long line of Somerset thatchers still working after 4

years in the trade. This will be a big help to the owner here. It's a

family`run business with pretty impressive credentials. They can

trace our family in the church register see, back to 1781, as

thatchers here in the village. When I left school, I had a brother

younger than me and both of us learnt with my father and then I

went on my own when I was about 21 or 22. And then started me own

business. And I got a chap Adrian that's been on 34 years, I've got a

son, Andrew, he's 38, and a grandson who's two. `` a grandson who is 21.

Just those three and myself. They are a tight`knit team and business

is booming. It's the start of the summer and the Wrights are booked on

back`to`back jobs for their busiest season. Their latest job is a

conversion, removing an old corrugated roof to replace it with

thatch. And they get straight to work removing the old timbers. This

is an ideal job. We've got a week's worth of getting the old tin off,

getting all new timbers, rafters on. It's work but it just breaks up the

thatching a bit. And it's quite interesting to start from scratch.

But, like many thatched properties, this cottage is a listed building

and work can't continue without the approval of structural engineers and

the all`important council representative for heritage. And the

all`important council representatives. Let's have a chat

about this then. Well, the consent that we had was to keep as much of

the original timber as possible but we weren't able to get up here. The

idea was that once work was started we would agree what would be kept

and what wouldn't. It's only day one of the job, but an issue has come up

already. The man from the council is concerned that some of the original

beams have been removed. That should've been left in there, but it

was hanging, you couldn't just leave it there. Working with listed

buildings is never straightforward and the officials have the final

say. They are saying that it will be going back up, they are just taking

it away to store it in the meantime. So yeah, in my view the historic

timbers should go back up. So the timbers are coming back in. It seems

modern day thatching isn't all that straightforward. But the essentials

of the crafts have remained virtually unchanged for centuries

and in gathering the raw materials at least, the process is still

headache`free. For many years, John Best has been supplying the Wrights

with straw using the ancient stooking method to prepare the

harvest. I've been doing this for nearly 30 years now, so we've just

about got the hang of the job. We put eight sheaves in a stook, so the

idea is for them to dry out. The wind can get through them, the air

can get amongst it and it sheds the rain. So basically they stay dry

like that and dry out as well. The only way we've mechanised it is when

we get it in. We use land wheel drive binders and they were made

probably during the war. This job, you've got to use, you know, the

traditional machinery because if it goes through a modern combine

harvester, all the straws are smashed up. So it's only the finest

straw for the Wrights, but the question is, will any of this

harvest make it onto the roof of the cottage conversion? I'm quite happy

with an approach that retains the historic timbers but puts a modern

roof over the top of it. On inspection of the roof, another

much bigger problem has been thrown up. The old woodwork may have to

stay, but its poor condition means that a steel frame must be made to

support it. I think you're really thinking that you're probably not

going to be wanting to be here for a month or so. Which means that

Richard's summer schedule will be thrown into chaos. The customer

ain't gonna like this, really. And neither does Richard. It looks like

filming might be off for the day. You don't want to keep it on? No, I

might say something! This is the first we've come up against

something like this. For me anyway. Once he's had time to cool off,

Richard's a little more philosophical. Got to make up some

steelwork to support them A`frames, which is fair enough, but they're

gonna hold us up, which we don't like being held up.

Back at home, Richard takes some of the unexpected time to sort through

the family's historical records which are going to local museum

Dad, he was about 88 there I expect. He died when he was nearly 90 but

that was the last time he come out. There's myself. Andrew, my son.

Shaun, my grandson. That's just dad and me, and my brother. Dad had put

there, nothing had altered in this craft for in 500 year. And the

Wrights have the records to prove it. There's the family tree there,

look. James Wright 1738, they can go back further, but in the church

register they only go back to 1 81. See, and then look, it can go on

down to my boys, see. Andrew, he's a thatcher, see. There's me, my dad

and dad's brother, he were a thatcher. And as well as this

impressive lineage, Richard's father also left behind messages in some of

the roofs he thatched. He wrote on it I think ` yeah. Look, H. E.

Wright and Mark Nicholls re`thatched this site December 1984. And that

was in the roof. You can go back now we're doing work that my dad done

60, 70 year ago like, it's marvellous really.

You can just see the part of the scarf joint there with the new oak

being put in. To the side we've got the C`section steel with some tie

bars in it. After all the setbacks and nearly three months delay, the

roof has been repaired and is ready for thatching. It should now be

structurally sound for hundreds of years. You know, especially with

this steel. It's not going to go anywhere now.

They've started thatching now this week. He and Shaun and Adrian are

getting the thatch on as quick as they can, cos we've been here rather

a long time. Doing all the timber work and everything. So we had to

leave the job and go on to another job. It wasn't really a hold up to

us, but it just had to be done, something that had to be done. So it

seems Richard is happy to be getting on with the job, but will future

generations be happy to keep thatching too? I'm hoping it will

carry on, you know, Andrew and Shuan keep it going. And Shaun's only

young and if he has two or three sons. Now, are you pleased to work

with us? Yes. So it's been a long summer for the Wrights, but the

house is at last beautifully finished and the thatching dynasty

looks set to continue for the next 300 years.

Well, that's just about it for this week and this series. We'll be back

early next year, but in the meantime do keep in touch with us on Twitter.

And if there's anything you'd like us to investigate then email us at

[email protected]. But from all of us here in Bristol, thanks

for watching and good night. Hello, I'm Riz Lateef with your

90-second update. Four people are dead after the worst UK storm for

years. Hurricane-force conditions left almost half a million homes

without power. In some areas wind speeds reached up to 99

miles-per-hour. The weather caused travel chaos for many. Rail and road

services were disrupted because of fallen trees, while over a hundred

flights had to be cancelled at Heathrow. Get the latest updates on

BBC Local Radio. On trial over the phone-hacking

affair. Two former News of the World editors, Rebekah Brooks and Andy

Coulson. Both deny being involved in accessing voicemails.

The NHS in England must handle complaints better. That's according

to a new government report. It says there's a culture of delay and

denial which needs to change. Are our streets being lost under a

tide of litter? The charity Keep Britain Tidy thinks we're dropping

around thirty million tonnes every year. It estimates cleaning it up

costs more than a billion pounds.