:00:15. > :00:19.In the past hour, Britain has lost its triple-A credit rating. Moody's
:00:19. > :00:24.blames subdued growth prospects and a high and rising debt burden. What
:00:24. > :00:28.will the Government do now? They have boasted about the rate before.
:00:28. > :00:32.We will maintain Britain's triple-A credit rating. This credit rating
:00:32. > :00:37.agency says that Britain's economic credibility will be on the line at
:00:37. > :00:40.the general election. One of the things I'm very keen on
:00:40. > :00:44.do is preserving Britain's international credit rating. Also
:00:44. > :00:48.tonight, 30 years after the dirty by-election that rewrote the rules,
:00:48. > :00:51.Peter Tatchell and Simon Hughes, face-to-face.
:00:51. > :00:54.Can fairytales come true? Bradford fans hope football can help heal
:00:54. > :00:57.their city. It has brought the city together.
:00:57. > :01:01.It has been really unifying. Everyone is behind the club now to
:01:01. > :01:09.be at Wembley is just dreams come true. I think there will be crying
:01:09. > :01:16.on Sunday, I will be, and a lot of other people will be. It is
:01:16. > :01:19.something beyond our wildest dreams. Whenever the Chancellor, George
:01:19. > :01:24.Osborne, has faced criticism over his economic policies, and there
:01:24. > :01:27.has been plenty of that, he has pointed, proudly, to his deficit
:01:27. > :01:31.reduction programme and the glowing approval of the Credit Rating
:01:31. > :01:36.Agencies. Not any more he can't. One agency, Moody's, says the weak
:01:36. > :01:42.economic outlook is likely to extend into the second half of the
:01:42. > :01:46.decade. What is a ratings agency, and why should we care? A credit
:01:46. > :01:52.ratings agency is nothing more than a gloryied think-tank that gives
:01:52. > :01:58.its opinion as to the -- glorified think-tank that gives its opinion
:01:58. > :02:05.to a country, and it gives a rating depending on healthy it is. The top
:02:05. > :02:11.rate is triple-A, then it is double-A, all the way down to junk
:02:12. > :02:17.status. The UK has been downgraded by the triple-A status, by one of
:02:17. > :02:24.the big one, Standard & Poor and Fitch haven't announced yet, but we
:02:24. > :02:33.are on nothingive outlook. significant is neglect outlook?
:02:33. > :02:37.is a forewarning that we will out look may be a downgrading. And
:02:37. > :02:42.Moody's have done that, down to the second-highest notch. It was like
:02:42. > :02:45.we did tell you if you didn't get your house in order and we are
:02:45. > :02:48.acting. They are acting before the budget. Usually they wait until
:02:48. > :02:53.after the big set piece events. They warned just before the Autumn
:02:53. > :02:57.Statement that they might do something, and now the budget,
:02:57. > :03:01.which is March 20th they are acting in advance of that. The words from
:03:01. > :03:05.the Treasury is "this is a stark reminder of the debt problems
:03:05. > :03:10.facing our country ". Or is it a stark reminder that George Osborne
:03:10. > :03:15.isn't doing a good job? I spoke to one senior banker who said George
:03:15. > :03:19.Osborne has two years to save his job. He staked so much of his
:03:19. > :03:22.political capital on the triple-A status. The question is, what
:03:22. > :03:26.happens now, what will the UK Government do. The budget is coming
:03:26. > :03:29.up, as I was saying. Will they then stick to Plan A, or will they be
:03:30. > :03:32.freed up, as it were, because they no longer have this Sword of
:03:32. > :03:36.Damocles hanging over their shoulder. I spoke to Treasury
:03:36. > :03:39.officials t doesn't looks a if they will move from a Plan A to Plan B.
:03:39. > :03:45.They are talking about the fact that even though they have been
:03:45. > :03:48.downgraded, they are downgraded to "stable" status, they won't be
:03:48. > :03:52.downgrade in the future. That can't be said for the United States or
:03:52. > :03:56.France. They are stressing the fact that there are major global
:03:56. > :03:58.problems, the UK has to deal with a very weak eurozone, and potentially
:03:58. > :04:02.weaker global environment where people aren't necessarily buying UK
:04:02. > :04:06.goods and services as much as they would do. What is the detail of
:04:06. > :04:10.Moody's thinking what are they saying? If you look at some of the
:04:10. > :04:20.wording, it is all CRA, credit- rating agency speak. They talk
:04:20. > :04:23.
:04:23. > :04:29.about the high and rising debt What that means is there is no
:04:29. > :04:33.money under the mattress. They talk about the fact that cuts
:04:33. > :04:37.and the austerity programme that we have seen over the last few years,
:04:37. > :04:40.and are scheduled to go on until the near end of the decade, will
:04:40. > :04:43.have a long-term impact on the finances of the country. What will
:04:43. > :04:48.this do to the financial markets what will it do to the pound?
:04:48. > :04:51.pound has had a pretty nasty Few months any way. In actual fact, the
:04:51. > :04:56.markets tend to be a few months ahead of these rating agencies.
:04:57. > :05:00.Sterling has fallen appreciably against the US dollar, the main
:05:00. > :05:05.global currency, over the last few months. That is good for exporters,
:05:05. > :05:08.but it is also a problem because the UK import as lot of products in
:05:08. > :05:11.other currencies. They will cost more, that will push up inflation.
:05:11. > :05:15.So we have seen the pound. The interesting thing is what will it
:05:15. > :05:19.mean to the cost of borrowing for the UK Government. Bond yields,
:05:19. > :05:23.that is the benchmark for the interest rate on UK Government debt.
:05:23. > :05:26.Will that change? At the moment we are enjoying very, very
:05:26. > :05:30.historically low rates of borrowing for the UK Government. We don't
:05:30. > :05:35.know whether that will change T may do, but for now it is relatively
:05:35. > :05:39.steady and still reel yiefly cheap. Thank you very much. Let --
:05:39. > :05:45.Relatively cheap. Thank you very much. Let's get more expert
:05:45. > :05:51.thinking, Megan Greene is from Maverick Intelligence, and we have
:05:51. > :05:56.a guest from a think-tank, and Gillian Tett from the financial
:05:56. > :06:00.times. Is there shock in New York? No. This is a politically
:06:00. > :06:04.embarrassing thing for George Osborne, given how much of his
:06:04. > :06:06.reputation, credibility is staked on maintaining the triple-A rating.
:06:06. > :06:11.The reality is the club of countries downgraded is large and
:06:11. > :06:16.growing by the day. Here in America, America has already lost its
:06:16. > :06:19.triple-A rating from one rating agency. As a result the sense of
:06:19. > :06:23.shock in the markets is pretty low. They have hardly reacted to the
:06:23. > :06:26.news at all. So if there was ever a good moment to be downgraded it is
:06:26. > :06:29.probably now, given just how many other countries have already
:06:29. > :06:34.suffered that fate. Megan Greene, how damaging do you think this is
:06:34. > :06:37.to George Osborne? I think it is hugely damaging politically. But in
:06:37. > :06:40.financial terms I don't think this will be very damaging for the UK. I
:06:40. > :06:43.think largely this downgrade has already been priced in. There were
:06:43. > :06:49.rumours just a week ago. Does literally nothing change as a
:06:49. > :06:52.result of this in practical terms? Gilts might go up a little bit.
:06:52. > :06:57.Markets have priced it in. I think it will change the kalous for the
:06:57. > :07:01.budget next month. First of all, today we have heard of the release
:07:01. > :07:05.of the European Commission's forecast for the eurozone which is
:07:05. > :07:08.dismal, and most of the UK's exports go to the eurozone. That
:07:08. > :07:12.will impact growth. We have had the announcement about the downgrade,
:07:12. > :07:15.previously we had thought the UK wouldn't let up on austerity,
:07:15. > :07:19.because they would be worried about losing their triple-A ratinging.
:07:19. > :07:21.Now they have lost it perhaps the Government will go ahead, and stop
:07:21. > :07:29.front-loading austerity so much. I think that would be visible. What
:07:29. > :07:33.do you think the reason is for this downgrade? Can we blame austerity
:07:33. > :07:39.or the sluggish behaviour of the eurozone? It is a bit of both, as
:07:39. > :07:44.always. If you look at the statement, which I only had a brief
:07:44. > :07:48.glance at, they are talking about the UK economy having strong
:07:48. > :07:51.fundamentals and being more flexible than a lot of other world
:07:51. > :07:55.economies to absorb the shocks that we may see from the eurozone. So it
:07:55. > :08:00.is a bit of both. I agree with Megan, financially it may not be
:08:00. > :08:04.that big of a dee. But politically, of course, this -- a deal, but
:08:04. > :08:06.politically, of course, this is strengthening the line of attack
:08:06. > :08:12.for those who warn against austerity. Gillian Tett, do you
:08:12. > :08:16.think there will be any material change in policy as a result of
:08:16. > :08:19.this downgrading. Thinking in particular of the austerity
:08:20. > :08:23.programme? I do think this downgrading in some ways does give
:08:23. > :08:28.the Chancellor a little more wiggle room, if you like. As Megan pointed
:08:28. > :08:31.out, having staked his credibility on maintaining the triple-A rating
:08:31. > :08:35.and saying we have to pursue austerity at all costs. The fact
:08:35. > :08:40.that the UK has been downgrade a bit by one of the rating agencies,
:08:40. > :08:46.in some ways gives himly way, maybe, to step back a bit. I don't think
:08:46. > :08:50.it is so much -- him leeway to step back a bit. I don't think it is so
:08:50. > :08:54.much stepping back from Plan A to Plan B, it is stepping back to Plan
:08:54. > :09:00.A-and-a-half. It is worth pointing out on the global stage, there is
:09:00. > :09:03.growing signs of a backlash against extreme Austerty. It started in
:09:03. > :09:07.Japan, the fact that the Japanese Government is pursuing stimulus
:09:07. > :09:12.rather than just Austerty. And increationly on the continent and
:09:12. > :09:16.in the UK, do we really want so much austerity that we will kill
:09:16. > :09:19.off the recovery and make it even harder to get the debt burden
:09:19. > :09:25.brought down. There is something almost perverse about George
:09:25. > :09:29.Osborne clinging to central policy. Telling us all the time how
:09:29. > :09:33.important triple-A is, when it disappears it gives him more
:09:33. > :09:39.options and wriggle room? It could be positive for the UK's growth as
:09:39. > :09:44.well. If you think towards the medium and long-term. The UK's
:09:44. > :09:48.fiscal dynamic is worrisome, it doesn't look better than some of
:09:48. > :09:52.the eurozone countries. Letting up on austerity could help the growth
:09:52. > :09:55.model, and the UK could avoid a recession. It means it feeds into a
:09:55. > :09:59.bigger deficit and higher debt burden going forward, which the UK
:09:59. > :10:02.will have to deal with eventually. Is the rest of the world looking at
:10:02. > :10:08.Britain tonight differently. Is anyone thinking they might not pay
:10:08. > :10:12.off their debts? I still think that the global economic reputation that
:10:12. > :10:17.Britain enjoys is quite strong. Again I think that's reflected in
:10:17. > :10:21.Moody's statement. Of course there are huge questions around now about
:10:21. > :10:26.the UK's ability to stick to this politically as well. As we heard,
:10:26. > :10:29.there is a growing backlash against austerity, which is coming in from
:10:29. > :10:33.the continent, and now potentially and politically affecting Britain
:10:33. > :10:37.as well. For now, the global reputation in the UK is still I
:10:37. > :10:42.fairly stable. We heard at the start of the programme some vintage
:10:42. > :10:46.clips of George Osborne saying how important the triple-A credit
:10:46. > :10:49.rating is. What is he saying tonight? It is a stark reminder of
:10:49. > :10:52.the debt problems Britain faces, and the clearest possible warning
:10:53. > :10:56.to anyone who thinks we can run away from dealing with those
:10:56. > :11:01.problems. Far from weakening our resolve to deal with Britain's
:11:01. > :11:06.debts. It should redouble our resolve to deliver the plan that
:11:06. > :11:08.has cut the deficit by 25%, delivered a million jobs, but also
:11:08. > :11:12.delivered record low interest rates for many families. What do you
:11:13. > :11:16.think of that? He's right. This is a reminder that the UK has a huge
:11:16. > :11:20.debt problem, and we will have to deal with it. This also gives him
:11:20. > :11:24.wiggle room to avoid dealing with it right now. What do you think of
:11:24. > :11:29.what the Chancellor had to say? has to say that. And I agree. He
:11:30. > :11:34.has a very good point. The question is, is it possible to sell this at
:11:34. > :11:38.the doorstep in future. The budget is only a month away. How much of a
:11:38. > :11:42.rewrite will there be as a result of this? It is unclear at the
:11:42. > :11:45.moment. I'm sure there are plenty of people inside the Treasury doing
:11:45. > :11:49.head scratching now it is worth making one point. When George
:11:49. > :11:52.Osborne came to power, one of the reasons he used such very tough
:11:52. > :11:58.language, was because there was a widespread concern that the UK
:11:58. > :12:04.would suffer a big market crisis. Someone like the big bond investors
:12:04. > :12:09.here in America, was predicting that the UK was sitting on a bed of
:12:09. > :12:13.nitroglycerin, and about to explode dramatically in the gay way the
:12:13. > :12:17.Greek bond market exploded. That hasn't happened, and it gives the
:12:17. > :12:21.Chancellor more wriggle room in the budget. As you heard in the
:12:21. > :12:24.programme earlier, British bond yields are at rock bottom lows at
:12:24. > :12:30.the moment, they haven't soared yet. There is a little more flexibility
:12:30. > :12:35.than people might have thought originally. We have I will luded to
:12:35. > :12:38.this, -- eluded to this. That the eurozone will carry on declining
:12:38. > :12:43.for another year and the light at the end of the tunnel gets further
:12:43. > :12:46.away. Who will Britain export to? That is the big concern. Far and
:12:46. > :12:50.away most of Britain's exports are going to the eurozone, some are
:12:50. > :12:53.going to emerging markets. Not nearly as large a percentage of
:12:53. > :12:56.exports as in other countries like Germany, for example. Britain's
:12:56. > :13:00.entire plan for returning to sustainable growth is to shift away
:13:00. > :13:08.from domestic consumption, towards exports. It can't do that when its
:13:08. > :13:12.biggest export markets are contracting. Thank you to my guests.
:13:12. > :13:18.30 years ago this Sunday the people of Bermondsey in south London went
:13:18. > :13:23.to the polls in a by-election. The Labour candidate, Peter Tatchell.
:13:23. > :13:30.The Liberal candidate, Simon Hughes. Mr Hughes won with a 44% swing. But
:13:30. > :13:33.it is the campaign which still resonates. It was dirty. Very dirty.
:13:33. > :13:39.Peter Tatchell's homosexuality was ridiculed by his opponent and some
:13:39. > :13:43.on his own side, including a rival, real Bermondsey Labour candidate.
:13:43. > :13:48.The Liberals put out a leaflet saying the election was a
:13:48. > :13:52."straight" choice. Tonight, three decades later, Peter Tatchell and
:13:52. > :14:00.Simon Hughes will be face o face again. Here are some images of the
:14:00. > :14:03.campaign. The Liberals are in a state of
:14:03. > :14:13.political his tearia, since Friday's poll revealed them in
:14:13. > :14:15.second place and closing on Labour. -- hysteria, since Friday's poll
:14:15. > :14:20.revealed them in second place closing on Labour. Who are you
:14:20. > :14:25.going to vote for? I don't vote. Why don't you vote? Because I don't
:14:25. > :14:30.know nothing about politics. snag is that Liberals can also go
:14:30. > :14:34.on a bit. That's what we often. have something to do, we can't
:14:34. > :14:38.stand here talking to that lot. Peter Tatchell to do him justice,
:14:38. > :14:42.has continued to recite statisticss and talk about policies. He remains
:14:42. > :14:46.slight favourite on Thursday. But he's clearly worried, even
:14:46. > :14:50.frightened at the campaign which is being waged against him. There has
:14:50. > :14:55.been a lot of mud-throwing in the campaign, some of it sticks. There
:14:55. > :15:00.has been an unprecedented campaign to discredit myself and the Labour
:15:00. > :15:06.Party. We have eight complaints about fabricated stories into the
:15:06. > :15:10.press complaints council. Some of the mud has obviously stuck.
:15:10. > :15:13.Peter Tatchell, leaving aside what happened to your accent! What are
:15:13. > :15:17.you rembering, you are quoted as saying it was one of the darkest
:15:17. > :15:22.periods of your life, like living through a low-level Civil War. It
:15:22. > :15:27.sounds awful? I think that the Bermondsey by-election was probably
:15:27. > :15:31.the dirtiest and most violent election campaign in Britain in the
:15:31. > :15:34.20th century. Is that his fault? will come on to that in a minute.
:15:35. > :15:37.It was certainly the most homophobic election campaign in
:15:37. > :15:40.British his treatment I can remember at the time some people
:15:40. > :15:44.made the comparison between myself and the villification of Oscar
:15:44. > :15:49.Wilde, saying this was the most sustained homophobic villification
:15:49. > :15:54.of any public figure since Oscar Wilde in the late 1890s. That aside,
:15:54. > :15:58.what I know personally is that I had personally suffered during that
:15:58. > :16:02.campaign over 100 violent attacks while out canvasing. What did
:16:02. > :16:06.people do? There were 30 attacks upon my home. More than 30 death
:16:06. > :16:11.threats. What did they do to you physically? Punched, kicked, spat
:16:11. > :16:15.at. It was, I had to steel myself to go out on the doorsteps to knock.
:16:15. > :16:20.Not everyone responded in that way. There were many wonderful, open-
:16:20. > :16:25.minded people, who supported me, or at least gave me a hearing. But the
:16:25. > :16:30.scale of hatred and violence, which seemed to coincide with the tabloid
:16:30. > :16:34.campaign, was truly horrific. I remember an old man, who was a
:16:34. > :16:38.refugee from Nazi Germany, I remember knocking on his door and
:16:38. > :16:44.he said he never saw anything like it since he left Germany in the
:16:44. > :16:48.early 1930s. Thankfully our society has moved on. I would like to think
:16:48. > :16:52.that, in particular home -- the particular homophobic campaign
:16:52. > :16:57.against me caused such a public revulsion, that when Chris Smith
:16:57. > :17:01.the Labour candidate came out the next year got a much more
:17:01. > :17:05.sympathetic reception. And he didn't get the tabloid stick I got.
:17:05. > :17:13.Between the end of the campaign and Chris Smith, why weren't you
:17:13. > :17:18.crushed by this? I felt it was important not to give in. I felt if
:17:18. > :17:21.I ran away and hid it would give comfort and sucker to all those
:17:21. > :17:27.people who did those terrible things. Although I was standing on
:17:27. > :17:31.a broad Labour platform of social justice and equality for all. The
:17:31. > :17:35.home folkic part that have campaign made me resolve to devote more
:17:35. > :17:39.energy to fighting for gay rights, so no other person would have to go
:17:39. > :17:42.through what I went through. Simon Hughes, you have apologised
:17:42. > :17:47.publicly and privately to Peter Tatchell before for anything you
:17:48. > :17:51.did wrong. What was it you did wrong? I got caught up in a
:17:51. > :17:55.campaign that had the attitudes that Peter described. Peter has
:17:55. > :17:59.always been very fair afterwards. Wrote a book, I haven't had time to
:17:59. > :18:03.write the book. Wrote the book and made clear the two major targets
:18:03. > :18:07.were his own then party, the Labour Party, which gave him a really hard
:18:07. > :18:11.time. We were both paradoxically on the same side, attacking the old
:18:11. > :18:15.Labour Party in Bermondsey, I would never had won, had the old Labour
:18:15. > :18:20.Party not run the place as badly as it did, and also the press. Which
:18:20. > :18:24.was despicable. It is without doubt that we benefited from that. Until
:18:24. > :18:27.three weeks before the election. Were you just the passive
:18:27. > :18:31.beneficiaries, or did you do things, which in the cold light of day you
:18:31. > :18:36.wish you hadn't? In the cold light of day, if I had been in charge and
:18:36. > :18:40.wanted to rewrite it, we would have had leaflets which wouldn't have
:18:41. > :18:44.had "it's a straight choice", although that was regularly used in
:18:44. > :18:48.all by-elections before and afterwards without any sexuality
:18:48. > :18:52.import. There was one event which Peter referred to when people went
:18:52. > :18:58.out canvasing with badges making fun of Peter's sexuality, in fact,
:18:58. > :19:01.I gather they were gay liberal activists and they were told to
:19:01. > :19:05.take them O there were some things that shouldn't have happened. I'm
:19:05. > :19:10.clear it was a disgraceful campaign in terms of homophobia. I have
:19:10. > :19:16.tried, particularly, to make sure that in my time as MP I have done
:19:16. > :19:21.nothing to set back the cause of gay equality and equality, and I
:19:21. > :19:28.have worked with Peter and others, and there is time when we were on
:19:28. > :19:32.the same site. Section 28, Tories bringing in repressive legislation,
:19:32. > :19:36.and Labour abstaining, it was myself and others on a committee
:19:36. > :19:41.trying to challenge the Tories. I have tried to keep up that campaign.
:19:41. > :19:46.And Peter and I were talking now making sure we have a policy to
:19:46. > :19:51.give asylum to people in 24 country who if they went home would -- in
:19:51. > :19:55.their country if they went home they would suffer because of their
:19:55. > :20:01.sexuality. You were candidate about your sexuality later in life. I
:20:01. > :20:06.spoke to someone that I would be speaking to you both, and they said,
:20:06. > :20:09.the closeted gay man won, and the open gay man lost. Is it as simple
:20:09. > :20:13.as that? I think this issue is about more than homosexuality. If
:20:13. > :20:17.you look at the range of policies I was attacked over. I was described
:20:17. > :20:20.as extremist because I supported policies that are now mainstream.
:20:20. > :20:24.National minimum wage, comprehensive equality law, gay
:20:24. > :20:29.rights, and a negotiated political settlement in Northern Ireland.
:20:29. > :20:33.These are all mainstream policies. When I advocated them then I was
:20:33. > :20:37.demonised as extremist. In many different way, not just gay issue,
:20:37. > :20:43.on a whole range of issues, our society has moved on. That is to
:20:43. > :20:47.the credit of the British people. To pick up the wider politics, I
:20:47. > :20:49.like Pete e I come from the radical left of politics. I found myself
:20:49. > :20:53.active in local politics in Bermondsey before the by-election,
:20:54. > :20:59.before Peter was even suggested as a candidate, let alone selected.
:20:59. > :21:03.The battle was on basic issues that mattered to people. It was about
:21:03. > :21:06.jobs and the Docklands Corporation taking over people's democratic
:21:06. > :21:09.rights. It was about housing, grim, badly repaired. It was because the
:21:09. > :21:13.Labour Party had failed in the inner city, which Peter was attacks
:21:13. > :21:17.from within the Labour Party and trying to change, and I was
:21:17. > :21:22.attacking from outside as the other radical party, that they were on
:21:22. > :21:25.the agenda. Most of the election, until Peter was selected three
:21:25. > :21:29.weeks before, homosexuality was not a key election issue. The other
:21:29. > :21:36.things were the issues, the development of dockland and housing.
:21:36. > :21:40.On the policies, just as a politician, you lost a safe Labour
:21:40. > :21:44.seat. How many was it down to sexuality or other aspects of you
:21:44. > :21:51.or the politics? I feel very guilty and sad that I lost a safe Labour
:21:51. > :21:56.seat. I have to take responsibility for that. But the choice for me was
:21:56. > :22:00.hardly there, because I found that almost at no point during the
:22:00. > :22:05.campaign was there media reportage of the policies I was fighting. I
:22:05. > :22:08.was demonised as a Marxist with a militant tendency, I was opposed by
:22:08. > :22:11.the militant tendency, I didn't support them, they didn't support
:22:12. > :22:16.me. It was really difficult to get a fair hearing. I think a lot of
:22:16. > :22:18.the voters did actually not know what I stood for. They had this
:22:18. > :22:23.caricature. That is why at the beginning of the campaign, the
:22:23. > :22:28.opinion polls gave me 47% of the vote. Three weeks later it was
:22:28. > :22:32.completely reversed. I had, I didn't have 47%, Simon did.
:22:32. > :22:37.interesting thing on the way it was for most of the time it was battle
:22:37. > :22:41.between old and new Labour, not us. Peter Tatchell and Simon Hughes,
:22:41. > :22:44.thank you both. From West Yorkshire to Wembley,
:22:44. > :22:48.thousands of Bradford fans will make the journey this weekend.
:22:48. > :22:52.Hoping to witness their low-ranking side triumph over a team 71 league
:22:52. > :23:02.places above them. The official prize, the League Cup. But for
:23:02. > :23:03.
:23:03. > :23:07.Bradford, it is not just about the silverwear.
:23:07. > :23:15.It was a tragedy so harrowing and shocking that it has become
:23:15. > :23:20.interweaved with the identity of both the city of Bradford and its
:23:20. > :23:30.football club. In 1985, 56 supporters were killed when a fire
:23:30. > :23:33.
:23:33. > :23:37.engulfed the main stand, fuelled by the accumulated litter below.
:23:37. > :23:41.Family parade today is a different place. With memories of one of
:23:41. > :23:46.sport's defining tragedies still very real. On Sunday, the
:23:46. > :23:49.concluding chapter of a rather astonishing fairytale. Bradford, in
:23:49. > :23:55.the final of the League Cup at Wembley. This is a story that goes
:23:55. > :24:00.way beyond football. It is a story of community and tribalism, and an
:24:01. > :24:03.increasingly fragmented world. The assistance provided by the
:24:03. > :24:08.Bangladeshi community to traumatised fans in the aftermalt
:24:08. > :24:14.of the fire, was a profound -- aftermath of the fire, was a
:24:14. > :24:18.profoundly unifying moment in a city scarred bi-racial tension. You
:24:18. > :24:24.say people knocked on your door and you opened the door what happened
:24:24. > :24:34.next? They asked for me. I said what help. They said water or
:24:34. > :24:35.
:24:35. > :24:40.cloths. People were united and felt sorrow about this thing. But racial
:24:40. > :24:44.tension has flared since, with running battles between whites and
:24:44. > :24:49.Asians, just a few hundred yards away from the ground in 2001.
:24:49. > :24:54.Community leaders have come together to find solutions. But
:24:54. > :24:57.what does "community" actually mean in a city with such visible ethnic,
:24:57. > :25:04.religious and racial differences. What role does football have to
:25:04. > :25:08.play? Every Saturday if you come round on a Saturday you will see
:25:08. > :25:14.Bradford City fans, walking down the street, saying hello. There is
:25:14. > :25:21.no an no sirity amongst the people that come here. There is not a
:25:21. > :25:26.perfect solution to solving any of the issues. But football is a way
:25:26. > :25:29.of engaging. A female fan wore the hijab to a match against Aston
:25:29. > :25:35.Villa in the semifinal of the League Cup in January. Many are
:25:35. > :25:39.describing the cup run Asim bowlic of a newly-united city. It is an
:25:39. > :25:42.alluring narrative. But are things quite so simple? The proportion of
:25:42. > :25:45.people from these different backgrounds vr suss the proportion
:25:45. > :25:48.in the ground is -- versus the proportion in the grounds is not
:25:48. > :25:54.the same. You want to see more people from different backgrounds
:25:54. > :25:57.in there. This football club, it is an English football club with her
:25:57. > :26:03.ridge, but it should be for the whole community no matter where you
:26:03. > :26:08.come from. No matter where you come from, Bradford City should be
:26:08. > :26:12.considered yours. Before the influx of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in
:26:12. > :26:20.the 1950s and on words, central and eastern Europeans were already in
:26:20. > :26:23.Bradford. In these streets a few yards away from Valley Parade,
:26:23. > :26:28.Poles, Ukrainians were once central to the city's industrialisation,
:26:28. > :26:35.and many of their descentants will be at Wembley on Sunday. This area
:26:35. > :26:42.we are standing in now was probably built by wealthy business people,
:26:42. > :26:45.who came pleeing the Jewish pogroms -- fleeing the Jewish pogroms in
:26:45. > :26:50.the 19th sent treatment they carry oud their work, built mills, traded
:26:50. > :26:55.in wool and all that sort of thing. All of the various communities
:26:55. > :26:59.rallied around the club after the fire in 1985. Representations had
:26:59. > :27:04.been made to Bradford City, warning of the dangers posed by the litter
:27:04. > :27:09.under the stand. But the city didn't want to turn against the
:27:09. > :27:15.club. Bradford had already lost one of its two clubs, Bradford Park
:27:15. > :27:18.Avenue, to liquidation in 1974. They didn't want to lose another.
:27:18. > :27:21.think that a football club like Bradford City, there is a certain
:27:21. > :27:27.vulnerability to it. It is important that Bradford City always
:27:27. > :27:32.has a football club in the league. We lost one in the 1970s. It is an
:27:32. > :27:37.important thing to have that club there. That does sometimes lead
:27:37. > :27:42.people to protect it in that sense, as you problems, to say let's leave
:27:42. > :27:46.it and keep it as it is. The meaning of football has
:27:46. > :27:53.undergone profound changes in recent years. Particularly in the
:27:53. > :27:57.top flight. Clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea are baubles of
:27:57. > :28:01.global capitalism. But despite the transformation in the economics of
:28:01. > :28:06.modern football, its meaning amongst fans is still recoginsable.
:28:06. > :28:11.It is about identity, and shared experiences.
:28:11. > :28:13.Bradford City has endured a rollercoaster ride in recent years,
:28:13. > :28:20.suffering repeated relegation and near bankruptcy.
:28:20. > :28:24.But more than 30,000 fans will make the pilgrimage to Wembley this
:28:24. > :28:27.weekend, many of them Asians and eastern Europeans. They have
:28:27. > :28:32.probably changed their red and white and blue and yellow colours
:28:32. > :28:35.to the amber and claret. We will have people watching in the youth
:28:35. > :28:42.club down here on the big screen. In the centre we will be watching
:28:42. > :28:47.the game. We will be making sure we are behind Bradford. The last time
:28:47. > :28:50.they won a trophy was in 1911, that was when they won the last trophy.
:28:51. > :28:58.I will be crying on Sunday a lot of people will be, it is something
:28:58. > :29:02.beyond our wildest dreams. It would be spurious to suppose a
:29:02. > :29:07.glorified kick about at Wembley could solve the complex problems of
:29:07. > :29:11.social integration. But perhaps it provides the sign post. At its best
:29:11. > :29:17.football shines a light on the connections that bind us together,
:29:17. > :29:21.in a fragmented world. For a club and a city that has endured tragedy
:29:21. > :29:26.and conflict, that could almost be revolutionary.
:29:26. > :29:33.We will have a look at tomorrow's front pages then Review.
:29:33. > :29:37.Do join us for a feast of film, ahead of the Oscars on Sunday with
:29:37. > :29:40.our guests. We were talking about some stand-out films and heart-
:29:40. > :29:50.breaking performances and the ones the academy has left out. Join us
:29:50. > :30:21.
:30:21. > :30:27.A grim week for one of the BBC's most important programmes, Richard
:30:27. > :30:32.Bryers, died at the weekend, and it is said the animator of the show
:30:32. > :30:38.has also died, he was 91 he won an Academy Award and a BAFTA, he will
:30:38. > :30:45.be most remembered for the dog and the pink cat and the birds who are
:30:45. > :30:48.laughing. They are not laughing tonight. Rhubarb was reeling with
:30:48. > :30:54.laughter, together with the fish wearing moon fish bones. I do