Browse content similar to 11/10/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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. A 15-year-old who was adamant she | :00:04. | :00:08. | |
did not want an MMR vaccine has been ordered by a high court judge to | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
have the injection despite the objection of her mother, but in | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
accordance with the wishes of her father. I'll be speaking to the | :00:14. | :00:19. | |
mother's lawyer, about the judgement and the rights of a teenager to | :00:19. | :00:27. | |
refuse treatment. More than 50 people are dead after a plying rant | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
ship has sunk. This time 70 miles from the Italian coast. | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
The flagship Muslim Free School has been given three weeks to get its | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
act together or be shut down. We have an exclusive interview with the | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
governors, defending their decision to make a non-muslim staff wear the | :00:43. | :00:52. | |
Hijab. The female air hostesses wear a different dress to the male ones. | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
That is a choice and a decision made by the business. | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
And a BBC investigation in China, where prostitution is illegal, | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
reveals the trade is operating within well known Western branded | :01:02. | :01:11. | |
hotels. Good evening. | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
The MMR vaccine has proved to be a dilemma for many parents. It | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
provides protection against measles, mumps and rubella, all potentially | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
fatal illnesses, but after the now discredited research which claimed | :01:21. | :01:24. | |
to show a link to autism many parents did not use it. Now, over a | :01:24. | :01:31. | |
decade later, what happens when one parent wants their children to be | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
vaccinated and the other doesn't? The case we report on tonight | :01:35. | :01:37. | |
involved two divorced parents and two children, one 15 and the other | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
11. The judge upheld the wishes of the father and ordered the two | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
children to be vaccinated. The deadline for that was today. Here's | :01:47. | :01:56. | |
Sancha Berg. Can a 15 radio-year-old be forced to have a vaccination | :01:56. | :02:02. | |
against their wishes in one of their parent's insists? Last month the | :02:02. | :02:06. | |
High Court judge ordered that a 15-year-old girl and her 11-year-old | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
sister, had to have the MMR jab by the end of today, even though they | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
said they did not want it. The elder said she would be upset if that was | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
in her body. The mother did not want them vaccinated either but the | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
parents were divorced, the father brought the case. Andrew Wakefield's | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
research, published in 1988 that triggered a panic about MMR and a | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
possible link with autism. The mother did not want the girls | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
vaccinated. The father agreed. Andrew Wakefield's work, | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
discredited, had a significant national impact. As the yellow bars | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
show, the vaccination rates dropped. They are rising but older children | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
are vulnerable. Cases of measles, mumps, rubella have been growing. | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
In Wales people have been queueing outside of clinics, desperate to get | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
their children vaccinated after measles broke out there. This | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
prompted the girl's father to change his mind. He was worried there could | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
be serious consequences of the illnesses. He wanted the children | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
vaccinated. The judge had to consider the | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
childrens's concerns and their understanding of the issues. They | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
were worried about the ingredients in the vaccine but less worried | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
about the ingredients in medicine they may have to take if they | :03:26. | :03:30. | |
contracted a disease. One said with the measles you just get a rash. The | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
court-appointed Guardian was worried they were influenced by their | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
mother, in turn, the mother gave evidence she was worried about the | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
psychological impact on the children, especially the elder one, | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
who had been counselled for anxiety. Parents have a choice to do what | :03:50. | :03:54. | |
they believe. I feel that both children have grown up in a frame of | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
mind that they were settled in and supported in the same outlook and | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
forced now to take a different view without more positive reassurance | :04:02. | :04:07. | |
and the recording of ingredients of the vaccine is unsatisfactory. They | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
have a right to be informed. The older child, the more seriously | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
her views are taken and more carefully she is listened to by the | :04:16. | :04:21. | |
court. In the case, the judge decided that the views expressed by | :04:21. | :04:27. | |
the 15-year-old were not suf shenly balanced or did not give weight to | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
the positive side of the immunisation. | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
I am aware that this is against the girl's shes but that is not the only | :04:36. | :04:40. | |
factor. The court has to consider their level of understanding of the | :04:40. | :04:46. | |
issues involved. And what factors influenced their views. I am not | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
convinced there is a balance of understanding of them by the issues | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
involved. The medical debate is settled, the | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
lawyers say. This is the third time that the High Court has ruled that a | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
child should have the MMR vaccine against parents' wishes it is | :05:02. | :05:04. | |
child should have the MMR vaccine unusual for the children to have | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
such strong objections too, the judge acknowledged it will have an | :05:08. | :05:13. | |
impact on the family. Sancha Berg. | :05:13. | :05:18. | |
Joining us now is the mother's solicitor, Philippa Dolan. | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
Latest reports say at least 50 people | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
What made the mother so sure she was acting well? The mother was sure | :05:23. | :05:31. | |
that this was a view that the family had reached since the children were | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
young. That it was the father who changed his mind recently. In the | :05:36. | :05:39. | |
meantime the children have been brought up with a particular point | :05:39. | :05:44. | |
of view, which is that if you are healthy, you eat properly, you have | :05:44. | :05:50. | |
a good immune system, then it is not necessary to be vaccinated and that | :05:50. | :05:55. | |
there are side effects that can be harmful. | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
But presumably, maybe not, but one of the thing's in the father's mind | :06:00. | :06:06. | |
is not just about the children but the grandchildren, rubella in | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
pregnancy is devastating? Yes. They are only 15 and 11 at the moment. It | :06:10. | :06:15. | |
would be the mother's position. She would say that the family has always | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
discussed things with the children. They have been treated in a way that | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
their views are respected. They have been informed. They have had family | :06:24. | :06:30. | |
discussions. So in that sense that supports the fact that the children | :06:30. | :06:40. | |
can make that decision when they are this age. | :06:40. | :06:47. | |
Or when each reach a majority age. What do you think is the | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
significance of the decision? We will have to see. I was very | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
surprised at it. I was very surprised that a 15-year-old, who, | :06:55. | :07:01. | |
15-year-olds are allowed to make all sorts of decisions, legally, and not | :07:01. | :07:07. | |
having an MMR vaccination, is, I mean, this may be controversial but | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
it is not life-threatening in the south-east of England in 2013. | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
I know of course that you kept your distance from the daughter, you were | :07:18. | :07:24. | |
acting for the mother, but firstly, I want to ask you the deadline for | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
the vaccination was today, have the girls been vaccinated? No. There are | :07:29. | :07:36. | |
practical difficulties in enforcing the order. | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
That is at the moment an ongoing issue. | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
If there are practical difficulties, they were not foreseen by the judge, | :07:44. | :07:50. | |
then? I don't know. I would be surprised if they were | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
not foreseen. So what happens now, then? I can't | :07:55. | :08:01. | |
really say. The judge ordered the girls to be vaccinated by today, the | :08:01. | :08:07. | |
girls have not been vaccinated. That has implications for the mother, who | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
presumably has the responsibilities for the children as well as the | :08:12. | :08:18. | |
father? There are no legal, at the moment, there is not a legal | :08:18. | :08:26. | |
deadline that is a serious issue. This is John going and the parents | :08:26. | :08:32. | |
are in discussion -- this is ongoing and the parents are in | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
discussion. It is hoped without further litigation. | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
It must have impact on the girls, especially the 15-year-old? It has | :08:40. | :08:45. | |
had an impact on both of them. In the judgment it was said that they | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
should not be treated separately. It was recognised that they both have | :08:50. | :08:56. | |
a, they are in a situation where they are independent thinking | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
people. The 11-year-old also feels strongly about it. | :08:59. | :09:05. | |
Thank you very much indeed. The latest reports say at least 50 | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
people have been killed when their migrant boat capsized 70 miles off | :09:10. | :09:15. | |
the coast of Italy, in a terrible echo of the 300 close to shore of | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
Lampedusa a little more than a week ago. Matthew Pryce joins us now. | :09:20. | :09:26. | |
Matthew, is the rescue effort continuing? It is, yes. Just about | :09:26. | :09:33. | |
five minutes ago another helicopter flew across the incident itself. It | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
is about 60 miles to the south of here. The helicopters have been | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
bringing in the injured. Some of them who have been rescued from the | :09:41. | :09:46. | |
sea and one woman from the airport working there told us that they are | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
also bringing in some of those who have died. | :09:49. | :09:55. | |
It is looking like this is not a tragedy on the scale of the disaster | :09:55. | :10:01. | |
eight days ago off the coast of lamp deucea, today we were told that 339 | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
bodies had been found, but in terms of this one it is about 27, 28. It | :10:06. | :10:14. | |
may go up to about 50, some Italian news outlet's are reporting, but the | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
vast number, the larger number of people on board the vessel, 200, it | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
looks like, they have been rescued. Part of the reason is that the | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
Italian Navy was close to the area where the boat capsized and sank. | :10:28. | :10:34. | |
They had also increased patrols as a direct result of last week's boat | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
capsizing. Matthew, thank you very much. | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
One of the the Government's flagship Free schools is on the verge of | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
having its funding pulled, which means it faces closure. No small | :10:50. | :10:52. | |
embarrassment for the Education Secretary Michael Gove. Al-Madinah | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
in Derby, which has been open for little over a year, has what it's | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
website calls a "strong Muslim ethos", but three separate | :10:59. | :11:01. | |
investigations say the school has discriminated towards female staff, | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
delivered a poor standard of education,and failed to ensure the | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
safety of children. The governors who run the school have stayed | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
resolutely silent - until now. Newsnight's Zoe Conway secured | :11:11. | :11:13. | |
exclusive interviews with them today. Al-Madinah school is fighting | :11:13. | :11:25. | |
to survive. The principle, the deputy principle and the head of | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
administration have resigned. It is accused of being taken over by | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
Islamic hard liners. Three Government agencies are | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
investigating. The Government could shut it down. Three of the school's | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
governors decided to give their first interview after weeks of | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
allegations in the press. Much has been made of the school's dress | :11:44. | :11:50. | |
code, the fact that the female teachers were asked to wear a | :11:50. | :11:55. | |
headscarf and hijab. The very first question to ask, if | :11:55. | :12:00. | |
you are Muslim or non-Muslim, would you be prepared to cover your hair | :12:00. | :12:07. | |
as part of the uniform policy? As to this date, they have not refused. | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
Even those who have succeeded for the job and those who have not. | :12:12. | :12:17. | |
Why should they wear a headscarf if they are not a Muslim? Let's talk | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
about the uniform. You don't expect a sorjion to not to wear his | :12:23. | :12:31. | |
overalls, or a dentist to wear his overalls. We are saying we are proud | :12:31. | :12:36. | |
of the uniform that we have both in the terms of what we want for our | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
children. How do you know there are not women | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
who, are brilliant teachers, who are not going to come to teach at your | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
school because you require them to wear a headscarf and they don't want | :12:48. | :12:54. | |
to? We have a right to stipulate our code of dress. We have chosen. This | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
is the code of dress we have adopted. If we look at an air | :12:58. | :13:04. | |
hostess. They are required to wear certain head gear, the females wear | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
different clothes to the male. We certain head gear, the females wear | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
are not saying that they are discriminated against it is a | :13:10. | :13:13. | |
decision made by the decision. This is a corporate image we would like | :13:13. | :13:18. | |
our female staff to present. That is the decision we make. We are not | :13:18. | :13:22. | |
saying by wearing the headscarf you are changing your religious identity | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
at all, what we are sincerely saying is that this is the code of dress we | :13:26. | :13:31. | |
would like our female members of staff to adopt. This is the decision | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
as an organisation we have made. Is it possible to review that? Yes, it | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
is. The Government has told the school | :13:38. | :13:42. | |
to write to its female staff to tell them they do not have to wear a | :13:42. | :13:48. | |
hijab if it is in conflict with their religious beliefs, but on | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
Tuesday, the governors got a letter from the Education Minister, Lord | :13:52. | :14:00. | |
Nash. He said that Al-Madinah had failed to ensure pupil's safety, had | :14:00. | :14:06. | |
a poor standard of education and had been discriminating in its practise | :14:06. | :14:12. | |
towards female staff and was failing in financial management. Lord Nash | :14:12. | :14:15. | |
has given them three weeks to require with 17 requirements, | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
otherwise funding will be terminated. Allegations have been | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
made that girls have been forced to sit at the back of the class. | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
Nobody is forced to do anything in this school. The allegations are | :14:27. | :14:32. | |
unfortunate. When it comes to the seating arrangements in the class, | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
we do not have a boy/girl seating arrangement. The way that the class | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
is designed all children are treated equally. We have girls and boys | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
sitting in the front and the back. There is no discrimination going on. | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
When Al-Madinah hoped -- There is no discrimination going on. | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
year it said it would honour all faiths, but it has been reported | :14:55. | :14:59. | |
that only one of the school's 400 pupils is non-Muslim. The governors | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
unable or unwilling to say hourm of their children are non-Muslim. | :15:03. | :15:08. | |
We are on a journey, there are things that we have to improve. We | :15:08. | :15:12. | |
know that, but like everything else, it takes time. Time to nurture a | :15:12. | :15:17. | |
flower. We are coming out of a seedling point. We have to ensure | :15:17. | :15:21. | |
that the right practises and the teaching and the learning is | :15:21. | :15:26. | |
effective for it to turn into an attractive flower for people to come | :15:26. | :15:30. | |
to us to say that they are going to this school no, not because it is a | :15:30. | :15:35. | |
Muslim faith school but it is a great school. | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
The Government says there has been no financial mismanagement. They are | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
expecting that Ofsted will find the teaching inadequate, but they | :15:43. | :15:45. | |
believe that they can turn things around. | :15:46. | :15:51. | |
??The politicians can go whistle Dixie.That was how one editor, | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
Fraser Nelson, of the Spectator, who is here with Ben Bradshaw, the | :15:54. | :15:56. | |
former Labour Culture Secretary, responded to today's news that the | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
main political parties are now as one on a new system of press | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
regulation. The Conservatives collycobbles have been banished and | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
its all aboard the Royal Charter. Problem is, not a single newspaper | :16:07. | :16:13. | |
is prepared to sign up. So do we now have a Mexican standoff? Before I | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
consult our guests, the media commentator, Steve Hewlett is here. | :16:16. | :16:24. | |
So, no agreement at all? On the big thing, no. On some things there | :16:24. | :16:29. | |
maybe more of an agreement. So there are compromises that make a | :16:29. | :16:39. | |
difference. Mostly, the chafrter allows local papers who were worried | :16:39. | :16:43. | |
about the stipulation that they should be a part of a low-cost ash | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
station scream, that they were on the financial rocks, that there | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
could be problems that a phone call or a letter could prove... They did | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
not show evidence that could happen but there is now a mechanism if it | :16:56. | :17:00. | |
happens, that it could be dealt with, but on the big red line issue | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
of the political involvement in the regulation of the press, there is no | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
agreement. No because the charter can be changed by a two thirds vote | :17:10. | :17:17. | |
in both houses of harment. That could bring a threat if they were | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
choose to the political class, they could get directly involved in the | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
regulation of the press, that is a red line. | :17:25. | :17:30. | |
So what are the press saying about from Nelson Fraser saying go whistle | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
Dixie. It says there is charter controlled | :17:34. | :17:40. | |
by politician, it is not approved by the newspaper or the magazines it | :17:40. | :17:43. | |
seeks to regulate. Are the press agreed on this? No. | :17:43. | :17:49. | |
They are agreed not to sign up to the charter. However, here is had | :17:49. | :17:56. | |
how it goes. The Mail, the Telegraph, the Mirror are in to set | :17:56. | :18:00. | |
up their own regulator. The Guardian, the FT are half in. They | :18:00. | :18:06. | |
don't want to sign up but there are contractual disagreements with the | :18:06. | :18:09. | |
other. Guardian are half out. They don't want to sign up, and the IPCC | :18:09. | :18:15. | |
are floating out alone. In the last two days there has been frantic | :18:15. | :18:21. | |
phone calls. The minister Maria Miller and her shadow, phoning | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
editors trying to get to the point where when this happens that the | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
government does not face a united press, all of them saying "no". They | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
are desperate to try to get someone out there on their own. | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
Steve Hewlett, thank you very much. Nelson Fraser is the editor of the | :18:39. | :18:45. | |
Spectator and Ben Bradshaw is the former Labour Culture Secretary. | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
Mell Nell you could be faced with a lible suit and there could be | :18:50. | :18:52. | |
bankruptcy issues with the Spectator lible suit and there could be | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
as you are not in the charter, then the liabilities are limited? It is | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
worrying that the Government is inhibited free press or penalising | :19:00. | :19:06. | |
papers no the licensed by the proposed regulator. It has suffered | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
a sinister turn of events. The danger is that you become too | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
timid as you are worried about massive litigation? That is so. With | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
papers with small budgets, they would hesitate to investigate things | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
where you could be taken to court and pay the damages or pay expenses | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
even if you win, but it is probably illegal under European law, but it | :19:30. | :19:35. | |
is not very free. I don't believe that the Government will go down | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
this road and tear up three centuries of free speech and harass | :19:39. | :19:43. | |
the press in such a way. But it will take two of both houses | :19:43. | :19:49. | |
to alter this. There is no chance of this, so nothing will change? Well, | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
for nothing to change, we must not give the politicians the power to | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
regulate the press. That is why I hope that the newspapers don't agree | :19:57. | :20:03. | |
to this. If they do, there will be be a terrible message not just to | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
people in Britain but around the world, this are begging newspapers | :20:07. | :20:12. | |
not to sign up with this. Not to throw away our freedoms of speech. | :20:12. | :20:17. | |
Others may go also. Ben Bradshaw, some papers are | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
suggesting that they could go to the wall? That is not a correct | :20:21. | :20:27. | |
representation. Lord Leveson said this was to save the press money. To | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
save the press the expensive litigations of claims. I am | :20:31. | :20:36. | |
confident that a publisher, a newspaper, a publication will come | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
into the system, setting up a regulator, recognised by the | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
recognition body and then the incentives you referred to, very | :20:44. | :20:48. | |
powerful, are written into the system and kick in. Then the | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
responsible newspapers will come into line. | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
Name them? I don't know. Steve Hewlett is suggesting that | :20:57. | :21:00. | |
there may be a difference of opinion, but there is nobody ready | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
to step in right away and lead the charter? I am not surprised. A lot | :21:04. | :21:11. | |
of the newspapers, the Guardian, the FT, the IPCC have been nervous from | :21:11. | :21:16. | |
breaking from the Daily Mail or the Daily Telegraph, but the way it has | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
been set up, it is independent self-regulation, guaranteeing the | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
freedom of the press, giving the responsibility to the press to set | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
this up with the important recognition, the public assurance. | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
Every time it's been done before, the press have gone away, they have | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
said they will do it. It has not happened. That is why this body is | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
important. Once it rek nierzs a regulator, all it needs is one | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
publisher, then the system kicks in. Somebody will break away, maybe the | :21:45. | :21:51. | |
IPCC? I doubt it. I don't think that a paper could sign up to a | :21:51. | :21:56. | |
regulation with politicians, like Ben here, talking about who he | :21:56. | :22:01. | |
thinks is responsible, who is not. But financially, for the local | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
papers it could be the only way to ensure survival? That would be | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
terrible if it were the case. The Government bullying them to give up | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
freedoms or face the fines. Then they should go to Strasbourg to | :22:13. | :22:18. | |
appeal against this illiberal law. I don't think that the Government will | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
really force the newspapers to play it their way. The newspapers will do | :22:21. | :22:27. | |
95% of what the Government wants, they just don't want the politicians | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
in charge. There could be an nalt form of | :22:30. | :22:36. | |
regulation coming in? Somethinged from hacked off in the back pockets | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
to help the impasse? I don't know. I think if you look at the definition | :22:41. | :22:45. | |
of publisher it is broad. It does not take anybody big to set up the | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
body. Then the system kicks in. We have had more than two years since | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
Leveson started the inquiry. The victims are waiting, the politicians | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
have acted, the responsibility is for the press now to set up this | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
independent self-regulation system so that the public can regain Trust. | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
That is what will happen. The newspapers to come up with the | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
toughest regulation in the Western world but the politicians cannot | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
give the press their marching orders. It is the same it has been | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
every time. Thank you very much. | :23:17. | :23:25. | |
In China prostitution is illegal, but the BBC has found evidence of | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
organised prostitution inside a number of well-known, | :23:28. | :23:30. | |
Western-branded hotels in the country, including The Ramada, The | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
Intercontinental and Kempinski hotels. Our investigation shows that | :23:32. | :23:36. | |
sex is being bought and sold from third party-run businesses, | :23:36. | :23:38. | |
operating from within some hotel premises. The three I've named all | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
deny any knowledge of what was happening.Our correspondent John | :23:42. | :23:52. | |
Sudworth reports from Shanghai. Chairman Mao once claimed to have | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
driven prostitution from the streets. | :23:56. | :24:00. | |
Today, it is around almost every corner. | :24:00. | :24:07. | |
Still Strictly illegal but thriving on the commerce and the corruption | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
unleashed by China's modern communist leaders. | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
But now our investigation in which we speak to prostitutes and pimps | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
operating inside hotels that are household names in Europe and | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
America, shows for the first time just how deeply the Chinese sex | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
trade has infiltrated the international hotel industry. | :24:31. | :24:40. | |
The Kempinski Hotel chain calls itself Europe's oldest luxury hotel | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
group. Founded in Germany, now based in Switzerland, it operates more | :24:46. | :24:53. | |
than 755-star hotels around the world, including this one in the | :24:53. | :24:58. | |
Chinese city of Qingdao, but following the signs to the spar, | :24:58. | :25:06. | |
there is little luxury. Just a small independently-run | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
business from which more than ten women are bought and sold for sex. | :25:10. | :25:22. | |
He asks do you need them once or do you want them to stay overnight, he | :25:22. | :25:32. | |
asks? Our discussion with one of the women, cap towered on a hidden | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
camera is a stark illustration of how easily foreign businesses in | :25:37. | :25:43. | |
China can become tangled up in vice and criminality. | :25:43. | :25:50. | |
TRANSLATION: I am 20-year-old. I have sex with up to three clients a | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
day. And I'm allowed to keep 40% of the fee charged. | :25:56. | :26:03. | |
The Kempinski Hotel is far from an isolated example. | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
We called dozens of international hotels and asked to be put through | :26:08. | :26:15. | |
to their spas. Right across China, in around 7% of | :26:15. | :26:21. | |
those that we speak to, prostitution appears to be easy to arrange. | :26:21. | :26:35. | |
We also find sex on sale inside this hotel in Qingdao managed by the | :26:36. | :26:42. | |
British-based Intercontinental Hotels Group. The spa is under | :26:42. | :26:49. | |
independent management, as the sign makes clear. Here, legitimate | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
massage is the main stay of the business, but the spa also openly | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
rents out this prostitute to those who ask. | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
She tells us that the bill for her services can be settled at the | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
check-out through the hotel main desk. | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
In a statement, the Intercontinental Hotel's Group says that prostitution | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
is Strictly prohibited inside the hotels, including businesses. Hotel | :27:16. | :27:25. | |
staff are not knowly involved in processing bills for prostitution. | :27:25. | :27:30. | |
It has now closed the spa. Kempinski Hotels denies knowledge of the | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
prostitution we found. Saying that a spa was originally planned for the | :27:34. | :27:40. | |
hotel, hence the signage but never approved nor opened. | :27:40. | :27:45. | |
The Qingdao hotel, it says is connected to a third-party business, | :27:45. | :27:50. | |
through a basement passage way that cannot be closed off for safety | :27:50. | :27:53. | |
reasons. Shaun Rein spends his time advising | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
foreign companies in China. Now more than ever, he says, they should be | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
striving to stay clean. There is a definite reputational | :28:02. | :28:06. | |
risk for the brands to have hookers in the hotels. Especially from the | :28:06. | :28:09. | |
government side. They will crack in the hotels. Especially from the | :28:09. | :28:12. | |
down and go after the foreign brands more than domestic Chinese brands in | :28:12. | :28:17. | |
order to show the country that they are adhering to the laws. It is | :28:17. | :28:21. | |
easier to crack down on a foreign brand than it is on the local ones. | :28:21. | :28:27. | |
A few months ago, the British pharmaceutical giant, | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
GlaxoSmithKline found itself on the receiving end of just such a | :28:30. | :28:34. | |
crackdown. Accused of paying bribes to boost sales here in China. It was | :28:34. | :28:39. | |
forced to admit that some of its employees did appear to have broken | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
the law. Our evidence suggests that the | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
international hotel trade is at least running the risk of handing | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
the Chinese government another political opportunity to look tough | :28:51. | :28:56. | |
on foreign business. This is the The Ramada Plaza in the | :28:56. | :29:02. | |
city of Guangzhou. A reassuring mark of quality and comfort for | :29:02. | :29:07. | |
travellers in central Khan, far from home. | :29:07. | :29:13. | |
-- in Central China. Following the signs we find a third party-run spa. | :29:14. | :29:20. | |
This time for the yous of male customers only. With little | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
hesitation this man tells us that 20 women work here. He hands us a leaf | :29:24. | :29:28. | |
the. Prostitutes, the handwriting says, | :29:28. | :29:37. | |
800 RM B, about £85. A group of female travellers who stayed here | :29:37. | :29:42. | |
earlier in the year, raised their suspiciouses in this review, posted | :29:42. | :29:46. | |
on the TripAdvisor website. The Wyndham Hotel Group said that they | :29:46. | :29:50. | |
take this very veerl. That all independently owned and operated | :29:50. | :29:59. | |
hotels under its Ramada franchise are required to comply with the law | :29:59. | :30:04. | |
and the company adds, it provides training to identify and stop human | :30:04. | :30:10. | |
exploitation. Prostitution faces danger not just | :30:10. | :30:12. | |
from the clients but with the police. With the threat of constant | :30:12. | :30:17. | |
crackdowns, arrests and public shamings. There may be more that | :30:17. | :30:23. | |
some hotels could be doing to keep this exploitative trade away from | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
their doors. The companies should be negotiating | :30:26. | :30:32. | |
with the landlords from day one. If it is going to have a spa it could | :30:32. | :30:37. | |
be owned by a third party but managed by the employees. And they | :30:37. | :30:43. | |
are in charge of the hours, closing earlier rather than later. | :30:43. | :30:46. | |
The Kempinski had decided to pull from the hotel in Qingdao before the | :30:46. | :30:51. | |
investigation. They will crease to manage it from November the 15th, a | :30:51. | :30:56. | |
sign that a year after it opened, something has gone badly wrong. | :30:56. | :31:03. | |
For foreign companies, China offers unlimited opportunity, but the dark | :31:03. | :31:07. | |
underbelly of this economy is ever present. While there is big money to | :31:07. | :31:13. | |
be made here, there are also often overlooked, big reputational risks, | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
too. Before we go on to the rest of the | :31:17. | :31:25. | |
papers we deal with the Mail. We have Steve Hewlett back Indeed, Paul | :31:25. | :31:35. | |
Decker, he defends what the paper did, but the same article is in the | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
Guardian. So both barrels for the BBC. | :31:38. | :31:45. | |
Coverage orchestrated by Alistair Campbell. So both barrels for the | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
BBC. A tickling for the Guardian. The | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
article appears in the Guardian. I wonder if it may have something to | :31:53. | :31:55. | |
do with the fact that they are wonder if it may have something to | :31:55. | :31:59. | |
desperate to get the Guardian into the press self-regulator. | :31:59. | :32:05. | |
And the front of the Mail: A wonder drug. | :32:05. | :32:11. | |
The Telegraph: The scandal of an MOD cash pile. And the IPCC: The British | :32:11. | :32:18. | |
taxpayer. The Times: Britain and Germany in a secret pact to defy EU | :32:18. | :32:24. | |
laws. And the story in the Guardian: We should talk sensible about | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
spying. It was once described by George | :32:27. | :32:31. | |
Orwell as one of the most hideous buildings in the world. The Sagrada | :32:31. | :32:34. | |
Familia in Barcelona is due to be completed now in 2026, several | :32:35. | :32:37. | |
hundred years ahead of schedule thanks to modern stone carving | :32:37. | :32:40. | |
techniques, and a hundred years after Antonio Gaudi himself was run | :32:40. | :32:44. | |
over by a tram, taking the fine detail of his original design with | :32:44. | :32:45. | |
him. Here's what it will look like. | :32:45. | :32:52. |