24/04/2014 Newsnight

Tonight on Newsnight, the school in Birmingham at the centre of Islamist

takeover allegation, two teachers talk about their experiences

tonight. In a boys' education sex lesson, a sheet was given out saying

a woman had to obey her husband. Questions were asked, does that mean

a woman can't say no, we can demand sex. Behold a Labour policy, after

Labour promises to say no to zero hours contracts, Ed Miliband reveals

his reforms. After winning independent status, is independence

next for the lights of pirates, pasties and Poldark.

# Cornwall forever my home We will be speaking to the man who is

practically the king of Cornwall, Jethro. And Tom Hollander swaps his

dog colour for a crown for tonight's celebration of Shakespeare's 450th

birthday. Good evening, the so called

operation trowing trowing allegations of co-ordinated moves by

a group of Islamist hardliners to take control of as many as 25

schools, sentering on Park View School is sentering around

accusations. Amidst all the uncertainty, Newsnight has been to

Birmingham to find out from teachers at the school what really happened.

We have significant new details about what is going on.

Welcome to Birmingham. Right now four investigations are raking over

this part of the city. Largely following the trail of the so called

"Trojan horse letter", it apparently detailed a plot by Muslim hardliners

to take over some of the city's schools. It is largely thought to be

a forgery, but there are concerns about local state schools, and

whether in some cases conservatism might have drifted into something

worse. Much of the attention is focussed on this school, Park View,

this secondary school had an exceptionally high academic

reputation. And also the chairman of governors is very high-profile, and

named in the Trojan Horse document. Since 2010 a number of people have

made complaints to the authority about extremism in the school. The

latest concerns were raised in January and February of this year

when three ters wrote to the Department for Education, their

complaints, seen by Newsnight report discrimination, prejudice against

girls, and extreme religious views. The teachers also detailed some

quite specific examples. In a boys' sex education lesson a work sheet

was given out to them which said a woman has to obey her husband.

Questions were asked "does that mean a woman can't say no", "we can

demand sex". To be clear there, boys at the school were told that their

wives wouldn't be able to refuse sex? Yeah, and they were actually

talking to some of the girls about it. And the girls were saying to

some of the female staff, is that right, when we're married we can't

say no? Problems reached academic subjects too. The thing that shocked

me the most, is seeing creationism and intelligent design being taught

in a science class by a science teacher by children supposed to be

studying for GCSEs. These were 14-16-year-old children being taught

things not scientific and not on the curriculum. The school says

creationism is not school policy and it was never told about the

concerns. Had it heard it says it would have investigated them fully.

It adds that the sexual consent issue came about from a

misunderstanding of a historical reference to do with the cultural

expectations of sex within marriage. And the school held a special

assembly of year ten boys to make it clear that sex without informed

consent is rape. Among many parents living in the area the school is

still very popular. Many believe the allegations against Park View are

just part of a witch-hunt. The first thing that has attracted me is the

education and the results. Because you want to send your child to a

school where you know, blissfully they will achieve their potential.

And with this community as well, where we live, it is a deprived

area, there is lots of families that are lone single families and you

know you have children that are all over the place and the way that they

have dealt with the kids here, you know, really brought them up, giving

them the confidence. You have to take these things into consideration

as well, it is not just about having an excellent education, it does

depend on how you develop the child and they have, I'm telling you, they

have achieved. Muslim conservatism receives particular detention from

the authorities. That's because of the fear it creates about political

radicalisation. But extreme conservatism can be problematic on

its own. Talha Ahmad from The Muslim Council of Britain, formerly taught

in Birmingham schools, and we have the head of the British Humanist

Association. It is not acceptable is it to tell women they have to obey

their husbands at all times? Of course not, if any school, whether

it is, even if faith, Muslim faith school teaches that I think that

would be condemnable. Let's be clear these teachers said that they knew

that boys in a sex education lesson had been told and the girls then

knew that the boys had been told that women had to give sex to the

husband, there was no option? Well it appears that this is what is

reports, but also I noted that I think the school says that they once

they discovered it they did do an assembly in which they made it very

clear that any sex without informed consent sun acceptable. But -- is

unacceptable, but the bottom line is these kinds of messages, whoever

gives it out is not acceptable. But it is the case that the teacher who

delivered that message is still teaching in another Park View

school, is that acceptable? That's a very difficult question for me to

necessarily respond to. But I think the teacher has to be disciplined

the management has to be satisfied that the... Surely The Muslim

Council of Britain does not condone the idea that a teacher that

delivered rape and marriage is acceptable is teaching in another

school in Birmingham? If he's allowed to teach it is showing a

serious error of judgment. We know immediately this happened there was,

in a sense, a counter sexual education class where boys and girls

were told it was Australian acceptable behaviour, and it was a

one-off? The report says the claims about unbalanced sex education and

teaching creationism in science, and unbalanced RE and general religious

conservatism in the school have been coroborated by teachers today and

reports already written by the Education Funding Agency. That may

have been a one-off, but it does seem to speak a wider pattern. What

about the fact that the teacher is still in the Park View system? I

think that demonstrates that it is not taken seriously. Also we know

from the teachers from their own reports that creationism was taught

in science lesson, that is against the law? It is first time I'm

hearing that a Muslim, or rather if you like a conservatism Muslim would

promote creationism. I think it is utterly unacceptable and no place in

the 21st century that we should be teaching creationism, and The Muslim

Council of Britain is very clear about it. If The Muslim Council of

Britain is very clear about it, presumably it is having no impact on

the Park View School system? At Park View school, The Muslim Council of

Britain has to leverage over it. It is regulated and inspected by the

Department for Education, Ofsted and local authorities, even if these

things are going on, what it does show is a serious failure of

management and governance, but my trouble is, I think, is when you

look at this, this is not an incident that the Muslim community

has instigated. But the whole debate has moved into the future of the

Muslim community and how we accommodate for them. We expect

after the testimony of the teachers certain things to become clearer to

these investigations, because these teachers are saying clearly these

are the things they saw in terms of the teaching of creationism, in

science, and also essentially the teaching that actually rape and

marriage is acceptable? I think so far what we hear is that the serious

allegation has been made, by people who have said they have witnessed

it, for example teachers in this case. There are three investigations

going on. It is wise and prudent that we wait for the investigation

and allow them to complete it and then have a proper debate on it. The

accusation is nor specific on that, what the former teachers are saying

is they saw the work sheet and it has been quoted with verbatim, with

quotes saying a woman can't say no and the role of a woman is to say

yes, it is not just one person's word for it. These are very serious

issues, but this is not evidence of claims of widespread Islamist

takeover of Birmingham schools is it? No. Therefore, these allegations

are possibly overblown, we already know the question of the original

letter talking about, as it, were the idea of the Trojan Horse, are

possibly and more likely to be a forgery? That is one of the claims.

Claims of political extremism and that Trojan Horse letter is a

godsend to the school, because it seems to coroborate stories about a

too narrow education across RE and science being delivered. We need to

put it, political extremism exists, but put it to one side, we are

talking about a narrow curriculum in a Community School that should be

more open. The trouble we have, we have the testing of the will about

challenging what they call Islamist vaguely defined. On the other find

we have the left keen to show that Michael Gove's education model has

failed, and the Muslim community are like a political cobble, kicked from

left, right and centre. You are talking about teachers putting

forward allegations about the nature of the sex education lessons, the

schools has admitted the sex education lessons took place, that

is the atmosphere that took place in the system? If the law has been

broken action has to be taken. The Muslim community and Muslim council

supports it. What is not acceptable is to shift, at the moment what is

happening... If I can put this to you, would you say that for the vast

majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom, the idea that a woman has

to obey her husband is wrong, and should not in any way be promoted?

No. In a way, here we have a very straight forward idea for the Muslim

Council of Great Britain that actually what you are seeing is

actually been a small individual instance in one school area, which

we now know has been admitted and changed? I think that focussing on

that one particular example of teaching that consent is not

necessary in sex may well be able to be dismissed and may not be

recurrent throughout the system. It seems to be symptomatic of a wider

narrowing of the curriculum in that school. This is not allegation you

are making, you have no proof of that? The multiple corroboration

between different teachers, including those we have heard of

today, Education Funding Agency report published in the newspapers

just a few days ago. But you can look at the Muslim Council of

Britain's own education guidance from 2007 to see they advise things

like girls and boys should be separate in PE, girls and boys

shouldn't touch in dance, girls and boys shouldn't be brought together

in drama. That is the narrowing we talk about. Is that what you

promote? There are two issues that I want to pick on, on the

guidelinesishued by The Muslim Council of Britain -- guidelines

issued by The Muslim Council of Britain, we have never promoted

segregation, the broad point is we are still talking about allegations,

and if we are asking people to investigate, I accept there are

serious allegations. Some of them are admitted by the school. You

have... Things that most people would say are wrong. We leave it

there and expect to hear more. Thank you very much indeed.

Almost 20 years Agnew Labour in opposition was young -- new Labour

in opposition was gung ho, saying banning zero hours contracts and

storming the citadel. Then zero hours contracts suddenly weren't the

priority any more. We have news. We hear that Ed Miliband tomorrow will

spell out legislation, new legal rights for employers, he worries

about the way that employers are treated, how they treat their

employees, he wants to ensure that workers can demand fixed hours

contracts when they have worked regular hours over six months with

the same employee. And that they automatically receive a fixed

contract working regular hours over a year, and they can work for other

employers at the same time. Official figures show more than half a

million people in the UK work force are on the contracts. Many of them

don't even realise. The issue has become totemic for our age. A lot of

people say it is a return to the Dickensian work practices that leave

the employee no security and power. What is interesting is when you look

at the proposals it is hard not to spot the wriggle room, for any

employer who can adjust the way they are using their employment narrowing

from six months to five months for example, from a year to 11 months,

and to find loopholes around this. Why has he done it now? It is

interesting isn't it, the political picture is becoming much harder for

Labour to find any real economic ground to make headway on the big

macro picture in the UK, it is getting better. Growth we know is

up, unemployment is down, average ges starting to turn the corner, it

is left to Labour to find the specific measures that they think

will go to the heart of people's pockets. To their sense of

injustice. To this cost of living crisis that we hear so much from Ed

Miliband. We have seen Labour do well, they have taken on vested

interests, the energy companies and banks. We have seen policies like a

raise in the minimum wage, the cap on payday loans and a freeze in gas

prizes, they get adopted by the other side, the Government. You can

read these are positive ideas they don't have the space to manoeuvre on

the big stuff or a distinctly clever move that will chime with a lot of

people working long hours and don't like it. National Heritage entered

-- Nigel Farage entered the fray last week in this and UKIP and

Labour looking for very much the same kind of vote. The zero hours

contract, alongside the payday loan and the bad bank has come to be seen

as a by-word for social injustice in recent months. The sense that those

with little are losing out to those with lots, the hard-pressed worker

with virtually no job security. It is fertile territory for Labour

leader who has coined the cost of living as his crisis to fix. Last

autumn Ed Miliband hinted a Labour Government would tackle what he

calls the exploitive practice. I'm in favour of flexibility, but not

the kind of flexibility that means that people have to be flexible

about whether they can feed the kids and afford the weekly shop. We have

to put a stop to that, that is what Labour is determined to do. Tomorrow

we get the first clear signs of what this would mean. He wants to ensure

workers can demand a fixed hours contract when they have worked

regular hours over six months with the same employers. And that they

receive a fixed hours contract automatically when they have worked

regular hours over a year, unless of course they opt out. He will also

ensure they are protected from employers forcing them to be

available all hours, insisting they can't work for others, and

cancelling shifts for no money. He will make it part of a speech in

Scotland, insisting it is only by offering a UK-wide policy that the

sides of the border won't race each other to the bottom. It will chime

well with people pulling pints, stacking shelves or working in the

construction industry. Look closely and the loophole force employers are

pretty easy to stop. Who is to stop a boss offering a five-month

contract instead of a six-month contract to get around any new

legislation. Who is to stop a boss firing a worker just short of a

year. The fear of a little bit too much commitment coming on. Critics

point out many of the zero contract employees are pretty vulnerable,

young workers, first-timers, those generally less likely to flex their

muscle with an all-powerful boss. And then of course there are those

who value the flexibility that a zero hours contract brings,

highly-skilled professionals, technicians, dentists, parents

wanting family-flexible hours. Ed Miliband has made it clear that

anyone can opt out of a decision if they choose, but if the zero hours

contract is pilloried to the point where it disappears, that may hurt

some in the work place more than it helps them. Here to discuss these

proposals are Karen Jennings, the Assistant General Secretary of

Unison, and broil prowl prowl -- and our other guest. Many don't like

these contracts? Just under 50% of people are satisfied with the hours

they are working. That means 50% aren't? It doesn't mean that at all.

30% of people wished more hours and 20% didn't feel strongly. We have a

majority of people happy with the number of hours they are working.

What we need to look in the broader terms is what is happening in the UK

versus what is happening in the continental countries with more

restrictive practices and the answer there is much higher unemployment.

The question comes down to are we going down the path where we are

restricting to the point where we take our unemployment to European

levels, that would be really tragic. The threat is this will lead to

greater unemployment, but you haven't got what you wanted which

was the end to zero hours contracts? Unison represents public sector

workers, we want to see an end to that in health and social care. He's

not offering that? It is definitely modest, but again he's talking more

broadly than the public sector. He is talking wider than that. For us

we need to see an end to zero hours contracts, it is not good for the

staff themselves, we have seen horrendous abuses of that. Not least

paying people below the minimum wage because they don't pay them between

their visits, the time it takes to travel. Have you surveyed the

opposite here which is said 50% on zero hours contracts like the

system? Yes, of course, the members we represent are low-paid members, I

would suggest the members that you a surveying are probably the

professional technical people who may want the flexibility. What I

would say to you is that this is about a race to the bottom. Where

you see employers, particularly in the public sector, they are

outsourced employers, they are paying little, they cans employment

the minute -- they exploit the minimum wage and the standards of

those carers drop as well. If we are talking about six months continuous

employment, and then we're talking about a year's employment as well,

both being triggers to end zero hours contracts and as emably says

you employ someone five months or 11 months and get round it? Precisely,

that probably shows the way in which Ed Miliband is really looking here

for. You mean this is actually what he's thinking? I think he probably S

he doesn't want to bring in the inflexibility which a lot of people

recognise. So it is just for show, if it wasn't just for show, if he

really was on the side of the workers as it were, he would ban

zero hours contracts? I think it is deeply unfortunate that we are

looking at one element of what Ed Miliband has suggested. This is a

key element, if he is saying that businesses will get round it, then

actually it is worthless? It is a key element, but there are other

elements as well. Look the coalition Government are only looking at

tinkering at the edges of zero hours contracts. That is to do with the

exclusivity element which Ed is dealing with. You have to say that

Vince Cable is ahead of the game on that, he has already said they are

looking at proposals to end the idea that there has to be exclusivity? We

called for the reform of that too. This is not a big idea from Ed

Miliband? What I'm saying is it is only one small element. Ed Miliband

is also saying that you should be paid where time you are expected to

work you don't work. Look I think it is a modest, cautious step in the

right direction. This is not the great horizon, it is interesting you

should say it is a modest, cautious, step, is this really going to earn

Ed Miliband plaudits? What I'm saying is he has gone further than

the coalition Government at the moment. We will continue to lobby

him, don't forget, these are proposal that is are going to Ed

Miliband. He has had 20 years to think about it? Coming back to you,

I seem to remember it was said the minimum wage would decimate

industry? We always said it depended upon the level it was set. That was

your wriggle room, the fact is nothing of the sort happened. So it

is possible, actually, that you know that evolutionary process will take

place and actually it might give comfort to employers too to know

they have the loyalty of their staff because they treat them well?

Clearly every employer wants to treat staff well that is the way you

get loyal staff without question. Would you like to see the end of

zero hours contracts, especially for poorly paid workers who are

unskilled? What we have is extremely good which is a situation in the

last few years where employers and employees have been extremely mature

about the level of wage increases they are demanding and various other

things. Lots of people might wish to work more hours, but they maintain

the jobs. If we looked and saw the depth of the recession we have just

been through, we would publicly expect unemployment to be double the

rate it is, and the reason it hasn't been is people have been showing a

good deal of maturity. There is the flexibility in the market. Zero

hours contracts are one small part of a flexible labour market. I'm not

here to stick up to for the Labour Party, I'm here to represent

members, the same laws of maturity has not applied to bankers and

financing. You represent health workers and social care workers?

Which have been exploited under zero hours contracts. Unison's policy is

you want an end to it? Yes. You represent that for your union, you

think these kind of workers are a special case. There is a lot of

difficult work? It is about our workers, but also standards of care

delivered to patients. On that basis, are you saying to Ed Miliband

right now, ban them, before it comes to the manifesto? We are saying end

zero hours contracts in health and social care. It is not only Ed

Miliband who is out of the traps with an early election pledge. David

Cameron who once memorably had his very own small wind turbine on his

roof has announced under a Conservative Government support for

the giant whirly gigs will be calmed. There is no supsidies and

local authorities will be given the power to decide on planning

applications as they see fit. As we report the party that once urged us

to vote blue and go green is blowing cold on their much-vaunted energy

policy. "Get off our land"! It's a road mate. Go away. The

countryside's howl against turbines that has pitted villager against

villager. This isn't your property. I can show you the deeds of whose

property it is, it is not their's. Is that the farmer? I'm glad I'm

getting under their skin, what they have put people in the village

through is really quite awful. We have had months of sleepless nights.

What I'm facing, the most likely event for me should the wind farm be

approved is I will have a house that nobody else will want to live in. It

would upset me enormously if these things went ahead, if Cameron will

say as a positive policy we're going to withdraw those supsidies, then it

might persuade me to vote for him. The Bedfordshire farmer might be

disappointed. The farmer expressing his views loudly. His angry

neighbours say he wants turbines on his fields. We did contact the farm

but he didn't want to tell Newsnight why. Yet isn't David Cameron running

away from his younger self. At least the huskies, ministers insist they

are not ditching their greenest Government ever promise. Taxpayer

support for other kinds of green energy will not go. It is a victory

for the kind of Conservatives who were never persuaded by "green"

Dave. While David Cameron was busy boasting about other infrastructure

projects, he was only too happy to tell the BBC about this new idea, no

more supsidies for turbines on the land. Do you really need to go on

with a subsidy from the taxpayer? And do you need to go on with a

planning system that gives such priority to wind forms rather than

-- wind farms rather than local P I think once you have got to 10% you

should say take away the subsidy and hear the views of local people.

Delight for his more sceptical supporters. It was always rather

bogus aspect of modernisation, it was being green, and SAS David

Cameron says all the green crap has been finished with, that is for him

part of the green crap. David Cameron is not a conviction

politician, he isn't a man of deep principle, all the stuff about going

off to the North Pole, it was all about suck up to a group of people

he hoped would vote for him. I have driven from Berlin to music, and you

drive down through eastern Germany and there are wind farms everywhere,

and all over France now. These are countries that have very large land

mass, France has the same population as us but two-and-a-half time the

land mass. We are a small and crowded island. Turbines are simply

not to the taste of many of those who enjoy the peaceful, unchanged

and often conservative countryside, their power is more expensive than

oil or carriages but still cheaper than wind farms at sea or nuclear.

Although it has been subsidised for 20 years, independent sources warn

cutting off subsidy could cut off the industry. Some firms have

already been scaling back, but for the Conservatives the shires have

won. One Tory minister told me some counties in the countryside have

felt under siege from turbines, he said to me he wants people to know

he will not have any more. Universally hates maybe not, it is

fair to say they have never captured many hearts, the other part of the

problem is they don't always look like they are doing all that much.

7. 1 gigawatts worth of wind farms have been build on shore. Enough to

power about 3. 8 million homes. But because the wind doesn't always

blow, it is hard to predict. So last year the 16. 5 terrawatt hours

generated was only 4. 6% of electricity. Turbines are idle

sometimes when the wind isn't blowing and not generating

electricity. We don't pay for it if it is not generated, it doesn't cost

us any more money. On the other side it doesn't provide us with

unreliable electricity or undermine the electricity system security.

Because the system is able to cope with big fluctuation in supply and

demand. It might make it easier on the doorstep for the kind of

Conservatives that were never persuaded by Green Dave, this

Conservative councillor won his seat opposing wind farms. I think the

Government has listened to the people of the country, which is what

any Government should do. They have done exactly what they should be

doing. The Conservatives would allow communities who want at the Bitcoins

to go ahead. But even the one that was on top of David Cameron's old

London house has gone. Both the Lib Dems and Labour are still keen add

vow baits in the field -- advocates in the field as well as the cows. So

we will all ultimately decide if there is room for both. China has

the biggest standing army in the world, but it is in the midst of a

radical transformation. Man power is being cut by half, but the budget

has increased six-fold to well over $100 billion, as China attempts to

sharpen up its military. For the first time the Chinese army has

opened its doors to foreign cameras and Steve Hewlett was invited to

join two British officers on an exchange programme with one of

China's top military academies. Jason Johnson and Richard Levin are

recently commissioned officers from Sandhurst in the UK. They have

arrived in China to take part in something unprecedented and quite

unique. Er They are the first British officers ever invited to

take part in an international cadet exchange organised by the people's

liberation front army in the People's Republic of China. They

will spend a week living and working with Chinese cadets. 1,000kms

thought of Beijing. -- south of Beijing. It is a good opportunity to

come and experience something firsthand, especially a country that

is emerging as somewhere very important globally. 21-year-old

officer here has been attached to the Brit to help them bed in.

Together they will take part in a prestigious military competition

known as the Jin Wu Cup later in the week. It will be interesting to know

what other international cadets are going to be in our team? I think you

are the best! It is 6.00 in the morning. I'm not

really awake yet to be honest. First off it is half an hour of drill.

Only then is it time for breakfast. But the exercises are far from over.

Almost everything is done in formation, which is not quite how

they do things back at Sandhurst. I can't imagine spending four years of

my life marching to breakfast, lunch and dinner, that would be a

challenge for most people at Sandhurst. Mao used to say the more

people you have the more power you have, and that has been the doctrine

that Chinese military has worked by for a very long time. But times are

changing. Technology becomes more important, and ways of working and

ways of thinking have to change. This is battle simulation room, it

might look like computer gaming but it is in fact part of the Chinese

cadets' training regime. REPORTER: How long have you been doing this?

Sos this is a new idea? And the PLA is looking west for pointers towards

this brave new world. Quite a lot of what you see here oddly looks quite

American, the uniform, the routines are quite American, that fascination

with and emlation of American military, however, runs quite a lot

deeper than that. The American and British militaries bring something

to the table which the Chinese do not have. Recent combat experience.

When you are marching how do you carry it, on one shoulder? Recent

wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ha taught British and American forces

many tough lessons. We at that time troll like this, with the rifle

ready on the shoulder, if we needed to fire this will woo go all the way

down. The last time China went to war with another country was a brief

conflict in Vietnam. Way back in 1979. China

It is the day of the Jin Wu Cup, and for the first time ever foreign

cadets have been invited to compete. Three rows each consisting of three

international students and seven Chinese cadets. The competition

begins. The first challenge is orienteering. Jason's team need to

find and tag ten electronic touch points spread over square kilo

metres. But they are getting off to a bad start. The squad leader is

struggling to make sense of the map. There is three different people

looking at a map trying to decide where we are. Running out of time

they decide to split into two groups, each responsible for

locating half the electronic touch points. Jason's team manages to

locate four electronic touch points and return to the rendezvous with

five minutes to spare. That's good. But the other half of the team is

nowhere to be seen. It looks like they haven't made it back in time.

So the whole team loses now? Maybe. Jason is starting to he will

Israelise that amongst the Chinese cadets in his group, even allowing

for their relative youth, practical skills often do not match classroom

theory. They do need a bit more practice before they can get to each

point effectively and efficiently. Jason told me that while the

exercises were familiar, they were not all as realistic as they might

have been back home. I think fitness wise they are a similar standard as

far as officership and leadership goes they are at a lower standard. I

think it is because they are not given the responsibility to develop

that leadership. The exchange week has come to answered. And the

Chinese cadets have also gained new insight from the week's exchange

programme. These cadets may well one day have

leading roles in their country's Armed Forces. They have gathered

here to understand how their counterparts think. Invaluable

lessons, maybe, now that China with its new model army is poised to play

a far more significant role in world affairs. You can see a longer

version of Steve Hewlett's film on Our World on the News Channel this

Saturday and fund again at 9. 30. Now another complication has been

thrown in the way of ministers and mandarins seeking to make their

weighty decisions about the Government of the UK. They will now

have to contract views of the Cornish. It was announced today that

the people of Cornwall have been given the same minority status as

Scots, Welsh and Irish under EU law, designed to protect the rights of

national minorities. It doesn't mean any extra money, but it is a victory

for Cornish nationalists who claim England ends west of the Tamar

river. Jethro, the comedian, joins us from just across the border in

English Exeter! Jethro, many congratulations, I would have

thought minority status was for wimps, can't you go for

independence? We have known it for years, you never call a Cornishman

an Englishman in my lifetime. The real Cornishmen is from the west

where I come from. They are not telling us anything we didn't know.

A lot of people you would say talk about Cornwall as their own

identity, they said well why Cornwall and not another county.

They don't realise that historically Cornwall is a Celtic nation, there

was Scotland and the Isle of Man, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Britney

of course. Do you feel persecuted? Not really. Why not? We lost that

900 years ago. We used to have our own king once, King Mark, he's gone

1,000 years, we miss him still. Do you think you might try to reinstate

some kind of Cornish monarchy? No. You would be king? Of course not.

No, no, no. I couldn't stand that, could I? I can't ride a horse any

way! You know what's the deal here, is this going to suddenly give a

boost to the Cornish economy, are you going to raise the flag over the

tin mines, all this kind of thing? The flags have always flown over the

tin mines, they have flown throughout Cornwall. It is just

something that has gone on for years, and now the rest of the

country will know we have our own identity and that is what we have

always wanted. It didn't really matter too much. We knew where we

were forever. What is it to be Cornish? What is it? Well if you are

born there you are a Cornishman. David Cameron's daughter was born in

Cornwall, she will be Cornish. And I hope she's very proud of it like we

are. You are brought up with that, if you go to Liverpool they are born

Scousers and they will always be Scousers, and Cornish people that is

our little bit of identity and we hang on to it and viciously too. We

are about to hear from Tom Hollander, he says perhaps you are

going to celebrate your bird, your chuff, is that not your local bird?

And the chuffs are back on the cliffs too, that is good. Tell me

what else, what other kinds of things will come to the fore, now

that you have minority status? I don't think it will make it much

different. I listened to the news and they said other countries have

had their minority status, and it hasn't made any difference, it is no

financial gain. It has given us an identity that we always wanted. As

for independence for Cornwall that is out of the question. We can't

survive on three bags of potatoes and a basket full of fish. You don't

have a sustainable economy of your own? You have Rick Stein! We have to

be realistic about this. You do have a Duchess of Cornwall? That's right.

You have a Duke of Cornwall? He's the Prince of Wales and the Duke of

Cornwall, of course he is. You are speaking to us from Exeter, where do

you live? I live in, on the border. You live which side of the border? I

live just in Devon! So wait a minute, you're like Sean conry in

Scotland -- Conner in Scotland you don't actually live there? You can

take the man out of Cornwall but not the Cornwall out of the man. Pretend

you are in Somerset and go and have some Scrumpy! We have time for two

newspapers, both of the newspapers the Telegraph and the Times report

on a move to end the Queen's role as the head of the church. The

coalition according to the Times says split in the coalition on the

role of the church because Nick Clegg has been talking about whether

to end t Queen's role as head of state. On Newsnight we are holding

our own celebrations of Shakespeare's 450th birthday, we

have asked some of Britain's finest actors to deliver a favourite speech

and character they love. Last night David Harewood chose Eeago and ahead

of her performance, Kevin Mirallas said nobody should read Shakespeare

under the age of 15. Tonight it is Tom Hollander who is swapping his

dog colour for a crown. Did you read Shakespeare at school? A little bit.

What are you doing, this crown on your head as Richard II I? The

opening reach of Richard II I What about Kevin Mirallas's idea that you

should watch it perform but not read it on the page until you are a

grown-up? I don't agree with that But you can't disagree with Helen

Mirren can you? Not really. What about Richard II I, is it a role you

want to play? It is showbiz and somebody has to take your chances,

and somebody says what do you want to do, and I said this. It is

showbiz Newsnight. What about this particular speech? What is it, it is

like Shakespeare's revenge fantasy for anybody who has not been picked

for the school football team. Call it that. That is good enough for me.

Tom Hollander take your seat. OK. Well now is the winter of our

discontent says Tom Hollander, here he goes.

Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of

York. And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house in the deep bossom of

the ocean buried. Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, our

bruised arms hung up from monuments, our stern alarums changed to merry

meetings. Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visaged

war, hath smooth'd his wringled front, and now instead of mounting

bashed steeds to fright the souls of fearful adversaries, he capers him

inially in the lady's chamber to the lascivious pleasing of a lute. But

I, thattam not shaped for sportive tricks, nor made to court annam

rouse looking-glass. I that am rudely stamp'd and want love's

majesty to strut before a wanton ambling nymp, I that am curtail'd of

this fair proportion, cheated, deformed, unfinished, sent before my

time into this breathing world scarce half made up, and that so

lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me as I halt by them, why I

in this weak piping time of peace, have no delight to pass away the

time, unless to spy my shadow in the sun and descant on my own deformity.

The weather at the moment across the country is reverting to type, sunny

spells and scattered showers, it is