:00:00. > :00:07.MUSIC PLAYS. insists the mass abduction of
:00:08. > :01:19.Good evening, it is three long weeks since Islamist rebels abducted the
:01:20. > :01:22.Nigerian schoolgirls, and today the country's President asserts, without
:01:23. > :01:29.any evidence, that the kidnap would be the beginning of the end of
:01:30. > :01:32.terrorism in nigh goria. Goodluck Jonathan was
:01:33. > :01:35.terrorism in nigh goria. Goodluck Economic Forum and buoyed by
:01:36. > :01:39.logistic and intelligence support from Britain, China, France and the
:01:40. > :01:42.United States, to help find the girls before they are sold or
:01:43. > :01:46.murdered by their captors, Boko Haram. Nigeria's record in
:01:47. > :01:57.combatting the terrorist group has so far been woeful.
:01:58. > :02:01.All we have is Nair names, the 200 abducted schoolgirls. Their
:02:02. > :02:05.disappearance has suddenly pushed a long-running campaign of violence by
:02:06. > :02:10.Boko Haram to the top of the international agenda. Today the
:02:11. > :02:16.President of Nigeria dramatically declared this meant his country had
:02:17. > :02:21.reached a turning point. I believe that the kidnap of these girls will
:02:22. > :02:28.be the beginning of the end of terror in nigh goria. Under heavy --
:02:29. > :02:32.Nigeria. Under heavy criticism, the Nigerian Government says it is ready
:02:33. > :02:37.for action, perhaps, with western support. I can tell you at least two
:02:38. > :02:43.divisions of the Nigerian army were added to the fighting force in order
:02:44. > :02:46.to augment the operational capabilities of the military since
:02:47. > :02:50.the girls were abducted. But, with all this attention and even the
:02:51. > :02:57.possibility of troops going in really offer any chance of resolving
:02:58. > :03:02.a long standing and growing crisis? Even this week the violence
:03:03. > :03:09.escalated, as many as 300 killed in a remote village by Boko Haram. One
:03:10. > :03:11.eyewitness told Newsnight. The attackers came, the Nigerian
:03:12. > :03:46.military ran to the bush. Boko Haram was founded in 2002, but
:03:47. > :03:50.its campaign of violence has been escalating over the last five years,
:03:51. > :03:55.killing thousands. It was this video of the leader on Monday boasting in
:03:56. > :04:00.an almost manic fashion of kidnapping 200 girls and saying he
:04:01. > :04:02.intended to sell them, that brought international attention. The group
:04:03. > :04:09.believes women should not be at school and should be married, even
:04:10. > :04:14.as slaves. This goes to the heart of Boko Haram's ideology, its name
:04:15. > :04:18.loosely translated means "western education is forbidden". It is the
:04:19. > :04:23.Taliban of Nigeria, wanting to purge the region of outside foreign
:04:24. > :04:28.influence, and enforce Islamic rule. The girls were taken from the
:04:29. > :04:31.village of Chibok, Boko Haram's violence has been centered on the
:04:32. > :04:34.north-east of the country, where three states are under emergency
:04:35. > :04:40.rule. The group support is deeply rooted in the local grievances of
:04:41. > :04:44.the region. Its sense of alienation of the capital which is seen as
:04:45. > :04:49.Christian and corrupt. At times the violence has been spectacular, like
:04:50. > :04:52.this bombing of a UN building. While there are some ideolgical and
:04:53. > :04:57.operational links to Al-Qaeda in the region, this is a Nigerian problem.
:04:58. > :05:03.In spite of tactical links between Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in North
:05:04. > :05:07.Africa, Boko Haram is a Nigeria-focussed group. It is not
:05:08. > :05:10.just religion driving the violence that drives Boko Haram, it is a wide
:05:11. > :05:13.array of social and economic problems that have been troubling
:05:14. > :05:19.the north of Nigeria for a very long time. Boko Haram has been growing
:05:20. > :05:24.increasingly bold, up to 50 boys were slaughtered at a school in
:05:25. > :05:29.February, 88 were then killed by car bombs in the capital in April. It
:05:30. > :05:32.was the abduction of the girls that led to protests, a campaign on
:05:33. > :05:38.social media and the west insisting on helping. Diplomats here at the
:05:39. > :05:42.Foreign Office, as well as in Washington spent three weeks trying
:05:43. > :05:46.to pressure the Nigerians to accept outside help. Nigeria is a proud
:05:47. > :05:52.country, which sees itself as the economic powerhouse of Africa. And
:05:53. > :05:55.when those small teams of western experts arrive, they may struggle to
:05:56. > :05:58.have much impact. As well as helping in the search for the girls, I'm
:05:59. > :06:03.told they will also be trying to persuade the Nigerians to adopt a
:06:04. > :06:07.more nuanced counter insurgency strategy, one that tries to win over
:06:08. > :06:12.the local population in the north, and not just use some of the brutal
:06:13. > :06:16.military tactics employed in the past.
:06:17. > :06:20.Western officials privately say the Nigerian Government lacks competence
:06:21. > :06:23.and is poorly co-ordinated, and they fear another brutal crackdown in the
:06:24. > :06:27.north. This will do nothing to deal with the underlying problems
:06:28. > :06:37.according to one person who has tried negotiating with Boko Haram.
:06:38. > :06:41.Many people in the north are as much disenchanted with the security
:06:42. > :06:47.forces as they are with the insurgents. What is very clear is
:06:48. > :06:52.that in this kind of war you cannot win it if you don't carry the people
:06:53. > :06:57.along. If the people have been suffering the consequences of the
:06:58. > :07:01.intervention by security forces and I think the whole battle has been
:07:02. > :07:08.left for the security forces, which is very difficult to fight. With
:07:09. > :07:13.reports tonight of troops and helicopters in the Chibok region,
:07:14. > :07:16.Nigeria clearly feels it now has to be seen to be doing something. But
:07:17. > :07:25.the question is, what it will end up doing? And whether it will work?
:07:26. > :07:31.We're joined now by the Nigerian Interior Minister, and he's in Ghana
:07:32. > :07:35.in Accra where he's attending a seminar on the environment.
:07:36. > :07:38.Minister, first of all, Goodluck Jonathan insists this is a turning
:07:39. > :07:46.point in dealing with terrorism, you have got absolutely no evidence to
:07:47. > :07:50.back this up? Sorry? There is no evidence to back up your President's
:07:51. > :07:59.assertion that this is a turning point for terrorism? Well the reason
:08:00. > :08:09.that Mr President insists that this is a turning point and the beginning
:08:10. > :08:14.of the end of the insurgent activities in the parts of Nigeria
:08:15. > :08:18.and the north, is the fact that for every situation there is usually a
:08:19. > :08:23.turning point, and the abduction of these ladies, innocent, defenceless
:08:24. > :08:28.ladies, preparing for their examinations, certainly presented a
:08:29. > :08:33.further impetuous for everybody to get involved in the process of
:08:34. > :08:43.ending, not just the abduction of innocent citizens, but ending this
:08:44. > :08:47.terror war in Nigeria. That assertion is not misplaced, because
:08:48. > :08:53.everybody in Nigeria is galvanised, there is a near consensus amongst
:08:54. > :08:56.all the Governments and leaders, is definitely this will have to end,
:08:57. > :09:02.this madless will have to end, and the Government is mobilising every
:09:03. > :09:05.support. You are saying now it is galvanising action, but of course
:09:06. > :09:08.there has not been a concerted effort against Boko Haram in the
:09:09. > :09:16.past. Even this week on Monday when up to 300 people were killed, ones
:09:17. > :09:21.tensably for helping -- ostensibly for helping military forces, the
:09:22. > :09:27.military forces themselves ran away, we heard a witness say. How is this
:09:28. > :09:33.dealing with the situation? Well I think it is an unfair comment on the
:09:34. > :09:39.Government to say that this Government has not seriously dealt
:09:40. > :09:42.with the issue of Boko Haram. A series of arrests have been made, a
:09:43. > :09:47.series of activities have been carried out in the recent past that
:09:48. > :09:55.has gradually decimated the rank and file of the insurgents and the
:09:56. > :09:58.insurgents have been driven from virtually out of the country and up
:09:59. > :10:03.to the north-east of the country. Of course some of the leading
:10:04. > :10:07.commanders of the insurgents have been taking out. I think it is
:10:08. > :10:13.unfair to say that nothing has been done. What has happened in the
:10:14. > :10:16.recent past is the resurgence of guerrilla-like attacks on soft,
:10:17. > :10:20.vulnerable spots. Of course you are aware that this Government and the
:10:21. > :10:25.security agencies have responded very promptly to such attacks when
:10:26. > :10:29.they are called. You haven't responded quickly, you
:10:30. > :10:33.have been offered international help for the last three weeks. The US
:10:34. > :10:37.have been offered international help the UK have been pleading to come
:10:38. > :10:38.have been offered international help Goodluck Jonathan has said they can
:10:39. > :10:43.come Goodluck Jonathan has said they can
:10:44. > :10:47.action. You are being forced to do Goodluck Jonathan has said they can
:10:48. > :10:53.this because of the international attention? I tell you something your
:10:54. > :11:00.question is predicated on misinformation. I can tell you from
:11:01. > :11:04.the beginning this Government and of the federal country of Nigeria, Dr
:11:05. > :11:11.Goodluck Jonathan, has highlighted an issue that terrorism was alien to
:11:12. > :11:15.our culture and it was an imported phenomenon that required a global
:11:16. > :11:18.attack. Of course that terrorism has no boundaries is nothing new. The
:11:19. > :11:24.fundamentalism in the north-east and the northern part of Nigeria that
:11:25. > :11:30.has precipitated this action, that western education is a sin,
:11:31. > :11:34.certainly is not in tandem with the modern trends. All along I can tell
:11:35. > :11:36.you this that a series of meetings have been held with the
:11:37. > :11:44.international community and other countries. We have been to our
:11:45. > :11:48.neighbouring countries of Niger and Chad all to ensure a containment of
:11:49. > :11:51.the situation. A series of agreements have been reached with
:11:52. > :11:56.the neighbouring countries and, I can tell you this, there is no time
:11:57. > :11:59.that any offer of assistance has been offered. We have sought for
:12:00. > :12:04.assistance to curb this insurgency based on the experiences of friendly
:12:05. > :12:10.countries. Minister I just want to make one final point. Way back last
:12:11. > :12:14.year, just a moment, way back last year, the state department of the
:12:15. > :12:19.United States of America offered to introduce a technology hub on our
:12:20. > :12:24.borders to secure our borders to prevent illegal entry, especially
:12:25. > :12:28.these people are perpetrators of this violence. The Ministry of
:12:29. > :12:33.Interior has been working with the state department officials of the
:12:34. > :12:37.United States of America since last year to restore this technology. It
:12:38. > :12:41.is not true to say that Nigeria has to refuse international assistance.
:12:42. > :12:44.What I was pointing out is what we were told in the last three weeks
:12:45. > :12:48.they have been want to go give help and only now that help has been
:12:49. > :12:54.accepted. Can I ask a final question. If it takes US troops,
:12:55. > :12:59.special force, SAS from the UK, will they have a free hand in your
:13:00. > :13:04.country to do anything they have to do to secure the release of these
:13:05. > :13:09.girls? At the moment what is going on is the fact that the United
:13:10. > :13:14.States of America and some other friendly countries, the UK and
:13:15. > :13:23.France and Kenya and neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Niger and
:13:24. > :13:30.Chad have offered to assist Nigeria with their experience. When they
:13:31. > :13:34.come they will work in conjunction with the security agencies of
:13:35. > :13:39.Nigeria to bring to an end the madness taking part in that part of
:13:40. > :13:43.the country. I want to say this, the casualties and activities bandied
:13:44. > :13:48.around are certainly not correct. I assure you the military commander in
:13:49. > :13:52.Nigeria are providing adequate information. Thank you very much
:13:53. > :13:56.indeed. The US pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer
:13:57. > :14:00.is still in full pursuit of AstraZeneca, despite the British
:14:01. > :14:03.company's rebuff. Labour has been pushing the Government hard over a
:14:04. > :14:07.deal they say puts British jobs and British science at risk. But did Ed
:14:08. > :14:13.Miliband come rather late to the party? Much later than he likes to
:14:14. > :14:15.make out. I'm joined by our chief correspondent.
:14:16. > :14:19.First of all what have we learned about Ed Miliband? This is slightly
:14:20. > :14:22.awkward. The language from Labour has been pushing the Government for
:14:23. > :14:25.a full assessment of the deal. Perhaps even a change in the law in
:14:26. > :14:29.order to do so. We have been told that in fact about ten days ago, in
:14:30. > :14:33.fact on the day the potential deal was confirmed that the chief
:14:34. > :14:37.executive of Pfizer, the American company, wrote at some length to Ed
:14:38. > :14:41.Miliband offering to come and have a meeting with him to explain his
:14:42. > :14:46.version of the bid, to talk about it, to discuss it, its potential
:14:47. > :14:50.rewards and obviously the potential risks and Ed Miliband, given that
:14:51. > :14:53.chance, actually turned it down. And frankly, in a surprisingly short
:14:54. > :14:59.letter from his Chief of Staff, which we can have a look at now, he
:15:00. > :15:03.wrote to him basically saying he was too busy. "Dear Mr Reid, the chief
:15:04. > :15:08.executive of the country. Thank you for your letter, we are entering a
:15:09. > :15:13.preelectrical period here in the UK. This will make a meeting with Ed
:15:14. > :15:17.very difficu because he's out campaigning at this time." At that
:15:18. > :15:19.stage they were happy to leave it to the Shadow Business Secretary to
:15:20. > :15:23.have conversations with Pfizer in the UK. At best it looks like Ed
:15:24. > :15:27.Miliband was trying to distance himself, and there are good reasons
:15:28. > :15:31.for doing that. Or perhaps they miscalculated the importance of this
:15:32. > :15:36.deal. The biggest potentially ever of its kind. At worst it looks like
:15:37. > :15:40.he was waiting for the bandwagon to catch up and jumped on as it passed.
:15:41. > :15:46.Miraculously tonight he has told us he will try to meet Ian Read
:15:47. > :15:50.afterall next week, but now it seems like a good idea. Now it might be
:15:51. > :15:56.too late, do we know what are the chances of the deal? What seems very
:15:57. > :16:00.likely is I have talked to one of the top ten shareholders from
:16:01. > :16:04.AstraZeneca, the hunted, they say they fully expect the American
:16:05. > :16:07.company to up their bid beyond the ?63 billion, but they are not
:16:08. > :16:12.convinced at all that will mean it will go ahead. The way they phrased
:16:13. > :16:16.it to me, "it has just landed badly", this whole thing. Much of
:16:17. > :16:19.the science community is against the idea. But the two chief executives
:16:20. > :16:22.will be up against MPs next week, both coming here. This is moving
:16:23. > :16:28.very fast, things could change significantly even before then.
:16:29. > :16:32.One of the final frontiers of female equality is the Armed Forces. Women
:16:33. > :16:35.soldiers are already on the frontline providing logistical and
:16:36. > :16:38.intelligence support and bomb disposal. But should they be
:16:39. > :16:42.fighting alongside their male colleagues? The Government isn't
:16:43. > :16:46.sure but wants to decide. Today announcing that their review of the
:16:47. > :16:49.ban on women in close combat roles is to be brought forward. If they
:16:50. > :16:55.are looking for change, they won't get it without a fight. Former Chief
:16:56. > :16:59.of Staff Lord Dannett will have no truck with asking women soldiers to
:17:00. > :17:04.kill. In my judgment the point of principle overrides what women might
:17:05. > :17:07.or might not wish to do. To be in a unit given orders to attack a hill,
:17:08. > :17:15.town or village, that is a role not for women. If a woman is in a combat
:17:16. > :17:18.logistic patrol taking supplies forward and gets caught up in
:17:19. > :17:21.fighting and does well that is tremendous, there is a different set
:17:22. > :17:24.of circumstances from the one I'm decribing, there is a point of
:17:25. > :17:30.principle there, it is an important one for people to reflect upon. Is
:17:31. > :17:34.he right, with me is my guest, the most senior woman in the British
:17:35. > :17:40.Army after a retirement after 27 years, and from Toronto the first
:17:41. > :17:46.woman to command an all-male field force squadron. Good evening to both
:17:47. > :17:53.of you. Is Richard Dannett right, it is not a role for women close
:17:54. > :18:03.combat? I absolutely respect the operational views of Lord Dannett,
:18:04. > :18:09.but I do disagree on his observations that it is no place for
:18:10. > :18:14.women. In my experience no man is sent into battle without extensive
:18:15. > :18:22.training, both as an individual and also within a combat team. You feel
:18:23. > :18:25.that women can be snipers and do close-to-close combat and wield
:18:26. > :18:28.bayonets? I think women should be judged on the basis of their
:18:29. > :18:32.capability, not on the basis of their gender. And therefore, if
:18:33. > :18:40.women want to step up to the challenge of service in the combat
:18:41. > :18:44.arms, and not sure why their gender should exclude them. Surely women
:18:45. > :18:47.are as capable as men? Women certainly have the courage of men
:18:48. > :18:51.and it is nothing to do with that, and there are American aspects there
:18:52. > :18:55.that I don't agree with Richard Dannett, but we are not the same. We
:18:56. > :19:01.do not have the same physical capability of men. And I am
:19:02. > :19:04.concerned that the standards of physical fitness will be reduced for
:19:05. > :19:08.reasons of gender equality. And you know the British Army has a
:19:09. > :19:14.reputation of being one of the best and the fittest in the world and I
:19:15. > :19:20.would hate to think that to include women those standards are reduced.
:19:21. > :19:24.So the standards are reduced? Does that mean you think for example that
:19:25. > :19:27.the effectiveness of a unit could be compromised if women's physical
:19:28. > :19:32.fitness, as you see it, was not sufficient to the mens'? Absolutely.
:19:33. > :19:37.Absolutely. Yes, I mean you know we're talking about women having to
:19:38. > :19:46.carry, or an infantry soldier having to carry a back of perhaps 65s can,
:19:47. > :19:49.there is kgs. There is a case of a woman in America serving in both
:19:50. > :19:52.Iraq and Afghanistan and has suffered permanent physical damage
:19:53. > :19:56.because of the weights that she had to carry over an extended period.
:19:57. > :20:00.And I think we have to accept that women do a fantastic job in so many
:20:01. > :20:03.roles, yes they are on the frontline, and yes they do a good
:20:04. > :20:09.job and there are very good careers for them, but I do not believe in
:20:10. > :20:13.that. You say even carrier the pack was too much for us, even the roles
:20:14. > :20:18.performed just now can be detrimental to their health? We are
:20:19. > :20:24.talking about infantry soldiers having to carry those packs. Let me
:20:25. > :20:28.put that back here, women are not physically as capable as men for
:20:29. > :20:32.soldiering? I don't understand this line of argument. The last review
:20:33. > :20:37.that was carried out by the Ministry of Defence in 2010 didn't actually
:20:38. > :20:46.have significant concerns about the strength of women, the issue was
:20:47. > :20:51.about team dynamics. Look at our female olympians, who wants to get
:20:52. > :20:54.into a ring with the boxer Nicola Adams? Whether you are a man or a
:20:55. > :20:59.woman that is actually quite a challenging prospect. There are some
:21:00. > :21:06.women who are strong enough, capable enough, aggressive enough, some
:21:07. > :21:10.women who have got the physical... You need aggression? You need
:21:11. > :21:14.aggression, you absolutely do. The Secretary has made quite clear that
:21:15. > :21:21.there is no question of lowering standards or of damaging operational
:21:22. > :21:29.capability. What about the idea that women are as aggressive as men, is
:21:30. > :21:33.there an emotional difference here Judith Webb? Think that argument
:21:34. > :21:39.doesn't hold water now because women have proved in many circumstances.
:21:40. > :21:44.But I do say why don't we have women in male rugby teams, you know. We
:21:45. > :21:49.don't, nobody would consider having a woman playing in a rugby team in a
:21:50. > :21:53.male rugby team, all-male rugby team, because she doesn't have the
:21:54. > :21:58.same physical strength to withstand that, not combat, but it is almost
:21:59. > :22:02.combat. If you apply that argument you could apply it to a lot of other
:22:03. > :22:05.things. Surely it is very concerning to you that you actually think that
:22:06. > :22:09.women, OK they play a different role but they actually can't play a full
:22:10. > :22:15.role in the army is what you are suggesting? Women play a very full
:22:16. > :22:19.role in the army. Just because you are not an infantry soldier doesn't
:22:20. > :22:23.mean you don't play a full role in the army. There are plenty of male
:22:24. > :22:26.soldiers who are not infantry soldiers, you play a full role. If
:22:27. > :22:30.there is an argument to be had I think there should be more openings
:22:31. > :22:35.for senior officers and senior roles within the army for women. I do
:22:36. > :22:39.think that there is a bit of a Mafia and the fact that the chief of the
:22:40. > :22:47.general staff, of defence staff has only ever been someone from a tooth
:22:48. > :22:50.arm. Would you like to have seen close combat, would that have been
:22:51. > :22:56.something for your career that you would have welcomed? Actually for me
:22:57. > :23:00.personally it wouldn't, it is very difficult to answer that question,
:23:01. > :23:03.because I joined the army 27 years ago so my thinking was very
:23:04. > :23:07.different then, because I was excluded from so many roles. But I
:23:08. > :23:11.think probably it wouldn't have been a route down which I would have
:23:12. > :23:17.gone. That doesn't mean to say that I don't think that these
:23:18. > :23:21.extraordinarily physically capable competent professional women, who
:23:22. > :23:27.want to have the opportunity, to serve the nation in these. Is there
:23:28. > :23:30.a frustration there? There is a frustration. Whether or not women
:23:31. > :23:39.want to serve in the combat arms, to have an exclusion based purely on
:23:40. > :23:43.gender for an army, one of the core values of the army is respect for
:23:44. > :23:46.others. It is really disrespectful to women to say you can do these
:23:47. > :23:51.things but not those things. Thank you very much both of you indeed.
:23:52. > :23:54.You would think the one person the pro-Russian seperatists in Ukraine
:23:55. > :23:58.would listen to would be President Putin, but today they ignored a call
:23:59. > :24:02.from the Russian leader to postpone the referendum on self-rule,
:24:03. > :24:08.declaring they would go ahead on Sunday with a vote that could lead
:24:09. > :24:14.to war. But then it is likely Putin would have ignored Angela Merkel's
:24:15. > :24:21.call to not make a visit to Crimea tomorrow. As far as Reverends geo,
:24:22. > :24:26.Putin -- referendums go, Putin expects the rebels to defy him and
:24:27. > :24:31.distancing himself and avoiding punitive sanctions.
:24:32. > :24:40.We spent the day in the heartland of the rebellion and begins with
:24:41. > :24:47.reporting from Donetsk. On the streets here they are asking what on
:24:48. > :24:51.earth is Putin playing at? "We will decide" this man says, right now,
:24:52. > :24:57.right here it is their decision. Many people here see Vladimir Putin
:24:58. > :25:00.as their ultimate supporter in their struggle to break-away from Kiev.
:25:01. > :25:06.Now some fear he might be pulling back. Inside the seperatist
:25:07. > :25:12.headquarters this morning, there were meetings behind closed doors as
:25:13. > :25:19.they debated how to respond. The leaders inside this building, the
:25:20. > :25:24.party of the Donetsk seperatist Republic have had the rug pulled out
:25:25. > :25:28.from under their feet. That is causing angst. For weeks the east
:25:29. > :25:31.has been building up to Sunday's referendum on independence, could
:25:32. > :25:37.they back down now? In the end they decided they couldn't. So is Putin
:25:38. > :25:41.the puppetmaster here or is he losing control of a crisis partly of
:25:42. > :25:49.his own making? Kiev has deployed troops, mostly around the seperatist
:25:50. > :25:54.stronghold of Slovansk. Beyond this Government checkpoint lies the only
:25:55. > :25:58.town fully under the seperatists' control. What do the seperatists
:25:59. > :26:02.think Putin is up to? At the entrance to the town we met members
:26:03. > :26:09.of the pro-independence militia, preparing for what they fear could
:26:10. > :26:13.be an imminent attack. TRANSLATION: We didn't expect Vladimir Putin to
:26:14. > :26:17.suggest postponing the referendum. He's a wise man and good strategist,
:26:18. > :26:26.a clever politician, maybe he's planning something we can't yet see?
:26:27. > :26:30.These are the people known as the little green men, one said he was a
:26:31. > :26:33.dentist and the other a vet, all of them said they were native
:26:34. > :26:37.Ukrainians, though they wouldn't tell me how they were recruited or
:26:38. > :26:42.where they got their guns. These men have crossed a rubicon, with or
:26:43. > :26:47.without Putin they told me they want their independence. TRANSLATION: For
:26:48. > :26:58.me Ukraine doesn't exist any more, our parliament is full of fascists.
:26:59. > :27:01.We need our own country now. In central Sloviansk, the vehicles are
:27:02. > :27:06.paraded they captured off the regular army. Local civilians have
:27:07. > :27:14.lost their lives here, even as Kiev continues the anti-terror operation.
:27:15. > :27:18.Under Lenin a notice reads "we will never forget, we will never
:27:19. > :27:22.forgive", and yet every day life seems some how to continue. But this
:27:23. > :27:27.disguises a fundamental flaw in Sunday's referendum. This vote will
:27:28. > :27:33.be held in only a handful of areas, on a war footing. Of course we are
:27:34. > :27:43.all frightened because we are surrounded by our own army, and as
:27:44. > :27:48.far as I know very hard artillery, arms, aimed to our people. As we are
:27:49. > :27:54.talking to the school teacher a masked man approaches and demands to
:27:55. > :28:00.know who we are and what we are doing? This whole town is on edge,
:28:01. > :28:05.the seperatists see spies and infiltrators on every corner. Those
:28:06. > :28:08.who openly defy them, like the town's mayor, have been locked up in
:28:09. > :28:12.the basement of the local intelligence headquarters. Can
:28:13. > :28:16.anyone still influence events here? Two of the people we have been
:28:17. > :28:21.speaking to here over the past few weeks have now fled in fear of their
:28:22. > :28:25.lives. And they have told us that masked men have been going
:28:26. > :28:34.house-to-house, knocking on doors, threatening anyone who doesn't
:28:35. > :28:39.support the People's Republic of Donetsk. It is in this atmosphere
:28:40. > :28:44.some in the cue crane will vote to -- in the Ukraine will vote to split
:28:45. > :28:49.off from the rest of the country. Even Putin appears to be distancing
:28:50. > :28:53.himself from the referendum, fearing perhaps a conflict on his border
:28:54. > :28:58.that he can no longer control. We will have the latest on the
:28:59. > :29:03.crisis tomorrow, when we will report on Victory Day in Moscow.
:29:04. > :29:08.For thousands of people in England, football is a life and death
:29:09. > :29:14.business, metaphorically speaking, well actually literally. Using
:29:15. > :29:18.public health England's latest data on life expectancy, our avid
:29:19. > :29:23.football fan decided to undertake a bit of mental rather than physical
:29:24. > :29:26.exercise. Using catchment areas of football clubs alongside the data,
:29:27. > :29:31.he has analysed where in the country people are likely to live longer.
:29:32. > :29:37.Now we are at the end of the season which town is in the Premier League
:29:38. > :29:44.of health and which at the bottom of the table?
:29:45. > :29:49.Football fans cheerfully chant they will support their team until they
:29:50. > :29:56.die. But, how long will they live? Can we expect some fans to go on for
:29:57. > :30:01.much longer than others? So I have crunched the numbers, I looked at
:30:02. > :30:04.club catchment areas, within them I identified 100,000 people, close
:30:05. > :30:07.living closest to the ground. It is a bit rough and ready, it is really
:30:08. > :30:12.about towns rather than football fans, but I pulled out the
:30:13. > :30:18.statistics on life expectancy, "binge drinking" and produced my own
:30:19. > :30:22.league tables, including obesity. The results are startling. Here is
:30:23. > :30:27.the top of the Premier League, Crawley Town are England's longevity
:30:28. > :30:32.champion, Chelsea fans may note they are still third! Turning to the
:30:33. > :30:36.bottom of the table, Manchester City and Liverpool do badly, as do
:30:37. > :30:41.Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Clubs in more prosperous areas do
:30:42. > :30:45.rather better. The idea that people living in poorer areas don't live as
:30:46. > :30:49.long as those in richer areas isn't exactly shocking. Even so the
:30:50. > :30:55.difference is enormous. This is Chelsea and remember we're not
:30:56. > :30:58.talking about one street, one neighbourhood, we are talking about
:30:59. > :31:04.100,000 people in this area, men live on average 81 years, the
:31:05. > :31:13.equivalent figure for Birmingham City is
:31:14. > :31:18.hard to live healthily on a tight budget, through other indicators.
:31:19. > :31:21.hard to live healthily on a tight the Chelsea catchment area just 13%
:31:22. > :31:26.hard to live healthily on a tight are obese. For Aston Villa
:31:27. > :31:29.hard to live healthily on a tight high. What about "binge
:31:30. > :31:33.hard to live healthily on a tight For men that's consuming eight
:31:34. > :31:35.hard to live healthily on a tight prevalent in poorer areas. But
:31:36. > :31:39.hard to live healthily on a tight are local cultural factors to take
:31:40. > :31:44.into account. The safe drinking champions at the top
:31:45. > :31:45.into account. The safe drinking Birmingham City, West Brom and
:31:46. > :31:49.Bradford, you can see areas of big Birmingham City, West Brom and
:31:50. > :31:54.Muslim populations drink less. Turning now to the bottom of the
:31:55. > :31:58.table, for Sunderland, Bristol City, York and Sheffield United, 30% of
:31:59. > :32:02.the catchments reported a binge in the previous week. Newcastle is
:32:03. > :32:07.propping up the table on 41%. the previous week. Newcastle is
:32:08. > :32:12.the way these factors interact is not straight forward. Here
:32:13. > :32:16.the way these factors interact is Preston northend male life he can
:32:17. > :32:21.peck standcy is just under 35, that is putting it in line with Mexico.
:32:22. > :32:26.But the story is complicated. For example here in Preston there isn't
:32:27. > :32:28.But the story is complicated. For a problem with obesity, it is that
:32:29. > :32:34.complication that makes this issue such a challenge for policy makers.
:32:35. > :32:38.So no two areas are alike. National and global forces may be the key
:32:39. > :32:42.drivers of inequality, but the policy responses must often come at
:32:43. > :32:48.the street, the neighbourhood or even the club level.
:32:49. > :32:57.If you want to look at the full tables of all the information it is
:32:58. > :33:03.on the website. Tiger mums, pushy parents, hot-house kids, education
:33:04. > :33:06.is littered with judgmental saying when it comes to parental
:33:07. > :33:09.involvement in education, but a leading educationalist, once a top
:33:10. > :33:13.man in Tony Blair's team says children in the UK are being held
:33:14. > :33:17.back in a culture which we undervalue hard work and parents
:33:18. > :33:23.don't push. This stands in stark contrast to East Asia and he cites
:33:24. > :33:28.as evidence the UK's sixth place in the learning curve index, the
:33:29. > :33:34.ranking of 39 countries educational performance. Sing cor, Korea, China
:33:35. > :33:43.and Finland are ahead of us. Remember the battle hymn of the
:33:44. > :33:48.tiger mother it turns out she might have been right. South Korean kids
:33:49. > :33:55.it emerges are leading the world no in cognitive skills and educational
:33:56. > :34:03.attainment, not just pop music. Education, education, education. Now
:34:04. > :34:10.a former adviser to Tony Blair turned education guru says we could
:34:11. > :34:13.learn a thing or two from them. The learning curve says Britain lags
:34:14. > :34:17.behind Asian countries because we don't teach our kids to work hard.
:34:18. > :34:22.He says parents here don't pressure their kids to achieve because we
:34:23. > :34:25.assume they are either clever or not clever and that the number of hours
:34:26. > :34:30.spent in front of the blackboard won't change it. That's certainly
:34:31. > :34:35.not the way they do it in South Korea. Where the average child
:34:36. > :34:44.spends 13 hours a day in education. Not necessarily in dance class.
:34:45. > :34:50.Michael Barber is here, and I'm joined from Boston by the Finnish
:34:51. > :34:54.education expert and author of the book.
:34:55. > :34:57.So basically what you are essentially saying is here the
:34:58. > :35:02.attitude is you are born clever or not, and by and large parents just
:35:03. > :35:06.accept that and don't push the kids? The tradition is very steeped in our
:35:07. > :35:11.culture is people have said they are either clever or smart in America or
:35:12. > :35:19.they are not, and then the education system simply rereinforces the
:35:20. > :35:23.starting points. And the 11+ we had right up until the 70s determined
:35:24. > :35:28.your future in secondary education. What happens in the Asian cultures
:35:29. > :35:31.is of valuing of hard work and effort and a belief that will lead
:35:32. > :35:34.to success, the teachers believe it, the parents believe it and it comes
:35:35. > :35:39.through in the results. I'm not saying I want Britain to be like
:35:40. > :35:44.Korea. With children doing four or five hours homework every day. I am
:35:45. > :35:47.saying parents should be, and teachers should be rewarding hard
:35:48. > :35:50.work and progress, there is very good psychological research. You
:35:51. > :35:53.don't think that is being done now? I think there is much more of that
:35:54. > :35:56.could be done. And many, many teachers do it every day, but we
:35:57. > :35:59.could do more of it, and the parents, when they see good work
:36:00. > :36:03.they could say that is a great piece of work, rather than oh how clever
:36:04. > :36:08.you are. From your point of view and you obviously looked at the Finnish
:36:09. > :36:15.model in the top six but further down, you don't think the Asian
:36:16. > :36:19.model fits other cultures? I think the Asian model is culturally bound.
:36:20. > :36:23.Many things that explain why they are doing so well. Many people don't
:36:24. > :36:27.know that the Asian children go to school twice when in England and in
:36:28. > :36:31.Finland children go to school only once. I think the main... Explain
:36:32. > :36:37.what you mean by that they go to school twice? Most children in most
:36:38. > :36:43.south-east Asian countries they go to school after the normal school
:36:44. > :36:51.ends, nominally about -- normally 4.00 in the evening, the second
:36:52. > :36:56.school day goes from 6.00 until midnight. It is working? But the
:36:57. > :37:01.rankings is not measuring what the education system is doing but the
:37:02. > :37:06.culture. The main problem with the learning curve ranking and the
:37:07. > :37:10.OACD's ranking is the whole idea of smartness and intelligence is
:37:11. > :37:14.limited to a very small number of academic subjects. In Finland and
:37:15. > :37:17.many other countries you can be smart and clever by being good in
:37:18. > :37:22.music or sports or something else, not only in maths and science. That
:37:23. > :37:26.is in terms of your rankings you are doing it purely on academics and in
:37:27. > :37:29.fact a lot of the Asian countries are now realising that actually the
:37:30. > :37:32.creative skills are important and having to import them. The Scottish
:37:33. > :37:38.Ballet is doing work with these kids because they get none of that? Sure,
:37:39. > :37:40.that is not important, what is really important to say about this
:37:41. > :37:45.particular ranking we are publishing today is a composite of a lot of
:37:46. > :37:48.different rankings including success in completing university, there is a
:37:49. > :37:52.range of things brought together. But not in the rounded person?
:37:53. > :37:57.However what you see in schools in England, and you see research on
:37:58. > :38:00.this, the schools that do well in the academic subjects often and very
:38:01. > :38:03.often actually do well in all the other things. If you look at Ofsted
:38:04. > :38:06.reports in this country you will find the schools that do well in
:38:07. > :38:11.exams and literacy and numeracy also do well in music and art. It is a
:38:12. > :38:16.false dichotomy to put the two things in opposition. I'm not
:38:17. > :38:19.advocating we do what Korea does it here in England, we have to get a
:38:20. > :38:22.rounded education. But the results represent something. It seems you
:38:23. > :38:25.are also saying that parents have to get a grip and have to be going to
:38:26. > :38:29.the school and pushing harder. That actually there is a much more
:38:30. > :38:32.laissez faire attitude and we have to get rid of that? I am saying
:38:33. > :38:37.that. I think it is very important whether you live in Finland, Britain
:38:38. > :38:40.or Korea that you are prepared for the 21st century global economy and
:38:41. > :38:44.the society which is fast-moving and depends on knowledge, capability and
:38:45. > :38:48.the ability to do that. And parents are not doing enough? Lot of them
:38:49. > :38:51.are, but we could do more. Is it your experience that actually much
:38:52. > :38:59.greater parental involvement will improve things? I think parents have
:39:00. > :39:03.to support the children's learning, but I don't believe we can ever do
:39:04. > :39:08.the same things that the South Koreans or Japanese or sing support
:39:09. > :39:12.is doing. -- Singapore is doing with the parents studying with their
:39:13. > :39:15.children. Parents have to support their kids but there has to be life
:39:16. > :39:19.after school and we have to respect their childhood. You are saying
:39:20. > :39:23.culturally in Asia, would it be fair to say, and this is only an
:39:24. > :39:26.observation of mine that actually the whole discipline and the whole
:39:27. > :39:29.respect issue and the whole way that families operate is quite different?
:39:30. > :39:33.Absolutely. I think the families operate is quite different?
:39:34. > :39:37.cultures are much more built families operate is quite different?
:39:38. > :39:41.competition and race for the good universities and good schools. We
:39:42. > :39:45.are simply speaking about very different cultures and I agree with
:39:46. > :39:48.Michael that there are things to learn from these countries, but they
:39:49. > :39:53.are not the things that we should be pushing our children harder and
:39:54. > :39:56.starting school earlier and spending longer hours in school, they are
:39:57. > :40:00.more related to how we treat our teachers and how we help our schools
:40:01. > :40:04.to work together. Would you say that Michael Gove is taking things in the
:40:05. > :40:07.right direction? Overall I would say, yes, Michael Gove is taking
:40:08. > :40:11.things in the right direction, setting higher standards through the
:40:12. > :40:17.new national curriculum, really investing in recruiting great people
:40:18. > :40:22.in to teaching. Taking on your work from new Labour? Taking it on, yes.
:40:23. > :40:24.That will help. I want to make one other point, learning exactly what
:40:25. > :40:29.was just said, we can't replicate Asian cultures, we can learn things
:40:30. > :40:32.from them and apply them to the system.
:40:33. > :40:34.from them and apply them to the wrong to set his face against free
:40:35. > :40:37.schools, that is an option? Some of the free schools have clearly been a
:40:38. > :40:39.mistake, but some of them will do really well. There is a wonderful
:40:40. > :40:44.school in really well. There is a wonderful
:40:45. > :40:49.question, School 21, the headteacher goes to every single parents' home
:40:50. > :40:51.before the start and talks about the relationship, we will get great
:40:52. > :40:56.innovation. Thank you very much indeed. The World Health
:40:57. > :40:59.Organisation's report on the efficacy
:41:00. > :41:03.Organisation's report on the warned unless there is a step change
:41:04. > :41:07.into new ways to fight old diseases people will die from once treatable
:41:08. > :41:11.infections. There is one vast unstabbed source of life-saving
:41:12. > :41:16.medicines, the oceans, that could be the source of everything. They
:41:17. > :41:31.include one of our most beautiful sea creatures.
:41:32. > :41:37.It is an industry there is a about to see ?120 million of investment
:41:38. > :41:41.from the European Union. The work can cost ?20,000 a day, but the end
:41:42. > :41:55.products could make a difference to millions of people around the world.
:41:56. > :41:57.But what is it they are looking for? This sciencic spot on the west coast
:41:58. > :42:01.of Scotland might not This sciencic spot on the west coast
:42:02. > :42:06.is at the centre of cutting-edge medical receremony. But beneath the
:42:07. > :42:11.waves lies an incredibly rich and diverse array of life. It is here
:42:12. > :42:25.where scientists are pinning their hopes on finding the next generation
:42:26. > :42:26.of life-saving drugsBut beneath the waves lies an incredibly rich and
:42:27. > :42:35.diverse Since the discovery of penicillin we
:42:36. > :42:39.frequently turn to nature to find new medicines. But on land we are
:42:40. > :42:46.exhausted and we are in desperate need of new drugs. In Europe 25,000
:42:47. > :42:52.people a year die from infections that are now antibiotic resistant.
:42:53. > :42:55.The World Health Organisation says we are on the verge of a global
:42:56. > :42:58.health crisis. We are turning to the oceans to find
:42:59. > :43:04.new drugs because we have very little left in the way of defences.
:43:05. > :43:10.So in a relatively short period of time we're going to be back where we
:43:11. > :43:16.were in the 1940s before antibiotics were used.
:43:17. > :43:21.But it is not just antibiotics, starfish contain antiinflammatory
:43:22. > :43:25.chemicals that scientists are using to develop new drugs for asthma and
:43:26. > :43:29.arthritis, and unusual gene sequences in other marine creatures
:43:30. > :43:33.could provide treatments from anything from pain relief to cancer.
:43:34. > :43:37.Nature is a fantastic designer, it is constantly making new things. It
:43:38. > :43:44.is also testing that it has been doing that for E.ONs, the sea is
:43:45. > :43:47.where we came from. If something has happened it happened in the sea
:43:48. > :43:52.first. The oceans cover more than two-thirds of the earth's surface,
:43:53. > :43:59.yet just 5% has so far been explored, it is its untapped
:44:00. > :44:06.potential is sparking a medical goldrush. Dr John Day is a
:44:07. > :44:10.researcher of the Scottish Say social for Marine Sciences, they are
:44:11. > :44:14.part of a consortium that has received ?6 million from the EU to
:44:15. > :44:17.scour the depths. Historically this isn't place people have looked, so
:44:18. > :44:21.they haven't exploited it. In addition there is a whole raft of
:44:22. > :44:26.new technologies that are allowing one to screen more methodically,
:44:27. > :44:30.more scientifically, and of course a political will. We are looking to
:44:31. > :44:38.exploit other parts of the planet. How can we produce new industries,
:44:39. > :44:42.new technologies. There is a lot of energy and resources going into this
:44:43. > :44:48.new area, and that's partly because in coastal areas like this, there
:44:49. > :44:53.are clearly defined laws about how scientists can exploit the riches of
:44:54. > :45:00.the sea. But out there in deeper water it is a different story.
:45:01. > :45:03.Within 200 miles of a country's coast each state decides what
:45:04. > :45:08.exploration can take place. Beyond that boundary lies open
:45:09. > :45:13.international waters. This area is governed by the UN's law of the sea.
:45:14. > :45:17.Which regulates activities such as mineral extraction. But it doesn't
:45:18. > :45:27.cover the hunt for new medicines, it is effectively unregulated.
:45:28. > :45:31.This wild west of the seas is home to an extraordinary range of
:45:32. > :45:35.creatures and plants. The worry is that without regulation these
:45:36. > :45:40.fragile habitats could be damaged beyond repair. The lack of clear
:45:41. > :45:43.jurisdiction may cause other problems too. It is particularly
:45:44. > :45:47.important for companies to have legal clarity when they are working
:45:48. > :45:53.in open waters, because they are making a huge investment and if they
:45:54. > :45:59.don't have legal certainty then it means that they will potentionally
:46:00. > :46:03.lose the right to produce that drug and that just is not acceptable to
:46:04. > :46:09.them. And in my opinion that would potentially put a lot of companies
:46:10. > :46:16.off investing in taking samples from the deep sea marine environment. For
:46:17. > :46:20.now, at least, back on the shore, they are ploughing on. This Scottish
:46:21. > :46:25.company is opening a plant to extract wound-healing chemicals from
:46:26. > :46:29.seaweed on an industrial scale. However, it is early days. Drug
:46:30. > :46:38.development can take 15 years and cost more than a billion pound to
:46:39. > :46:43.bring a new product to market. This now would be a drop in the ocean. If
:46:44. > :46:49.this new frontier in medical research lives up to its promise.
:46:50. > :46:53.Just before the papers, a word about a special edition of Newsnight a
:46:54. > :46:57.week on Monday, ahead of the European elections we want your
:46:58. > :47:00.questions about the EU and the UK's relationship with it, we will use
:47:01. > :47:05.all the wepts in the Newsnight -- weapons in the Newsnight Arsenal to
:47:06. > :47:09.try to answer them, however naughty, everything you wanted to know about
:47:10. > :47:14.Europe but were afraid to ask. A Newsnight special on Monday 19th of
:47:15. > :47:17.May. Send your questions to the website. Tomorrow morning's front
:47:18. > :47:58.pages, beginning with the That's all for tonight, I'm back for
:47:59. > :48:05.tomorrow. As we go we remember the British planetry scientist, Colin
:48:06. > :48:11.Pillinger, died aged 70. Best known for his 2003 attempt to land a
:48:12. > :48:15.spacecraft on Mars, although it was failed, his enthusiasm for his
:48:16. > :48:15.spacecraft on Mars, although it was has inspired space fans the world
:48:16. > :48:40.over. I don't have a regret about anything
:48:41. > :48:49.I have done, there is unfinished business on Mars.
:48:50. > :49:06.We will have to take the rough with the smooth this weekend. Friday is
:49:07. > :49:09.unsettled, rain and showers, the best of the sunshine further south
:49:10. > :49:10.where bright and breezy