Browse content similar to 09/09/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
The dash for Scotland, the Prime Minister hoists the saltire over | :00:00. | :00:15. | |
Number Ten. But will Cameron, Miliband and Clegg's last-minute | :00:16. | :00:18. | |
trip turn into a clumsy move if Scotland is ready to let go. There | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
is a contempt across the country for Westminster practices and | :00:24. | :00:24. | |
politicians, they have no credibility left. But the examine is | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
neck and neck, not over yet. Big names are still in the battle. But | :00:30. | :00:39. | |
if Scotland does go, what is the etiquette for what Britain will be | :00:40. | :00:45. | |
called. What I'm calling is a conscious uncoupling. Think of it as | :00:46. | :00:49. | |
Chris Martin and Gwnyeth. It is essentially us parting. The Man | :00:50. | :01:01. | |
Booker Prize shortlist is out, how do you discuss a book more than its | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
cover. We will discuss. Good evening, don't panic for Scots | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
who want to stay in the union, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband | :01:11. | :01:13. | |
are on the way. Except perhaps their rush to Scotland tomorrow is for | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
some precisely the kind of gesture politics that increasing numbers of | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
voters are poised to reject. And raising the Scottish flag over | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
Number Ten this afternoon, which promptly fell down made the whole | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
thing feel a little bit of an episode of excruciating satire, not | :01:31. | :01:32. | |
a considered approach episode of excruciating satire, not | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
the break up of our 300-year-old union. Tonight the Prime Minister | :01:37. | :01:39. | |
has penned passionate plea to the Scots in an article to be published | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
in tomorrow's Daily Mail, he says "our message is simple, we want you | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
to stay". Well our political editor is here. Tell us more about this | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
article, this message. This is the vision thing, this is campaign that | :01:53. | :01:56. | |
has been criticised for being too technocratic, too much about | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
Alastair Darling, a former Chancellor, telling the Scottish | :02:01. | :02:03. | |
people risk, risk, risk, that is all people should think about. Now we | :02:04. | :02:06. | |
are starting to see from David Cameron in the Daily Mail tomorrow | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
an emotional argument about what the two countries have achieved | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
together. He talks about defeating fascism as Scottish and English, | :02:16. | :02:18. | |
people together, the Scottish enlightenment. These are things lots | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
of his people have wanted him to talk about but he has felt inhibited | :02:23. | :02:26. | |
to do so. Now we are getting more of the emotional thing. The other thing | :02:27. | :02:29. | |
is you have this is about the Scottish people first and foremost, | :02:30. | :02:32. | |
but it is also about David Cameron's people back in London that think he | :02:33. | :02:35. | |
hasn't done enough to save the union. Briefly, does it look like | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
panic, is it really panic? I think there is a sense that this campaign | :02:40. | :02:42. | |
has not gone as the three main party leaders in Westminster would have | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
liked. Of course the message from David Cameron will only work if the | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
three leaders of the main UK parties can actually get a fair hearing from | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
voters in Scotland if they still want to listen. Emily has been in | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
Edinburgh. This is the Better Together | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
campaign, a joint appearance by the three party leaders, and this is | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
what they are not doing. I'm certainly not panics, not panicking, | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
not panicking! That is good, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband | :03:14. | :03:16. | |
are certainly not panicking either, that is why Ed Miliband has | :03:17. | :03:19. | |
encouraged every British town to wave a saltire. The one at Downing | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
Street seemed to need a little encouragement all of its own. They | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
are all coming up here tomorrow, abandoning PMQs to do so. The | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
Westminster parties have set out a plan to offer more powers to | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
Scotland, income tax flexibility will be one. We have all agreed | :03:35. | :03:37. | |
there should be powers over income tax, we have all agreed there should | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
go more welfare devolved to the Scottish Parliament, we have also | :03:42. | :03:44. | |
all agreed some of the things we need to leave out. We have all | :03:45. | :03:47. | |
agreed that actually our businesses in Scotland don't want to see | :03:48. | :03:50. | |
different rates of corporation tax both sides of the border. You can | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
see there are broad themes developing here, but we want to | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
involve civic Scotland too, this isn't owned by us but Scotland. It | :04:00. | :04:02. | |
is a way for Scotland to shape powers in the | :04:03. | :04:05. | |
is a way for Scotland to shape away from the UK. With another poll | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
out showing the two sides neck and neck, minus the undecided the yes | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
campaign was in good complete over in Parliament Square supporters had | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
found any conceivable European language to try to convince voter | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
the EU membership would be safe in their hands. The language working | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
wonders in their campaign is one that demonises Westminster. | :04:28. | :04:34. | |
The yes examine is characterised as being the emotionup. The one that | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
says "if you love Scotland set her free". There is another element, | :04:39. | :04:45. | |
Alex Salmond is doing in Scotland what Nigel Farage does in Britain, | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
give a sense of being anti-politics and anti-Westminster, they are all | :04:51. | :04:53. | |
the same only we are offering something different. Your campaign | :04:54. | :05:01. | |
has used the language of love of Scotland but hatred of Westminster? | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
In Scotland there is contempt, in the speeches I have made in | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
Newcastle, Manchester and Carlyle, one thing was absolutely clear, | :05:10. | :05:12. | |
there is a huge distrust of Westminster and Westminster | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
politician, you don't need polls to tell you that, although the distrust | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
in the polling figures is spectacular, but you take the three | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
unionists party on offer today, their collective distrust amongst | :05:24. | :05:27. | |
the Scottish people according to a poll is minus 100, that is | :05:28. | :05:30. | |
extraordinary. There is a contempt across the country for Westminster | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
practices and politicians, they have no credibility left. This is Craig | :05:36. | :05:41. | |
Miller, a working-class Edinburgh suburb and now a heartland of the | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
yes vote. Where once they voted Labour, now they seem to have | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
switched over or off from. From those we have talked to today there | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
is not a lot of trust for any of the parties, and yet they still have a | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
yearning to see an independent Scotland flourish. We have always | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
been ruled by England, I would like to see us being our own country. | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
William Smith used to vote Labour, he doesn't now. He tells me he as | :06:07. | :06:10. | |
disabled, cared for by his wife and he's looking to the yes vote to | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
improve his lot. Voting Labour is just giving them another vote. I'm | :06:15. | :06:22. | |
not going to do that, I'm all for independence for myself and the | :06:23. | :06:25. | |
whole area is for independence. If there was something that the Better | :06:26. | :06:28. | |
Together, the no vote put on the table, like new powers for Scotland, | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
or they said well let you look at income tax and sort out that, is | :06:34. | :06:35. | |
there anything that could change your mind now? No, nothing could | :06:36. | :06:41. | |
change my mind, just voting yes. For a long time the yes campaign had | :06:42. | :06:47. | |
struggled to attract female voters, the latest poll suggests that is | :06:48. | :06:54. | |
closing. April Prince William has followed the campaign -- April has | :06:55. | :06:57. | |
followed the campaign closely. I don't like the way the country is | :06:58. | :07:01. | |
being run at the moment. It should certainly be fairer, I don't agree | :07:02. | :07:04. | |
with the bedroom tax they have introduced, I think that Scotland | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
could do well and prosper with its own revenue that is we have. What do | :07:09. | :07:11. | |
you think will decide you? I think it will be yes, but I want it to be | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
a no, because I want to see Match of the Day on a Saturday. We spoke to | :07:16. | :07:18. | |
about 20 people in this neighbourhood only one person, a | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
Polish immigrant, told me they were voting for the Better Together | :07:25. | :07:27. | |
campaign. Their work is cut out for them over the next ten days. The | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
question of why they failed to offer any exciting new powers much earlier | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
or even include them as an option on the ballot paper will haunt them. | :07:36. | :07:38. | |
One thing is clear though, Scotland will never be the same again. | :07:39. | :07:43. | |
Whatever happens next week the status quo is no longer an option. | :07:44. | :07:47. | |
If Scotland votes yes it goes independent. If it votes no, well it | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
still gets more independence. And anyone who thinks that the story | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
ends here in Scotland is sorely mistaken. The genie, it seems, is | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
out of the bottle, and that growing appetite for devolution will happen | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
all over the UK. It looks like it is here to stay. | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
As Emily said, whatever Scottish voters vote for, they will end up | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
with either independence, their own country, or more control of their | :08:15. | :08:17. | |
own affairs at the Scottish Parliament. But where does that | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
leave the other constituent parts of what would be a rather dis-United | :08:22. | :08:30. | |
Kingdom. This is such a conundrum? One expert described it to me as a | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
constitutional bomb about to go off because the consequences are so many | :08:35. | :08:37. | |
we can't get our heads around them. Scotland will get more powers, | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
whatever happens. But where does that leave Westminster? We can show | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
you the problem, you have 650 MPs in the House of Commons, of them 59 are | :08:46. | :08:52. | |
Scottish MPs, we break it down, you have 40 Labour, 11 Liberal | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
Democrats, six SNP, one poor lonely Tory and so on. These MPs in | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
Scotland can vote in the Commons chamber on issues that don't affect | :09:01. | :09:06. | |
their constituents, casual observers of politics will know it is the West | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
Lothian Question, it is not academic any more, we have to get our heads | :09:11. | :09:18. | |
around it. Labour stands to gain from arrangement. Even the most | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
senior figures are worried about it. We have seen a number of changes to | :09:24. | :09:27. | |
the constitutional issues in the UK, many of which have been great for | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
areas affected. But we need to have a constitutional convention, all | :09:33. | :09:34. | |
three parties should be committed to that. To look at the overall | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
arrangements in the UK. The situation of England and the region, | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
decentralising power away from London and the south-east, and | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
reinvigourating the politics to go beyond the scandals of recent years | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
and move forward. Fascinating to hear such a strong message from Jack | :09:52. | :09:54. | |
McConnell, a former First Minister himself, this is serious? Drastic | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
ideas are being considered left right and centre. One idea is the | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
English parliament, you would have a Scottish Parliament and down south | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
you would have to have another body, called the English parliament, it | :10:06. | :10:09. | |
could be in Coventry and Doncaster, I don't know where, but English MPs | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
would talk about English laws. The problem is you would | :10:14. | :10:15. | |
would talk about English laws. The some kind of UK parliament where all | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
that joins us would be discussed who is more important the person leading | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
the UK parliament or the person on the English parliament. There is | :10:23. | :10:25. | |
problems with that one. The next one is the idea the Conservatives | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
favoured, English votes for English laws. We earlier spoke to Lord | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
Bakeer who did a lot of work for the Conservatives on it. He favours | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
splitting business into two types in the Commons. I think the building of | :10:38. | :10:47. | |
the House of Commons is suited to this, the English members deal with | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
on Monday, Tuesday and Fridays dealing with English matters, and | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
Wednesday and Thursday dealing with matters not devolved, like defence, | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
War and Peace, the currency, NATO, Europe. That sounds sensible, lots | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
of us work shifts? Road to parliament is a problem. There is a | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
more profound problem than the breezy way described there. If you | :11:10. | :11:13. | |
have English-only MPs voting on certain days, this would probably be | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
likely to favour a Conservative administration, and on Wednesday and | :11:18. | :11:19. | |
Thursday we would have all of them coming together and you would be | :11:20. | :11:22. | |
likely to have a Labour Party that is able to get through a majority, | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
loosely speaking. What you are having on different days of the week | :11:27. | :11:29. | |
different administration, an Education Secretary for the Tories | :11:30. | :11:32. | |
on Monday and Tuesday and another one for Labour on the Wednesday and | :11:33. | :11:39. | |
Thursday. To my mind that is quite complicated. John Redwood is shaking | :11:40. | :11:42. | |
his head and we will explain why later. | :11:43. | :11:45. | |
We will hear from John Redwood later, a supporter of an English | :11:46. | :11:48. | |
parliament later. Do you get a sense that the | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
Government itself has even started to get its head around a spaghetti | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
of what the options might be? We have heard talks about the | :11:57. | :11:59. | |
Conservative idea, it is in their manifesto, the Liberal Democrats are | :12:00. | :12:02. | |
absolute constitutional geeks and all in clover today because they | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
have ideas. What it involves is you would have massive decentralisation | :12:07. | :12:11. | |
down to cities. It would mean you could have more Scotland but cities | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
too. So when they meet in Westminster or wherever there | :12:16. | :12:18. | |
wouldn't be disparity in their powers. Nick Clegg today did suggest | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
at the same time as the new powers announced for Scotland some clarity | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
over what to do with Westminster. As suggested, John Redwood has been | :12:29. | :12:31. | |
here nodding and alternatively shaking his head through that, and | :12:32. | :12:35. | |
Peter Hain for Labour is also here, they have been taking a look at the | :12:36. | :12:38. | |
issue. John Redwood, if Scotland votes no, they get extra powers, | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
that West Lothian Question becomes more acute. What should happen in | :12:44. | :12:46. | |
simple terms? We have lobsided devolution and it would be even more | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
lob sided if we just gave more powers to Scotland. We want fair | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
devolution, I would say all the powers devolved to the Scottish | :12:55. | :12:57. | |
Parliament in Edinburgh should be devolved to the English parliament | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
in Westminster. We are happy to do both jobs. It should be devolved to | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
the Welsh Assembly in Wales and it should be fair, I don't think we | :13:06. | :13:08. | |
should have first and second class devolution for Scotland and Wales, | :13:09. | :13:12. | |
and no devolution for England. You know the one thing I didn't disagree | :13:13. | :13:16. | |
with was we don't need two education secretaries. There would be an | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
English Education Secretary in the English parliament, but there | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
wouldn't be a union Education Secretary because there is a | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
Scottish and Welsh Education Secretary. He's right isn't he? It | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
would be even more farcical to carry on as we are with Scottish MPs | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
having a say over matters that don't affect their constituent, because | :13:36. | :13:38. | |
there would be fewer decision about Scotland taken at Westminster? The | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
status quo is dead. Whatever happens next Thursday, what we need to do, I | :13:45. | :13:47. | |
hope there will be a no vote. I expect there will be. But what we | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
need to do in that event is move to what Britain has really been going | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
towards, which is a federal structure. Now that should have more | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
powers for Wales, more powers for Scotland and more powers for | :14:02. | :14:04. | |
England, which is the most centralised part of the UK now. | :14:05. | :14:08. | |
Highly centralised in London. And England, with the exception of | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
London, should have, and by the way Ed Miliband made an important speech | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
about devolution to city regions, or regions of England. You could see | :14:17. | :14:21. | |
for example Manchester City region wanting powers devolved and the east | :14:22. | :14:24. | |
of England wanting it. You are shaking your head now? It has to be | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
devolution England, England is my country and we want the same respect | :14:29. | :14:35. | |
as Scotland. We want an English parliament in London because it is | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
the capital city and we will govern England in the whole way. I | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
disagree. Would would you say you are Welsh, I'm speaking for England | :14:45. | :14:48. | |
and we want our own English parliament. I'm also a strong | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
believer in Britain. What we need is a federal structure based | :14:53. | :14:55. | |
constitutionally in Westminster. It is a nonsense for example that our | :14:56. | :15:01. | |
existing parliament in Westminster could in principle abolish the | :15:02. | :15:04. | |
Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, it would never happen, but | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
it is a constitutional nonsense that possibility exists constitutionally | :15:10. | :15:12. | |
you need to design a federal structure, I don't think most people | :15:13. | :15:15. | |
in England want to be run from London. I think the north-east and | :15:16. | :15:18. | |
parts of Yorkshire, Cornwall and so on want their own power, and then | :15:19. | :15:24. | |
you restructure. We tested this in your referendum and we lost? It was | :15:25. | :15:27. | |
on flawed model in which there were no serious powers and people thought | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
they were being sold a pup and they were. Politicians time and time over | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
the years suggest power being held more closely to communities. You | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
referred to the referendum in the north-east, offering a regional | :15:41. | :15:44. | |
assembly that was overwhelmingly beaten as a prosal. It was a Mickey | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
-- proposal. It was a Mickey Mouse one. You didn't say that at the | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
time. They don't want local mayors or Police Commissioners, and time | :15:55. | :15:56. | |
and time again people don't turn out? We want an English parliament, | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
Peter, it is simple. I think what needs to happen if we are talking | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
about Westminster, we need to have Westminster restructured so that | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
English MPs have more of a say over English law, but I don't think you | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
want first and second-class MPs. You wouldn't stop Scottish or Welsh or | :16:15. | :16:21. | |
Northern Irish MPs facing that sort of structure? I would say, and the | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
former clerk of the House looked at this, in the case of English laws, | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
when they went into committee the detailed work that was done on them | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
should be English-only MPs, when it comes to the big votes on the floor | :16:36. | :16:37. | |
of the Commons it should be everyone. We are second class then, | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
England wants the same as Scotland, so if Scotland can make her own laws | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
England will make her own laws. You want a centralised elite in England | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
running the whole of England, I want power devolved. You are Welsh, I am | :16:53. | :16:55. | |
answering illusion, I want my country to have the same as | :16:56. | :16:58. | |
Scotland. I can have an opinion about it. I want to see all of | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
England represented in the English parliament. What about the other | :17:04. | :17:08. | |
countries, you are in the unusual country of having been Secretary of | :17:09. | :17:10. | |
State for Wales and also Northern Ireland. What happens at Stormont? | :17:11. | :17:17. | |
What happens in Cardiff, is something about to be unleashed, it | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
appears Scotland overnight is being offered a rapidly compressed | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
timetable of power being handed over and Cardiff and Stormont sit back | :17:27. | :17:29. | |
and watch? It is a very fair question, I'm in favour of much more | :17:30. | :17:32. | |
devolution to Wales. I don't think you can give all the goodies to | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
Scotland, because there has been a seismic change or rumbling there. I | :17:38. | :17:42. | |
think you have got to make sure Wales gets proper devolution, beyond | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
where we are taking it now, I think Northern Ireland the same. If we | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
don't do this, if the no vote wins this time as I hope and think it | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
will, if you don't do this the next time it will be Scottish | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
independence. Because I think people are fed up with the Westminster | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
class, not just in Scotland, but elsewhere. In other parts of England | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
and Wales as well, and they want big change and they want more say. It | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
might be rather a shame for those voters in Scotland, still about | :18:14. | :18:16. | |
half, who want to stay with the union, that it is only now that | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
Westminster politicians have actually been waking up to what they | :18:21. | :18:24. | |
want. John Redwood, if the union is lost, many of your colleagues are | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
clear privately that in their view the Prime Minister will have to | :18:29. | :18:32. | |
resign. Is there a chance of that? No, he has made very clear that he | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
will not resign, he had to do this, he had to offer the referendum, it | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
wasn't in his gift to say no. Once Scotland had elected a majority | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
Scottish nationalist Government wanting independence, the only fair | :18:45. | :18:47. | |
thing to do is put it to the people. It is not his fault if it is lost, I | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
hope it is won for keeping the union together. If it is lost, that is the | :18:52. | :18:54. | |
result in Scotland and we shouldn't regard it as a commentary on him. | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
Thank you very much for coming in. The leaders of the UK parties might | :18:59. | :19:01. | |
have The leaders of the UK parties might | :19:02. | :19:05. | |
the need to campaign if they want to keep the union. One of their bete | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
noires though has been at it for many months. George Galloway, | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
formally of the Labour Party, now the Respect Party MP and celebrity | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
Big Brother contestant, although that is best forgotten maybe, has | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
been packing out Town Halls around Scotland for months, urging voters | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
to say "naw", we went to see him in Paisley on the outskirts of Glasgow. | :19:30. | :19:42. | |
Paisley Town Hall hasn't hosted anything this big since it | :19:43. | :19:51. | |
celebrated the life of Gerry Rafferty, but could he persuade the | :19:52. | :19:58. | |
mainly Labour audience to say no. Alex Fergsuon talked about "squeaky | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
bum time", we are in that now. Oust ed by Labour and Respect MP, he's | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
fresh from a physical take, allegedly for his stance against | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
Israel. Just over a week ago I was lying on a London street with broken | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
ribs and a dislocated jaw and I'm still here in Paisley tonight. For | :20:18. | :20:27. | |
no other reason than I want to insist that by voting no it doesn't | :20:28. | :20:36. | |
make you less Scottish. # You won't get me | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
# I'm part of the union # Till the day I die. | :20:40. | :20:47. | |
Earlier Newsnight sought out George Galloway back stage, the Just Say | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
Naw tour is his attempt to add a spark. A year ago I realised that | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
the people running the official no campaign and the structure across | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
class and political nature of the structure of the no campaign was | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
seriously flawed. I have been right, I'm sorry to say. I have been right | :21:07. | :21:14. | |
all along. That is unlike you? I momentarily pause because I have | :21:15. | :21:16. | |
been right about most important things. People don't automatically | :21:17. | :21:21. | |
go to Galloway for humility, but for many on this he speaks the truth. | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
The Better Together campaign has spent ?4 million and I haven't seen | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
anything good that they have done. What do you think gives you the | :21:33. | :21:39. | |
right to come up to Scotland and say why we should not vote against | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
independence? Did Kenny Dalglish become English when he went to play | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
for Liverpool, what kind of mentality is this. You have actually | :21:50. | :21:52. | |
been speaking in this meeting nearly as long as me. Galloway junior at | :21:53. | :21:59. | |
eight weeks old was oblivious to the fuss, we brought along Mr Ali and | :22:00. | :22:03. | |
his son, George Galloway has appealed for many British Muslims | :22:04. | :22:06. | |
but these two are committed yes voters. Most of it was just ranting | :22:07. | :22:12. | |
and raving, I respect George great deal and some of his stuff about | :22:13. | :22:17. | |
certain things was amazing, now he was just scaring the yes voters. | :22:18. | :22:25. | |
Book signing and public speaking are appetite-inducing so, what better | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
end to his 26th performance than a meal at Mr Ali's restaurant. This is | :22:30. | :22:37. | |
Glasgow institution, in the 1960s a bus driver complained his chicken | :22:38. | :22:44. | |
curry was too dry as Mr Ali's father was eating tomato soup, history was | :22:45. | :22:47. | |
made. There was some left in the tin and when the curry came back that | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
was mixed together and the chicken tikka masala was born. And has | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
become our national dish? Absolutely. On both sides of the | :22:57. | :23:01. | |
border, don't forget that. I'm trying to persuade you. We will vote | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
with our hearts I'm afraid. Does your head say something different? | :23:08. | :23:11. | |
My head always says something different. But sometimes we overrule | :23:12. | :23:20. | |
our heads. We are Scots. Over curry we talk about the inclusiveness of | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
Scottish patriotism. When there is family we had being wear kilts and | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
we are proud to wear kilts because we feel that we can be Scottish and | :23:32. | :23:39. | |
where Pakistani, and we can show that. We feel that we can fuse the | :23:40. | :23:42. | |
two together. They are not different. Does that play into why | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
you are voting yes? Absolutely. You can have all these good things but | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
without breaking up the country. That's what I'm hoping people will | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
reach that conclusion. Thank you darling. I feel we are not breaking | :23:57. | :24:03. | |
up but we are evolving. If you went home, God forbid and told your wife | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
tonight, we're not getting divorced, we're evolving, I'm moving out, you | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
are moving out we're going to divide our assets, she would realise it was | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
a divorce not an evolution. Yes, she's a no voter, I'm a yes voter! | :24:21. | :24:29. | |
Women less keen on gambles. If emotion has been lacking on the no | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
side it looms large around this table as Mr Galloway invokes the RAF | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
heros of World War ll. We did it together and nobody asked whether | :24:40. | :24:46. | |
the pilots flying above were from Suffolk or Sutherland, or which | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
accent they spoke with, they were just us defending us. You have to | :24:51. | :24:58. | |
think what's best for us? Give dad my regards, God bless you. Despite | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
the respect on both sides, this is one potential convert lost. I'm | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
going to the smoking lounge! The tour though goes on. | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
Disagreements but still friends, but they might not get to keep the | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
pound, but they would get to keep the same. An independent Scotland | :25:18. | :25:21. | |
would still be called Scotland, but the remnants of the UK, what would | :25:22. | :25:25. | |
that country be called? We have a few ideas. | :25:26. | :25:35. | |
At the moment when discussing this constitutional upheaval, | :25:36. | :25:37. | |
commentators have taken to calling the non-Scotland bits of our state | :25:38. | :25:51. | |
"r UK" not exactly a keeper. When Labour changed they called it new | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
Labour, but what about New Britain, that is taken by Papua New Guinea. | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
It could be the former United Kingdom, like the former Yugoslavia, | :26:05. | :26:11. | |
maybe not. We need to brain storm this, in the epicentre of | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
Britishness we have John from the Now Show. Where do we start renaming | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
what was the UK? We have to look to the modern world. This is the future | :26:20. | :26:22. | |
and we have to think about this in the long-term. The way to do it is, | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
think about what's happening f it happens is what I'm calling a | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
conscious uncoupling. Think of it as Chris Martin and Gwnyeth, it is | :26:34. | :26:36. | |
essentially us parting, all we need to do is right it on a | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
self-righteous blog that is happening, ask the media to respect | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
our privacy, have the conscious uncoupling, we are still friends but | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
we no longer are together. What if it turns out that Scotland has been | :26:50. | :26:54. | |
sleeping with Norway! There is that whole, was it once? Was it a long | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
standing thing? Was it a full blown affair? Were they drunk, Scotland | :27:00. | :27:04. | |
probably! But maybe rebranding could have its advantages, many non-Brits | :27:05. | :27:18. | |
seem to struggle with our complex lamencatu re. All of us are | :27:19. | :27:24. | |
disturbed by the crashing of the English embassy, the embassy of the | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
United Kingdom in Iran. Isn't Scotland like a bit of England? No | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
it is not. Britain I mean. The British Council has even made a | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
video to help them out. Great Britain is a geographical term, it | :27:38. | :27:41. | |
is a big island with Scotland, England and Wales on it. It is | :27:42. | :27:47. | |
complicated. I can see that. Why can't we bring in the green of the | :27:48. | :27:51. | |
Welsh flag? Unpicking this complexity sounds like a job for | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
Welsh flag? Unpicking this rebranding expert? A lot of | :27:56. | :27:57. | |
organisations have moved to initial, when you look at the initials of the | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
three countries, the three legacy countries, England, Wales and | :28:03. | :28:05. | |
Northern Ireland, EWN doesn't really work, it doesn't really resonate. It | :28:06. | :28:13. | |
doesn't say much. But what if you play with those, NEW, "new", a new | :28:14. | :28:20. | |
name for a new country, new United Kingdom, a country that looks to the | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
future a country that is actually talking about tomorrow rather than | :28:26. | :28:28. | |
yesterday, that leaves Scotland with its name, Scotland. | :28:29. | :28:41. | |
Unfamiliar cultural times then. The real name, if this happens, will be | :28:42. | :28:48. | |
probably the United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. | :28:49. | :28:52. | |
Sounding rather like a familiar tune played on an unexpected instrument. | :28:53. | :28:59. | |
Whatever the name, if Scotland leaves, what impact will that have | :29:00. | :29:03. | |
on the sense of Britishness for the people who remain in the union. | :29:04. | :29:07. | |
Union? With us are Vicky Featherstone, the Artistic Director | :29:08. | :29:10. | |
of the Royal Court Theatre, who lived in Scotland as a young child, | :29:11. | :29:15. | |
and again when she set up and ran the National Theatre of Scotland. | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
And the historian, Tom Holland, who has written a letter signed by 200 | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
cultural luminaries asking Scotland to stay. | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
Thank you for being here. On the name, Tom what would you call the | :29:28. | :29:31. | |
rest of the UK? I guess it would be the United Kingdom of England, Wales | :29:32. | :29:35. | |
and Northern Ireland. If Northern Ireland then joined the Republic of | :29:36. | :29:39. | |
Ireland, we would be England and Wales, like Trinidad and Tobago. We | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
may end up as Wessex and Northumbria, who knows. Why for you | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
does it make a difference to your identity if Scotland chooses | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
independence? Because although I'm very proud to be English, I like | :29:54. | :29:57. | |
being English, I very much enjoy being British. I enjoy the tension | :29:58. | :30:03. | |
and the sense of irony and perspective that gives me. If | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
Scotland leaves a crucial part of my identity will go. I will find it | :30:09. | :30:12. | |
very upsetting. What do you make of that? I really I'm pro-yes, I think | :30:13. | :30:21. | |
that when I moved to Scotland I really felt I was British. I felt my | :30:22. | :30:25. | |
liberal attitudes meant British was a positive thing and I wouldn't say | :30:26. | :30:29. | |
I was English, I was there for six months and I had to come to terms | :30:30. | :30:34. | |
with the fact that we were two very different countries, two brilliant | :30:35. | :30:36. | |
countries but different and I was English and what did that mean. But | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
you weren't both? I definitely wasn't both. I have a huge | :30:41. | :30:43. | |
attachment of Scotland and proud of my time there. But for me Scotland | :30:44. | :30:51. | |
had an infantalised relationship with England for many years, and now | :30:52. | :30:55. | |
it is time to cut loose and be confident. Even though you have | :30:56. | :30:59. | |
worked successfully in Scotland you don't feel it is part of your | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
identity in any way? It is entirely part of my identity, I lived in | :31:04. | :31:10. | |
India as a child and speak fluent Germany and I'm multiferocious in my | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
identity. I don't feel nostalgic for a past. I feel it is really | :31:15. | :31:18. | |
important these things can coexist. If you listen to Vicky, why is it | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
anything to do with you, with the best will in the world? Because at | :31:23. | :31:27. | |
the moment the Scots and the English and Northern Irish are all citizens | :31:28. | :31:31. | |
of the same country. It seems to me that Britishness is a wonderful | :31:32. | :31:34. | |
thing. One of the many wonderful things about Britishness is we don't | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
talk about it and we are a bit embarrassed about it. The time has | :31:39. | :31:42. | |
come to blow its trumpet and say to me what is impressive and wonderful | :31:43. | :31:48. | |
about the union of England and Scotland is until the 7th century | :31:49. | :31:51. | |
they were enemies tearing chunks out of each other, even into the 17th | :31:52. | :31:56. | |
century they were invading each other's countries. They came | :31:57. | :32:01. | |
together and miraculously they discovered, although they were very | :32:02. | :32:04. | |
different countries they were very similar and their different | :32:05. | :32:07. | |
traditions and values and ideals were compatible. The merging of the | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
ideals created something wonderful, the Industrial Revolution, forging | :32:14. | :32:17. | |
the enlightenment, beat fascism and forge the welfare state. I hope and | :32:18. | :32:22. | |
believe what is happening now in Scotland with the independence | :32:23. | :32:25. | |
referendum if it is a no will super charge the rest of the UK and the | :32:26. | :32:29. | |
Scots will play the role they have always played which is to energise | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
and revitalise the whole of Britain. When you listen to Tom talk so | :32:35. | :32:38. | |
passionately about that, does it mean anything to you? It is an | :32:39. | :32:41. | |
interesting historical perspective, this is about change and change is a | :32:42. | :32:46. | |
good thing. If Scotland is set free and goes the way that many people | :32:47. | :32:49. | |
are talking that it may go I think it is a really important moment for | :32:50. | :32:52. | |
England. It is a really important moment for to us think about what is | :32:53. | :32:55. | |
English identity that has very negative conotations in the past and | :32:56. | :33:00. | |
to really become proud of that. Wouldn't the departure upset that | :33:01. | :33:03. | |
balance, that cocktail that Tom has talked about? Yes, the cocktail | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
absolutely definitely would be upset, but it is not a particularly | :33:08. | :33:10. | |
healthy cocktail at the moment. And I think it is a very good | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
opportunity for us to think of different ways. If we could change | :33:15. | :33:19. | |
the metaphor, Salmond says if Scotland goes England will lose a | :33:20. | :33:24. | |
grumpy lodger. That is not true. Scotland basically built this | :33:25. | :33:28. | |
country. The Scots had a crucial role in it, when the yes campaigners | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
talk about Westminster, what they are talking about essentially is the | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
parliamentary system that Scots contributed just as much as the | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
English and Welsh. It is the Scots who contributed to the Tory | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
tradition, Walter Scott had a crucial role as Disraeli did. The | :33:46. | :33:51. | |
Israel Kier Hardy is very clear. History is important and memories | :33:52. | :33:55. | |
are important and the relationships and the friendships and the | :33:56. | :34:00. | |
cross-cultural swirl is important. That is what the future comes from. | :34:01. | :34:05. | |
What is very exciting is this is about democracy and people in | :34:06. | :34:08. | |
Scotland suddenly saying our vote does matter and can matter and we | :34:09. | :34:11. | |
can make a difference. I don't think we have felt like that in Britain | :34:12. | :34:14. | |
for a very long time. It is about an incredible moment of an act of | :34:15. | :34:17. | |
democracy and rembering the franchise is a revolutionary thing | :34:18. | :34:20. | |
for us and that freedom is great. Thank you both very much indeed, | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
that is all we have time for. This conversation will no doubt continue | :34:25. | :34:27. | |
in the coming weeks. The results of a rather different | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
kind of vote were released today. The shortlist of the Man Booker | :34:33. | :34:38. | |
Prize. Although the suggestion appalled traditionalists of a | :34:39. | :34:42. | |
sensitive disposition, this year for the first time American writers | :34:43. | :34:45. | |
could enter. They have only captured two places on the shortlist. | :34:46. | :34:56. | |
# Every day # I write the book | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
Is this the best part of the literary life, not the reading, not | :35:01. | :35:06. | |
the writing, but the launch party. In this case for the Man Booker | :35:07. | :35:12. | |
Prize shortlist. The big talking point this year, opening the contest | :35:13. | :35:17. | |
up to anyone writing in English. That means the Americans. Once the | :35:18. | :35:28. | |
Man Booker Prize was the preserve of London literary circle, opened to | :35:29. | :35:31. | |
authors from these islands and the Commonwealth. Not everyone has | :35:32. | :35:35. | |
welcomed the rule change. I worry that the decision to include writers | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
in English who weren't previously eligible, such as Americans, showed | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
a lack of confidence on the part of the Man Booker Prize organisers. | :35:45. | :35:50. | |
Hang on though there is a "but" coming? This year's prize showed | :35:51. | :35:55. | |
they didn't need to feel that lack of confidence. The long list has UK | :35:56. | :36:01. | |
and Commonwealth authors as does the shortlist. It is another really, | :36:02. | :36:05. | |
really strong year. # If they ask me | :36:06. | :36:10. | |
# I could write a book Two books by American authors have | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
made the cut, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris, which | :36:16. | :36:22. | |
has been called the Catch 22 of dentistry, and We Are All Completely | :36:23. | :36:24. | |
Beside Ourselves by Karen Jay Fowler, which has already picked up | :36:25. | :36:29. | |
the Penn Faulkner Award for fiction and a favourite with booksellers and | :36:30. | :36:33. | |
readers. As one of the two American judges on the panel this year, I | :36:34. | :36:37. | |
have to say from my point of view it was never a bad thing that Americans | :36:38. | :36:41. | |
were being admitted on to the list. Not because of jingoism or | :36:42. | :36:47. | |
nationalism on my part, but because I want the best of the best, the | :36:48. | :36:51. | |
very best that is being written in English today. British contenders | :36:52. | :36:59. | |
include J by Howard Jacobson, a dark disphonian book from -- dystopian | :37:00. | :37:09. | |
book. And How to be Both by Ali Smith. The third on the list is Neel | :37:10. | :37:17. | |
Mukherjee with The Lives of Others, about a Bengali family. And Richard | :37:18. | :37:23. | |
Flanagan is included for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, which tells | :37:24. | :37:32. | |
of PoWs building the death raily. It has broad appeal the six. There are | :37:33. | :37:39. | |
few readers who would find nothing there. There are title s on there. | :37:40. | :37:50. | |
Not everybody will like Ali Smith's unusual approach, and not Howard | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
Jacobson after The Finkler Question, I would like to tell them J is a | :37:57. | :38:00. | |
different book from anything else he has written. As usual in this most | :38:01. | :38:05. | |
gentile of prize fights. There will be almost as much contention on the | :38:06. | :38:08. | |
contenders who didn't make it into the ring as those who have. Admirers | :38:09. | :38:14. | |
of big-name authors like David Mitchell and Sarah Waters will feel | :38:15. | :38:18. | |
their favourites deserved a crack at the title too. While some browse the | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
shortlist, others run a book on it. One bookie was congratulating | :38:24. | :38:26. | |
himself on his tipping today. The only shock for us this year was | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
David Mitchell didn't make the cut, otherwise we had the first five of | :38:31. | :38:35. | |
the six in the betting, all making it through to the shortlist. When we | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
looked at the names, certainly the literary betting public looked at | :38:41. | :38:43. | |
the names and there were strong names we thought were strong to make | :38:44. | :38:52. | |
the shortlist to be proven right. Hang on, save some of that fizz, you | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
are going to need it to toast the winner, who is announced next month. | :38:57. | :39:03. | |
With us to chew over the list are Carol Birch whose novel was | :39:04. | :39:07. | |
shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2011, Erica Wagner, one of this | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
year's all-important judges and Arifa Akbar, the literary editor of | :39:13. | :39:16. | |
the Independent. Carol, firstly to you, when you were nominated, you | :39:17. | :39:20. | |
know what this day feels like, did it change your life just making the | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
list? Yes. Definitely. It was an incredible experience, it depends | :39:26. | :39:28. | |
very much on the individual how you are going to react to it. If you are | :39:29. | :39:32. | |
the kind of person who really likes being in the public eye, and you | :39:33. | :39:38. | |
feel happy being interviewed and photographed it is a marvellous | :39:39. | :39:41. | |
experience. If you are uneasy with that it is very, very stressful. For | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
me it was a mixed bag. I wouldn't have missed it for the world but I | :39:46. | :39:50. | |
did find it was as if, you know, you are kind of on adrenaline all the | :39:51. | :39:54. | |
time and running on like that. It keeps you going and you are living | :39:55. | :39:57. | |
out of a suitcase, your real life goes on hold for about, I don't | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
know, a month or whatever it is. You do just kind of, you adapt. Were | :40:03. | :40:08. | |
Where it counts in terms of book sales, did it make a difference? It | :40:09. | :40:12. | |
did make a difference, it did help. It is very nice in that way. It is | :40:13. | :40:16. | |
wonderful to be recognised, particularly when you have spent all | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
these years sitting in a room on your own. Erica Wagner, you are a | :40:21. | :40:28. | |
judge this year. You have lot of power over authors like Carol don't | :40:29. | :40:32. | |
you? I suppose so. Windy call it power. I think we all have a great | :40:33. | :40:39. | |
sense of responsibility. It is really fascinating and a remarkable | :40:40. | :40:44. | |
task to read all of these books. It is a really difficult task, because | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
one of the things that it remind you, and I have been a judge of the | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
Man Booker Prize before in 2002, what you look at is really how | :40:55. | :41:00. | |
vigorous fiction is. You are such a small group of people, a panel of | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
six as I understand it. How can you judge definitively which is the best | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
book. There are nearly 150 that were put forward? Yes, you can do the | :41:10. | :41:17. | |
very best you can. You can have the most serious discussion, you can | :41:18. | :41:25. | |
discuss each book on its merits. You can take the task absolutely | :41:26. | :41:29. | |
seriously and feel passionate about it, which is what we all do. Are | :41:30. | :41:37. | |
there issues with the way the Man Booker Prize and the whole fuss | :41:38. | :41:45. | |
about prizes? I question the science behind judging selections sometimes. | :41:46. | :41:47. | |
Take most of the prizes actually. There is a real feeling of | :41:48. | :41:53. | |
recycling. So you know Erica no doubt that you are a brilliant | :41:54. | :42:03. | |
Booker judge, you have done it once before, so has AC Grayling. It is | :42:04. | :42:09. | |
the same people and the same names and that makes me think it is a bit | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
of a closed circle of people and they are doing the rounds of the | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
prices. There are other ways to do prizes, and others have done them | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
differently. You get parallel panels and a big academy, and people | :42:25. | :42:29. | |
randomly picked. I thought to the Literary Director of the prize who | :42:30. | :42:35. | |
said this is the selection process, he goes to party like this one and | :42:36. | :42:39. | |
somebody goes over and says what about so and so. Of course there is | :42:40. | :42:43. | |
a advisory panel but there is a huge element of being in the room. Being | :42:44. | :42:48. | |
in the know and in the room. What do you say about that, a kabal? I would | :42:49. | :42:54. | |
beg to differ. One thing I would say, one of our judges this year is | :42:55. | :43:02. | |
Stan Glazer, who is the first scientist to judge the Booker Prize. | :43:03. | :43:09. | |
He's someone who comes right from outside the so called literary | :43:10. | :43:17. | |
world. I'm not having a pot shot at this particular jury, you must agree | :43:18. | :43:21. | |
it is the same names and faces. There is an attempt to bring in | :43:22. | :43:30. | |
people like Dan. With Man Booker we saw a Downton Abbey star was brought | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
on for the love of poetry and literature. There was efforts made. | :43:36. | :43:41. | |
You could have an inventive approach, the Foley Prize they have | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
large academy and pool. They have a ratings systems for the books, | :43:46. | :43:49. | |
everything in the 100 pool votes. You have bailies. A real -- Bailey's | :43:50. | :43:59. | |
a real reader gets involved. In terms of what is actually being | :44:00. | :44:02. | |
judged, what books are being written right now. Carol, having looked at | :44:03. | :44:07. | |
the list, what does it tell bus what we are reading right now and what | :44:08. | :44:11. | |
does it tell us about culture? It is diverse and interesting. I haven't | :44:12. | :44:15. | |
read any of them I'm not the ideal person to talk about this. There is | :44:16. | :44:21. | |
so many books being published, it is quite a healthy literary scene at | :44:22. | :44:27. | |
the moment There is a lot of invention, someone like Ali Smith | :44:28. | :44:30. | |
offering two versions of the same novel. All these gloomy predictions | :44:31. | :44:41. | |
that the November is -- novel is dead, people are doing really | :44:42. | :44:43. | |
interesting things. We are coming to the present moment now with on-line | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
stories and that. Erica are you seeing that, certainly some of the | :44:49. | :44:50. | |
books on the list, there is the story of the New York dentist who | :44:51. | :44:56. | |
has his identity stolen on-line. Is that the sign that authors are now, | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
and maybe only now beginning to grapple with the real changes all | :45:02. | :45:08. | |
around us? I think now those, that sense of the way we live | :45:09. | :45:12. | |
particularly with technology. That's not something new any more. It is | :45:13. | :45:19. | |
part of the weather. If you are writing a novel set in the present | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
day. That will be there, however you engage with it. I think that what | :45:25. | :45:31. | |
all of these books show and this is definitely speaking to something | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
that was said. I think there is an amazing adventurousness on the part, | :45:38. | :45:42. | |
not just of writers but readers too. I think readers really are willing | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
to engage with sophisticated story telling. More adventurous perhaps | :45:48. | :45:54. | |
than the historical look back to past, is nostalgia dead Carol? I | :45:55. | :45:59. | |
don't think it is dead I think there is room for everything. Everything | :46:00. | :46:02. | |
should be there, and everything should have the chance to be on that | :46:03. | :46:09. | |
list. I would say it miss characterises historical novels to | :46:10. | :46:13. | |
call them necessarily nostalgic. I really don't like this genre thing | :46:14. | :46:17. | |
we have, this idea that some things are literature and some aren't. We | :46:18. | :46:21. | |
just have good books and they can be in all the different genres. We have | :46:22. | :46:28. | |
seen in Booker that the minute a list becomes readable, accessible, | :46:29. | :46:33. | |
there is a lot of snotty disapproval of it. That was my year. My | :46:34. | :46:40. | |
favourite description of Booker is Posh Bingo. Which Julia Barnes | :46:41. | :46:46. | |
called it. We will leave you with that description of the Booker | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
Prize, that is all we have time to do tonight. Emily will be here | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
tomorrow night. Good night. A little mist and fog to start the | :46:58. | :47:06. | |
day. It shouldn't last too long. Most of us looking at a pleasant day | :47:07. | :47:12. | |
with good spells of sunshine. Light winds for most, breeze | :47:13. | :47:13. |