0:00:05 > 0:00:07Egypt suffered one of its it's deadliest ever
0:00:07 > 0:00:11terrorist attacks today - 235 were killed and dozens injured
0:00:11 > 0:00:14at a mosque in North Sinai province when Islamist insurgents bombed
0:00:14 > 0:00:21and shot worshippers and then ambulances.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24The Egyptian President vowed to respond with brute force.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27But tonight there's a disagreement over what has caused this
0:00:27 > 0:00:31increasingly lethal problem.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34If you want to get a head get a hat, is the old saying -
0:00:34 > 0:00:38but if you want to keep your head should you get a helmet?
0:00:38 > 0:00:40Should the government make cycling helmets and hi vis vests compulsory?
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Ooh ah Cantona.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47The footballer with the muse, on his new book and that kick.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Footballers are role models for young people...
0:00:49 > 0:00:51No, but I am not a role model.
0:00:51 > 0:00:52I already say that.
0:00:52 > 0:00:53I am not an example.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Even today, I am not an example.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58I have never been and I never wanted to be an example.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03I am just a human being with emotions.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11Good evening.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13It was an attack of the most awful cruelty.
0:01:13 > 0:01:19Egypt in shock...
0:01:19 > 0:01:22After its worst ever terror attack.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25As two hundred and thirty five people are killed and dozens more
0:01:25 > 0:01:27injured after Islamist insurgents bombed the al-Rawda mosque in north
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Sinai during Friday prayers - to further the horror...
0:01:31 > 0:01:34They then opened fire on worshippers as they fled outside and reportedly
0:01:34 > 0:01:39shot at ambulances on their way to help the injured.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Today was the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the province
0:01:42 > 0:01:44over the past four years - the violence has escalated
0:01:44 > 0:01:47since the insurgency in the peninsula was stepped up
0:01:47 > 0:01:50after Islamist president Mohammed Morsi was overthrown,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53many of the attacks are attributed to a group affiliated to so called
0:01:53 > 0:02:00IS known as 'Sinai Province'.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Our diplomatic editor Mark Urban is here...
0:02:04 > 0:02:10What more detail do we have? It is not a well reported part of Egypt
0:02:10 > 0:02:14because of the insurgency but we know it is what would be called a
0:02:14 > 0:02:19complex attack. Set up with quite diabolical forethought and planning.
0:02:19 > 0:02:26We can look at a map to get a rough idea of the area where it happened.
0:02:26 > 0:02:32The al-Rawda mask in this small town of Bir al-Abed on the main road, you
0:02:32 > 0:02:40can see it running east to west -- the al-Rawda mosque. It was a Friday
0:02:40 > 0:02:48prayer is when the bombs went off. Then as people came to help, gunman
0:02:48 > 0:02:52opening fire causing further casualties and then finally, as
0:02:52 > 0:02:58ambulances were called, both makeshift roadblocks and gunfire
0:02:58 > 0:03:04against the ambulances. Really awful and carefully planned staged, three
0:03:04 > 0:03:10stage atrocity.There have been attacks on Coptic Christians and the
0:03:10 > 0:03:15security forces and convoys, but never before a successful attack on
0:03:15 > 0:03:20a mosque in Sinai.I would hesitate to be absolute about it but what is
0:03:20 > 0:03:24quite clear is that everyone regards this as a major escalation, for
0:03:24 > 0:03:30obvious reasons, if you are claiming a religious justification as the
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Islamic State group does, you have to be quite careful about targeting
0:03:33 > 0:03:38of this kind. Why it has happened, there is a whole complex set of
0:03:38 > 0:03:48reasons for that that come out of the tangled recent history of Sinai.
0:03:48 > 0:03:56For years now North Sinai has seen worsening balance. And it was that
0:03:56 > 0:04:04religious distinction for the people murdered today, those Sufi Muslims,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09those following a moderate form of religious life that led to the
0:04:09 > 0:04:16targeting.These guys are totally refusing any other ideology, any
0:04:16 > 0:04:26other thoughts, just the ices thought, the violence, the ideology,
0:04:26 > 0:04:34this village is inhabited by a too many Sufi Muslim people, they are
0:04:34 > 0:04:43peaceful, they are generous and that is why they are attacked.And the
0:04:43 > 0:04:47killers, a formal claim from the Islamic State affiliated groups is
0:04:47 > 0:04:54yet to be made. But they did publicise this crime, the beheading
0:04:54 > 0:04:57of two Sufi elders who they are accused of sorcery, for failing to
0:04:57 > 0:05:07go along with the militant ideology of jihad against the government.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11President Sisi tonight vowed to crush the jihadists but the
0:05:11 > 0:05:14government campaign against them in northern Sinai over the past four
0:05:14 > 0:05:20years has done little to deal with the underlying issues.His policy
0:05:20 > 0:05:25until now has been to look for a military solution. It has been
0:05:25 > 0:05:31clamping down harder on the several hundred thousand Bedouin in northern
0:05:31 > 0:05:37Sinai. It believes that through pummelling the population they can
0:05:37 > 0:05:40subdue them and until then, that is not really worked.In the aftermath
0:05:40 > 0:05:47of the attack today there is every chance that that Sufi tribe that
0:05:47 > 0:05:54were targeted today may be radicalised against the jihadists.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59Those people from other tribes who kept themselves neutral, not taking
0:05:59 > 0:06:04the side of the Army or getting involved with helping the Army, will
0:06:04 > 0:06:13be on the side of the Army after there's quite huge attack.Following
0:06:13 > 0:06:18the atrocity today, the Egyptian security forces are pledged to
0:06:18 > 0:06:23escalate their operations. The stage in Sinai is set for revenge and
0:06:23 > 0:06:28further violence.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32The military option has not worked in the last four years. President
0:06:32 > 0:06:36Sisi said he would stamp it out with brute force, how will he escalate,
0:06:36 > 0:06:42will he look for outside help?He has already ordered air strikes this
0:06:42 > 0:06:47evening on targets associated with these groups. The way this has been
0:06:47 > 0:06:52handled up to now has been very much as an Egyptian problem, I do not
0:06:52 > 0:06:55think there is anything on the ground that anyone else can do. He
0:06:55 > 0:07:00can say to the Americans, we want more Apache helicopters or munitions
0:07:00 > 0:07:05and the Americans in the spirit of casting this as part of a global
0:07:05 > 0:07:11battle against jihad as will go along with that. The one interesting
0:07:11 > 0:07:17regional actor in this who is giving slightly more than that by the
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Israelis. Tonight, Tel Aviv town hall was lit up in Egyptian colours
0:07:21 > 0:07:26as a gesture of solidarity, we can see it in that image. Curious in a
0:07:26 > 0:07:30way, the two nations have a peace treaty but it has always been
0:07:30 > 0:07:35described as a cold peace but it is known that the Israelis with drones
0:07:35 > 0:07:38and different networks, but they have long established in the Bedouin
0:07:38 > 0:07:42tribes in the Sinai have been giving some intelligence assistance to the
0:07:42 > 0:07:53Egyptians but that is about the limit of it as far as outsiders are
0:07:53 > 0:07:54concerned.Thank you.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56I'm joined from Montreal by the Egyptian-American writer
0:07:56 > 0:07:57and commentator Mona Eltahawy.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59She writes on Islam and covered the militant campaign by former
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Egyptian President Murbarak in the Sinai.
0:08:01 > 0:08:02Also in the studio Dr Hisham Hellyer.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05He is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council
0:08:05 > 0:08:07and at the Royal Services Institute and has written extensively
0:08:07 > 0:08:08about the region.
0:08:08 > 0:08:14Good evening to both of you. What do you make of this escalation and
0:08:14 > 0:08:21where the escalation was exactly the Sinai?That part of Sinai has long
0:08:21 > 0:08:25been the object of a brutal campaign by successive Egyptian presidents.
0:08:25 > 0:08:34Just to give you an example in 2004 under President Mubarak, after
0:08:34 > 0:08:38attacks in south Sinai, Egyptian police arrested at least 3000
0:08:38 > 0:08:42people, tortured many of them in North Sinai and took women and
0:08:42 > 0:08:46children as hostages. We have had this awful pattern of atrocities
0:08:46 > 0:08:53committed in North Sinai by the security forces and this delusion by
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Egyptian regimes including this statement today by the President
0:08:55 > 0:08:59that this can be stamped out military. This is an unwinnable war,
0:08:59 > 0:09:04this is a part of Egypt that has long been marginalised and neglected
0:09:04 > 0:09:08and security forces whether it is the police under President Mubarak
0:09:08 > 0:09:13or the military under Mohamed Morsi and now President Sisi has long
0:09:13 > 0:09:20designed the tribes there. We have to find another way of dealing with
0:09:20 > 0:09:26that.That has led to the ups well of the Islamist insurgents, that is
0:09:26 > 0:09:30what you are saying? Rather than them saying we want to establish a
0:09:30 > 0:09:35caliphate for itself.But I think is happening there because it has been
0:09:35 > 0:09:39long marginalised and neglected and had all these atrocities committed
0:09:39 > 0:09:45against it, there is anger and resentment and in 1993 when I
0:09:45 > 0:09:48covered the then militant campaign against President Mubarak we saw
0:09:48 > 0:09:56similar things happening in Southern Egypt.Dr Hellyer, in a way the
0:09:56 > 0:10:00success of Egyptian regimes only have themselves to blame, or is
0:10:00 > 0:10:03something else going on?I would not say they have themselves to blame,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08but the problem is there a goal back many years, there are a number of
0:10:08 > 0:10:12different factors playing a role in this and certainly you have seen
0:10:12 > 0:10:18certain issues becoming exasperated in the past few years, but what we
0:10:18 > 0:10:25have seen recently is the new impact of Isis within this particular part
0:10:25 > 0:10:31of the country which is why you had a group which goes back to 2010 and
0:10:31 > 0:10:38has then been taken up by Isis.What do you make of this step change?
0:10:38 > 0:10:41With the attack? The attack is quite unprecedented. It is probably the
0:10:41 > 0:10:47largest attack by non-state militant terrorists in modern history there
0:10:47 > 0:10:51and the fact that they've targeted civilians in this way, I do not
0:10:51 > 0:10:55think anyone should underestimate that. They targeted a mosque, they
0:10:55 > 0:11:01targeted people they could not put into these boxes in a security
0:11:01 > 0:11:05establishment, these were just regular Egyptians. In the same way
0:11:05 > 0:11:08that Coptic Egyptians are regular Egyptians but they have created a
0:11:08 > 0:11:13narrative around that grip and now that narrative has been expanded to
0:11:13 > 0:11:17include all Egyptians.There is a state of emergency in Sinai and we
0:11:17 > 0:11:23do not know exactly what is happening. What do you make of
0:11:23 > 0:11:26President Sisi talking about brute force?For the past few years the
0:11:26 > 0:11:31Egyptian state has been winning eight campaign in the Sinai so brute
0:11:31 > 0:11:37force, I am not sure how that will go.What do think about response? We
0:11:37 > 0:11:41know in the past that a military solution has failed, what do you
0:11:41 > 0:11:48think of President Sisi saying, Isis going with brute force, we will meet
0:11:48 > 0:11:52with more brute force, is that the only option he has got?There is no
0:11:52 > 0:11:56end to the brute force, he is going to continue... We have to remember
0:11:56 > 0:12:02that the Egyptian military has a far superior air power, weapons,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06ammunition is an heavy armour and yet they have not been able to quell
0:12:06 > 0:12:12this growing insurgency. I remind everyone of the 1990s and the
0:12:12 > 0:12:15militant campaign against President Mubarak at the time. Those of us who
0:12:15 > 0:12:20care about Egyptian security have pleaded with the Regine 's in Egypt
0:12:20 > 0:12:24to develop those areas. There has been a long-standing development
0:12:24 > 0:12:29plan which is just ink on paper for Sinai. People need jobs and dignity
0:12:29 > 0:12:38and a reason to live.I'm sorry to interrupt. Do you suggest that if it
0:12:38 > 0:12:42feels like it has been marginalised and ignored and given that it is
0:12:42 > 0:12:51such a huge impact on Egypt, can you end the state of emergency?North
0:12:51 > 0:12:55Sinai has been under a state of emergency since 2014 and for many
0:12:55 > 0:12:58years it has been under a news blackout and we do not know the
0:12:58 > 0:13:02worst of the atrocities committed by the Egyptian regime and its security
0:13:02 > 0:13:09forces. We know that Egyptian jails are full of at least 60,000
0:13:09 > 0:13:13political prisoners and the current regime calls anyone who opposes it a
0:13:13 > 0:13:16terrorist and thinks they can bomb its way against anyone who it
0:13:16 > 0:13:20defines as part of a terrorist group. That is not the solution, the
0:13:20 > 0:13:24solution is to give people a reason to live, to develop marginalised
0:13:24 > 0:13:29areas of Egypt and the solution is to tell the Bedouin in Sinai, we
0:13:29 > 0:13:35respect you, you are Egyptians and we can be allies. They are an
0:13:35 > 0:13:42influential tribe who have long been disdained by the Egyptian regime and
0:13:42 > 0:13:46they could help people resist the influence of IS.These are things
0:13:46 > 0:13:48that could work. Do you agree? One of the issues with this particular
0:13:48 > 0:13:53attack is that it is possible and these are some of the reports coming
0:13:53 > 0:13:56out, that this particular village was attacked precisely because
0:13:56 > 0:14:00people in that village were unwilling to cooperate with Isis.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Whether or not there was sufficient coordination between them and the
0:14:04 > 0:14:08Egyptian state, that is yet to be seen.That is a huge thing because
0:14:08 > 0:14:17the Egyptian economy is suffering, tourism is suffering terribly,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20something has to happen.Sinai has been underdeveloped for quite some
0:14:20 > 0:14:25time. This is a large-scale problem across the country that requires
0:14:25 > 0:14:28quite a multilayered set of development plans and I am not sure
0:14:28 > 0:14:32if we will see that at the moment. There is a very strong emphasis on a
0:14:32 > 0:14:36security solution and I am not convinced that particularly after
0:14:36 > 0:14:39today with such a brutal and really ugly tragedy that we are going to
0:14:39 > 0:14:45see that change any time soon.Thank you both very much indeed.
0:14:47 > 0:14:48Do cycling helmets save lives?
0:14:48 > 0:14:49And should they be compulsory?
0:14:49 > 0:14:52That's a question that's going to be under consideration in a review
0:14:52 > 0:14:54of cycling safety being undertaken by the Transport
0:14:54 > 0:14:55Minister Jesse Norman.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57He's said that he'd consider legislation if the evidence
0:14:57 > 0:14:59pointed in that direction.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Immediately many cycling campaigners announced they would strongly
0:15:03 > 0:15:05oppose any such move, including the Olympic gold medallist
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Chris Boardman who said that evidence shows that helmets do not
0:15:08 > 0:15:11make a significant difference to people's safety.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14In fact Cycling UK said it could undermine levels of cycle use.
0:15:14 > 0:15:23Here are some cyclists' views.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24I wear one.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26It's not really my business if anyone else wants
0:15:26 > 0:15:28to wear one, but I wear it.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31I've been a cyclist a helluva long time, but yes, I agree,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33I think it's the right thing to do.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34Do usually wear one?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Yes, when I'm on a road bike I always wear one.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38Just not today. Not on the trike.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41I'm not on a road bike, I'm on a trike.
0:15:41 > 0:15:42Do you always wear a helmet? Yes.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44Why? Because I don't want to die.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45That's not a bad idea.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47I think we should do that, yes.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50But not for you?
0:15:50 > 0:15:52I wasn't planning to take on this bike today.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53It's a short journey.
0:15:53 > 0:15:54But usually you wear a helmet?
0:15:54 > 0:15:55I do.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56Absolutely I do.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01Thank you.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04So why the resistance to something that on the face of it
0:16:04 > 0:16:07seems like a no brainer?
0:16:07 > 0:16:09I'm joined now by Peter McCabe Chief Executive,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11of the charity Headway and Green party London assembly
0:16:11 > 0:16:16member Caroline Russell.
0:16:16 > 0:16:24Do you wear a bike helmet?No, I don't. I cycle from is -- Islington
0:16:24 > 0:16:32to City Hall everyday and I cycle in a mellow way.What about the
0:16:32 > 0:16:38traffic?I worry about the traffic enormously, but there is just as
0:16:38 > 0:16:41much risk of having a head injury as a pedestrian on the pavement as
0:16:41 > 0:16:46there is while riding a bike. It's important that people ride their
0:16:46 > 0:16:50bikes in ordinary everyday clothes when they are getting around.Not
0:16:50 > 0:16:56even high visibility?I don't have that, no, I have good bike lights,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00but I wear ordinary clothes and I hope people can see me.You have
0:17:00 > 0:17:05lights?Yes, and I use them during the day as well as at night.You
0:17:05 > 0:17:14wear -- have them on in the day because you are worried about people
0:17:14 > 0:17:18crashing into you?The number of people who get injured, wearing
0:17:18 > 0:17:24helmets, who don't have helmets... A cycle helmet when protect you from
0:17:24 > 0:17:31most crashes which happened you.Is that the case?It's not. We have a
0:17:31 > 0:17:34close relationship with survivors of a brain injury and their families
0:17:34 > 0:17:39and I've met many cyclists and families who have had a loved one
0:17:39 > 0:17:47who has had an accident on a bicycle and I know a family well, young lad,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50ten years old, asked if he could go to his friends after school, went on
0:17:50 > 0:17:54a bike and his parents received a call saying we are about to end if
0:17:54 > 0:17:59your son to hospital, if you can get here on time, we will bring you, but
0:17:59 > 0:18:05if not, we are going to try and save his life. That is the reality.You
0:18:05 > 0:18:11hear of big accidents, lorries going into cyclists, and in those
0:18:11 > 0:18:16circumstances, presumably at least having a helmet would save some of
0:18:16 > 0:18:21those injuries?In a crash with a lorry, a plastic helmet on your head
0:18:21 > 0:18:27is not going to help you, it will help you in a low speed collision,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31where you are riding your bike any come across ice and you are skidding
0:18:31 > 0:18:36and you come off and you hit the curb, then a helmet might help you.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41The majority of accidents are that kind.The collisions where
0:18:41 > 0:18:46someone... Where you are hit by a lorry, where your leg is run over,
0:18:46 > 0:18:51helmet is not going to make a blind bit of difference.It is personal
0:18:51 > 0:18:54freedom, and actually, there is an argument to say that if you insist
0:18:54 > 0:19:00people whereby come it is you will have fewer people cycling. -- if you
0:19:00 > 0:19:06insist people where bike helmets. That is not the case. Where it has
0:19:06 > 0:19:09been introduced, the compulsory wearing of helmets, in Australia,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14the United States, there are many states which have compulsion for
0:19:14 > 0:19:18children to wear cycle helmets, but you asked, is there evidence, they
0:19:18 > 0:19:24spend even evidence around transport research laboratory 's -- there is
0:19:24 > 0:19:28plenty of evidence for the that people wearing helmets are at less
0:19:28 > 0:19:33risk of sustaining injury.If that is the case, why have successive
0:19:33 > 0:19:40reviews always, with evidence in both directions, of course, but why
0:19:40 > 0:19:45has it never been straightforward? It seems to be straightforward, you
0:19:45 > 0:19:52wear a seat belt in a car, but there has never ended -- being anything
0:19:52 > 0:19:57which says if you wear a helmet it makes you savour.The Highway code
0:19:57 > 0:20:00advises you to wear a helmet when you are on a bike, there is evidence
0:20:00 > 0:20:05and I think it is overwhelming.What about your children? Do they wear
0:20:05 > 0:20:10helmets?They did when they were riding on the road, but if they were
0:20:10 > 0:20:14riding on the park, no, I would not get them to wear a helmet to climb a
0:20:14 > 0:20:20climbing frame.Sometimes come in some cities, you have cycle
0:20:20 > 0:20:23superhighways and you are separate, that is one thing, but in many towns
0:20:23 > 0:20:29and cities, especially in rush hour, I have seen people being clipped so
0:20:29 > 0:20:35many times.The thing is, we have got to cut the danger at source,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38getting people who are riding bikes to put a helmet on their head is not
0:20:38 > 0:20:42going to reduce the danger that they are exposed to, the thing we should
0:20:42 > 0:20:47do... It is like the rail industry, they took the approach to cutting
0:20:47 > 0:20:49risk and we should be doing the same, addressing things like speed
0:20:49 > 0:20:54of vehicles and bad behaviour by people who are driving, talking on
0:20:54 > 0:21:03the mobile phone, not concentrating on causing crashes.Is it about
0:21:03 > 0:21:07feeling free, the winner going through your hair?It is about
0:21:07 > 0:21:13getting on a bike, the same as getting on your feet.But it is an
0:21:13 > 0:21:19engine of some sort. A mechanical thing, going faster than walking.
0:21:19 > 0:21:24But not very much faster. I walk quite fast, cycle slowly. What we
0:21:24 > 0:21:28should be doing, if we want to save lives and stop these crashes we
0:21:28 > 0:21:32should make sure we fill in the potholes and make sure their drivers
0:21:32 > 0:21:37behave properly. Rather than focusing on a plastic hat.I want to
0:21:37 > 0:21:43do all of that, and the cycling is great and it improves peoples health
0:21:43 > 0:21:46and improves the environment and that is what we should be
0:21:46 > 0:21:51encouraging, but it is not a question of either or, why can't you
0:21:51 > 0:21:55wear a helmet and have cycle lanes and have the safety that you would
0:21:55 > 0:22:03like but avoid a child of three that I met, fell off her Barbie bike, how
0:22:03 > 0:22:08far is that? Bank the side of her head, when I met her at the age of
0:22:08 > 0:22:1519 she had had 19 operations -- bound the side. That cost should not
0:22:15 > 0:22:20be burdened onto the NHS when it is avoidable.We are talking about lots
0:22:20 > 0:22:25of different costs to the NHS. We have a whole society that is
0:22:25 > 0:22:30physically inactive, we need to get more people riding bikes.It is not
0:22:30 > 0:22:37an either or argument.If this review comes out and the Department
0:22:37 > 0:22:40for Transport, the minister says, OK, the evidence is overwhelming,
0:22:40 > 0:22:45I'm going to insist that people wear helmets, are you telling me that
0:22:45 > 0:22:54people will get off their bikes?No. I think there would be mass
0:22:54 > 0:22:58infuriated about this because it is focusing on one small thing that
0:22:58 > 0:23:05makes a small difference in summer crashes. -- in some. It won't make
0:23:05 > 0:23:10people safer, which is what we should be doing.You would defy the
0:23:10 > 0:23:14law?I will fight very hard to make sure it doesn't become the law.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Thanks for joining us.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20Even if you have no interest in football, the chances are that
0:23:20 > 0:23:22you registered the imperious Gallic presence of Eric Cantona
0:23:22 > 0:23:24when he was a giant of our national game.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26The Frenchman helped Manchester United to win four
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Premier League titles in five seasons and went a long way
0:23:29 > 0:23:32to transforming the club - and the league - into the huge
0:23:32 > 0:23:33brands they are today.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Part of Cantona's appeal was that he always seemed to have
0:23:36 > 0:23:39more to say than his fellow players, who were either 'over the moon'
0:23:39 > 0:23:41or 'gutted for the lads'.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45By contrast, Cantona marked his return to football
0:23:45 > 0:23:48after an infamous foul with a gnomic reference to seagulls,
0:23:48 > 0:23:53trawlers and sardines.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Since hanging up his No 7 shirt, Cantona has made films and adverts,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59and written poetry, and his latest venture is a notebook
0:23:59 > 0:24:00of his pensees and sketches.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02We sent perpetual bench-warmer Stephen Smith to meet him.
0:24:02 > 0:24:03OK!
0:24:03 > 0:24:04C'est bon!
0:24:04 > 0:24:05C'est tres bon.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07COMMENTATOR:James gets there just first.
0:24:07 > 0:24:14Cantona!
0:24:14 > 0:24:17To Manchester United fans, he was the king, but it's more
0:24:17 > 0:24:18than 20 years since he abdicated.
0:24:18 > 0:24:24At the tender age of just 30.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26What's Eric Cantona been doing with his time?
0:24:26 > 0:24:28I sit on the terrace and I look at the people.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31And I take all the energy and it inspires me for
0:24:31 > 0:24:32something else.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Or painting or writing.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37If I don't do that, I don't feel alive.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40I just die.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I don't say I'm happy to do it.
0:24:43 > 0:24:50I just need to feel alive.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53To feel a fire inside of me, something fill me.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Cantona keeps notebooks and fills them with
0:24:55 > 0:24:58his enigmatic words and doodles.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02This one, walking your ego.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04A few days ago I realised, normally they
0:25:04 > 0:25:06have ends along their legs.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08His legs, he's like measuring his sex.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09This one.
0:25:09 > 0:25:10Yeah, yeah.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13And I speak about the ego.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16The subconscious tells a lot of things.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17Very Freudian, maybe.
0:25:17 > 0:25:18Very Freudian, yeah.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21# Non, rien de rien
0:25:21 > 0:25:28# Non, je ne regrette rien...
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Cantona says he quit football when he felt
0:25:31 > 0:25:38his passion for the game beginning to dim.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Could you see yourself playing for Jose Mourinho, you know,
0:25:40 > 0:25:42if you were a younger man?
0:25:42 > 0:25:45Would you like to play for him, his Manchester United?
0:25:45 > 0:25:47If you play for Mourinho, you will sure win something.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Do you like his style?
0:25:51 > 0:25:54I don't really like the defensive style, not his style,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58it's more defensive.
0:25:58 > 0:26:04When you see him and you see Guardiola, which is the opposite.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07It's like 40 years ago, 30 years ago, when we saw some
0:26:07 > 0:26:11wonderful tennis game between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16How do you think England might do at the World Cup next year?
0:26:16 > 0:26:21England's England.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23They have good players, very good players.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27But me, if I was the manager of England, I would not take
0:26:27 > 0:26:37the team a month before.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Because I've seen English players in England, just meet
0:26:40 > 0:26:43a few hours before the game and go on the pitch and give 100%.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45And if they spend too much time together
0:26:45 > 0:26:47before the World Cup, they feel...
0:26:47 > 0:26:52They start to be bored and they want to go back home early.
0:26:52 > 0:26:58Me, if I'm managing England, I take the team, I take the best player,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and we meet just a few hours before, or maybe the day before the game.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03And I'm sure England will do much much better.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Cantona's notorious for a karate kick he aimed at a fan, Matthew
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Simmons, at Crystal Palace, after coming in for abuse.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10How do you look back on that now?
0:27:10 > 0:27:11I love it.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12You still love it?
0:27:12 > 0:27:13Yeah.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I love it and I don't regret...
0:27:15 > 0:27:16PHONE RINGS
0:27:16 > 0:27:20This is Simmons, no?
0:27:20 > 0:27:28Do you regret this in any way, because there is this view
0:27:28 > 0:27:30that footballers are role models for young people...
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Yes, but I'm not a role model.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34I always say that. I'm not an example.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Even today, I'm not an example. I never wanted to be an example.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39I am just a human being with emotions.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41The Frenchman returned to football after a ten
0:27:41 > 0:27:45month ban and a spell of community service.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48What he said next became one of the most famous
0:27:48 > 0:27:49quotes in the game.
0:27:49 > 0:27:50The lawyer from the club...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53Because a lot of journalists waiting for something.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57And why do I have to say something?
0:27:57 > 0:27:59He said, yeah, you have to say something.
0:27:59 > 0:28:00So, OK, I will say something.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Just say something that comes to my mind.
0:28:02 > 0:28:09When the seagulls...
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be
0:28:12 > 0:28:15thrown into the sea.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Thank you.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20LAUGHTER
0:28:20 > 0:28:29At the end of the day it was better than if I was to speak.
0:28:29 > 0:28:30We still speak about it today.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33I had to work hard, you know, dig deep inside.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38I needed something to fill me up when I was
0:28:38 > 0:28:40on my own, something to aim for, you know.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41It's funny, innit.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43Sometimes you forget that you're just a man.
0:28:43 > 0:28:44I'm not a man.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48I am Cantona.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53Cantona played himself in Ken Loach's film Looking For Eric
0:28:53 > 0:28:56offering life coaching to a depressed postie and United fan.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Where does your confidence come from?
0:28:59 > 0:29:03You seem to have an extraordinary self belief in yourself.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05No.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07I need to fill the cage.
0:29:07 > 0:29:08You need to?
0:29:08 > 0:29:11I need to fill in the cage, in this room, kind of
0:29:11 > 0:29:12escape, you know.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14And then I will find a way to escape.
0:29:14 > 0:29:15And the feeling of freedom is unbelievable.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20And then I come back in the cage.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22To have this feeling, you know, for freedom.
0:29:22 > 0:29:23It's wonderful.
0:29:23 > 0:29:30But I'm not confident.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33I just do it because if I don't do it I die.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35# Non, je ne regrette rien
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Cantona's notebook will surely appear in the
0:29:38 > 0:29:42Christmas stockings of United fans.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Beyond that, who knows?
0:29:43 > 0:29:45One thing is for sure, King Eric will remain
0:29:45 > 0:29:46characteristically philosophical.
0:29:46 > 0:29:52If you put everything in the balance,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54you know, I think I did more good things than bad things.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56But when it's good, it's good, huh?
0:29:56 > 0:29:57Yes.
0:29:57 > 0:30:05And when it's bad, it's bad.
0:30:05 > 0:30:13Eric Cantona. That is nearly it for tonight. But before we go...
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Coca Cola, the Big Mac and baseball caps, there's no doubt America has
0:30:16 > 0:30:19enriched our culture but but when it comes to Black Friday we've got
0:30:19 > 0:30:20some catching up to do.
0:30:20 > 0:30:21We've back on cyber Monday.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Goodnight.
0:30:23 > 0:30:24# We're S-H-O-PP-I-N-G
0:30:24 > 0:30:30# We're shopping
0:30:30 > 0:30:32# We're S-H-O-PP-I-N-G
0:30:32 > 0:30:35# We're shopping...#
0:30:35 > 0:30:44Good morning.