0:00:05 > 0:00:09The playground has always been a judgemental space...
0:00:09 > 0:00:10But there's no playground more judgemental than
0:00:10 > 0:00:16that of social media.
0:00:16 > 0:00:23What does getting a like mean?You get popular.Popularity.You know
0:00:23 > 0:00:26people like me.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28It's hard enough for adults to navigate their way
0:00:28 > 0:00:31through the world of social media - so feel for the children
0:00:31 > 0:00:34who have to learn the do's and don'ts for themselves.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36England's Children Commissioner thinks they need guidance.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38We'll ask what parents and schools can do to help,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40and what damage is done if they don't.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Would you be more likely to invest in a furniture manufacturer
0:00:44 > 0:00:47if they put the word "blockchain" in their name and said
0:00:47 > 0:00:49they were now getting into the crypto-currency business?
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Yes?
0:00:53 > 0:00:54You're not alone.
0:00:54 > 0:00:55It's all the rage.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57We have a psychology professor to help analyse your problem.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59And activist power.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01A new study tells us what the members of
0:01:01 > 0:01:02political parties think.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04And, yes, they do think.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07But are they exerting too much power over parties that are really meant
0:01:07 > 0:01:14to be accountable to the people?
0:01:18 > 0:01:19Hello.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21We've all met adults who are worryingly addicted
0:01:21 > 0:01:24to social media and the sense of self worth it gives them.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27So how much more concerned should we be, when it comes to children?
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Well, the Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34is very worried about those leaving primary school, who end up craving
0:01:34 > 0:01:40acceptance via likes and positive comments on line.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42Publishing a study on social media use of 8 to 12-year-olds,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46she concludes that schools need to help the pre-teens prepare
0:01:46 > 0:01:49for the emotional assaults they will endure on social media
0:01:49 > 0:01:53when they are in secondary school.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Enormous change in the use of social media from something that is fun
0:01:57 > 0:01:59and friendly and part of family life when they're
0:01:59 > 0:02:04younger, to an absolute cliff edge when 13 go to secondary school -
0:02:04 > 0:02:07which we know is one of the most pressured times
0:02:07 > 0:02:09for children when they start to learn what the new
0:02:09 > 0:02:11environment is about, where they have an avalanche of
0:02:11 > 0:02:12pressure from social media.
0:02:12 > 0:02:22Suddenly, the whole new peer group has a phone in their hand
0:02:23 > 0:02:26and has access to social media as part of that.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28She thinks parents need guidance too, by the way.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31But before we talk about how to best help young people
0:02:31 > 0:02:32navigate social media, let's hear from them.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35We sent Katie Razzall to a girl's state secondary school
0:02:35 > 0:02:38in south London today.
0:02:38 > 0:02:46She talked to some eleven and 12-year-olds. Their school has a ban
0:02:46 > 0:02:50on phones, but for a conversation about phones and what these students
0:02:50 > 0:02:56do with them, the rules quite fairly went out of the window. Does
0:02:56 > 0:03:03everyone in your class have a smart phone?Yes.I got it when I was 10,
0:03:03 > 0:03:10because my mum thinks I'm sensible. As I got into year six I started
0:03:10 > 0:03:13having Instagram and things like that and yeah...Lie did you want
0:03:13 > 0:03:19them?I think it is because everyone else had it and it is not like, it
0:03:19 > 0:03:27is at school I want it.You're supposed to be 13 to have them?Yes.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35It makes people our age feel under pressure, because you know you're
0:03:35 > 0:03:38supposed to have this thing and your parents say you can't and it is over
0:03:38 > 0:03:48and over again like a cycle, should I get it?Other people have Facebook
0:03:48 > 0:03:52and Instagram.Some people that you have got to be like them and do
0:03:52 > 0:03:57everything they do and if you don't have something, people aren't going
0:03:57 > 0:04:02to like you.I had music in my phone, because I thought it would be
0:04:02 > 0:04:07fun. Then I found out that all the stalkers and all the other people
0:04:07 > 0:04:12that are not really good. So I just, my mum told me to take it off.I
0:04:12 > 0:04:21spend about... Six to seven hours on my phone.Every day?It just depends
0:04:21 > 0:04:27on what I'm doing every day.Used to spend a lot of time on my phone, now
0:04:27 > 0:04:35I spend kind of enough.What is that? Four or five hours a day. But
0:04:35 > 0:04:44I'm also on games.I don't spend much time on my phone, because I do
0:04:44 > 0:04:48things like learning Japanese because of some obvious reasons.
0:04:51 > 0:05:06What does getting a like mean?You getpopular? People appreciate me.I
0:05:06 > 0:05:10don't have the social media that gets me like, but my friends care
0:05:10 > 0:05:20about getting likes.When I observe my friend getting them likes, they
0:05:20 > 0:05:27go, like they have won the lottery, like I got a like. And for them it
0:05:27 > 0:05:33means the whole world.Do you think it can be damaging to people?Yeah,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37because for example Instagram it is something like the perfect image and
0:05:37 > 0:05:41the perfect body and people can change that and start to not eat
0:05:41 > 0:05:47anything or start to change the way they look or you know do things
0:05:47 > 0:05:50without their parents knowing. Yeah, it is damaging.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04Do people worry about being rejected if they're not part of something
0:06:04 > 0:06:14online?Yes. It depends who it is. Some feel if I don't get added to
0:06:14 > 0:06:18this group, then you're not part of anything and you feel like excluded
0:06:18 > 0:06:23from everyone.People go out of their way to try and make themselves
0:06:23 > 0:06:29look like the perfect image. They have seen someone like a celebrity
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and they're, like, they're perfect. So they try to make themselves look
0:06:32 > 0:06:39like them in speech or in appearance or even in personality.Sometimes
0:06:39 > 0:06:45two people are having an argument and loads of people go on one side
0:06:45 > 0:06:53and the other person feels bad. And they get upset and people add them
0:06:53 > 0:06:59back to torment them.People believe people, like they say, oh, you're
0:06:59 > 0:07:05not good enough. And yeah, that is what they say.Online?Yeah.How
0:07:05 > 0:07:14does that make people feel?Sad. Views from one school there.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Now, I am joined by head teacher of Passmores Academy Vic Goddard,
0:07:17 > 0:07:19author Shannon Kyle, and Carina Maggar who is choosing to
0:07:19 > 0:07:25take a step back from social media.
0:07:25 > 0:07:32I want to ask each of you, if I put a button here and if you pushed that
0:07:32 > 0:07:38button all social media disappears and is eradicated from everyone
0:07:38 > 0:07:45under 16 would you push the butt snn Yes.Why would you do that?Because
0:07:45 > 0:07:51it has so many negative effects and it is so time consuming on their
0:07:51 > 0:07:56daily lives. So much time is spend on their phone.They can keep the
0:07:56 > 0:08:01internet and look things up, just the social media.I would push it as
0:08:01 > 0:08:09well.Yes?Definitely. I think the ability to communicate orally is
0:08:09 > 0:08:15affected by the fact is that they communicate in that way and I think
0:08:15 > 0:08:18it will limit their life chances. You can have both, but that takes
0:08:18 > 0:08:23parenting and balance.We have heard one pupil in that saying, six hours
0:08:23 > 0:08:28a day on the phone.That is ridiculous.Do you come across that
0:08:28 > 0:08:35that?Yes. If I ask a pupil where their school planner is they can't
0:08:35 > 0:08:40find it but they know where their phone it.I believe it can be a
0:08:40 > 0:08:44force for good and I think that there is a lot of hysteria around
0:08:44 > 0:08:52this that is unnecessary. It is like in the 1960s when our grandparents'
0:08:52 > 0:08:56generation were worried and the coffee shops and it was just
0:08:56 > 0:08:59something for young people and I think that it can do a force for
0:08:59 > 0:09:05good. They can make friends and get advice that they wouldn't otherwise
0:09:05 > 0:09:12get. Of course, it can be a bit of a beast and it needs containing and
0:09:12 > 0:09:16using responsibly, but ultimately it is a fantastic thing. When I was a
0:09:16 > 0:09:23teenager in the nineties I was stuck in my bedroom thumbing through old
0:09:23 > 0:09:29copies of Just 17.I'm struck by if kids are not being cruel this way,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33they're going to be cruel in another method. Maybe we worry about the
0:09:33 > 0:09:40vehicle.It is control. Where is my child at its safest? In my house. If
0:09:40 > 0:09:45my son's in my house he is safe. Not any more. He is not safe in my
0:09:45 > 0:09:51house. If I don't know what he is on, what social media, we have got
0:09:51 > 0:09:55to translate social media into the real world, would you allow a
0:09:55 > 0:09:59stranger to walk into your child's bedroom? No. That is not good
0:09:59 > 0:10:05enough. Would you like a stranger to walk up to your child in a park? No.
0:10:05 > 0:10:13It is about good parenting.Kit be a superaccelerator of problems,
0:10:13 > 0:10:21children can bully each other, they always have, but it can be
0:10:21 > 0:10:26particularly aggressively magnified when there is this power of
0:10:26 > 0:10:29communication. Is that not a problem?Of course it is. I wouldn't
0:10:29 > 0:10:35deny for a second that it was. But at the end of the day, on social
0:10:35 > 0:10:40media, you can block somebody. If you're getting bullied in the school
0:10:40 > 0:10:46ground, you have to see them. And if you educate your children to
0:10:46 > 0:10:51actually acknowledge when this is happening, when something's out of
0:10:51 > 0:10:57order, you can get them to do it.Do you buy that?I find it so difficult
0:10:57 > 0:11:01to answer that question. It is about educating your kids and about
0:11:01 > 0:11:10knowing... I would worry that putting up a selfie and a kid
0:11:10 > 0:11:14receiving ten likes will feel ugly and insecure and it is about
0:11:14 > 0:11:17educating your children about the things they should be sharing
0:11:17 > 0:11:22online.Let's talk about how we make it better. We haven't got the
0:11:22 > 0:11:27button, we just have to make the best of what exists. You have writ
0:11:27 > 0:11:34an letter to your parents.Bizarrely today.It had nothing to do with
0:11:34 > 0:11:39this. You have rules, you let them bring phones in. You could say no
0:11:39 > 0:11:46phones.Schools do. When you speak to the parents of the children in
0:11:46 > 0:11:50the school, because some work in my school and they go they have never
0:11:50 > 0:11:56handed their phone in once. The the school has achieved that the phone
0:11:56 > 0:12:02is not disturbing learning. Some say you have to hand it in. I haven't
0:12:02 > 0:12:07got one today, Sir. Of course you haven't. For me, it is about as a
0:12:07 > 0:12:11parent giving them a space where it is monitored. Getting them to
0:12:11 > 0:12:15understand having a phone is a privilege, not a right. I have given
0:12:15 > 0:12:18them that phone and there comes responsibility for their behaviour
0:12:18 > 0:12:22and how they deal with each other. Charging stations in your house no,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26phone in the bedroom. Before you go to bed, the phone is charged here.
0:12:26 > 0:12:33You have a night's sleep. The fear... Of missing out.What with
0:12:33 > 0:12:37your daughter, do you let her keep the phone with her by the bed at
0:12:37 > 0:12:43night?She is 16 now, I would defy any parent after the age of 14 or 15
0:12:43 > 0:12:48to take that phone off them. It is about being sensible, but it is
0:12:48 > 0:12:52also, it is about education, so the kids need to know when they have had
0:12:52 > 0:12:57enough. Sometimes my daughter says, I have had enough of my phone and
0:12:57 > 0:13:05I'm going to put it away.She is just fooling you.That is what I
0:13:05 > 0:13:09started to do, I found I was spending too much time on my phone.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14And you have to have the will power to say it is not the first thing I
0:13:14 > 0:13:19will look at in the morning. It is a fairly tale land, this is the real
0:13:19 > 0:13:25world. What is in the palm of your hand is a fairy tale version.It
0:13:25 > 0:13:31takes a lot for a teenager think that when everybody else is looking
0:13:31 > 0:13:36at their phone.There is a thing about tough love, I don't think it
0:13:36 > 0:13:46is tough love, it is authentic care. I want to keep my child safe and Pow
0:13:46 > 0:13:49understand the power and what it can be used for in the good and to
0:13:49 > 0:13:55understand when it is time to put it away, I as a adult will make that
0:13:55 > 0:14:04decision if I have to.Do you allow your daughter secrets on line, you
0:14:04 > 0:14:12don't read her texts?No, not now. When she was younger I was there
0:14:12 > 0:14:18when she signed up to Facebook and giter and looked to see what she was
0:14:18 > 0:14:24doing. She fined up at 1.She is not allowed at 11.The rule is 13. But
0:14:24 > 0:14:30they're all doing it at 11. I made a decision, maybe I may...You let her
0:14:30 > 0:14:41lie online?Yes I did. I hold my hands up.What does that teach her?
0:14:41 > 0:14:47Why are they different ages?This is the thing. The social network
0:14:47 > 0:14:51companies need to get together and they need to monitor this. It isn't
0:14:51 > 0:14:55being monitored. Kids will do what they want at whatever age. You are
0:14:55 > 0:14:59right, it starts at secondary school, that's when the problems
0:14:59 > 0:15:01start. If you go to secondary school, you don't have a mobile
0:15:01 > 0:15:06phone, you are not on social media, you are really left out.It must
0:15:06 > 0:15:10come back to the schools, as much as it comes to the parents. If the
0:15:10 > 0:15:14parents try to impose something on their child that none of the other
0:15:14 > 0:15:20are doing.What impact can I have? I cannot tell parents that, I can
0:15:20 > 0:15:24encourage, but I can't do it.At least the hours you have them at
0:15:24 > 0:15:29school, you can say put the phones away.That is what we say. From my
0:15:29 > 0:15:35point of view, if a child is doing a science experiment, they can put it
0:15:35 > 0:15:41on their phone, and use it later, that is worthwhile. I used to like
0:15:41 > 0:15:48the blackberry phones, because they used to flash a red light in their
0:15:48 > 0:15:51pockets. IPhones, we say in your bag, unless we give them permission
0:15:51 > 0:15:58to have it out. A parent who gives a phone to their child without
0:15:58 > 0:16:01boundaries, they have reneged on their responsibilities.We will
0:16:01 > 0:16:02leave it there. Thank you.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05You've heard of bitcoin, and its ability to apparently
0:16:05 > 0:16:05create money from nothing.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And hundreds of billions of dollars of money at that.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11But you may have missed just how wacky the world of crypto currencies
0:16:11 > 0:16:12has become in recent weeks.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15There are over a thousand of them now - and more
0:16:15 > 0:16:16are being created all the time.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17It's a classic gold rush.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20But even more weird has been the way ordinary companies have jumped
0:16:20 > 0:16:22on the bandwagon with some spectacular market results.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24One American iced tea maker, for example, changed
0:16:24 > 0:16:27its name in December from Long Island Iced Tea Corp,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29to Long Blockchain Corp - blockchain being the technology that
0:16:29 > 0:16:31powers bitcoin and other digital currencies.
0:16:31 > 0:16:32The share price tripled.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Not surprisingly, regulators are worried and many think this
0:16:34 > 0:16:37is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the dot com bubble.
0:16:37 > 0:16:47Our technology editor David Grossman explains what has been going on.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56A rose by any other name, of course, but in the corporate world names
0:16:56 > 0:17:03matter. The promising start-up backrub that managed to conquer the
0:17:03 > 0:17:07world would not have done had it not changed its name to Google. Wood
0:17:07 > 0:17:12blue ribbon sports have made such a swoosh if it hadn't become Nikkei?
0:17:12 > 0:17:20-- if it hasn't become Nike. We have had the words biotech and nano
0:17:20 > 0:17:27putting companies -- are giving companies a good share price. Now,
0:17:27 > 0:17:35the word is blockchain.If people stick blockchain in their company
0:17:35 > 0:17:39name, people will think, we will go with them, because I will see a good
0:17:39 > 0:17:48return. You are seeing that a lot. Anything with bitcoin is doing well.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Blockchain Might be able to do similar, so people will want some.
0:17:52 > 0:18:00It's the technology that underpins currencies like bitcoin. It allows
0:18:00 > 0:18:03every currency to verify every transaction. It means you can do
0:18:03 > 0:18:09away with a central register which is vulnerable to hacking.Blockchain
0:18:09 > 0:18:16Is opening up a way to do finance which is more transparent, cheaper,
0:18:16 > 0:18:20faster, and it gives us the ability to cut out a lot of the middlemen
0:18:20 > 0:18:25and automated processes, whilst still keeping the same level or an
0:18:25 > 0:18:27improved level of security. But it'll take time. We still have a
0:18:27 > 0:18:32long way to go. We need to battle test the technology. There will be
0:18:32 > 0:18:37ups and downs along the way. From a starting point, it's a really good
0:18:37 > 0:18:43start.Our company simply cashing in on the name? Take, for example,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47online plc, an Essex -based company that plodded along with a share
0:18:47 > 0:18:51price so that you could hang washing on it. Until late October when it
0:18:51 > 0:18:58changed its name to online blockchain plc, the 400% share price
0:18:58 > 0:19:02rise immediately. The name change simply reflected the reality of what
0:19:02 > 0:19:07the company was now doing, according to its owner.Clearly changed our
0:19:07 > 0:19:10name once in a generation. But it was a big change. It's had a big
0:19:10 > 0:19:18effect. We could have carried on with online and not change the name
0:19:18 > 0:19:22and nobody would know for another six, nine months, that would be a
0:19:22 > 0:19:27distortion of the facts. It's important with names that you tell
0:19:27 > 0:19:31people what you are doing and that you transmit your message. It's all
0:19:31 > 0:19:33well and good being called something obscure, but it's hard to get your
0:19:33 > 0:19:39message across.In some cases, though, in the early stages of a new
0:19:39 > 0:19:42technology it isn't always possible to say which companies claims are
0:19:42 > 0:19:48real and which mere illusion. Investors have to be very careful.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52There is a lot of good projects out there and equally there are a lot of
0:19:52 > 0:19:58projects that have understood that by just using the buzzword
0:19:58 > 0:20:02blockchain you can attract a lot of investors and money. Homework is
0:20:02 > 0:20:06required. A lot of self education, self teaching, is required before
0:20:06 > 0:20:13putting any money to these products. As the super investor Warren Buffett
0:20:13 > 0:20:15sagely remarked, only when the tide goes out to you discover who has
0:20:15 > 0:20:23been swimming naked. The blockchain tide is still rising and come who
0:20:23 > 0:20:28knows, it might do for decades, or it might drain on the Santa Maria
0:20:28 > 0:20:30exposing, well, who knows what?
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Well, at least in the time of tulipmania, there were actual
0:20:33 > 0:20:35tulips at the end of it all, and people understood
0:20:35 > 0:20:36what they could do.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Let's talk to Professor Peter Ayton who is a psychologist specialising
0:20:39 > 0:20:43in behavioural economics.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Would you buy shares into a company that changed its name, and changed
0:20:47 > 0:20:54its focus to dabbling in crypto currencies?Possibly. I'm a human
0:20:54 > 0:20:57like everybody else. I don't suppose my baby would be that discrepant
0:20:57 > 0:21:04from what everybody else might think.To me it looks crazy. -- I
0:21:04 > 0:21:08don't suppose my behaviour. What would motivate people to go into
0:21:08 > 0:21:14this? Has agreed taking over? There were some psychology, isn't there?
0:21:14 > 0:21:22-- has agreed.There is a behaviour which is anonymous with respect to
0:21:22 > 0:21:24what economists think ought to be happening. That shouldn't be a
0:21:24 > 0:21:31surprise. We have had another Nobel Prize for a behavioural economist
0:21:31 > 0:21:39this year. What we observe happening is no surprise to me.Is it almost
0:21:39 > 0:21:43hormonal, biological, you can put people's brains into MRIs and see
0:21:43 > 0:21:48what they are thinking when they make these choices?This is the
0:21:48 > 0:21:52field of new economics. The existence of such a field would be a
0:21:52 > 0:21:55science fiction 20 years ago. But now it is providing us with all
0:21:55 > 0:22:00sorts of insight into the way the brain does things, which then have
0:22:00 > 0:22:05ramifications. It is slightly curious to me that we have this,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09sort of common interest in phenomena, which, sort of, looks
0:22:09 > 0:22:14psychological more than economic. Irrational exuberance is one of the
0:22:14 > 0:22:19hallmarks of the surprise that human beings have brains and emotions and
0:22:19 > 0:22:23all sorts of things, why shouldn't that reflect in economic behaviour?
0:22:23 > 0:22:29Looking at this, though, you've got people borrowing money to invest in
0:22:29 > 0:22:33these things. In the currencies themselves. And now presumably in
0:22:33 > 0:22:37some of the shares of companies dabbling in it. Probably doing that
0:22:37 > 0:22:45in the hope others will do that, so the prices will go on up. Isn't that
0:22:45 > 0:22:50just a bubble? An archetypal case of a bubble?The stock market is based
0:22:50 > 0:22:53on an audit assessment of what people think other people will
0:22:53 > 0:23:02think, other people will think it's worth, and so on. -- based on nth
0:23:02 > 0:23:08assessment. You are basing things on people's behaviour, rather than
0:23:08 > 0:23:12understanding asset value of a business.What is the asset value of
0:23:12 > 0:23:16a business that says, we made furniture, now we are going to do
0:23:16 > 0:23:24something involving a currency like bitcoin... How do you possibly think
0:23:24 > 0:23:27this company is going to be in a particularly good position to
0:23:27 > 0:23:33generate profit?I don't really understand exactly why the sort of
0:23:33 > 0:23:37thing happens. Neither does anybody else, for that matter. The idea that
0:23:37 > 0:23:40changing the name of something might make a difference is as old as the
0:23:40 > 0:23:48hills. We've seen that happened many times -- happen many times.You see
0:23:48 > 0:23:52more relaxed by this than perhaps even regulators are. They are
0:23:52 > 0:23:58obviously worried lots of people will lose quite a bit out of it, I
0:23:58 > 0:24:02think.I don't know how you can regulate for people to prevent them
0:24:02 > 0:24:06from speculating in a way they see fit. There is an market if you
0:24:06 > 0:24:11regulate that out of existence.And people losing money. The advice is
0:24:11 > 0:24:15not to invest into it if you cannot afford to do that if you lose.I
0:24:15 > 0:24:21don't know how much the investment is discretionary. I don't know, I
0:24:21 > 0:24:28would be astonished if everybody backed their hat on it -- on
0:24:28 > 0:24:35bitcoin, for example.Thanks Ray much.
0:24:39 > 0:24:40-- thank you very much.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Viewsnight has no aspirations to add blockchain or any other
0:24:42 > 0:24:44cryptocurrency terms to its title.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47It is is of course our opinion slot, and this week we are getting views
0:24:47 > 0:24:49on big issues that face us in 2018.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Now on Brexit, among fervent remainers, there is a big
0:24:52 > 0:24:55debate going on right now as to whether it is right to aim
0:24:55 > 0:24:57at reversing Brexit, or whether that is anti-democratic.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59It's a lively argument, but tonight, Times columnist David Aaronovitch
0:24:59 > 0:25:04argues that Brexit voters may be in demographic decline.
0:25:04 > 0:25:13The Brexit generation is dying out. The other evening I was talking to a
0:25:13 > 0:25:15friend from Yorkshire about, you know what.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Should we be grateful to the members of political parties?
0:27:24 > 0:27:27They pay subscriptions that help keep the parties going, they trudge
0:27:27 > 0:27:30the streets trying to bring politics to your doorstep, they go to
0:27:30 > 0:27:31meetings to help shape party policy.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33And however much you may dislike politicians,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36you at least have to recognise that democracy requires functioning
0:27:36 > 0:27:39parties, even if it is only to give you something to complain about.
0:27:39 > 0:27:45So, yes, we should be grateful to the activists.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48But at the same time there is a problem - they now
0:27:48 > 0:27:51have the power to pick a Prime Minister and yet they are not
0:27:51 > 0:27:53altogether representative of the population at large.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56And we can say that now because of a big survey of party
0:27:56 > 0:27:58members, carried out by the Mile End Institute attached
0:27:58 > 0:28:08to Queen Mary University of London.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12And on and on TV coverage of the party conferences. Maybe you can
0:28:12 > 0:28:17tell they are not typical. The average age of conservatives is 57.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22The population at large is younger, average age 40. Labour is more
0:28:22 > 0:28:26surprising. You might have seen images of lots of young Jeremy
0:28:26 > 0:28:30Corbyn supporters, but the party's membership actually has an average
0:28:30 > 0:28:37age is not much different to the Tories, 53. But what about their
0:28:37 > 0:28:41views? Labour and Tories are poles apart, they imported the divisions
0:28:41 > 0:28:45within the country. On same-sex marriage, for example, conservatives
0:28:45 > 0:28:52are only 41% in favour, labour, 85%. The public are in the middle at
0:28:52 > 0:28:57about 66%. On the death penalty, most Tory members think it is the
0:28:57 > 0:29:01most appropriate sentence for some crimes, and fewer than a tenth of
0:29:01 > 0:29:06Labour voters do. National polls put public support for the reinstatement
0:29:06 > 0:29:11of the death penalty at between 36 and 49%, depending on how you ask
0:29:11 > 0:29:16the question. Then there is Brexit. Should Britain stay in the single
0:29:16 > 0:29:21market, for example, a quarter of conservatives want to, the vast bulk
0:29:21 > 0:29:26of Labour members want to. As for the public at large, polls vary, as
0:29:26 > 0:29:28do the questions, but generally support for the single market is
0:29:28 > 0:29:34nearer 50%. You would expect activists to be unrepresentative,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38particularly as there are so many fewer of them as they used to be.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42The Tories boasted of having over 2 million members in the 50s, now it
0:29:42 > 0:29:47is maybe fewer than 150,000, but they don't publish figures any more.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50But that's select group has the potential power to select a Prime
0:29:50 > 0:29:55Minister. In 2016, when David Cameron resigned, Tory members came
0:29:55 > 0:29:59close to having a say between Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom over
0:29:59 > 0:30:03who would lead the country. It would have been the first time party
0:30:03 > 0:30:08members had chosen a PM and on the evidence of the poll Tory members
0:30:08 > 0:30:11would have been closer to Andrea Leadsom. She, of course, dropped out
0:30:11 > 0:30:12of the race before they had a
0:30:15 > 0:30:25But the country is already divide and politics need to involve the
0:30:25 > 0:30:30process ofarbitration between values and should power be in the group who
0:30:30 > 0:30:38tend to have opinions at the extreme ends of spectrum. When I said there
0:30:38 > 0:30:44was 150,000 fewer Tories, some say it half that number, but they don't
0:30:44 > 0:30:46publish the figure.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Ustin Fisher is Professor of Political Science
0:30:48 > 0:30:49at Brunel University London.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Cherry Mosteshar is co-chair of Momentum in Oxford.
0:30:51 > 0:30:57Chloe Ahmed is a member of the Conservative party.
0:30:57 > 0:31:06Why do you do it?I ask that myself on a very cold January evening when
0:31:06 > 0:31:09I'm standing at someone's door trying to persuade them to vote
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Labour and all they want is why Jeremy Corbyn wears a certain kind
0:31:13 > 0:31:19of shoe. It does get soul-destroying sometimes. But I believe that if you
0:31:19 > 0:31:24want a certain sort of world and you have a vision of how it can achieve
0:31:24 > 0:31:30that, you have to go out there and try and at least talk to people and
0:31:30 > 0:31:35tell them why you think they would be better off.What about you Chloe,
0:31:35 > 0:31:38do you, hope that you will influence the Conservative Party in some way
0:31:38 > 0:31:43as an individual?That and you have to be, to change anything you have
0:31:43 > 0:31:47to be part of it. You can't expect your future to be a certain way if
0:31:47 > 0:31:50you don't put anything into it. You can't sit back and say this will
0:31:50 > 0:31:58happen.It is civic duty.Yes, you can't expect anything to happen if
0:31:58 > 0:32:02you don't put anything in.You are half the age of Conservative
0:32:02 > 0:32:06Parties, you must be the youngest person in the room by a mile.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11Everybody says that, but no, there is lots of young Conservative
0:32:11 > 0:32:16groups, we have a great young Conservative movement and we go to
0:32:16 > 0:32:21lots of socials and meetings and I'm not the only person.You're the
0:32:21 > 0:32:25liberal end, the younger demographic, political views as
0:32:25 > 0:32:28well, you support Theresa May in favour of same sex marriage.Yes
0:32:28 > 0:32:35definitely.I go to meetings and I'm the oldest one. How did that happen.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38We have shown this young activist Labour Party, your members are the
0:32:38 > 0:32:46same age as the Conservative Parties. 53 to 57.There is a big
0:32:46 > 0:32:49influx of new, young members and they have more energy than activists
0:32:49 > 0:32:55have had. I have been doing this for... 40 years and I have never
0:32:55 > 0:32:59seen so many people that are going we are going out are you coming?
0:32:59 > 0:33:07Labour do have half a million members.It is incredible.Now
0:33:07 > 0:33:13professor Fisher, is it an issue that these people have too much pow
0:33:13 > 0:33:23sner-- power? If it is an issue, it has always been an issue and at the
0:33:23 > 0:33:29start of 20th century people asked if it was right that lead we are
0:33:29 > 0:33:40accountable to the members. Labour kept the unions, because they were
0:33:40 > 0:33:45scared of people being too radical. Before it was a balancing act
0:33:45 > 0:33:49between voters, the leader and the activists, what we see in Labour is
0:33:49 > 0:33:54the leadership and the activists, at least the momentum being more
0:33:54 > 0:34:01aligned than usual. As we have seen in this data, the voters are nor
0:34:01 > 0:34:07centrist.I'm not a separate group. I organise under a banner calmed
0:34:07 > 0:34:15momentum -- called momentum, it was the campaign to elect Jeremy Corbyn.
0:34:15 > 0:34:22It is to preserve his legacy. You're a Labour Party member No 1.Did you
0:34:22 > 0:34:30campaign for Blair?I did, but those were my salad days.Is it the case
0:34:30 > 0:34:36that parties, this is the crucial question, parties have that have
0:34:36 > 0:34:41more members have become more alienated from the voters.That has
0:34:41 > 0:34:48tended to the care, particularly with more left of centre. That is
0:34:48 > 0:34:51largely because right of centre parties have been able to command
0:34:51 > 0:34:56things like finance from outside sources. Left of centre parties tend
0:34:56 > 0:35:00to be less well served financially. Labour has had the unions in the
0:35:00 > 0:35:05past. But you know now we see that the Conservative Parties are more a
0:35:05 > 0:35:09wealthy party. It is a balancing act. You have got to give the
0:35:09 > 0:35:13members something back. But sometimes democratic participation
0:35:13 > 0:35:17can be unpredictable.What do you think of momentum, do you think of
0:35:17 > 0:35:21momentum as a great democratic force, you obviously don't adegree
0:35:21 > 0:35:26with them. - agree with them. Do you see it as a good thing.I to engage
0:35:26 > 0:35:31people, yes. It is a good thing for every political party to be able to
0:35:31 > 0:35:42engage with the general public. But what momentum has become, do I agree
0:35:42 > 0:35:50with it no, it has become a platform for people to abuse.There is no
0:35:50 > 0:35:58such thing as momentum as, we're a disparate group. We are leaderless.
0:35:58 > 0:36:06I there is no one to answer to.What I want to ask, would you consider it
0:36:06 > 0:36:17democratic in 2016 if Tory member had picked Andrea Leadsom as leader.
0:36:17 > 0:36:24Does that feel to you democratic?We haveWe have to look at the whole
0:36:24 > 0:36:32system.You believe in members.I believe that members and specially
0:36:32 > 0:36:36ly now with the growing members of Labour Party.Would you be happy
0:36:36 > 0:36:39with Tory members picking a Prime Minister. Of course you're happy
0:36:39 > 0:36:44with Labour members picking a Prime Minister, what about Tory members.
0:36:44 > 0:36:50That is democracy. It is like saying, yes, I would like to choose,
0:36:50 > 0:36:57but we weren't going out of Europe. But I can't.Why not, when Blair
0:36:57 > 0:37:02resigned, as leader, the Labour members had the opportunity to elect
0:37:02 > 0:37:06a new leader. It was the same one member election that we had in the
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Conservative Party. But it is no different if it is the Conservative
0:37:08 > 0:37:14Party or the Labour Party.The members, the MPs, are accountable to
0:37:14 > 0:37:22their voters. And so you used to be, until recently that the MPs chose
0:37:22 > 0:37:26the leader a the Prime Minister and now the MPs might be foisted upon
0:37:26 > 0:37:32them somebody they don't want as leader.That is always a danger. We
0:37:32 > 0:37:37saw that with the Conservative Party when Iain Duncan Smith was elected.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40What you have to remember is the parties have to give members
0:37:40 > 0:37:46something to keep them involved. Cherry and Chloe do all the
0:37:46 > 0:37:50wonderful things that party members do, campaigning and so on, but what
0:37:50 > 0:37:54is the incentive for someone to get involved if they don't get a say? It
0:37:54 > 0:38:02is a real balancing act for parties. It is extending it. You know having
0:38:02 > 0:38:05members choose the leadership, whatever party is more democratic.
0:38:05 > 0:38:11It is about...Better than the MPs. Yes, because they're a small group
0:38:11 > 0:38:17and they can be, deals can be stitched up, they think about their
0:38:17 > 0:38:21promotions.They're accountable to the voters in t way that the
0:38:21 > 0:38:26activists aren't.If you're asking members, we are members of
0:38:26 > 0:38:31Conservative Party, but anybody can be a member of a political party.
0:38:31 > 0:38:38Anyone can join.This argument has been raging since 1902. So we won't
0:38:38 > 0:38:42resolve it now.We are trying to make politics that reflects the
0:38:42 > 0:38:50people.Thank you all very much. A very quick time to look at the
0:38:50 > 0:38:56papers, the financial times companies want to replace hard ware.
0:38:56 > 0:39:03The Times question President Trump's mental health. The Guardian, Theresa
0:39:03 > 0:39:08May says sorry to patients and The Express give foreign aid crash to
0:39:08 > 0:39:15NHS.
0:39:15 > 0:39:16Well, that is it for this evening.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19But Glasgow film festival announced today it will open with the UK
0:39:19 > 0:39:22premiere of Wes Anderson's new film - an animated feature
0:39:22 > 0:39:23called "isle of dogs".
0:39:23 > 0:39:24Anderson is famous for his hyper-stylised
0:39:24 > 0:39:25and symmetrical aesthetic.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28You may have seen it in films like The Grand Budapest Hotel
0:39:28 > 0:39:29and The Royal Tenenbaums.
0:39:29 > 0:39:30Well sometimes life imitates art.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Wally Koval's instagram feed, "accidentally Wes Anderson" gathers
0:39:32 > 0:39:36some evidence for that.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Good night.
0:39:45 > 0:39:51MUSIC: Alone Again Or by Love.