01/02/2018 Newsnight


01/02/2018

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EDL founder Tommy Robinson's

writings were found

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in Osborne's possession -

we'll ask him if he bears any

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responsibility for the killing.

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And we'll ask

if we are witnessing

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a resurgence of the far right

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Also tonight, religion in schools,

Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman's

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comments have sparked

an angry debate.

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She is playing divide and rule

politics with different faiths.

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We'll talk to Ms Spielman

and discuss whether extremism has

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spun out of control in some areas.

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Also tonight - darts, Formula One.

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Will the boxing ring

girls be the next to go?

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We'll debate whether

women should fight

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for their right to bare arms

and legs and the rest.

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Good evening.

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Darren Osborne was convicted of

murder and attempted murder today,

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after deliberately driving a van

at a group of Muslim men

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near Finsbury Park mosque

in London last June,

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killing father-of-six Makram Ali

and injuring nine others.

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The CPS prosecuted the case

as a terrorist offence

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because Osborne's actions

were in order to advance

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a political purpose.

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Commander Dean Haydon,

head of Scotland Yard's

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counter-terrorism operation,

said the internet had played

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a significant role in in fuelling

Osborne's "hate-filled agenda".

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The trial heard that far-right

material online played a key part

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in his radicalisation and,

in the lead-up to the June

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attack, Osborne had searched online

for English Defence League founder

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Tommy Robinson, and Britain First's

Jayda Fransen and Paul Golding.

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I'll be talking to Robinson

in a moment or two, but first

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here is John Sweeney.

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The final murder of the summer had

echoes of the other attacks. A

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killer radicalised online. A vehicle

marooned on pedestrians. And,

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driving it all, hate. This attack

was by a far right fanatic out to

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kill Muslims. -- vehicle knocked

down pedestrians. Darren Osborne

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appears to have found hate after

watching this, a BBC miniseries

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about systematic child abuse in

Rochdale. He went on-line searching

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for far right website and followed,

amongst others, Tommy Robinson,

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former leader of the English Defence

League. In this pub, the night

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before the attack, he wrote a note

condemning men hunt in packs preying

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on our children. The court heard

evidence he had become brainwashed.

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Darren Osborne, over four weeks in

the lead up to the attack, became,

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in my mind, radicalised. It started

with him watching a TV documentary

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drama in relation to six abuse in

Rochdale. That, we believe, was the

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catalyst for the start of his

radicalisation. -- sex abuse in

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Rochdale.

His plan was to kill the

Labour Party leader at a

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demonstration. The QC questioned,

were you hoping that you would have

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an opportunity to attack Jeremy

Corbyn and kill him?

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He could not get close to the

demonstration and drove around

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London until he found another

target. This is the moment of

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impact, when he drove into a crowd

near the Finsbury Park mosque.

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Darren Osborne has been convicted of

murder and attempted murder. Nine

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people were injured in the attack.

Seven months on it is worth noting

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one other commonality between the

fanatics of so-called Islamic State

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and the far right, in their goal of

turning Britain apart they have

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failed. -- caring Britain apart.

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As you heard there, police have

commented on the speed

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at which Osborne was radicalised.

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The court heard he had been seeking

out far-right material online

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in the weeks before he carried

out his attack.

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Among the material he read and saved

were tweets from the man

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known as Tommy Robinson -

the former leader of

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the English Defence League.

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I spoke to Robinson

earlier and I asked him

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if he accepted any responsibility

for the radicalisation

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of Darren Osborne.

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No, of course I don't. I'm insulted

you asking me that. What I cannot

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understand is the narrative in the

media this week, every headline has

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a picture of me. I did not know this

man, I don't know this man, I did

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not direct message him, which is a

lie that has been put out on social

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media.

Not the BBC.

Yes, on the BBC.

All of the media said I said Tim

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direct messages on Twitter. That is

a lie. -- sent him direct messages.

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I work for a media company in

Canada. The problem I have is that

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when we are talking about what has

radicalised this man, we had 512

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people injured and children blown to

pieces. 48 injured, nine murdered.

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49 injured and eight people

murdered. We had all of this in a

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five-week barrier. You'd think what

everybody is trying to do is to make

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it to the Mac that he was invited to

a silent march.

There is evidence he

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was looking you up a lot on the

Internet. -- make it down to the

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fact he was. You tweeted, where was

the day of rage after terrorist

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attacks, all I saw was lighted

candles. Emerson bombed our kids, we

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were told not to look back in anger.

-- a Muslim bombed.

Will you put a

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screen shot of that? You have taken

it out of context. After Grenfell

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Tower happened far left

organisations had a day of rage

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planned. They had leaflets for it.

You have that leaflet. But you have

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purposely left it out of it and you

are making it sound like I said

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that. I was showing the hypocrisy in

this country. Would you have done is

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misrepresent the truth of the tweet.

On purpose.

When a Muslim bombed our

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kids we were told not to look back

in anger, what was the purpose of

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that? That was on the dashboard of

Darren Osborne's van when he

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attacked.

He wrote the reasons why

he done this. Why aren't we talking

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about that? I'll tell you why.

He

obsessively look you up online. That

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is all I am saying.

He wrote

terrorists marched through our

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country today. There was a march.

You are the BBC News. You didn't

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report on that March.

Do you accept

there is a lot of hate speech about

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Chris you didn't report

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Do you take any responsibility for

that being hate speech?

Do you think

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it is?

I'm asking you.

You have

Muslims in this country calling for

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the death of homosexuals. That is

hate speech. Me saying don't look

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back in anger is not hate speech.

Why do you think that he obsessively

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looked for you online? It is the

case that you were presenting in a

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way that encouraged him to take

action against people.

Absolutely

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unbelievable you are saying that. 49

million people watched that video.

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The reason why people were searching

for me is because I give them the

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truth. Unlike you.

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truth. Unlike you.

Fact is, after he

attacked outside Finsbury Mosque. He

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wrote a letter. In that letter he

quoted your tweet.

No he didn't.

It

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was heard in court.

For your

viewers, read what he said. He

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quoted Sadiq Khan. He is a part and

parcel of living in a big city. He

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quoted Jeremy Corbyn.

He quoted you

in his letter.

No, he didn't.

We

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were told not to look back in anger.

He said don't look back in anger.

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The front page of the sun newspaper,

after the Manchester attack, was

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don't look back in anger. He quoted

a national newspaper.

Do you deny he

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quoted you in anyway?

He didn't

quote me. Why are you not looking at

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the reasons. Why are you not looking

at the fact we have three massive

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terrorist attacks.

That is not what

this is about.

This is the reason

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why he has done it.

It is about the

rise of far right mainstream.

This

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is unbelievable.

He was radicalised

in four weeks.

I'm embarrassed for

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the BBC. We have three terrorist

attacks in quick succession. Rather

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than talking about those and why he

reacted he told you why he reacted,

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you want to put it on the fact that

I report the truth.

Terrorist

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attacks are appalling.

You do not

think they are anything to do with

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the reason why he done this? You

think it is because I said don't

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look back in anger?

I'm asking,

there are contributing factors, he

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was radicalised online.

His wife

said...

The police said that he

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obsessively looked at your, looked

for you online and quoted your

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tweets. That's a fact.

His wife said

he was radicalised after that BBC

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documentary. Why don't you sit the

producer of that documentary down

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and ask if he feels responsible? You

don't.

Is what Darren Osborne did

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appalling and reprehensible?

Of

course, what sort of silly question

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is that? He has knocked down in the

street. It also would the BBC is BBC

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is doing is disgusting and

irresponsible as a media outlet.

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Thanks very much.

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Joining me now is Fiyaz Mughal,

who founded Measuring

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Anti-Muslim Attacks -

a group which monitors anti-muslim

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activity and supports

those affected by it.

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Good evening. Do you think there is

growing concern about aggression on

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the far right?

Absolutely. Over the

last five years my group has been

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clearly making the case that there

has been an enormous amount of

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anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Muslim

material being pumped out by groups

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and individuals, which has been on

the online space and easy to find.

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Much of this rhetoric, the issue of

calling Muslims generally

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paedophiles, people who prey on

women, this generalisation, creates

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mindsets which sadly we have seen

today to kill in our streets.

When

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these are put up online. And clearly

offensive. How quickly can you get

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them down?

We cannot get them down.

We've been having these discussions

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with social media outlets for six

years. There is a lazy approach by

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these agencies to remove materials.

They say free speech means counter

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speech will flood out the negative

messages. They give this grandiose

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view which is unrealistic.

There

is... If you want to call it on both

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sides of this divide, and it's a

horrible thing to say, but it isn't

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all one-way traffic.

It isn't. Tommy

Robinson is a result of anti-Muslim

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extremism. He promotes division in

this country. He has the gall to sit

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here and says he has nothing to do

with issues is a problem.

Where do

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you see it? On the online space,

posters, do you hear it on the

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streets? Where do you think it is

most pervasive?

In the online space.

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Less so on the streets. The EDL's

back has been broken. That was

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evident in 2012 when they fractured

and fragmented 2013. The online

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space is toxic. Social media

companies are not providing

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resources for counter speech. And

they are not listening. If they do

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not take off material that is

causing fractures in our community

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then there needs to be some redress

and measure to make them change

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their macro behaviour.

Given that

you say it has been six years since

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you have been trying to have some

degree of responsibility with online

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providers. -- change their

behaviour. What else can you do to

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alter the atmosphere?

To alter it we

need positive messaging. We need

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good role models. We need positive

images of Muslims playing a positive

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role in our country consistently. We

need fewer voices and less oxygen

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given to people like Robinson and

his ilk who pour out of these

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messages and take no responsibility

for the fractures and divisions they

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cause.

Those fractions and deep --

fractures and deep divisions, you

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get them from all sectors of

society. How do you count it from

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not just the far right, but the far

left, and different religious

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extremists?

Lots of work has been

done on the Islamist side. We tackle

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this issue daily. What we are saying

is that what people like Robinson

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and the fractures he creates.

Thanks

very much indeed.

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Theresa May met China's President Xi

today on the latest

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stage of her trip.

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Certain corners of the UK were

celebrating after the Prime Minister

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used the trip to secure the Scotch

whisky trademark for another decade.

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But away from trade,

it's been a week of politics

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dominated by Brexit.

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Today, battle lines were drawn

between London and Brussels

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when Mrs May announced she would be

tough on migrants entering Britain

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during the transition period.

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But, tonight, the battle was closer

to home, as a row exploded

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with her government.

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Our political editor

Nick Watt is here.

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Yet another round.

Interestingly a

story in the EFTA saying Theresa

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May's advisers are looking into

whether the UK could work up a

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customs deal with the European Union

that would cover goods -- financial

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Times. Downing Street saying this is

not going on. I spoke to a Brexit

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Minister, Brexit leading minister

who said if you do that it is not a

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coherent trade policy because you

could not sign your own trade deals

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and this plays into the row about

the customs union and the fear among

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Brexiteers that civil servants are

skewing evidence and reports to walk

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ministers towards one conclusion

which is we have to stay in the

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customs union. Brexit Minister Steve

Baker appeared in the Commons to

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give some support to that view and

around the time he was speaking, Sir

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Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet

Secretary, popped up on Twitter and

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looks like he was responding to

something Steve Baker said when he

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said civil servants are always

wrong. He said...

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Steve Baker apologised this evening

for his comments in the House of

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Commons today and indicated he had

sort of misquoted Charles Grant, the

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director of the Centre For European

Reform who he said had given the

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impression civil servants were

skewing things in the direction of

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the customs union.

This is what we

think is going on but what else is

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happening behind the scenes?

There

is real concern among Brexit

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backbenchers and leaning ministers

that that leaked a BuzzFeed that

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says UK civil servants as every

option in Brexit makes us poor, they

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have two fears, one Eurosceptic Tory

said the civil service out of

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control and doing their own thing or

has Theresa May given the authority

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to do this and not telling anyone,

and this is what the Eurosceptic

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Tory said, if this is what the Prime

Minister is doing, this is how you

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kick off a civil war in one easy

step.

Thanks.

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Today, Ofsted's Chief Inspector

threw her full weight behind

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the head teacher of a predominantly

Muslim state primary school

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in London who banned the hijab

for girls under the age of eight -

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a move that resulted

in the resignation of the chair

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of governors who had originally

supported the ban.

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Today in a speech at a Church

of England conference,

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Amanda Spielman said that schools

had to pursue "muscular liberalism,"

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and that inspectors

are increasingly brought

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into contact with those

who want to actively pervert

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the purpose of education.

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Strong words - but strong words too

from the Muslim Council

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of Great Britain who called the ban

"appalling" and discriminatory.

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Here's our political

editor Nick Watt.

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It is one of the great European

debates. Just where should religion

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and fit in our public spaces? The

secular state of France has a simple

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view. No religious symbols in any

area associated with the state.

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Across the channel and on the other

side of the spectrum Britain has

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traditionally allowed religion a

place at the heart of its public

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sphere, generally on its terms.

Close to one of England's grandest

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cathedral is the Chief Inspector of

Schools declared neither view is

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right today. Amanda Spielman hailed

the role of faith schools at a

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tolerant society but told her

audience in London that those values

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of respect and tolerance cannot be

used to place all belief beyond

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criticism.

Ofsted inspectors are

increasingly brought into contact

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with those who want to actively

perverts the purpose of education

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under the pretext of religious

belief they use education

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institutions to narrow young

people'shorizons, and in the worst

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cases to indoctrinate impressionable

minds with extremist ideology.

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She added... The chief Inspector's

mornings were mainly aimed at

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Islamic extremists although she has

concerns about intolerance in other

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faiths. In her mind she believes it

is important to tackle extremist

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ideology as well as extremist

violence. She has some sympathy for

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Michael Gove's phrase about the

importance of draining the swamp and

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not just beating back the crocodiles

that come close to the boat. The

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former Education Secretary was

speaking in 2014 at the height of a

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dispute with the Home Office in the

wake of the so-called Trojan horse

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row about extremism in Birmingham

schools. Today Amanda Spielman

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praised a London headteacher who try

to stop young girls from wearing the

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hijab and she spoke of reticence

among some church schools to

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challenge fundamentalist practices,

as she cited a Tower Hamlets school

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that lost its outstanding rating in

2014 after failing to respond

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adequately to warnings about

extremism.

It means by making sure

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being anxious to do the right thing

we do not do the wrong thing. We

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have to make sure we have tolerance

and respect for all faiths in

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schools but we can accidentally go

so far we find ourselves bringing

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community tensions into schools.

She

is recklessly playing divide and

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rule politics with different faiths.

There are big questions. Also, it is

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not just the divide and rule but the

singling out and demonisation of

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Muslim communities that most of

third sector organisations are

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uncomfortable with.

Younger children

of all faiths and none will be

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skipping, walking or dragging their

feet to school in the morning.

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Little do they know they lie at the

heart of a passionate debate about

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the values of their country.

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Amanda Speilman is with me now.

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Can I quote something from your

speech today, you said Ofsted

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inspectors of increasingly brought

into contact with those who actively

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perverts the purpose of education.

What do you mean? There are schools

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in the state sector and independent

schools, where we find

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unsatisfactory things being taught.

I have talked before about the kinds

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of books, not just in libraries but

being taught from, encouraging

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husbands to beat their wives. Those

things are simply not compatible.

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They are presumably a minority of

schools? Quite a small minority but

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we are also coming across evidence

there are tensions in communities,

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often between different parts of the

same

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same faith, for example, tensions

between those Muslims who like very

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young girls to wear their hijab and

those who do not and we see the

0:22:290:22:33

tensions imported into schools so

part of our responsibility is to

0:22:330:22:37

make sure all children have the

right educational experience.

You

0:22:370:22:42

make it clear we are not just

talking about the Muslim faith but

0:22:420:22:47

unfortunately, are there more issues

there than for example in Anglican

0:22:470:22:52

schools, civic schools?

It is very

hard, I do not have numbers but we

0:22:520:23:01

see it in schools of all faiths.

There are fantastic schools of every

0:23:010:23:06

faith and no face and there are

schools that cause concern in every

0:23:060:23:10

quarter.

We can turn to the primary

school in new in east London. You

0:23:100:23:16

talk about what is happening and the

response to the hijab ban as a

0:23:160:23:23

matter of regret and what you said

in your speech today was this school

0:23:230:23:29

introduced a ban on young girls

under eight wearing the hijab and

0:23:290:23:34

you strongly supported the

headteacher in her freedom to do

0:23:340:23:37

that.

This is the kind of thing I

was warning about last year, which

0:23:370:23:44

got attention at the time. It was

represented as being Islamophobic

0:23:440:23:50

but it is not. This is concern about

bringing adult pressures and

0:23:500:23:55

disagreements to bear on young

children in primary schools.

I'm

0:23:550:23:59

interested because this new primary

School is outstanding academically

0:23:590:24:04

and presuming it had an outstanding

report before you brought inspectors

0:24:040:24:10

in yesterday and has achieved a lot.

If that is the case, why do you

0:24:100:24:15

think you have to step in and say

what this teacher is doing is

0:24:150:24:19

correct if the school is thriving?

We look not just at educational

0:24:190:24:24

outcome, we have to look at the

personal development and welfare of

0:24:240:24:27

children and if we see things that

suggest any kind of bullying, that

0:24:270:24:33

is what inspectors look at. They

talk to children and get a sense of

0:24:330:24:39

whether the culture, pressures in

the school are as they should be.

I

0:24:390:24:42

suppose you could say that if you

have said in a major speech you back

0:24:420:24:48

the teacher because wearing the

hijab for

0:24:480:24:55

hijab for under eightis wrong for

the school, is this something you

0:24:550:24:59

think you could say wearing the

hijab after puberty is right. I

0:24:590:25:05

think I support the idea that no

child under eight should wear the

0:25:050:25:09

hijab, or is it simply this school?

The point is that the headteacher

0:25:090:25:15

made a decision. On what basis? On

the basis it is the responsibility

0:25:150:25:21

of the head to set uniform policy.

What was her reason for not allowing

0:25:210:25:26

kids under eight to wear the hijab?

That is before puberty and there is

0:25:260:25:34

no religious requirement, it is a

cultural preference.

So that school

0:25:340:25:41

is one thing, and another another

thing. Taking a position on this,

0:25:410:25:48

are you stepping into an area where

actually you would rather was

0:25:480:25:53

devolved to headteachers in the

first place?

This is our concern.

0:25:530:25:57

When we see a school is being

bullied. The school took the

0:25:570:26:02

decision some months ago. The policy

has been running for a while but

0:26:020:26:07

when it attracted media attention

great pressure was brought to bear,

0:26:070:26:12

not in the immediate community.

You

put inspectors in yesterday. I

0:26:120:26:16

wonder if the outcome could be

anti-theft local to a lot of Muslims

0:26:160:26:20

who would say we would rather we

have this policy. You could conflate

0:26:200:26:29

what could be seen as conservatism

with extremism.

On the contrary.

0:26:290:26:34

There are different issues. It is so

important that schools... Schools

0:26:340:26:46

have a responsibility to promote

cohesion in a diverse world. They

0:26:460:26:49

can never give every parent exactly

what they want but they have to take

0:26:490:26:53

sensible decisions for the benefit

of all children. I am concerned when

0:26:530:26:57

I see the schools losing authority

to take the right decisions.

We have

0:26:570:27:02

a new Education Secretary. I wonder

if you would like to see that

0:27:020:27:08

Education Secretary press ahead with

a revived grammar School programme

0:27:080:27:11

given it was in the Conservative

manifesto.

That is something that

0:27:110:27:15

was in the manifesto. It is not

something I have taken a position

0:27:150:27:19

on. My job is to inspect schools.

Do

you think the addition of grammar

0:27:190:27:25

schools would be valuable?

That is

not something I have expressed an

0:27:250:27:29

opinion on before and I'm not going

to now.

We can discuss this further.

0:27:290:27:34

I'm joined here in the studio

by Gita Sahgal, founder

0:27:340:27:42

of the center for Secular Space

and Sajid Gulzar -

0:27:420:27:44

chief executive and executive head

of Prince Albert Community Trust,

0:27:440:27:47

which currently runs three

schools in Birmingham.

0:27:470:27:49

Good evening. What message do you

think Amanda Spielman is giving by

0:27:490:28:02

backing new?

I think any school

needs to be free to set its own

0:28:020:28:06

uniform policy. There is no

requirement for Muslim girls of the

0:28:060:28:13

age of eight and below to wear the

hijab, but equally, I am not sure

0:28:130:28:19

how the banning of the hijab fits in

with the British value of mutual

0:28:190:28:23

respect and tolerance for all

faiths.

In your school, would girls

0:28:230:28:29

of any age be allowed to wear the

hijab, would anyone who wants to

0:28:290:28:35

wear something of a religious nature

a cross or what ever, be allowed to

0:28:350:28:41

wear ripped?

Within reason. We have

many Muslim girls who wear the hijab

0:28:410:28:45

and many who do not. In my almost 20

years in education I have not come

0:28:450:28:54

across any community tensions

between those who do or do not. We

0:28:540:28:57

have families where you might have

sisters who send their children to

0:28:570:29:02

the school, one wearing the hijab,

one not. It has never been a

0:29:020:29:07

problem.

Do you think mutual tolerance,

0:29:070:29:15

allowing people to wear what they

wish and when, is a good thing for

0:29:150:29:20

British society?

I think we are

confusing the issue of growing

0:29:200:29:27

fundamentalism with tolerance.

Amanda Spielman, when she gave the

0:29:270:29:31

speech in front of the Church of

England audience in considered

0:29:310:29:35

words, did suggest faith schools are

not talking to each other

0:29:350:29:40

necessarily, the church is not

sufficiently challenging

0:29:400:29:45

fundamentalists in their midst and

that the church is hindering the

0:29:450:29:49

registration of the inspection of

unregistered schools. So this

0:29:490:29:53

problem is wider than that of

Muslims. When we look at the issue

0:29:530:29:58

of tolerance, we cannot narrow it to

the issue of the hijab. I think the

0:29:580:30:03

promotion of the hijab, and this has

not just happened because of

0:30:030:30:08

individual choices, there has been a

policy led by the Muslim Council of

0:30:080:30:12

Britain to promote the hijab in

mainstream schools. Many schools

0:30:120:30:17

have adopted it as a policy when it

has been completely unrecognised in

0:30:170:30:22

traditional Muslim culture.

0:30:220:30:28

traditional Muslim culture.

Are you

talking about freedom to choose?

0:30:280:30:30

There is a freedom to choose, and

often within families girls dress

0:30:300:30:37

differently.

There may be a

difference in families. What we are

0:30:370:30:41

seeing in the promotion of very

young children, not only wearing the

0:30:410:30:46

hijab, but the promotion of fasting.

St school under fire, the school in

0:30:460:30:52

Newham, they had not banned fasting.

Children were fainting in school,

0:30:520:31:01

sometimes staff were, that is a

health and safety issue.

We don't

0:31:010:31:06

have any proof for that. -- the

school under fire, the school in

0:31:060:31:12

Newham.

I don't think he was lying

when he made that claim.

Are there

0:31:120:31:19

certain things within your school

that you say are not acceptable?

0:31:190:31:23

Would fasting be acceptable? Are

there other things that you say,

0:31:230:31:28

this is the curriculum, this is the

way I run my school, this is what I

0:31:280:31:32

do?

The point is one of dialogue and

working with the community you

0:31:320:31:37

serve, regardless of what faith

background, or cultural persuasion

0:31:370:31:44

that community is. We take a stance

on fasting. We strongly discourage

0:31:440:31:49

children to fast, particularly if it

is very long, which it has been in

0:31:490:31:54

recent years. We have asked the

imams to come in and discuss it with

0:31:540:32:03

the parents. When there is

discussion it is OK. The discussion

0:32:030:32:08

of the hijab, that is certainly

outside my experience of being a

0:32:080:32:12

head teacher responsible for several

schools in Birmingham. It is not

0:32:120:32:16

something I have come across in

Birmingham. I do not know of any

0:32:160:32:20

promotion of the hijab in that

respect at all.

The

0:32:200:32:33

respect at all.

The trust, the one

that was responsible for the mixed

0:32:330:32:37

sex school, it was a body that

actually wrote regulations for it.

0:32:370:32:51

It is only fair to put it to you.

What you say about that?

That's

0:32:510:33:00

right. I didn't catch your name. You

absolutely use your role as they

0:33:000:33:06

head to decide what is and isn't

acceptable. And to set boundaries.

0:33:060:33:10

You discourage fasting. That's your

responsibility as they head to make

0:33:100:33:18

those decisions.

Are the decisions

of head teachers being eroded?

That

0:33:180:33:23

is what we saw at Saint Stephens. A

policy which had been put in place

0:33:230:33:28

for some months. Not liked by all

parents but accepted. Outside groups

0:33:280:33:33

came in and put pressure on the

school to reverse the policy. They

0:33:330:33:36

were not part of the school

community.

Will you be on their

0:33:360:33:43

macro case? Are you going to follow

this through to get a good

0:33:430:33:48

atmosphere in the school? -- will

you be on their case?

All we can do

0:33:480:33:52

is report on what we find. That is

why we visited the school, so that

0:33:520:33:58

we can report.

Thanks very much

indeed.

0:33:580:34:00

Should young women be employed

in the service of a sport

0:34:000:34:03

to promote and enhance

the atmosphere around

0:34:030:34:05

certain sportsmen?

0:34:050:34:06

Until recently the answer was yes -

for Formula One and darts amongst

0:34:060:34:09

others.

0:34:090:34:12

But the mood has changed in light

of the me too campaign

0:34:120:34:15

and the Presidents Club.

0:34:150:34:16

Such is the furore around

yesterday's announcement that F1's

0:34:160:34:20

"grid girls" will go,

and this debate has gained currency

0:34:200:34:23

in a whole host of sports

and encompasses everything

0:34:230:34:25

from banner waving to

counting out the rounds

0:34:250:34:27

in boxing, to cheerleading.

0:34:270:34:29

So what next?

0:34:290:34:30

I'm joined in the studio

by former Formula 1

0:34:300:34:32

journalist Beverley Turner.

0:34:320:34:33

And in Glasgow by Victoria Obahor,

who works in the boxing

0:34:330:34:36

world as a "ring girl"

and is worried her job might

0:34:360:34:39

be under threat.

0:34:390:34:43

Good evening. Victoria, do you think

boxing is about to ban ring girls?

I

0:34:430:34:52

hope not. The opinions of people

saying it should be banned is

0:34:520:34:59

diabolical. It is absurd.

What do

you do as a ring girl?

I scored the

0:34:590:35:08

boxes into the ring. I tell the

audience what the next round is...

0:35:080:35:14

It is fun, it is part of the show,

exciting, glamorous. -- I escort the

0:35:140:35:21

boxs into the ring.

Do you think it

is part of the entertainment?

Yes.

0:35:210:35:27

This is somebody earning a living,

doing what she wants to do. Why do

0:35:270:35:33

you have such a problem with that?

It is not that I necessarily have a

0:35:330:35:38

problem with it. We must remember

that the girls in Formula 1 have not

0:35:380:35:42

been banned. The Formula 1

organisation has decided that that

0:35:420:35:46

image of women as the

0:35:460:35:55

image of women as the totty no

longer represents the brand. And

0:35:550:35:56

quite right. Long gone are the days

of the women being the icing. It

0:35:560:36:03

sends a powerful message to the next

generation.

But these are women who

0:36:030:36:07

are earning a living, doing what

they enjoy coming you might say the

0:36:070:36:11

same of any other entertainer.

It is

an entertainment business. And in

0:36:110:36:16

entertainment no job is secure. This

isn't about feminism, taking these

0:36:160:36:19

women's jobs away from them.

It is!

To some extent but it is about the

0:36:190:36:26

owners of Formula 1 who are

conspicuous by their macro -- by

0:36:260:36:34

their absence in this debate.

Bernie

Ecclestone said it was a ridiculous

0:36:340:36:38

thing. That might be a generational

thing. The conversation started with

0:36:380:36:44

Formula 1. What do you think of the

idea that there will be no more

0:36:440:36:48

great girls?

I think it is a shame.

-- no more grid girls. I think it is

0:36:480:36:58

political correctness gone mad.

Have

you ever had inappropriate behaviour

0:36:580:37:02

towards you or any of the other

women who work with you?

None

0:37:020:37:06

whatsoever. It is fun. Everybody is

there for a good show that the

0:37:060:37:13

boxers put on and ourselves walking

in the ring. We are not doing any

0:37:130:37:17

harm to anybody. People have their

opinions, but it's me, it's my

0:37:170:37:21

income, and I love doing it and I

want to keep doing it.

Do you get

0:37:210:37:30

power from doing it?

Feminists say

that it is degrading. It isn't. I

0:37:300:37:35

have worked hard for the way I look,

my body, and if I want to express

0:37:350:37:41

myself in that way then fair enough.

She's right, isn't she?

I don't

0:37:410:37:46

think so. I'm not saying that she

couldn't do any other job. I'm quite

0:37:460:37:52

surprised by the outpouring of

sympathy from a lot of middle-aged

0:37:520:37:55

men who have clearly been worried

about the long-term career prospects

0:37:550:37:59

of these girls. Strangely they are

not interested in the long term

0:37:590:38:04

career prospects of female drivers,

of which there are none.

But there

0:38:040:38:13

are female boxers. You are saying

women shouldn't be there for the

0:38:130:38:18

entertainment purposes of

essentially a male sport. NFL is

0:38:180:38:22

about to kick off. All of the

adverts have the cheerleaders.

0:38:220:38:27

Cheerleaders are completely

different.

Why?

Beer athletic,

0:38:270:38:32

gymnasts. You and I couldn't do what

they do. You and I could hold a

0:38:320:38:40

number up in a boxing ring. -- they

are athletic.

What you think about

0:38:400:38:45

that?

That's ridiculous. We are all

doing a job. Whether we are athletic

0:38:450:38:52

or not. I'm doing a job as well as

them. I do not get your views on

0:38:520:38:57

that at all.

Do you think male

attitudes are changing? Men are now

0:38:570:39:05

saying for themselves, actually,

this is not to do with the sport any

0:39:050:39:09

more, maybe they have daughters,

sisters...

It is totally that. We

0:39:090:39:17

have so many images of women in the

palms of our hand. You no longer

0:39:170:39:21

have to go to a Formula 1 race to

get a glimpse of a woman on the

0:39:210:39:25

tarmac. Those days are gone.

I'm

asking... Women are patronising

0:39:250:39:34

other women about the decisions and

choices they make.

It's not about

0:39:340:39:38

patronising other women. I want my

daughters and my son to grow up with

0:39:380:39:42

a very good view of what it is to be

a woman. I don't want them to grow

0:39:420:39:46

up thinking we only judge women by

what they look like. In Formula 1

0:39:460:39:50

and boxing, the women...

What do you

think?

That's my prerogative. You

0:39:500:39:57

don't want your children, for

instance your daughter, to do that

0:39:570:40:00

then that is up to you. But my

mother is proud of me when I go up

0:40:000:40:05

there.

Thank you both very much. On

the front pages, Theresa May and the

0:40:050:40:13

Chinese president.

0:40:130:40:19

Cut pay-outs for blunders or the NHS

will go bust on the front of the

0:40:190:40:25

Daily Telegraph. And ministers

watering down EU migrant plan in the

0:40:250:40:29

Telegraph. In the Guardian, Labour

plan to force cheap sale of land to

0:40:290:40:33

the state. And a review of far right

attack after the verdict. That is

0:40:330:40:43

all. Goodbye.

0:40:430:40:48

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