Browse content similar to 20/02/2018. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Payday like today is not a day for
sound bites, we will leave those at | 0:00:11 | 0:00:15 | |
home. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:16 | |
sound bites, we will leave those at
home. . I feel the under history our | 0:00:16 | 0:00:21 | |
shoulder, I really do, and I just
think we need to acknowledge that | 0:00:21 | 0:00:24 | |
and respond to it. Maybe it is
impossible to find a way through, | 0:00:24 | 0:00:29 | |
maybe with the best faith in the
world you cannot do it, but it is to | 0:00:29 | 0:00:32 | |
try. | 0:00:32 | 0:00:33 | |
That was two decades ago -
the people voted, | 0:00:33 | 0:00:36 | |
and the Good Friday
Agreement was signed, | 0:00:36 | 0:00:37 | |
cementing the peace
in Northern Ireland. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:39 | |
Now, with Brexit on its way, | 0:00:39 | 0:00:44 | |
comes the idea that the
agreement is flawed. | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
There's no question
that these Brexit extremists, | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
in their hard-line support
for a particular dogmatic | 0:00:50 | 0:00:52 | |
position of Brexit,
are actually playing with fire, | 0:00:52 | 0:00:53 | |
they're in danger in the peace
process, and they could incite | 0:00:53 | 0:00:56 | |
dissident IRA groups. | 0:00:56 | 0:01:04 | |
A new potential strain on relations
between the Unionists and | 0:01:04 | 0:01:08 | |
nationalists, the UK and Ireland. | 0:01:08 | 0:01:10 | |
But does it make sense to rewrite
an agreement that is not | 0:01:10 | 0:01:13 | |
delivering self-rule anyway?
We hear from the Irish government. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:17 | |
Also tonight, the rebel-held Syrian
enclave of Eastern Ghouta | 0:01:17 | 0:01:19 | |
could become a second Aleppo,
says the UN. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:21 | |
Almost 200 people
have died in bombings | 0:01:21 | 0:01:23 | |
by government forces there
since Sunday. | 0:01:23 | 0:01:31 | |
And a male model tells us
of the inappropriate | 0:01:32 | 0:01:34 | |
behaviour he faces at work. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:42 | |
Hello. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
Two challenges make this a fraught
time in Northern Ireland. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:48 | |
One, it can't agree on self
government, and two, Brexit. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
And so it has been interesting
to watch, in the last few days, | 0:01:52 | 0:01:55 | |
a small number of keen Brexit
supporters suggest that the | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
20-year-old Good Friday Agreement
is past its sell-by date. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:03 | |
Kate Hoey said it's time
for a "cold, rational look at it." | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
MEP Daniel Hannan wrote a Telegraph
piece arguing that British ministers | 0:02:06 | 0:02:08 | |
should "start working
with their Irish counterparts | 0:02:08 | 0:02:10 | |
on improving the system." | 0:02:10 | 0:02:12 | |
It's gently phrased, | 0:02:12 | 0:02:14 | |
and it's not a Brexit point
they are making per se, | 0:02:14 | 0:02:16 | |
but this sentiment has only
come from that side. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
There's an interesting
linguistic point here, too - | 0:02:19 | 0:02:21 | |
critics of the agreement tend
to call it the Belfast Agreement, | 0:02:21 | 0:02:25 | |
perhaps because Good Friday makes
it sound too holy or reverential. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:28 | |
But whatever you call it,
for many, the agreement is, | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
of course, synonymous with peace. | 0:02:32 | 0:02:32 | |
Today, the Irish government called
those who questioned it "reckless". | 0:02:32 | 0:02:34 | |
The British said they stand
by it "steadfastly". | 0:02:34 | 0:02:36 | |
So what is going on? | 0:02:36 | 0:02:44 | |
Our political editor,
Nick Watt, reports. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:51 | |
Yes, 71.12%. The British people have
spoken and the answer is we are out. | 0:02:51 | 0:03:01 | |
They were seismic votes changing the
intertwined history of these | 0:03:01 | 0:03:05 | |
islands, and the legacy of those
referendums, nearly two decades | 0:03:05 | 0:03:10 | |
apart, are haunting the politics of
today. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:17 | |
today. Remain supporters trim of
keeping the UK in the EU, and now | 0:03:17 | 0:03:21 | |
some Unionist supporters believe the
time has come to revisit the Good | 0:03:21 | 0:03:26 | |
Friday Agreement after last week's
failure to restore power-sharing. I | 0:03:26 | 0:03:31 | |
think the word refresh of the Good
Friday Agreement of the Belfast | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
Agreement, as I would call it, is
actually quite important, because | 0:03:35 | 0:03:39 | |
time changes lots and lots of
things, and of course what we are | 0:03:39 | 0:03:43 | |
seeing under direct rule, we have
that space to look at it. We can't | 0:03:43 | 0:03:47 | |
have a situation where there are two
parties in mandatory coalition and | 0:03:47 | 0:03:53 | |
one can always pull the plug and say
we are walking away, and then they | 0:03:53 | 0:03:57 | |
don't go back in until they get some
new demands. Today, the Government | 0:03:57 | 0:04:03 | |
made clear it stands foursquare
behind the agreement. As the House | 0:04:03 | 0:04:08 | |
will recognise, this April marks the
anniversary of the historic Belfast | 0:04:08 | 0:04:11 | |
Agreement. That agreement, along
with successors, has been | 0:04:11 | 0:04:15 | |
fundamental in helping Northern
Ireland moved forward from its | 0:04:15 | 0:04:18 | |
violent past 12 bright, more secure
future, and this Government's | 0:04:18 | 0:04:23 | |
support for the agreements remain
steadfast, as does the commitment to | 0:04:23 | 0:04:29 | |
govern for everybody in Northern
Ireland. There is fury in senior | 0:04:29 | 0:04:34 | |
parts of government after senior
Tories lent their wits to a rethink | 0:04:34 | 0:04:40 | |
on the agreement, one said it would
be the height of absurdity to make | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
unilateral changes to the 1998
agreement. From the Prime Minister | 0:04:43 | 0:04:47 | |
downwards, there is a determination
to establish all of its institutions | 0:04:47 | 0:04:52 | |
by brokering a deal between the DUP
and Sinn Fein. But one of the | 0:04:52 | 0:04:57 | |
original signatories to the Good
Friday Agreement says that | 0:04:57 | 0:05:00 | |
government must act by introducing a
short Parliamentary bill to hand the | 0:05:00 | 0:05:04 | |
powers vested in the Northern
Ireland power-sharing executive to | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
its assembly. Instead of just going
on with London's intervening from | 0:05:07 | 0:05:15 | |
time to time to do things, but not
having proper decisions made by | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
people who have their roots in
Northern Ireland and are accountable | 0:05:19 | 0:05:22 | |
to the electorate, the only way we
can proceed is by having a situation | 0:05:22 | 0:05:28 | |
where the assembly can function
without an executive will stop and I | 0:05:28 | 0:05:33 | |
think that is possible, and it would
be a wake of avoiding the present | 0:05:33 | 0:05:37 | |
impasse. A former Northern Ireland
Secretary who presided over changes | 0:05:37 | 0:05:42 | |
to the Good Friday Agreement a
decade ago act acknowledges that | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
there is a precedent for amending
the accord. But he warns that today | 0:05:45 | 0:05:51 | |
is's calls for change, mainly from
Brexit supporters, could have grave | 0:05:51 | 0:05:56 | |
consequences. There is no question
that these Brextremists, in their | 0:05:56 | 0:06:00 | |
hard-line support for a particular
dogmatic position on Brexit, are | 0:06:00 | 0:06:05 | |
actually playing with fire,
endangering the peace process, and | 0:06:05 | 0:06:11 | |
they could incite dissident IRA
groups who are very well armed and | 0:06:11 | 0:06:15 | |
have made attacks and killed people
in recent years, although they are | 0:06:15 | 0:06:19 | |
very isolated and marginalised at
the moment, it could incite greater | 0:06:19 | 0:06:23 | |
support for them and a greater
threat from them. I don't think | 0:06:23 | 0:06:25 | |
there's any threat, any long-term
threat to what we agreed 20 years | 0:06:25 | 0:06:31 | |
ago. And I don't think there's any
chance of there being a breakdown | 0:06:31 | 0:06:37 | |
and a return to violence. Sinn Fein
agrees that dissident republicans | 0:06:37 | 0:06:42 | |
pose no threat to the peace process,
but the party warns of the dangers | 0:06:42 | 0:06:47 | |
of challenging the Good Friday
Agreement. These interventions | 0:06:47 | 0:06:50 | |
represents nothing more than a
wrecker's charter, and in fact the | 0:06:50 | 0:06:55 | |
very wrong-headed and irresponsible
nature of the interventions at this | 0:06:55 | 0:06:59 | |
particular point in time, in fact,
exaggerate the extent of the | 0:06:59 | 0:07:05 | |
political crisis that we are living
through. The Good Friday Agreement | 0:07:05 | 0:07:09 | |
has been under relentless push back
from sections of political unionism | 0:07:09 | 0:07:14 | |
from when it was first signed.
Referendums are meant to settle | 0:07:14 | 0:07:19 | |
political disputes for a generation,
from the Good Friday Agreement to | 0:07:19 | 0:07:24 | |
Brexit, we are learning that to some
they are not the final word. | 0:07:24 | 0:07:28 | |
Nick Watt reporting. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:29 | |
I am now joined from Dublin
by the Minister for European Affairs | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
in the Irish government,
Helen McEntee. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:38 | |
Good evening to you, thanks for
joining us, what is your reaction to | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
this debate that has cropped up in
this country over the last few days? | 0:07:42 | 0:07:47 | |
Well, what I would welcome, firstly,
is comments by Karen Bradley and | 0:07:47 | 0:07:51 | |
other members of the British
Government, who have very clearly | 0:07:51 | 0:07:54 | |
said that the Good Friday Agreement
is the only way to move forward and | 0:07:54 | 0:07:57 | |
is essentially the only show in
town. The Good Friday Agreement is | 0:07:57 | 0:08:03 | |
an international peace Treaty and
has been for the last 20 years the | 0:08:03 | 0:08:06 | |
only way that every political voice,
every political view and expression | 0:08:06 | 0:08:10 | |
has been heard and can be heard, and
I think for any suggestions that | 0:08:10 | 0:08:15 | |
have been made that it is past its
sell by date, that it is no longer | 0:08:15 | 0:08:19 | |
of use, I would ask those people too
maybe reflect on what things were | 0:08:19 | 0:08:24 | |
like 20 years ago, before the
agreement was in place. So I welcome | 0:08:24 | 0:08:28 | |
confirmation from the British
Government that it is the only way | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
forward, and the Irish government
are saying the same. Let's break | 0:08:31 | 0:08:36 | |
this down, what would happen if the
British Government did unilaterally | 0:08:36 | 0:08:41 | |
change aspects of the Good Friday
Agreement in an attempt to make it | 0:08:41 | 0:08:45 | |
work better, for example? What
actually happens if it does do that? | 0:08:45 | 0:08:52 | |
Well, I mean, the Good Friday
Agreement is an international peace | 0:08:52 | 0:08:56 | |
treaty, a young treaty, and you
would be essentially changing the | 0:08:56 | 0:08:59 | |
way in which citizens north and
South, East and West work with each | 0:08:59 | 0:09:04 | |
other, engage with each other, and
what we have seen over the past 20 | 0:09:04 | 0:09:07 | |
years is that we have been able to
work together, parties in the north | 0:09:07 | 0:09:11 | |
have been able to work in a
power-sharing executive. Yes, we | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
have hit a bump in the road, but
that has not been we need to | 0:09:15 | 0:09:19 | |
completely change path, it just
means we need to work together, and | 0:09:19 | 0:09:24 | |
that is our focus, the Irish,'s
focus -- the Irish's government | 0:09:24 | 0:09:32 | |
focus to work with everyone to make
sure that those elements of the | 0:09:32 | 0:09:36 | |
agreement can be upheld. Obviously,
we can't go on forever pretending | 0:09:36 | 0:09:41 | |
that the agreement is working if it
is not delivering an assembly or an | 0:09:41 | 0:09:45 | |
executive in Northern Ireland that
is operating. How long would you | 0:09:45 | 0:09:51 | |
give it before everybody has to sit
down and think again? It has been, | 0:09:51 | 0:09:55 | |
what, 30 months now, do you go on
and on saying, let's try? Well, I | 0:09:55 | 0:10:02 | |
mean, I think it is disappointing
that we are over one year on and | 0:10:02 | 0:10:06 | |
that we don't have an executive, and
last week's events were obviously of | 0:10:06 | 0:10:12 | |
concern, but there are a number of
mechanisms through which we can work | 0:10:12 | 0:10:18 | |
on what is happening, the executive
being the most important one, but we | 0:10:18 | 0:10:23 | |
also have areas of cooperation, the
North-South Ministerial Council and | 0:10:23 | 0:10:26 | |
the British Irish Council, and we
need to make sure, in the absence of | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
a functioning executive, that they
are given the power and ability to | 0:10:30 | 0:10:33 | |
uphold the elements of the
agreement. You have said something | 0:10:33 | 0:10:38 | |
very important, sorry to interrupt,
something very important - is that | 0:10:38 | 0:10:43 | |
your backstop, substitute for the
working of the executive and the | 0:10:43 | 0:10:46 | |
assembly? Your substitute is joint
sovereignty of the Republic and the | 0:10:46 | 0:10:52 | |
UK over Northern Ireland? Is that
what you want to see if the parties | 0:10:52 | 0:10:56 | |
in the North don't get together?
Well, what we want to see is an | 0:10:56 | 0:11:01 | |
executive functioning Emma North,
and what we will do is work with the | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
British governor... I understand
that, but what is your Plan B? To | 0:11:04 | 0:11:12 | |
make sure those mechanisms are in
place, the North-South Ministerial | 0:11:12 | 0:11:15 | |
Council and the British Irish
Council are already there, already | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
functioning, and in the absence of
an executive, we need to make sure | 0:11:19 | 0:11:24 | |
that we are working to the best of
our ability... I understand your | 0:11:24 | 0:11:30 | |
focus, I understand that getting it
to work, yeah, yeah. But what about | 0:11:30 | 0:11:34 | |
plans to reform our Northern Ireland
works? You could say that he would | 0:11:34 | 0:11:39 | |
move to the Welsh model, the
assembly chooses the executive, you | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
don't enshrine in an international
peace treaty, you know, a coalition | 0:11:42 | 0:11:47 | |
that will permanently operate
between the two sites, you say, we | 0:11:47 | 0:11:51 | |
will let the assembly picket. If
they can't get it together, would | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
you be open to the idea of joint
talks, not unilateral, where that | 0:11:54 | 0:12:00 | |
was the kind of thing on the table?
The Good Friday Agreement as, I | 0:12:00 | 0:12:04 | |
think, the full support of the
Northern Ireland citizens, and also | 0:12:04 | 0:12:09 | |
citizens in the Republic as well,
and we heard the statistics at the | 0:12:09 | 0:12:13 | |
beginning of the show, over 71% of
people overwhelmingly voted in | 0:12:13 | 0:12:17 | |
favour of this process, this
mechanism, joint power and | 0:12:17 | 0:12:23 | |
cooperation, and in the south those
figures bring it up to 94%. So the | 0:12:23 | 0:12:27 | |
idea of trying to amend something
that has worked very successfully, | 0:12:27 | 0:12:31 | |
as I said, yes, we have hit a bump
in the road, yes, there are | 0:12:31 | 0:12:35 | |
challenges not just in Northern
Ireland, but obviously with Brexit, | 0:12:35 | 0:12:39 | |
and we are dealing with those, but I
think the Good Friday Agreement is | 0:12:39 | 0:12:44 | |
something that we need to work
with... Helen McEntee, that point | 0:12:44 | 0:12:51 | |
you have made very clearly, thanks
so much for joining us. | 0:12:51 | 0:12:55 | |
Now, Nick Watt joins me with news
of further ructions in the Tory | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
ranks this evening over Brexit. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:03 | |
What has been happening? I was
talking to a Remain member of the | 0:13:04 | 0:13:08 | |
Cabinet this afternoon, who was very
cheerful after the speech by David | 0:13:08 | 0:13:12 | |
Davis, when he said the UK would not
have a race to the bottom with the | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
EU, but then this letter from 62
members of the Eurosceptic group was | 0:13:15 | 0:13:21 | |
leaked to Sam Coates of the Times,
and this makes clear that they take | 0:13:21 | 0:13:25 | |
a much more restrictive view of what
the Clemente is, the transition | 0:13:25 | 0:13:30 | |
period would look like. Away harder
line than David Davis was saying? | 0:13:30 | 0:13:36 | |
They are essentially saying to the
Prime Minister, be very careful, | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
don't go too far in what you
concede. I have been talking to | 0:13:40 | 0:13:44 | |
sources in that European research
group, and they are saying there are | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
hundreds of us, that is the message
to Number Ten, so you better watch | 0:13:47 | 0:13:52 | |
out. But interestingly, they say
their real target is not Theresa | 0:13:52 | 0:13:56 | |
May, it is the Cabinet Secretary,
and the UK's chief negotiator. They | 0:13:56 | 0:14:02 | |
are concerned that they are going to
lay down what they regard as tricks, | 0:14:02 | 0:14:08 | |
so that in 13 months' time, when we
are out of the EU, our hands can be | 0:14:08 | 0:14:13 | |
restricted. Briefly, what about
Labour? Has the language changed, | 0:14:13 | 0:14:18 | |
inching towards a clear position
about being in out of the customs | 0:14:18 | 0:14:22 | |
union? Jeremy Corbyn said that the
UK would have to be in a customs | 0:14:22 | 0:14:26 | |
union with the EU, that would be
important to sort out the Northern | 0:14:26 | 0:14:30 | |
Ireland border, so not the customs
union. Labour says they can't be in | 0:14:30 | 0:14:34 | |
that because you have to | 0:14:34 | 0:14:40 | |
that because you have to respect the
result of the referendum, but the | 0:14:41 | 0:14:42 | |
reason they say a customs union and
not in the single market is that you | 0:14:42 | 0:14:45 | |
don't have the regulatory
requirements of the European Court | 0:14:45 | 0:14:48 | |
of Justice. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:50 | |
Every day, more names are brought
forward in the campaign | 0:14:50 | 0:14:52 | |
against inappropriate behaviour,
of all kinds, at work. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:54 | |
The charity sector is feeling
the heat at the moment, | 0:14:54 | 0:14:57 | |
and today the PM programme
on Radio 4 revealed allegations | 0:14:57 | 0:14:59 | |
of inappropriate behaviour
against the former CEO | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
of Save the Children
UK, Justin Forsyth. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:04 | |
Now although you may
not have heard of him, | 0:15:04 | 0:15:07 | |
Mr Forsyth is a important player
in international aid | 0:15:07 | 0:15:09 | |
charities. | 0:15:09 | 0:15:11 | |
He was a close associate
of Brendan Cox - | 0:15:11 | 0:15:14 | |
both of them were at Save
the Children, and both also worked | 0:15:14 | 0:15:17 | |
for Gordon Brown at Number 10. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:19 | |
When Mr Brown was caught on mic
referring to Gillian Duffy | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
as a bigoted woman, he was talking
to Justin Forsyth. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:27 | |
The new accusation is that
while running Save the Children | 0:15:27 | 0:15:30 | |
before 2015, there were three
separate complaints of inappropriate | 0:15:30 | 0:15:32 | |
behaviour towards female
members of staff by him, | 0:15:32 | 0:15:37 | |
sending a series
of inappropriate texts, | 0:15:37 | 0:15:39 | |
commenting on how they looked,
and prompting them to respond. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:44 | |
Mr Forsyth left and has since gone
on to one of the most | 0:15:44 | 0:15:47 | |
senior posts at Unicef,
the UN children's fund. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:51 | |
He admits to having made some
personal mistakes during his time | 0:15:51 | 0:15:53 | |
at Save the Children,
specifically admitting | 0:15:53 | 0:15:57 | |
to what he described as "unsuitable
and thoughtless" conversations | 0:15:57 | 0:15:59 | |
with colleagues, which he
subsequently apologised for. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:03 | |
He added that there were
no formal complaints, | 0:16:03 | 0:16:05 | |
and that they were dealt
with through mediation. | 0:16:05 | 0:16:08 | |
Save the Children told us
that they were commissioning | 0:16:08 | 0:16:10 | |
a root-and-branch review
of its organisational culture, | 0:16:10 | 0:16:13 | |
and that they apologised for any
pain these matters had caused. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:21 | |
To reflect on all of this I have the
Labour MP Peter Carlin, a man who | 0:16:22 | 0:16:29 | |
himself has worked in international
aid crisis charities. Do you think | 0:16:29 | 0:16:34 | |
that Justin Forsyth should be
working for Unicef in a senior role? | 0:16:34 | 0:16:40 | |
There are questions about that right
now. The important thing is that | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
Unicef is in touch with Save the
Children, Unicef said there doing | 0:16:43 | 0:16:48 | |
that. I do not know the details of
this but it is clear that that needs | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
to be looked at in light of these
revelations. Unicef have said they | 0:16:52 | 0:16:57 | |
are aware of the media reports and
welcome the decision of us to | 0:16:57 | 0:17:01 | |
Forsyth to come forward and
acknowledge past mistakes and that | 0:17:01 | 0:17:05 | |
they are discussing this with him
and with Unicef and Save the | 0:17:05 | 0:17:09 | |
Children. Not physical accusations
in this case, but the sheer volume | 0:17:09 | 0:17:14 | |
of things coming out about the
charity sector must be damaging it. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:18 | |
Of course and we know it is. But
some of these accusations are | 0:17:18 | 0:17:26 | |
grotesque and from very senior
managers, that is the thing that is | 0:17:26 | 0:17:29 | |
most shocking. It is clear that in
some of these organisations there is | 0:17:29 | 0:17:33 | |
the sense that protection of a moral
organisation is more important that | 0:17:33 | 0:17:37 | |
individuals working in it. You've
seen the same thing in the church, | 0:17:37 | 0:17:42 | |
and the BBC. Some people feel
organisations are so morally | 0:17:42 | 0:17:47 | |
important and significant that
covering up things within the | 0:17:47 | 0:17:52 | |
organisation is worthwhile and a
means to an end. We've seen that in | 0:17:52 | 0:17:56 | |
the charity sector recently and it
needs to be busted. Just culturally | 0:17:56 | 0:18:00 | |
I wonder whether part of the
interest in this, it is | 0:18:00 | 0:18:07 | |
organisations that seem to be on the
high moral ground being brought down | 0:18:07 | 0:18:15 | |
by personal foibles and
inappropriate behaviour of the | 0:18:15 | 0:18:17 | |
people within them. I wonder if that
is feeding some of the interest. No | 0:18:17 | 0:18:23 | |
doubt. It is quite right to hold
people in the charitable sector to a | 0:18:23 | 0:18:28 | |
higher standard than perhaps others.
We do have high expectations of | 0:18:28 | 0:18:32 | |
people doing this moral work.
British aid works, the people | 0:18:32 | 0:18:36 | |
working in the front line, the vast
majority are extraordinary people | 0:18:36 | 0:18:41 | |
who put themselves into harm. We had
four aid workers killed last week. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:47 | |
So people are doing some
extraordinary work. But I have been | 0:18:47 | 0:18:51 | |
a front line aid worker as well and
I've seen the work that does not | 0:18:51 | 0:18:55 | |
meet the moral standards we would
expect from organisations. Sexually? | 0:18:55 | 0:19:02 | |
In almost ten years doing this work
I never saw anything that was | 0:19:02 | 0:19:06 | |
criminal or even a whisper of some
of the things that are being | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
revealed now. But I did see work
that was overly territorial, | 0:19:09 | 0:19:14 | |
culturally inappropriate for the
kind of work they were doing and | 0:19:14 | 0:19:18 | |
some of that morally indefensible.
One example I could give you if we | 0:19:18 | 0:19:22 | |
have time. I was doing some work,
asking for assistance from a British | 0:19:22 | 0:19:32 | |
Nato general. He told me he had put
up the order to stop working as | 0:19:32 | 0:19:37 | |
well-known, large international
charity based in the UK because he | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
had offered work and had refused and
the reason given was they had a lot | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
of money given to that organisation
from British donors and by law that | 0:19:45 | 0:19:49 | |
money must be spent within that
country. And that charity did not | 0:19:49 | 0:19:53 | |
want to be in that country for a
long time so they literally were | 0:19:53 | 0:19:56 | |
squandering money. I have been
saying this stuff for a long time | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
and now I have the platform as an
MP, people are listening more. This | 0:19:59 | 0:20:04 | |
goes well beyond the sexual
harassment and exploitation customer | 0:20:04 | 0:20:13 | |
the aid industry has become very
competitive and that tipped over to | 0:20:13 | 0:20:17 | |
becoming territorial and further to
being secret. So when bad things | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
happen, whether work that does not
go right, whether a member of staff | 0:20:21 | 0:20:26 | |
not performing right or some of the
really dangerous stuff we have heard | 0:20:26 | 0:20:31 | |
recently, then the instinct is to
hide it. So there is a link between | 0:20:31 | 0:20:35 | |
these different things. Culturally
we need to look at the aid industry, | 0:20:35 | 0:20:39 | |
do the investigations and the
enquiries as the Charity Commission | 0:20:39 | 0:20:43 | |
is doing now and also have a root
and branch think about how we use | 0:20:43 | 0:20:49 | |
these big aid agencies. The
behaviour that we incentivise from | 0:20:49 | 0:20:53 | |
aid agencies. And get off a lot
better at getting the right people | 0:20:53 | 0:20:57 | |
into the right jobs on a front line.
And if they drop perform we have to | 0:20:57 | 0:21:01 | |
get them of there. -- if they do not
perform. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:06 | |
A lot is happening in Syria
right now - a war that is, | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
if it was possible,
ever more brutal and | 0:21:09 | 0:21:11 | |
ever more complicated. | 0:21:11 | 0:21:12 | |
There has been a tragic
intensification of the bombardment | 0:21:12 | 0:21:15 | |
of Eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:16 | |
Huge numbers of deaths
in the last couple of days. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:18 | |
More on that in a few minutes,
but let's hear more | 0:21:18 | 0:21:21 | |
about the other development first. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:22 | |
Because today, in a sign
of the messiness of the coalitions | 0:21:22 | 0:21:25 | |
fighting with or against each other,
the Syrian government found | 0:21:25 | 0:21:27 | |
itself fighting the Turks,
in order to defend Kurdish forces | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
who have been fighting
the Syrian government. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:32 | |
Our diplomatic editor,
Mark Urban, is with me now. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:38 | |
To me this just seems very peculiar.
What has been happening? Well since | 0:21:38 | 0:21:46 | |
Islamic State so-called was defeated
in the east of Syria, additional | 0:21:46 | 0:21:50 | |
forces have been available and are
focused on three places. Idlib in | 0:21:50 | 0:21:56 | |
the north, Ghouta and another area
where the incident was going on | 0:21:56 | 0:22:03 | |
today, between Syria and Turkish
forces, in Afrin. The town is that a | 0:22:03 | 0:22:10 | |
key point on the Turkish border.
Kurdish forces are there. They said | 0:22:10 | 0:22:18 | |
they are the PKK, the same people
who have been mounting attacks in | 0:22:18 | 0:22:22 | |
Turkey over many years and they have
gone in there to sort them out. The | 0:22:22 | 0:22:28 | |
Kurds in Afrin have always had an
ambiguous relationship with the | 0:22:28 | 0:22:32 | |
Damascus government certainly in
recent years. In times they appeared | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
to be in opposition to them but in
general they seem to have some de | 0:22:35 | 0:22:40 | |
facto agreements. Now the Damascus
government is siding with them and | 0:22:40 | 0:22:44 | |
trying to protect them from this
Turkish attack. Does it look better | 0:22:44 | 0:22:52 | |
for some kind of peace that these
former enemies and can now sit down | 0:22:52 | 0:22:57 | |
and talk? No, is the short answer
because they always had this de | 0:22:57 | 0:23:03 | |
facto corporative relationship. This
particular area of the Kurdish | 0:23:03 | 0:23:07 | |
resistance. And you have the
Americans bordering on the area, the | 0:23:07 | 0:23:12 | |
Iranians and Russians also involved.
It is a dangerous situation in the | 0:23:12 | 0:23:16 | |
north of Syria. Well going back to
the issue of Easter in Ghouta. And | 0:23:16 | 0:23:22 | |
we have been looking at how it is
receiving such treatment. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:28 | |
Since Sunday, there's been
a sharp increase in Syrian | 0:23:28 | 0:23:31 | |
military attacks on Ghouta -
dozens of airstrikes a day have been | 0:23:31 | 0:23:34 | |
hitting the besieged enclave,
and the death toll is now | 0:23:34 | 0:23:37 | |
approaching 200 in those three days. | 0:23:37 | 0:23:41 | |
For the quarter of a million
or so people who live there, it's | 0:23:41 | 0:23:48 | |
been one of the worst times in more
than six years of conflict. | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
We are witnessing some of the worst
fighting of the entire conflict | 0:23:51 | 0:23:54 | |
and the widespread destruction
of civilian infrastructure. | 0:23:54 | 0:23:56 | |
Including medical facilities. | 0:23:56 | 0:23:57 | |
WHO has received reports of attacks
on five hospitals in eastern Ghouta | 0:23:57 | 0:24:02 | |
and is working to verify these
reports and the casualties. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:06 | |
We continue to call for unimpeded
access to eastern Ghouta to provide | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
medical supplies that will mean
the difference between life | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
and death for the very sick
and injured and for the immediate | 0:24:12 | 0:24:16 | |
evacuation of urgent medical cases. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
From the outset, geography defined
the conflict in Ghouta. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:24 | |
Its location on the eastern
outskirts of Damascus made it easy | 0:24:24 | 0:24:28 | |
for rebel groups to move
to and from Sunni-dominated areas | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
to the east and north. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
And government positions
on Mount Qasioun, which is heavily | 0:24:34 | 0:24:37 | |
fortified, in the al Assad suburb,
as the name suggests a regime | 0:24:37 | 0:24:41 | |
stronghold, and in Adra,
site of another big army base, | 0:24:41 | 0:24:46 | |
all helped to hem in the Ghouta
pocket and were used as launching | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
spots for attacks on it. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:53 | |
But those holding out inside have
refused to capitulate. | 0:24:53 | 0:24:59 | |
Just a few miles from central
Damascus, Ghouta was the target | 0:24:59 | 0:25:01 | |
of a chemical weapons attack in 2013
- the aim then, according | 0:25:01 | 0:25:06 | |
to the Pentagon, was to follow up
with infantry and storm the enclave. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:12 | |
That attack failed. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:14 | |
Tonight there are also reports
of Syrian troops moving | 0:25:14 | 0:25:16 | |
to assault positions. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:24 | |
Within the enclave are
several thousand fighters | 0:25:37 | 0:25:39 | |
from different groups. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
Jaish al Islam -
a militant Islamist group - | 0:25:42 | 0:25:44 | |
holds eastern and northern areas. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:47 | |
Ahrar al Sham, at one stage
Qatari backed and linked | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
to the Muslim Brotherhood,
a pocket in the west. | 0:25:50 | 0:25:53 | |
And Faylaq al Rahman is in the south
- they're affiliated to the Turkish | 0:25:53 | 0:25:57 | |
backed Free Syrian Army. | 0:25:57 | 0:25:59 | |
At times these factions have
clashed, but equally, | 0:25:59 | 0:26:03 | |
none has been tempted by the Assad
government's offers to switch sides. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:11 | |
Now, earlier today we spoke
to Seraj Mahmoud, a volunteer | 0:26:13 | 0:26:16 | |
with the Syrian Civil Defence team
otherwise known | 0:26:16 | 0:26:18 | |
as the White Helmets. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:20 | |
For the last 48 hours,
Seraj and his fellow | 0:26:20 | 0:26:22 | |
volunteers have been
recovering the dead and the injured | 0:26:22 | 0:26:24 | |
sifting through the rubble. | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
Earlier today, Seraj told us he lost
one of his colleagues | 0:26:27 | 0:26:30 | |
in the bombardment and in the last
40 days his division | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
lost four volunteers. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:35 | |
He spoke to us from Douma
city in Eastern Ghouta, | 0:26:35 | 0:26:37 | |
where he was seeking shelter
from the ongoing bombardment. | 0:26:37 | 0:26:45 | |
Joining me now is Geert Cappelaere,
Unicefs's regional director | 0:28:36 | 0:28:40 | |
for the Middle East
and North Africa. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:46 | |
Thank you for coming in. How does
Easter in Ghouta compared to some of | 0:28:46 | 0:28:52 | |
the other names that have become
grimly famous in this Syrian war | 0:28:52 | 0:28:56 | |
such as Aleppo? The situation is
comparable with what we've seen over | 0:28:56 | 0:29:03 | |
the past seven years. Very
comparable from the point of view of | 0:29:03 | 0:29:07 | |
the children. Today once again
dozens of children have been killed | 0:29:07 | 0:29:12 | |
in eastern Ghouta, several children
have been killed in Damascus. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:19 | |
Children simply continue paying the
highest price of a brutal war that | 0:29:19 | 0:29:26 | |
is not of their making. UN envoy
Stephane said it has the risk of | 0:29:26 | 0:29:35 | |
becoming a second Aleppo and he
hopes we have learnt lessons from | 0:29:35 | 0:29:39 | |
that. What lessons have we learnt
from Aleppo that we did not already | 0:29:39 | 0:29:45 | |
know? It seems the world is
powerless to do anything. One | 0:29:45 | 0:29:49 | |
important lesson learned from
eastern Aleppo, is that no single | 0:29:49 | 0:29:57 | |
party has at any moment put the
protection of children at the core | 0:29:57 | 0:30:03 | |
of their action. If we want to
prevent bloodshed, further bloodshed | 0:30:03 | 0:30:10 | |
of children, if we want to prevent
thousands of children being maimed | 0:30:10 | 0:30:17 | |
then we need to learn the lessons
and this time around for the | 0:30:17 | 0:30:22 | |
protection of children of the core
of everyone's attention and action. | 0:30:22 | 0:30:30 | |
Does that basically mean the people
there surrendering, yielding to the | 0:30:31 | 0:30:35 | |
Syrian government? Because often it
looks like they are going to, in the | 0:30:35 | 0:30:38 | |
end, lose and there will be a lot of
suffering in the meantime. There is | 0:30:38 | 0:30:45 | |
an incredible suffering from
children's perspective. Again, we | 0:30:45 | 0:30:50 | |
have seen, within Eastern Ghouta,
over the last few months only, the | 0:30:50 | 0:30:56 | |
number of children suffering from
severe, acute malnutrition, | 0:30:56 | 0:31:03 | |
life-threatening malnutrition, the
numbers have been increased by ten | 0:31:03 | 0:31:07 | |
in a few months' time, probably one
of the best indicators to show, to | 0:31:07 | 0:31:13 | |
tell the world how dire the
situation of children is today. And | 0:31:13 | 0:31:17 | |
with a very limited means for the
international community, for the | 0:31:17 | 0:31:24 | |
national partners to provide the
assistance, the much-needed, | 0:31:24 | 0:31:28 | |
urgently needed assistance to the
children inside. But is there an | 0:31:28 | 0:31:33 | |
option for them to surrender, and
deep down is that what you would | 0:31:33 | 0:31:36 | |
like them to do, just to stop the
continual suffering of these young | 0:31:36 | 0:31:41 | |
people? Because they are probably
not... What is the point in hanging | 0:31:41 | 0:31:47 | |
on in there if the Syrian government
will prevail anyway? From the | 0:31:47 | 0:31:52 | |
children's perspective, this war
needs to stop. Children have | 0:31:52 | 0:31:58 | |
suffered way too much already, and
this is a call for all parties who | 0:31:58 | 0:32:06 | |
are responsible for that endless
children's suffering. Thousands of | 0:32:06 | 0:32:12 | |
children being killed, hundreds of
thousands being maimed, close to 3 | 0:32:12 | 0:32:21 | |
million children, Syrian children,
not able to attend regularly school. | 0:32:21 | 0:32:25 | |
The levels of malnutrition, the
children preventing from being | 0:32:25 | 0:32:33 | |
children - this needs to stop, all
parties need to take their | 0:32:33 | 0:32:39 | |
responsibility. Anyone with
authority over the fighting parties | 0:32:39 | 0:32:42 | |
need to take their responsibility,
this cannot be accepted any longer. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:51 | |
Geert Cappelaere from Unicef, thanks
very much indeed, thanks. | 0:32:51 | 0:32:55 | |
Last night, we heard the eloquent
testimony of a Chippendale | 0:32:55 | 0:32:58 | |
male entertainer on the groping
and grabbing that he puts up with | 0:32:58 | 0:33:00 | |
from his mainly female audiences. | 0:33:00 | 0:33:02 | |
He enjoys his job and was relaxed
about most of it, | 0:33:02 | 0:33:04 | |
knowing exactly what to expect -
it's all part of the show. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:07 | |
But among men who are not
Chippendales, | 0:33:07 | 0:33:09 | |
but who do sell their looks,
there is often a simmering annoyance | 0:33:09 | 0:33:12 | |
with the unprofessional
sexualised conduct that they face. | 0:33:12 | 0:33:14 | |
Male models know it's all about
looking right for the part | 0:33:14 | 0:33:18 | |
but do not expect to get work
on the basis of their willingness | 0:33:18 | 0:33:21 | |
to satisfy casting agents' lust. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:24 | |
We've spoken to quite
a number of male models | 0:33:24 | 0:33:26 | |
and have collated
some of the experiences | 0:33:26 | 0:33:28 | |
they've told us about. | 0:33:28 | 0:33:36 | |
Some testimony from male models
there. | 0:35:32 | 0:35:33 | |
Some testimony from
male models there. | 0:35:33 | 0:35:35 | |
Reece Sanders has worked
internationally as a model. | 0:35:35 | 0:35:37 | |
He joins me now. | 0:35:37 | 0:35:38 | |
Good evening to you. Does everybody
have things like this, or is it a | 0:35:38 | 0:35:44 | |
minority experience? I think people
have been made to feel uncomfortable | 0:35:44 | 0:35:49 | |
more than you'd think in certain
situations, but these tales are a | 0:35:49 | 0:35:53 | |
minority amongst especially male
models, which I can only speak on | 0:35:53 | 0:35:57 | |
behalf of. What is the worst that
has happened to you? What sort of | 0:35:57 | 0:36:01 | |
things? Lines crossed in the sense
of a stylist or someone, when | 0:36:01 | 0:36:08 | |
dressing you, has gone a bit too
far, attacking a shirt in, a bit too | 0:36:08 | 0:36:15 | |
handsy, it is noticeable but they
play it like it is nothing. There is | 0:36:15 | 0:36:19 | |
this phrase, the front tag, what is
that? That is when a stylist, it | 0:36:19 | 0:36:27 | |
doesn't have to be a stylist, anyone
who is dressing you at the time, is | 0:36:27 | 0:36:35 | |
tucking the shedding, they take
advantage of that. What about | 0:36:38 | 0:36:41 | |
photographs of you, you are getting
changed, photographers are around, | 0:36:41 | 0:36:48 | |
the making of the campaign, there
are back up photographers? Is a lot | 0:36:48 | 0:36:53 | |
of that inappropriate? I find the
worst thing is, during Fashion Week, | 0:36:53 | 0:36:58 | |
or when you are doing a show, for
example, if you are backstage, there | 0:36:58 | 0:37:04 | |
are a lot of photographers coming
and going, and they are all licensed | 0:37:04 | 0:37:08 | |
to be there, and you know, someone
wants to take a photograph of you in | 0:37:08 | 0:37:12 | |
your underwear and you are aware of
it, you are selling your image, and | 0:37:12 | 0:37:16 | |
if your image is your body, you
might be fine with that. But if they | 0:37:16 | 0:37:20 | |
are doing it without you knowing,
even if you are OK with it, are you | 0:37:20 | 0:37:25 | |
OK with having it done without your
knowledge? What kind of photo is it? | 0:37:25 | 0:37:31 | |
Where is it going? What was
interesting, model two in that be | 0:37:31 | 0:37:34 | |
said there is a relationship with
the photographer, and it can be | 0:37:34 | 0:37:39 | |
quite a sexualised relationship, is
that actually part of the sort of | 0:37:39 | 0:37:44 | |
making the thing work, that there is
flirtation or something going on | 0:37:44 | 0:37:49 | |
with the photographer? Or can it be
fairly anonymous and professional? | 0:37:49 | 0:37:54 | |
We have heard stories from people,
and with so many eyes being on | 0:37:54 | 0:37:58 | |
fashion, at the end of the day,
there are thousands of models | 0:37:58 | 0:38:01 | |
working with thousands of
photographers all over the industry, | 0:38:01 | 0:38:05 | |
and people need to understand that
the industry is not one company. It | 0:38:05 | 0:38:09 | |
is thousands of companies making it
up. If somebody leaves a shoot at | 0:38:09 | 0:38:13 | |
the end of the day and tweet or
Instagram, anything on social media | 0:38:13 | 0:38:17 | |
about how well the | 0:38:17 | 0:38:23 | |
about how well the day has worked
with hundreds of photographers, and | 0:38:24 | 0:38:26 | |
I have stayed at their houses, their
families have made me breakfast in | 0:38:26 | 0:38:28 | |
the morning, we have had friendly
relationships. No lines have been | 0:38:28 | 0:38:31 | |
crossed, everything has been fine.
But when it does get crossed, so | 0:38:31 | 0:38:35 | |
many eyes are on the fashion
industry that these are the stories | 0:38:35 | 0:38:39 | |
that come to the surface, some rises
to the top, so we see the stories | 0:38:39 | 0:38:43 | |
about people. But I am guessing that
you and the other people on the | 0:38:43 | 0:38:52 | |
fashion circuit, you all know who
are the ones who are creepy and who | 0:38:52 | 0:38:56 | |
are not. You are swapping stories
the whole time? You do spend a lot | 0:38:56 | 0:39:02 | |
of time and castings, you can spend
hours waiting to see a client, and | 0:39:02 | 0:39:06 | |
you swap stories with other models,
someone who has been doing it for | 0:39:06 | 0:39:13 | |
months or years, and we do hear
about certain names of people and | 0:39:13 | 0:39:18 | |
things come to light in the
mainstream media as well, people | 0:39:18 | 0:39:21 | |
that are doing this. So these are
people we try to avoid any way, and | 0:39:21 | 0:39:25 | |
when you fear about these, from my
personal experience, your agency | 0:39:25 | 0:39:30 | |
will do anything to not put you with
these. They will try and protect | 0:39:30 | 0:39:33 | |
you. You can go into your agencies.
That is nice. For myself, I have | 0:39:33 | 0:39:41 | |
found that. What is striking, you
were saying before, you are 25, now | 0:39:41 | 0:39:47 | |
getting to be considered quite late
career. Correct, yeah. What are the | 0:39:47 | 0:39:53 | |
age of your average model? It
depends, for Fashion Week, they like | 0:39:53 | 0:39:58 | |
a younger looking guy, so 16-19.
Teenagers, who are really not going | 0:39:58 | 0:40:05 | |
to be very experienced and how to
handle all these situations. | 0:40:05 | 0:40:09 | |
Exactly, so when I have been in
these positions where the front tuck | 0:40:09 | 0:40:12 | |
has gone too far, and I have not
said anything because maybe I have | 0:40:12 | 0:40:17 | |
not thought about it that way, but I
should have said something at the | 0:40:17 | 0:40:20 | |
time. There is a lot of young kids
coming through, and I feel that we | 0:40:20 | 0:40:25 | |
need to make and safe. I'm not
saying it is extremely seedy, this | 0:40:25 | 0:40:29 | |
is a minority of people, but if we
can eradicate them and make it safer | 0:40:29 | 0:40:33 | |
for the next generation of models,
that we be the dream, really. Thanks | 0:40:33 | 0:40:37 | |
very much. | 0:40:37 | 0:40:41 | |
That is all we have time for
tonight. A very good night. | 0:40:41 | 0:40:47 |