:00:00. > :00:00.matches and the snooker in York, where there was a real humdinger
:00:00. > :00:00.between two former world champions. That is all in Sportsday, in 15
:00:00. > :00:13.minutes, after the Papers. Hello and welcome to
:00:14. > :00:15.our look ahead to what the papers With me are guests,
:00:16. > :00:19.the Times columnist Matthew Syed, and Melanie Eusebe, professor
:00:20. > :00:24.at the Hult Business School. The Times leads with news that
:00:25. > :00:26.so called Islamic State fighters have captured large parts
:00:27. > :00:34.of eastern Afghanistan. And Melanie is a fan of the word
:00:35. > :00:47.humdinger. Everytime he says that it makes me giggle!
:00:48. > :00:48.The conviction of Maoist cult leader Aravindan
:00:49. > :00:52.The same story dominates the Mirror's front page,
:00:53. > :01:11.focusing on the dramatic testimony from Balakrishnan's daughter.
:01:12. > :01:18.He was found guilty of rape, sexual assault, false imprisonment and the
:01:19. > :01:26.thing for me which is most shocking is it in brick -- Brixton, this
:01:27. > :01:31.communist collective was in Brixton, one of the bigger cities in the
:01:32. > :01:37.world, and this woman grew up for 30 years, no school, no doctors, no
:01:38. > :01:42.dentist is, no friends, no money. So now he has been convicted of these
:01:43. > :01:48.heinous crimes. I can't imagine her pain. It is remarkable, isn't it? At
:01:49. > :01:51.the heart of the city this can happen. The other astonishing
:01:52. > :01:57.element of this is her own testimony, and her forgiveness. That
:01:58. > :02:01.is an extraordinarily powerful thing. When you consider the pain
:02:02. > :02:06.that she has endured at the hands of this sadistic egomaniac, and that
:02:07. > :02:09.she was completely under the orbit of his control. If you leave the
:02:10. > :02:12.house you are going to get struck by lightning. She had no access to
:02:13. > :02:17.external information so she could form an independent view of the
:02:18. > :02:22.world, and yet in the last two years it seemed she has made an incredible
:02:23. > :02:25.recovery. She is building her emotional resilience, she according
:02:26. > :02:30.to the social workers is capable of living an independent life pretty
:02:31. > :02:33.soon, and that forgiveness, that understanding. She quotes Nelson
:02:34. > :02:38.Mandela that if she carries that even as she is still in prison. And
:02:39. > :02:41.she wants to find some reconciliation with the man that was
:02:42. > :02:42.so abusive towards her. That is about the power of mind control, and
:02:43. > :02:49.I am so pleased that about the power of mind control, and
:02:50. > :02:53.I am so pleased he has been caught and will be punished. It raises the
:02:54. > :02:58.question of how this can happen in the middle of the city, and in a
:02:59. > :03:02.sense of why didn't someone notice? They didn't notice, and she wasn't
:03:03. > :03:07.exposed to that outside world. Looking at her diaries and her diary
:03:08. > :03:13.entries, she was seen as a project by him. She was one of our rota. So
:03:14. > :03:17.there was no exposure to that parental love, and on top of that
:03:18. > :03:20.you don't have friends, you don't have that infrastructure where you
:03:21. > :03:25.have the checks and balances. There are no doctors or dentists checking
:03:26. > :03:32.full ruses, there is no friends, there is no money to spend --
:03:33. > :03:34.checking for bruises. It is absolutely shocking that it can
:03:35. > :03:41.happen in a regular house in South London. Incredible stuff, and if you
:03:42. > :03:46.do get a chance to see Tom Sutton's interview with the daughter it is
:03:47. > :03:53.very compelling. The Independent has a fascinating story. Sharia courts,
:03:54. > :03:58.the inside story. The world we very rarely see inside. Can I get both of
:03:59. > :04:02.your thoughts on this? What do you make of this lead an independent?
:04:03. > :04:10.Well, I am trying to have a balanced the spec if -- lead in the
:04:11. > :04:14.Independent. I'm not sure that the research has come at this from a
:04:15. > :04:20.balanced perspective. Essentially they were able to spend 15 hours
:04:21. > :04:24.attending hearings at the is Islamic Sharia Council in Leighton as well
:04:25. > :04:28.as the Birmingham Central Mosque. Through looking at these cases what
:04:29. > :04:31.she has determined as there are essentially two separate legal
:04:32. > :04:35.orders. There is the law as we know it, and then there are the Sharia
:04:36. > :04:45.courts operating under the shadow of the law, more based on the Koranic
:04:46. > :04:49.laws than your classic British law. So yes, that is my balanced overview
:04:50. > :04:54.of what she is saying in this story. So we have discharged the
:04:55. > :04:58.balanced bet. There is more you want to say about this. You have doubts
:04:59. > :05:01.about this. There is 15 hours of research, you don't think that's
:05:02. > :05:06.enough? I don't think that's enough. I think when you are
:05:07. > :05:10.delving... Again, I want to preface this by saying that I am a feminist,
:05:11. > :05:14.everyone who does mean is that I am feminist so stories like this
:05:15. > :05:19.automatically get my goat. I think oh my goodness, why are these Sharia
:05:20. > :05:23.courts in Britain locking women into marital captivity and doing nothing
:05:24. > :05:26.to report domestic violence? On the other hand I do think there was a
:05:27. > :05:30.lack of sensitivity somewhat in terms of the reporting of this
:05:31. > :05:35.story. And I think that... You know, we have to be very, very careful to
:05:36. > :05:40.recognise the intersection Audi of these women, to recognise that not
:05:41. > :05:47.only are they women, but they are also women of a particular race and
:05:48. > :05:50.at ethnicity, culture and of course religion -- intersectionality. The
:05:51. > :05:53.story can come across as slightly a white woman from the outside coming
:05:54. > :06:00.in and just saving the world and not quite reflect in all of the
:06:01. > :06:03.dimensions of this story. Matthew, I know you come at this from a
:06:04. > :06:06.slightly different angle. I suppose I should preface this by saying
:06:07. > :06:11.there will be those who look at this and say there is British law, that's
:06:12. > :06:14.it. The problem here is religious authority. If a woman is being
:06:15. > :06:17.abused and she goes to a judge in a Sharia Court who says you should
:06:18. > :06:21.stay with your husband because that is what the Koran says, she has the
:06:22. > :06:25.right to go to a British court to say she wants to get out of this
:06:26. > :06:29.marriage and that will be executed by the court. The problem is that
:06:30. > :06:33.they feel under a moral obligation to obey the strictures of the judge
:06:34. > :06:37.because they have a religious duty to do so because they are vested
:06:38. > :06:41.with religious truth. That is the problem here, and when it comes to
:06:42. > :06:43.cultural sensitivity, if somebody feels that they can't do what is in
:06:44. > :06:47.their interest because they are going to be going against religion,
:06:48. > :06:51.I don't think that there is a sensitivity issue. That is just a
:06:52. > :06:57.moral precept, to me. That is a bad thing. And I would like to see the
:06:58. > :07:00.root cause of this religion being superseded by rationality, science
:07:01. > :07:03.and evidence, and making a moral judgement on the basis of the issues
:07:04. > :07:11.rather than some cultural or religious norm that is holding women
:07:12. > :07:15.back. Is there a feeling, Melanie, that the papers become too hidebound
:07:16. > :07:19.insensitivity and don't see the truth? I don't think the papers can
:07:20. > :07:23.be accused of being too hidebound insensitivity! I rarely posed that
:07:24. > :07:38.question. I have never seen that happen. -- they are not open, but
:07:39. > :07:43.the Rudd people who do speak out on it. -- there are people. I think
:07:44. > :07:47.even if she had shared the perspective with one of those people
:07:48. > :07:52.than it wouldn't have looked quite so wrong. And it is very stark. It
:07:53. > :07:55.is not explaining the full... It doesn't even... In one hand she is
:07:56. > :07:59.not even respecting these women are separate entities to say, you know
:08:00. > :08:03.what? They want to follow the Koran, they want to follow the
:08:04. > :08:07.rulings of Islamic scholars. This is a choice by them, so there are
:08:08. > :08:12.things that we have two... She is not seeing them as independent agent
:08:13. > :08:17.at all. So again, she is not recognising the intersectionality.
:08:18. > :08:22.That is the tragedy of this. They are exercising the choice to go on
:08:23. > :08:26.with the assertions of a judge has found out by an independent scholar
:08:27. > :08:29.with more time and access to these courts than almost anybody in
:08:30. > :08:32.history. The tragedy as they are choosing not to leave because that
:08:33. > :08:36.is what the religion is telling them to do. I think that is a major
:08:37. > :08:39.problem. I don't think that is a positive thing, I think that is a
:08:40. > :08:43.bad thing. She is a self-declared atheist. At least bring in another
:08:44. > :08:48.perspective, someone who actually believes. It makes absolutely no
:08:49. > :08:52.sense to me. To another contentious point, on the front of the
:08:53. > :08:58.Telegraph, there are a few things but notably Brexit, and the Prime
:08:59. > :09:04.Minister's latest thoughts on this. If ever there is a running topic it
:09:05. > :09:08.is this one, isn't it? Yes, and the Telegraph as saying that Downing
:09:09. > :09:11.Street officials are now saying that there is only marginally better than
:09:12. > :09:15.a 50% chance of Cameron campaigning to stay in the EU because he is
:09:16. > :09:18.fearful that he is not going to get some of the reforms he is asking for
:09:19. > :09:23.from his fellow European leaders. Now remember, this is a tactical
:09:24. > :09:28.battle. In other words, he wants to raise the stakes. We are going to
:09:29. > :09:39.leave, it is a 50% chance unless you change your mind. I would be very
:09:40. > :09:42.surprised, even if Cameron doesn't get his way on migrant benefits, for
:09:43. > :09:45.him to campaign to leave the EU. Because he must know that EU and
:09:46. > :09:47.other migrants are net contributors to the Exchequer, that they add to
:09:48. > :09:51.economic activity. I suspect this is a gambit, a tactical move. Is this
:09:52. > :09:56.an economic or political debate? The two may not come together. In order
:09:57. > :09:59.to get what he wants from the EU is going to raise the level of
:10:00. > :10:03.probability in their minds that we might leave. I agree there is a
:10:04. > :10:07.political issue about sovereignty as well but ultimately I think it is in
:10:08. > :10:12.our interests to be in from a political and economic perspective.
:10:13. > :10:19.It was quite surprising because usually Angela Merkel and the Prime
:10:20. > :10:24.Minister's closest allies indicate that, and she has made it very clear
:10:25. > :10:29.that she opposes this plan for the denying of in work and efforts to EU
:10:30. > :10:34.migrants. So we will see how this goes because I do think that with
:10:35. > :10:36.the push out of the referendum there are going to be several
:10:37. > :10:45.ramifications that come out of that, not just kind of Britain's exit from
:10:46. > :10:56.the euro. Now, in the FT, an intriguing story about Wetherspoons
:10:57. > :11:01.in the FT. We have heard a few hacks over the years. This is an unlikely
:11:02. > :11:05.one. For several reasons. I am surprised that we haven't...
:11:06. > :11:08.Probably because of all the other things that have gone on this week
:11:09. > :11:14.it has slipped to the bottom of the list. So Wetherspoons, one of the
:11:15. > :11:25.biggest pub groups in the UK, has suffered an attack. 656,723
:11:26. > :11:28.customers. So that is four times as much as the TalkTalk hack in
:11:29. > :11:32.October. I remember the day when we were doing the news here TalkTalk
:11:33. > :11:35.was all over the papers, however this has affected four times as much
:11:36. > :11:39.and is actually down at the bottom. That is not the funniest part about
:11:40. > :11:42.it. The funniest part is that they received an e-mail. So the Chief
:11:43. > :11:47.Executive receives an e-mail saying you have been hacked. And then the
:11:48. > :11:52.spam filters, the company's spam filters catch it. So they receive an
:11:53. > :11:55.e-mail on six November and it is only that the Financial Times had to
:11:56. > :11:59.go back and reported to them, and tell them that you have been hacked,
:12:00. > :12:04.you received this e-mail. That is quite funny. That has got to be the
:12:05. > :12:10.definition of technological irony, when your security prevents you
:12:11. > :12:15.learning you have been hacked. It makes us realise we are all quite
:12:16. > :12:19.vulnerable. I worry about my capacity to protect my own
:12:20. > :12:22.information. When you give your information to a big corporate that
:12:23. > :12:25.are super sophisticated and have teams in quitting your information
:12:26. > :12:31.but they are still had, that worries me even more. But it is an arms
:12:32. > :12:35.race, isn't it? Between the security people who want to sell their
:12:36. > :12:38.software at the protect the information on the hackers were just
:12:39. > :12:41.a sophisticated. And this is a story that is just going to keep going. I
:12:42. > :12:46.don't think it will ever go away. There is not going to be a silver
:12:47. > :12:51.bullet that stops hacking. I didn't even know you could buy from
:12:52. > :12:54.Wetherspoons online. TalkTalk I kind of understood. I think it was to be
:12:55. > :13:04.with people who had bought online vouchers. There we are. No one is
:13:05. > :13:09.safe. I'm not sure how many people buy online vouchers. 656,723. When
:13:10. > :13:13.they first announced that it was about 100 so somewhere along the
:13:14. > :13:18.line it has got a lot bigger. Going back to the Telegraph, plastic bags.
:13:19. > :13:25.Who wants to kick us off on plastic bags? Do you have a strong opinion
:13:26. > :13:29.on this one? I love a stick, I love the charge on plastic bags. And so
:13:30. > :13:32.the story is fantastic. What it is it is saying is, results are in,
:13:33. > :13:41.especially from focusing on Tesco. The 5p charge cuts shoppers' plastic
:13:42. > :13:44.bag used by four fifths. In less than two months, Tesco customers
:13:45. > :14:08.used 78% fewer plastic bags. We've got a minute left. The plight
:14:09. > :14:18.of Kenneth Women's. The diarist to rival Papys. Rightly being compared
:14:19. > :14:24.with Papys. -- Pepys. One of the lines read out was in walking
:14:25. > :14:30.through London, a time when being out and being gay was very
:14:31. > :14:35.difficult, surrounded by fans and admirers and yet feeling desperately
:14:36. > :14:41.lonely. It is a cliche, the mask of the comedian and the loneliness
:14:42. > :14:43.within, and he articulate it with an acuteness that is devastating. For
:14:44. > :14:47.those who have never read them, they are extraordinary pieces of
:14:48. > :14:54.literature. We are out of time. It was a humdinger. Humdinger! Great
:14:55. > :14:58.word. Thank you both for your company. That is it for the papers.
:14:59. > :14:59.Coming up next,