Browse content similar to 26/11/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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This is BBC World News Today, with me Kasia Madera. Will the United | :00:00. | :00:10. | |
Kingdom be divided? Scottish MPs lay down the case for independence. | :00:11. | :00:13. | |
A blueprint is released explaining just how it would work, ahead of a | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
referendum next year. Opponents say the document is a work of fiction. | :00:19. | :00:23. | |
France scrambles troops towards the Central African Republic, amid | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
intensifying violence, and fears the country will implode. | :00:27. | :00:30. | |
Also coming up: Lebanon's liberal reputation under | :00:31. | :00:33. | |
threat. We uncover evidence of police intimidation towards gay | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
people. And until recently, no-one knew this | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
John Constable oil painting even existed. Just where did museum staff | :00:42. | :00:48. | |
find it? Hello and welcome. The great debate | :00:49. | :01:06. | |
about the future of Great Britain is heating up. A blueprint for Scottish | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
independence has been released, detailing just how Scotland would | :01:10. | :01:14. | |
operate outside the United Kingdom. The plan would see it collect its | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
own taxes but keep the pound sterling and stay in the European | :01:19. | :01:28. | |
Union. Scotland joined England to form the | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Since 1999, it has had its own | :01:33. | :01:39. | |
devolved parliament, which allows it to make laws in a limited capacity. | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
The Scottish National Party is pushing for independence and | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
outlined today why Scots should make the move. There will be a referendum | :01:49. | :01:55. | |
next September. For nationalists, the campaign has | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
moved into an ambitious new phase. The most significant milestone to | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
date on the long march to independence and the first detailed | :02:05. | :02:06. | |
account of the character, shape and spirit of the new nation they hope | :02:07. | :02:13. | |
will soon be born. An independent Scotland could have the eighth | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
highest economic output and the 10th highest national income per head of | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
population in the whole of the developed world. | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
So what would an independent Scotland look like? It would be a | :02:26. | :02:30. | |
kingdom with the Queen as head of state. It would join NATO but demand | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
the removal of submarine-born Trident missiles within four years. | :02:37. | :02:39. | |
It would keep the pound as part of a sterling zone with the rest of the | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
UK. This is not a final blueprint for independence. It is simply the | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
Scottish Government's starting point for an 18 month period of | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
negotiations after a yes vote. It rests on a lot of assumptions. It | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
assumes, for example, that the EU will accept Scotland as a | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
continuing, rather than as a new, member. NATO will accept a | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
nuclear-free Scotland without Trident. But the UK government will | :03:06. | :03:09. | |
agree to share the pound was an independent Scotland in a currency | :03:10. | :03:14. | |
union. -- that the UK government. What is the UK government refused to | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
share the pound? Then an independent Scotland, Alex Salmond told me, my | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
refused to share but's National Debtline these things follow as | :03:25. | :03:27. | |
night follows day. Scotland have indicated they willingness in this | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
document to accept the financing of some of the massive obligations and | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
liabilities that have been built up Alistair da and George Osbourne. | :03:37. | :03:39. | |
That is predicated on the share of assets. You have to share both sides | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
of the balance sheet. -- Alistair Darling. This is a country of two | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
national identities interwoven. Many here are genuinely torn. Opponents | :03:51. | :03:56. | |
of independence say Alex Salmond's blueprint is mere wishful thinking. | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
He has nothing new to say. He simply repeats the assertions and claims he | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
has been making for years. He says there will be a currency union but | :04:07. | :04:10. | |
ignores the fact there would have to be a negotiation and any | :04:11. | :04:12. | |
negotiation, you do not get everything you want. It takes two to | :04:13. | :04:15. | |
reach an agreement. The same with Europe. The idea that 27 European | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
countries will roll over and give him everything he wants is nonsense. | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
There is a danger in this line of attack. For pro-independence | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
campaigners see this as a battle between the somewhat promise of a | :04:29. | :04:31. | |
new start and the fearful caution of the status quo. Might that yet swing | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
it? Joining me from | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
Our correspondent joins us now from Edinburgh. Is this a blueprint or | :04:44. | :04:51. | |
wish list? That is precisely what will be debated from now until | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
referendum day. Some people believe that today we would see almost the | :04:56. | :04:58. | |
birth of a new nation, that we would see the excitement, if you like, as | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
the parents of that new nation, the Scottish First Minister and Nicola | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
Sturgeon, really revealed what it was all about. It was actually a | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
much more low-key event. It felt like to business executives trying | :05:13. | :05:18. | |
to reassure at the launch of some exercise in corporate rebranding. I | :05:19. | :05:20. | |
think there is a good reason for that. The opinion polls still show | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
that many Scots are sceptical about the case for an entirely new | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
country. Therefore, a great big document was produced today which in | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
one sense said that a great deal would change if this country became | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
independent and yet rather a lot would not change. It would carry on | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
having the Queen as its head of state, it would continue to have the | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
pound is currency, it would try to join the EU and join NATO, just like | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
the UK. Things like pensions, a cause of such concern, would be | :05:53. | :05:59. | |
played broadly as they are now. -- paid. At the same ten, the | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
prospective authors, if you give Scotland the power to make its own | :06:04. | :06:06. | |
decisions and choices, if, for example, this country could stop | :06:07. | :06:10. | |
spending money on nuclear weapons and choose to spend it on public | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
services instead, there are a whole series of goodies laid out before | :06:16. | :06:18. | |
the electorate. You could have more childcare, you could have fairer | :06:19. | :06:22. | |
taxes, you could have a series of changes designed to make this more | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
appealing to that broad mass of Scots who are not yet convinced for | :06:29. | :06:34. | |
an independent Scotland but are not entirely persuaded against it thank | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
you very much. Nick Robinson there from Edinburgh. We are going to stay | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
in Edinburgh because we are joined by David Torrance. David, I know | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
that one of the books that you have written is a biography of Alex | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
Salmond. You think he has made the case? Not quite. He has certainly | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
made more of a case on perhaps he had before. The document he unsealed | :06:58. | :07:05. | |
this morning with Nicola Sturgeon is certainly competence. It is slickly | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
produced and he can now say, one of people questions at him, but it is | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
in this document, look under this section. -- that he unveiled this | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
morning. Of course, the White Paper does not, and could not, and is | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
unequivocally that there is more information available Mozilla was | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
before this morning. One criticism was that Alex Salmond | :07:31. | :07:33. | |
has made lots of assumptions, that he assumes that Scotland will keep | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
the pound, that Scotland will stay in the EU. This is not a given. | :07:39. | :07:43. | |
There are lots of different factors in this. No. And there is very | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
little in the White Paper that could be asserted as an unequivocal fact | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
for all those reasons. It is dependent on a yes vote and of | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
course the opinion polls show that is unlikely. At least for the time | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
being. It is also predicated on the negotiations that would follow a yes | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
vote, going relatively well and the SNP heading up those negotiations, | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
getting everything he wanted on currency, defence and so on. It is | :08:13. | :08:16. | |
also predicated, certainly on the longer term, the aspirational | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
elements are predicated on the simply being in government in and | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
dependent Scotland not just for a term but probably for quite a long | :08:26. | :08:31. | |
time. -- on the SNP being in government. | :08:32. | :08:34. | |
What about the basics, this question of child care, something that lots | :08:35. | :08:36. | |
of people would be very pleased to hear about. Apparently this could be | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
done now. Why not do it now? Nicola Sturgeon was asked that question | :08:43. | :08:44. | |
this morning and said, not unreasonably, you need full control | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
of the economic levers in order to push through something on that | :08:50. | :08:53. | |
scale. That is half true. Much of it could be implemented at the moment. | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
But the presence of policy commitments like that childcare | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
proposal did jar slightly, not just because much of it is already | :09:02. | :09:06. | |
devolved but also because it seemed a little prosaic. Childcare is very | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
important but a very prosaic way to see this is the compelling case for | :09:12. | :09:14. | |
the independence of a nation. Do you think that the economy, how well off | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
people feel that they are, is that going to be the driving force behind | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
this? Anecdotally and in terms of opinion polls, that seems to be the | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
dominant issue. Every see people questioned about independence, that | :09:30. | :09:31. | |
is what they say. How can we afford it? Would be better off? Or would be | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
worse off? Economic 's dominated this. It is all predicated on an | :09:36. | :09:42. | |
independent Scotland performing economically very well and its | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
citizens be better off than they are now. David, at the moment, opinion | :09:47. | :09:53. | |
polls suggesting that a round 63% of people who vote would vote to stay | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
within the UK. What is your, if we are going to take a bit on this, | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
what do you think is going to happen? I think the opinion polls | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
will not change very much, not as a result of this white paper. | :10:07. | :10:11. | |
Certainly not until next summer, when things really kick off. Most | :10:12. | :10:14. | |
people expect there to be some narrowing in the polls. I think that | :10:15. | :10:21. | |
is almost inevitable. As many have said, many experts on referendums | :10:22. | :10:24. | |
and elections, in order to stand any chance of winning a referendum like | :10:25. | :10:30. | |
this, the side proposing a change, in this case the pro-independence | :10:31. | :10:35. | |
camp, needs to enter with a pretty commanding lead of around ten | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
points. They are nowhere near that at the moment. Perhaps the White | :10:39. | :10:41. | |
Paper will help them turn that around. There is little indication | :10:42. | :10:47. | |
as yet. David, good to talk to you. To other news now. The French | :10:48. | :10:50. | |
government is scrambling an additional 1,000 soldiers to the | :10:51. | :10:54. | |
Central African Republic. They will be part of an African Union led | :10:55. | :10:57. | |
force that is trying to bring stability to a country that is, in | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
the words of the UN, descending into complete chaos. 10% of the | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
population have fled their homes and one million people need urgent food | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
aid. The current crisis began when rebels ousted the President in | :11:10. | :11:20. | |
March. Damian Zane reports. There is a desperate situation in | :11:21. | :11:23. | |
parts of the Central African Republic, with little sign of things | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
getting better. Tens of thousands have sought refuge in this compound | :11:29. | :11:35. | |
at a Catholic mission. The aid agency MSF says more security is | :11:36. | :11:39. | |
needed. Right now, we have hundreds of thousands of people estimated, up | :11:40. | :11:46. | |
to 400,000 people, that have been reading out in the bush for the past | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
couple of weeks, completely on their own, without access to clean | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
drinking water, a difficult time for them to reach the sectors. It is a | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
difficult situation for them right now. On Monday night, the UN tried | :12:00. | :12:06. | |
to address that situation and the ambassador from the Central African | :12:07. | :12:09. | |
Republic echo the warnings of other diplomats. TRANSLATION: The report | :12:10. | :12:17. | |
of the secretary general latest development on the positions adopted | :12:18. | :12:23. | |
by the French and Americans, will bring about genocide of nothing is | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
not understand. We need free, transparent credible elections | :12:30. | :12:33. | |
within two months but it has been threatened within the great | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
instability. The president has been unable to | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
control his former rebel allies. The mainly Muslim and -- Muslim militias | :12:45. | :12:53. | |
and Christian militias have been attacking each other's communities. | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
There has also been a rise in sexual violence, torture and summary | :12:59. | :13:01. | |
executions. Without stability and an end to the law and looting, little | :13:02. | :13:07. | |
progress can be made. The forces need help. The plan is to bolster | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
their numbers and give it UN backing. Concerns remain about what | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
will happen to the people while they wait for more soldiers to arrive. | :13:15. | :13:21. | |
We're also joined by the BBC's David Chazan in Paris. David, these 1000 | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
French troops, do we know where they're going be deployed? We do not | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
know exactly where but the main idea is for them to restore security in | :13:32. | :13:37. | |
the capital and also on the main roads leading to neighbouring Chad | :13:38. | :13:44. | |
and Cameron saw that supplies can be brought in because the aid agencies | :13:45. | :13:47. | |
are saying there is a severe hunger problem developing. In terms of | :13:48. | :13:56. | |
France sending troops there, the French minister was saying that if | :13:57. | :13:59. | |
France does not do it, nobody else will. Is that your understanding? I | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
think Franz's uniquely placed among the Western powers to do this, not | :14:06. | :14:11. | |
only is it a former colonial powers or has a good sense of what the | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
country is like but it also has thousands of soldiers already in | :14:17. | :14:21. | |
place in the neighbouring countries. Places like Cameroon and | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
the Ivory Coast. It has a lot of soldiers also on a ship in the Gulf | :14:27. | :14:31. | |
of Guinea. So France can get these troops into position very rapidly. | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
France is warning, and the UN as well, that the country is on the | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
verge of genocide. Do people back in Paris, back in France, today support | :14:42. | :14:48. | |
this move? This is the second time that France is sending forces into a | :14:49. | :14:51. | |
former French colony. -- do they support this move? That is right. | :14:52. | :15:02. | |
France sent thousands of troops to Mali in January in a move that has | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
been seen as largely successful. A lot of people feel that France will | :15:07. | :15:09. | |
also be successful in restoring order in the Central African | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
Republic. But there have already been some criticism from the | :15:16. | :15:22. | |
centre-right, the UN party, which is asking why the governing Socialists | :15:23. | :15:28. | |
are making big cuts in the defence budget but sending troops into | :15:29. | :15:31. | |
another African country. Some people here in France will be wondering why | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
the Government has decided to do this at a time when the economy is | :15:37. | :15:43. | |
struggling and unemployment is rising and there are cuts that the | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
two be made across the. Having said that, there are a lot of people who | :15:47. | :15:53. | |
will welcome this intervention. -- there are cuts that need to be | :15:54. | :16:00. | |
made. We think this is France restoring its historic role. | :16:01. | :16:04. | |
President Putin has hit back at criticism from the EU which has | :16:05. | :16:07. | |
accused Russia of putting political and economic pressure on Ukraine not | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
to sign a trade agreement. He said it should end what he called its | :16:12. | :16:14. | |
sharp words about Ukraine's apparent turn towards Russia. Big crowds | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
continue to demonstrate against Kiev's decision. Our correspondent | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
Steve Rosenberg reports on how Ukraine has been torn between East | :16:23. | :16:23. | |
and West. At the Kiev Opera, it is a story of | :16:24. | :16:38. | |
love and bitter rivalry. Two suitors, one fair maiden. It is just | :16:39. | :16:46. | |
like the story of Ukraine. Two world powers, the European Union | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
and Russia, have been competing for closer ties with Kiev. At who Ian | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
Bryce? Ukraine has had a big decision to make. On the one hand, | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
should it an historic trade agreement with the European Union | :17:02. | :17:04. | |
that would turn this country very much towards Europe? Or should it | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
look East and join Russia's economic bloc? The pressure on Ukraine to | :17:10. | :17:12. | |
decide one way or the other has become huge. That includes economic | :17:13. | :17:21. | |
pressure. Early this year, Russia banned imports from Ukraine's | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
largest confectioner. And it imposed trade restrictions on the Ukrainian | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
companies, a strong hint that Kiev should think twice before distancing | :17:32. | :17:36. | |
itself from Moscow. The whole world clearly understands that the real | :17:37. | :17:40. | |
reason for these problems is it as a form of pressure on Ukraine because | :17:41. | :17:49. | |
of the necessity to make a strategic decision about our future | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
development. But that pressure has had an effect. Last week, Ukraine's | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
government announced it had put on hold the association agreement with | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
the EU. It would concentrate instead on repairing economic ties with | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
Moscow. TRANSLATION: Over the last year, | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
trade between Russia and Ukraine fell by 25%. That is a huge blow to | :18:13. | :18:21. | |
our economy. We spoke to officials months ago on how they would | :18:22. | :18:24. | |
compensate a but all we got were compensations that Ukraine would | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
profit medium to long-term. The decision by the government has | :18:30. | :18:32. | |
sparked anger on the streets. In Kiev, pro-EU protesters have clashed | :18:33. | :18:37. | |
with riot police. They accused the authorities of dragging Ukraine back | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
to the soviet union. And they demanded the release from Trail of | :18:41. | :18:48. | |
-- the release from jail of their former opposition leader. If they | :18:49. | :18:58. | |
are not willing to embrace European standards and values than they are | :18:59. | :19:02. | |
not willing to play by the rules of the European Union. These protesters | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
say they will stay on the streets until the Ukraine government chooses | :19:07. | :19:09. | |
a different path, one that will lead to Europe. | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
Now a look at some of the day's other news. | :19:14. | :19:15. | |
Demonstrators in Thailand's capital Bangkok are continuing to target | :19:16. | :19:17. | |
government ministries, occupying some and surrounding others, in a | :19:18. | :19:20. | |
protest against the administration of Prime Minister Yingluck | :19:21. | :19:23. | |
Shinawatra. An arrest warrant has been issued for one of the protest | :19:24. | :19:26. | |
leaders in connection with the occupation. Meanwhile, the Thai | :19:27. | :19:29. | |
Parliament is debating a no-confidence motion against Ms | :19:30. | :19:31. | |
Yingluck. The protesters say they aim to paralyse the government in a | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
bid to force the Prime Minister to step down. | :19:36. | :19:38. | |
Here in the UK, a police officer is to be charged with misconduct in | :19:39. | :19:41. | |
public office. The officer is accused of falsely claiming to have | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
witnessed a foul- mouthed confrontation between a senior | :19:45. | :19:47. | |
member of the Government, Andrew Mitchell, and Downing Street police. | :19:48. | :19:50. | |
Mr Mitchell, who was alleged to have called police "plebs", resigned over | :19:51. | :19:55. | |
the affair. In total, eight police officers are facing disciplinary | :19:56. | :20:05. | |
proceedings. Lebanon, with its vibrant nightlife, | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
is often seen as one of the more liberal countries of the Middle | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
East. It has a reputation as being relatively tolerant of gay people in | :20:14. | :20:16. | |
a predominantly conservative region. But campaigners say they're | :20:17. | :20:18. | |
increasingly concerned that that is changing. Human Rights Watch says it | :20:19. | :20:22. | |
has evidence that homosexual men are being subjected to abuse by police, | :20:23. | :20:23. | |
as Sima Kotecha reports from Beirut. Beirut comes alive under darkness. | :20:24. | :20:37. | |
It's liberal and modern, lined with bars and clubs, and it is where | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
masculinity matches stereotypes. But this city has an underground gay | :20:43. | :20:45. | |
scene that is private yet very much alive. Lebanon became the first Arab | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
country to declassify homosexuality as a disease but it still has | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
legislation which could be used to criminalise homosexuals. Beirut is | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
often thought of as a safe haven for gay people across the Arab world. In | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
some countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, being homosexual can lead to | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
the death penalty. But recently, much has happened here that has | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
revealed cracks in this city's liberal facade. There have been | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
claims here that police have been subjecting gay people to intrusive | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
anal testing. This man, who doesn't want to show his face, says he was | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
arrested for being gay. He claims doctors conducted an intimate | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
inspection on him to find out if he had had homosexual sex. It was | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
really demeaning. It made me feel like I don't have body rights. Eye | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
was repressed for a long time. I was very resentful and just alone. Human | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
Rights Watch says even though the government has condemned and banned | :21:52. | :21:54. | |
this kind of testing, it is still going on. Human Rights Watch is very | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
concerned about the problem of abuse and ill-treatment against gays and | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
lesbians, bisexual people, transgender people in Lebanon. The | :22:05. | :22:06. | |
way they are treated by wider society but also the abuse, the | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
torture and ill-treatment they are subjected to and kept in cells and | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
attention. We have documented very serious patterns of abuse and that | :22:15. | :22:20. | |
needs to end. But some people here insist that homosexuality is wrong. | :22:21. | :22:26. | |
It is male and female and this is the normal life. Male and female, | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
not male and male or female and female. Being in jail is not enough. | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
They should tell them they are doing the wrong thing and they should stop | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
all of this... Erm... This mistake. It is a mistake, after all. These | :22:43. | :22:47. | |
sorts of views are in line with the religious teachings of Islam but | :22:48. | :22:50. | |
there is an argument here that people should move with the times. | :22:51. | :22:56. | |
Recently we reported on a huge haul of Nazi-looted art which contained | :22:57. | :22:59. | |
hundreds of previously unknown works by masters. Well, now we can tell | :23:00. | :23:05. | |
you about another discovery. This oil sketch by John Constable has | :23:06. | :23:08. | |
been uncovered by staff at London's Victoria Albert Museum. They | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
didn't find it in some long-lost private collection, but hidden | :23:14. | :23:15. | |
inside another of his works that belongs to the museum. | :23:16. | :23:20. | |
With me is Estelle Lovatt, who's an art critic here in London. Thank you | :23:21. | :23:30. | |
very much for coming to speak to us. It is an incredible story, the | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
fact that this lovely oil sketch was actually not this covered for so | :23:36. | :23:39. | |
many years but was inside a different painting. Can you tell us | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
about how it was found? Yes, his daughter left the V most of his | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
works, over 600 of them, and the conservation Department there had | :23:50. | :23:52. | |
removed the backing and they were going to put the painting to be | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
included in an exhibition, and they found it behind the lining, so this | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
is an extraordinary find. They did see through an X-ray there was | :24:03. | :24:05. | |
something there but they were not sure what it was, but to find a | :24:06. | :24:10. | |
sketch like this. The best thing about Constable was his sky | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
sketches. He is more of a skyscape used than a landscape is. And it is | :24:15. | :24:22. | |
so beautiful. They have this lovely white quality called Constable | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
snows. And we in this country never really appreciated his landscapes. | :24:29. | :24:36. | |
They were not considered high enough or fine enough to be considered fine | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
art. So he had to exhibit in France. And for the French to tell us, you | :24:41. | :24:47. | |
have a great painter on your hands! And he was a great impressionist | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
because he painted an open air. So this is an extraordinary find and | :24:53. | :24:55. | |
I'm hoping it will rekindle our love of Constable. It is just remarkable | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
that for so many years nobody knew it existed, but he was known very | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
well for reusing his canvases or painting on the other side, so maybe | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
it is not that unusual to find a Constable like this? There are lots | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
of things to consider. He was quite a mean man, he had seven children to | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
bring up, he didn't have much of an income from his very wealthy family | :25:19. | :25:23. | |
because they disapproved firstly of his being a painter and then they | :25:24. | :25:26. | |
thought his wife was too young to marry, so they kept his money | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
limited. But also, he never sold that much. He was a contemporary of | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
Turner's. And then he turned his hand to portraits but they were | :25:38. | :25:40. | |
awful. So he never really made a living as and artist. But he made a | :25:41. | :25:48. | |
good living giving lectures on how to paint beautiful clouds. And we | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
believe these clouds are in North London, Hampstead. You are | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
absolutely right, yes. And he took his wife there because she was very | :26:00. | :26:08. | |
ill. And being 400 feet above the city, he thought this was the | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
cleanest air in London. And this is going to be at the VNA, so we can | :26:14. | :26:20. | |
all enjoy it? Absolutely. He is an artist who can work very small or | :26:21. | :26:26. | |
very big. Thank you for talking us through this remarkable find. A John | :26:27. | :26:29. | |
Constable that has been found hidden within another of his paintings. A | :26:30. | :26:34. | |
remarkable story. Thank you. From all of us here, thank you for | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
watching the programme. Don't forget, you can catch up as there is | :26:39. | :26:42. | |
much more on our website and you can also follow me on Twitter. From all | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
of us on the team, thank you for watching. Good night. | :26:48. | :26:56. | |
Good evening. I think we should be virtually frost free tonight as we | :26:57. | :27:02. | |
have cloudy skies and milder air spreading across the UK around this | :27:03. | :27:07. | |
big area of high pressure. A warm front is pushing southwards | :27:08. | :27:10. | |
introducing milder air at least for a time. But producing outbreaks of | :27:11. | :27:15. | |
rain as well. Fairly light and patchy, mind you, but it will stay | :27:16. | :27:22. | |
dull, damp and misty around the south of the UK. Temperatures will | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
pick up to ten or 11 degrees with some sunshine over the Pennines but | :27:29. | :27:31. | |
across the South, | :27:32. | :27:32. |