Gillian Duffy asked Nick Clegg if he was happy with coalition policies
Gillian Duffy – famously called “bigoted” by Gordon Brown last year – has been tackling Nick Clegg about the coalition. So can members of the public make good interviewers?
It’s that woman again. When Nick Clegg came to Rochdale to visit a factory on Tuesday, pensioner Gillian Duffy was waiting for him. He greeted her with a friendly smile, and was then given a grilling.
This was, apparently, no chance encounter. Since an open mic caught Gordon Brown calling her a “bigoted woman” almost a year ago, Mrs Duffy has been befriended by the local Labour MP, Simon Danczuk. He reportedly alerted her to Mr Clegg’s visit and suggested she take the chance to have her say.
And that she did, repeatedly pressing the deputy prime minister on his choice of coalition partner. So how did she fare as an interviewer?
“She clearly has a natural ability to ask tough questions of politicians – she did it last year with Gordon Brown,” says Richard Bacon, of BBC Radio 5 live.
He admires her ability to cut through misdirection – a tactic politicians often use when faced with tricky questions.
When MPs meet ‘real’ people
Remember Diana Gould, the housewife from Cheltenham, politely skewering Mrs Thatcher over the sinking of the Belgrano? Sharon Storer making things very uncomfortable for Tony Blair over the quality of cancer care her partner was receiving?
Sometimes chance confrontations with members of the public prove far tougher than even the most aggressive traditional political interview.
As for Gillian Duffy, does she cut it as an interviewer? She certainly gets marks for persistence, asking the same question more than once. She’s direct, and uses plain language.
And she shows no sign of fear, repeatedly tackling the most senior politicians in the land without any sign of being intimidated by their entourage.
More than anything else, perhaps Mrs Duffy is blessed with the skill all journalists crave, but can’t learn – being in the right place at the right time.
Clegg ambushed by Gillian Duffy
“You ask them a question, they set out their own premise and then answer that. Nick Clegg did this.”
Mrs Duffy asked Mr Clegg whether he could look her in the eye and say he was happy with the coalition’s policy decisions. He replied: “I tell you what, whoever was in power now, any government now, would have to take difficult decisions.”
She is the latest voter to put a political leader on the spot. In 2001, Sharon Storer angrily challenged Tony Blair about the hospital conditions her ill partner had to endure. And in 1983, Diana Gould repeatedly asked Margaret Thatcher why the Argentine warship General Belgrano was sunk when it was outside an exclusion zone.
These “citizen interviewers” benefit from having an agenda, coming with just one question that demands an answer.
And Dr Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, of the Cardiff School of Journalism, says this is why the public play an increasingly central role in news-gathering.
“Ordinary people might be seen to embody the interests and viewpoints of the audience, and better represent their interests than professional journalists, who are sometimes viewed as an elite group that’s out of touch.”
Bacon agrees.
“They can be quite single-minded, and become like a dog with a bone. But the professional interviewer has to remain courteous and come to it with a broader remit,” he says, adding that he sometimes has a list of up to 30 questions.
Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis says voters-turned-interviewers are less encumbered by what they’re “supposed” to ask, or what producers are telling them to ask, so can cut to the chase.
“But just because you are an ordinary person, and look a politician in the eye and say ‘trust me Nick, what do you really feel’ doesn’t mean Nick Clegg is about to break down in tears and treat you like you’re his mum.
“She got exactly the same response as a TV interview an hour earlier. That is clearly Nick Clegg’s answer to a question he has answered many, many times before.”
Emma Gilliam, a lecturer at Cardiff School of Journalism, says questions from members of the public are more likely to be partial – but no less interesting for being subjective and, at times, emotional.
“It’s like when you have a conversation with someone who is engaged. Your brain goes in a great gear, you’re inquisitive.
“Take, for example, a planning application row. A journalist will come at it objectively and get both sides of the story. But someone faced with the prospect of a block of flats being built at the end of their garden is going to come at it subjectively. But it will still be interesting.”
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The Art Fund helped raise money to save the Staffordshire Hoard
A charity that helps Britain’s museums and galleries to buy works of art has said it is going increase its level of funding by more than 50% by 2014.
The Art Fund, which currently distributes £4.5m annually, will increase its funding to £7m a year.
It said the move was in response “to the severe financial pressures facing most institutions”.
The charity has given more than £24m to 248 museums over the past five years through grants and fundraising.
The Art Fund also announced its plans to develop and expand its funding programme.
It said it would run more public fundraising campaigns to save art at risk of being lost from UK collections, such as its recent £6m Brueghel and Staffordshire Hoard campaigns.
The charity has also formed a new partnership with the National Gallery to offer funded curatorial traineeships in two regional museums.
Tate director Nicholas Serota said: “I applaud the bold commitment of the Art Fund at a time when so many funding bodies are reducing their support for museums.
“If our museums are to thrive, we must continue to grow and develop our collections.”
The Art Fund also relaunched its membership card – which will now be known as the National Art Pass – offering free or discount admission to more than 200 museums and galleries.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Wilders has actively campaigned for a halt to the “Islamisation” of the Netherlands
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The Amsterdam trial of the leading Dutch politician Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred against Muslims has resumed.
Last month a judge ruled that the trial would go ahead, overturning a decision last October to halt it.
Testimony is being heard from two Arab world experts – Hans Jansen and Bertus Hendriks – and a judge, Tom Schalken.
Mr Wilders’s Freedom Party (PVV) is not in the coalition government, but the party’s support keeps it in power.
He has described Islam as “fascist”, comparing the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
He insists his remarks on Islam were part of a legitimate political debate.
Last year Mr Wilders’s lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, argued that Judge Schalken had acted in a way prejudicial to Mr Wilders.
His argument was upheld by a review committee and new judges were appointed.
Judge Schalken had allegedly tried to discuss the case with Hans Jansen at a dinner party last May, before the trial had begun.
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Asos sells clothing and accessories based on those worn by celebrities
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Online fashion retailer Asos has said that overseas sales have overtaken those in the UK for the first time.
In the three months to the end of March, international sales rose 161% to £48.4m compared with a year ago. UK sales were up 24% to £44.9m.
Asos has reported strong results in recent years and is bucking the current downbeat retail trend in the UK.
The British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday that retail sales in March had seen their worst fall since 1996.
For the full year, Asos said UK sales were up 24% while international sales rose 144%.
The company said it expected profit for the year ahead to be “towards the top end of expectations”.
Unlike many retailers who have expressed caution in their forward-looking statements, Asos chief executive Nick Robertson said the group had approached the new financial year with “confidence” and was “excited” about its prospects.
Shares in Asos were up 9% to 1,863p in morning trading.
Nick Bubb, a retail analyst at Arden Partners, was impressed with the results, describing the UK performance as resilient and its international sales growth as “mind-blowing”.
“We have to take our hats off to Asos and acknowledge that its burgeoning global expansion is likely to continue to attract a big fan club,” he said.
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The research examined the relationship between tolerance and classroom ethnic diversity
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As pupils from ethnic minorities increase their competence in the classroom, their white peers become less tolerant, according to research.
The Institute of Education, University of London, study suggests white British pupils feel “threatened” by high-achieving black and Asian children.
It also found white pupils performed better as classes became more diverse.
Researchers examined data on England, Germany and Sweden from a 1999 study of 90,000 14-year-olds in 28 countries.
“It seems that the ethnic minorities are only accepted by majority pupils if they stay in a subordinate position”
Dr Jan Germen Janmaat Institute of Education
The results show that in England, a 50% increase in the “civic competence” – the knowledge and skills that citizens needed to participate effectively in a democratic society – of ethnic minority pupils coincided with a 20% drop in the tolerance of white British pupils.
Report author Dr Jan Germen Janmaat, from the Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies, said: “As soon as minorities assert themselves and become as competent as the majority, the latter may well become defensive and intolerant.
“It seems that the ethnic minorities are only accepted by majority pupils if they stay in a subordinate position.
“This may be down to competitive anxieties – ethnic groups may not be perceived as a threat when they are struggling to succeed, but as they increase their status and become more adept at finding their way in society this seems to change.”
Dr Janmaat said the findings could be even more relevant in today’s climate of tougher competition for jobs.
“If even in times of great optimism and economic growth such as the late 1990s we see the phenomenon of ‘competitive anxiety’, it is likely to be even stronger in times of scarcity.”
The study also found a small correlation between classroom diversity and the civic competence of white British students.
The more diverse the classroom, the better the white students performed, it found, contradicting the belief that diversity undermines the performance of white British students.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
MPs could introduce a new offence of causing death by dangerous cycling. But how much of a danger do these two-wheeled travellers really pose?
There is little that divides UK public opinion more sharply than cyclists.
To their supporters, Britain’s bike-riders are clean, green, commuters-with-a-conscience, who relieve congestion on the nation’s roads while keeping themselves fit.
But to certain newspapers, and indeed plenty of motorists, they are “lycra louts”, jumping red lights, hurtling past pedestrians on pavements and denying the Highway Code applies to them.
Now this debate – regularly articulated, with the aid of Anglo-Saxon dialect, during rush-hour traffic – has found a forum in the House of Commons, where MP Andrea Leadsom has introduced a private members’ bill to create new crimes of causing death or serious injury through dangerous or reckless cycling.
She cites the case of Rhiannon Bennett, who was 17 when she was killed by a speeding cyclist in 2007. The cyclist – who, the court heard, had shouted at Rhiannon to “move because I’m not stopping” – was fined £2,200 and escaped jail.
Pedestrian casualties 2001-09Killed by cycles: 18Seriously injured by cycles: 434Killed by cars: 3,495Seriously injured by cars: 46,245
Figures apply to Great Britain. Source: Department for Transport
The MP, herself a keen cyclist, insists she does not want to penalise Britons from getting on their bikes. Her intention is to ensure all road users take “equal responsibility” for their actions, as drivers are already subject to analogous legislation. The government has said it will consider supporting the bill.
But the discussion raises the question of how much of a danger bicycles actually pose on the nation’s roads.
Cycling campaigners insist the popular perceptions of rampaging cyclists are not supported by statistical evidence. According to the Department for Transport (DfT), in 2009, the most recent year for which figures are available, no pedestrians were killed in Great Britain by cyclists, but 426 died in collisions with motor vehicles out of a total of 2,222 road fatalities.
Indeed, bike riders insist it is they who are vulnerable. Of the 13,272 collisions between cycles and cars in 2008, 52 cyclists died but no drivers were killed.
Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom urges MPs to back a change to the law
Alex Bailey of the Cyclists Touring Club (CTC), which lobbies on behalf of bike users, says valuable parliamentary time could and should be used more effectively to improve road safety. He says there is no need to change the law as twice in the past decade an 1861 act has been used to jail cyclists who killed pedestrians while riding on the pavement.
The notion of the marauding, aggressive cyclist causing rampage on the road, he insists, has little grounding in fact.
“It has a lot of currency in the media,” he says. “But it’s emotionally-based, not rationally-based. The problem is not about cyclists at all.”
Certainly, few would argue that the boom in cycling has led to a transformation in the activity’s public image.
Great Britain cycle safety statisticsIn 2008, pedal bikes made up 1.8% of urban, non-motorway traffic but were involved in just 0.25% of pedestrian deaths and below 1% of serious pedestrian injuriesDuring the same year, there were 13,272 recorded collisions between cars and bicycles, resulting in the deaths of 52 cyclists and no car drivers or passengersA study of collisions between cyclists and other vehicles from 2005-07 found police allocated blame to drivers in 60% of cases, to the cyclist in 30% and to both parties in the remainder
Source: Department for Transport
Are women cyclists in more danger than men? Cycle helmets – a hard case to crack
Once it might have conjured up images like that of George Orwell’s old maids “biking to Holy Communion through the mists of the autumn mornings”.
Now, at least in built-up areas, one stereotype, rightly or wrongly, is of well-paid men in expensive leisuirewear with a sense of entitlement and a refusal to conform to the same rules as everyone else.
Tony Armstrong, chief executive of Living Streets, which represents pedestrians, says that while most cyclists behave safely, it should not be ignored that “a significant minority cause concern and fear among pedestrians by their reckless and irresponsible behaviour”.
He acknowledges deaths and serious injuries caused by cyclists are relatively rare, but adds that the impact of more mundane anti-social behaviour is more difficult to quantify.
“Although fatalities are recorded, there is no way of measuring how many people have been intimidated or left feeling vulnerable by irresponsible cycling,” he says. “We know from our supporters that this is a major concern.”
The first-ever cycle crime
Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a blacksmith from Keir Mill, Dumfriesshire, is credited by most historians with inventing the pedal bicycle in 1839In 1842, a newspaper report describes “a gentleman from Dumfries-shire bestride a velocipede of ingenious design” who knocked over a little girl in Glasgow’s Gorbals area and was fined five shillingsMany believe the offender must have been Macmillan himself. He died in 1878 without ever having patented his inventionBBC – History – Kirkpatrick Macmillan
Indeed, Prof Stephen Glaister, director of motorists’ advocacy group the RAC Foundation, suggests much of the hostility on the roads stems from a lack of understanding and suggests levelling out the legislation would reassure drivers that the rules were being applied fairly.
“In some ways, road users are tribal in their nature; loyal to their fellow drivers or cyclists, and dismissive of – or antagonistic towards – those who choose to travel by another method,” he says.
“Subjecting everyone who uses the public highway to the same laws might actually forge better relationships between us all and erode the idea held by many that those who travel by an alternative mode routinely make up rules of the road to suit themselves.”
But some bike-users reject the idea that anecdote and mutual suspicion should drive policy.
In particular, Guardian columnist and cycling advocate Zoe Williams says she is exasperated by the references to red light-jumping whenever bikes are discussed.
She insists the practice largely stems from fear, not arrogance, due to the high number of cyclists killed each year by heavy goods vehicles turning left at junctions, and says ministers should concentrate on tackling such deaths if they really want to make the roads safer.
She adds: “Can you imagine if every time we talked about cars people complained about drivers doing 80mph on the motorway?
“Most cyclists are actually pretty timid. You’re constantly living on your wits because you’re vulnerable. Instead of drawing up laws like this we should be encouraging cycling and making it easier.”
The discussion will continue at Westminster. But legislating away the antipathy between cyclists and drivers will surely be a momentous challenge for MPs.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
