Tuesday, 19 June, 2007
- 19 Jun 07, 05:35 PM
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NAVY
"I welcome the report's clear recommendation that media payments to serving military or civilian personnel, for talking about their work, should simply not be allowed," so said Defence Secretary Des Browne in the Commons today.
He was talking about the way the MoD handled the media following the detention of 15 navy personnel by Iran in March. There was also another report today into the affair - into how the incident took place at all. Browne admitted collective failures led to the sailors’ seizure. Mark Urban will be analysing the significance of the reviews.
PRISONS
With the prison population topping 81,000, the Justice Secretary Lord Falconer says he will release over a thousand prisoners early to ease the overcrowding crisis. Is this the right way to be dealing with our lack of prison places? Michael Crick investigates. Join the debate here.
AFGHANISTAN
David Loyn meets the grandson of the former King of Afghanistan who's a member of a new secular opposition party. He tells us why his party, the National Front, which also includes communists and former warlords, is a challenge to President Karzai.
TRACEY EMIN
Stephen Smith has had a sneak preview of an art collection by some of Britain's top artists in aid of the NSPCC. He meets Tracey Emin - and let's say - it's a rather edgy interview.
Comments Post your comment
Oh, the media is having so much fun again blaming everyone they can think of for the "embarrasment" over the captured sailors.
One has to note, however, that the only people not being blamed are the people who wandered around with vast pockets full of cash in the first place - the media.
If they had been not so quick to put the boot in in the aftermath, then we would probably not have ended up in this situation. Can you imagine the media turning against out own sailors in WW2?
Have people forgotten that the people really at fault were the Iranians?
Greed and the hunt for a story will be the death of our pride as a country - not the behaviour of a handful of sailors.
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It is disappointing to see Mr Paxman interrupting interviewees so aggressively. An interview is surely to allow subjects to account for themselves but snarling at them after a single word is helpful to no one and is part of what is changing the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ in an unfortunate way. Leaving one side of the discussion unchallenged and in free flow can look rather like bias. Surely what we need as voters is information which is as full as possible on which to base a choice. I think it's what democracy is supposed to be based on.
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PRISONS: Lord Falcolner [who, it must be pointed out, is unelected] said on 06.05.07 that he was not going to announce early releases: "it's simply wrong" [Sky TV] but now the Justice Secretary has performed a spectacular U-turn.
The appalling mis-management of one of our major public services, the Prison Service, has led to unprecedented levels of overcrowding. Overall crime has fallen by 35% since 1997 (The Observer, 08.04.07) yet the prison population has been allowed to rise by over 20,000 in the last decade. It is an overuse of prison that has led to overcrowding, not an increase in crime. The consequences of Labour's get-tough sentencing policy are now all too apparent. This is a problem of the Government's own making.
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Thoroughly brilliant Jeremy (wonderful full length shots) tonight (21/10)with Mark (love his graphics) and particularly with Admiral Sir John Band (on the British soldiers who were held in Iran) plus with Ed Gardnier & David Hanson on the prison overcrowding at record numbers, as well as with Mark Mardell. :-)
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5live talked about the role of the bbc in the iranian hostage snatch. Seems odd it wasn't mentioned?
i see the bbc doesn't like old people. Moira now Nick from crimewatch made to walk the plank. The message is don't get old or someone will come round to 'refresh'. The last thing we need is 25 year old know it alls presenting the show.
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