In short
The episode focuses mainly on UK politics and money, sparked by Reform UK receiving £72 million in donations: two £36 million gifts from crypto investors Christopher Harbourn and Ben D’Lo. Reform’s Richard Tice frames the money as legitimate and as helping the party prepare to govern and compete with the two main parties. Conservative peer Lord Robert Hayward calls it a “game changing” moment and warns that if electoral law doesn’t keep up, Britain could drift toward “American style” politics where money buys attention and votes. Labour anti-corruption champion Baroness Margaret Hodge argues for changing donation laws in the Representation of the People bill, including caps on individual donations and foreign donations (£100,000). John Caldwell (Phones For You founder; children’s charity founder; previously donated £500,000 to the Conservatives in 2019; switched to Labour in 2024) criticizes extreme sums and questions why crypto billionaires give so much instead of funding public good. Notable examples include the bill’s cryptocurrency-related clauses and calls for possible retrospective amendments.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VORecord Political Donations by Reform UK
0:29 to 1:05
Discussion of the significant donations to Reform UK and its implications.
“That's schwab.com slash Washington Wise.”
Record Political Donations by Reform UK
1:30 to 2:18
Discussion of the significant donations to Reform UK and its implications.
“The link between money and politics in Britain has been rocket-fuelled this weekend.”
Calls for Changes in Political Donation Laws
2:18 to 3:44
Exploring Baroness Margaret Hodge's proposals for political donation law changes.
“and are in the process of bankrupting Britain.”
Historic Contributions and Political Dynamics
3:44 to 4:50
Analysis of the impact of large donations on the British political landscape.
“One tends to say something's historic too regularly.”
The Influence of Wealth in Politics
4:50 to 6:28
Discussion on the influence of wealthy donors in shaping political agendas.
“And therefore, you have to view the position as it is in the context of the bill that was going through Parliament.”
John Caldwell's Perspective on Political Donations
6:28 to 8:16
John Caldwell shares his views on the implications of large donations to political parties.
“I wonder if you think there'll now be an arms race where, say, a conservative or a Labour-inclined billionaire will get their checkbook out.”
Concerns Over Political Power and Donations
8:16 to 13:04
Caldwell expresses concerns about the implications of large political donations.
“Now, you might say that you could say that that's hypocritical, because I donated half a minute to the labour.”
Transition to Homebrew Segment
13:04 to 14:00
Introduction to a segment on homebrewing with contributions from listeners.
“We hope to see you again here in person soon.”
Jonathan Ashworth's Stroke Experience
14:00 to 15:03
Jonathan Ashworth shares his experience of suffering a stroke and the realization that strokes can affect younger individuals.
“Simon Emeny, who's the Chief Executive of Fuller's, will be reviewing the papers in half an hour.”
The Role of Poetry in Recovery
15:03 to 16:19
Ashworth discusses how reciting poetry helps him in his recovery process and mental well-being after the stroke.
“And actually, somebody will have a stroke every five minutes and one in four of those will be of working age.”
Show all 22 chapters
Engaging with Social Media
16:19 to 18:14
Jonathan talks about his unique approach to recovery by sharing poetry on social media while working on Lego.
“And at the same time, I've continued to recite poetry.”
The Impact of Stroke on Memory
18:14 to 19:53
A discussion on how strokes can affect memory and cognitive functions, using Ashworth's personal experience as an example.
“I'll leave them for the surprise of that one.”
Mispronounced Place Names
19:53 to 22:48
A light-hearted segment about the mispronunciations of UK place names and the amusing stories behind them.
“I'm asking because Worcester sourced up proceedings in Parliament as the gap between spelling Worcester and saying Worcester tripped up Angela Rayner.”
Hybrid Schooling and Attendance Issues
22:48 to 24:50
Discussion about the rise of hybrid schooling models and their impact on student attendance and engagement.
“It looks like you're doing a lot of work for this programme.”
Student Experiences in Hybrid Schools
24:50 to 28:00
Students share their personal stories of how hybrid schooling has positively impacted their education and well-being.
“currently 18 % of the country's children are persistently absent.”
Educational Experiences and School Environment
28:00 to 29:10
Discussing the challenges faced by teenagers in traditional school environments and the impact of hybrid learning.
“Good which we haven't don't seem to have one of here.”
Math Problem Discussion
29:10 to 31:54
A group discusses an algebra problem, showcasing collaborative learning and engagement.
“I think now with hybrid it's quite a concentrated environment because there's no distractions.”
Current Events and AI in Journalism
31:59 to 37:30
Exploring recent political news and the role of AI in journalism, including ethical considerations.
“Smith, the BAFTA Scotland winner who starred in the neighbourly TV sitcom Two Doors Down, a live stage version, opens at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow for ten shows later this month.”
Discussion on Museums and Taxes
37:30 to 40:00
Debating the merits of charging tourists for museum entry as a solution to funding issues.
“OK, we celebrate the pub on BH often, so let's move on.”
Dining Culture and Food Critique
40:00 to 42:00
Discussing dining experiences and the cultural significance of food in society.
“Pray for other ticket buyers from Sunday Times.”
Chequers and the Anti-Migrant Rally
42:00 to 44:41
Discussion on the underutilization of Chequers and rising anti-migrant sentiments in the UK.
“which is a place I've obviously never been invited into but have doorstep outside, seen down the lane.”
The Story of D-Day Weather Forecasting
44:41 to 52:39
Exploration of the crucial weather forecasting role in D-Day and the film 'Pressure'.
“than it expected, this new force coordinating anti-migrant masked marches?”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day, but what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise. That's schwab.com slash Washington Wise.
0:55working together seamlessly. It's everything your business needs in one place, saving you time, headaches and serious money. Stop paying for missing pieces. Go to odoo.com. That's odoo.com
1:08Paddy O'Connell:to learn more. Hello, here's the podcast of BH Broadcasting House from Sunday the 13th of September. We spoke about politics and money and schooling. Should children be allowed to be schooled from home. A Conservative peer has urged the government to overhaul planned changes to election law after a weekend of record donations. We'll hear from him in a moment. The link between money and politics in Britain has been rocket-fuelled this weekend. Reform UK received two£36 million donations as the cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harbourn matched a record-breaking sum promised by fellow crypto titan Ben D 'Lo.
1:47Paddy O'Connell:His donation was briefly the largest ever single sum given to a UK political party before it was promptly matched. It's all legitimate. And Richard Tice, Deputy Leader of Reform UK, told Saturday PM here on Radio 4 it would allow the party to prepare for government. We're delighted and very humbled by the confidence expressed by two very successful entrepreneurs who realise that Britain's in serious trouble and it needs a real competitive force to the two main parties that have broken Britain. and are in the process of bankrupting Britain. And as they said in their respective statements, they believe we need a level playing field in order to give reform a real chance of employing great people, lots of campaign managers, and, you know, competition's a good thing.
2:37Paddy O'Connell:On the same programme, Baroness Margaret Hodge, the Labour peer and the government's anti-corruption champion, urged a change in political donation laws in the current bill that's going through Parliament on the representation of the people. I think we take the opportunity of this bill that has been considered by Parliament now to do three things. A cap on donations from individuals. Within the legislation, we're talking about the cap of£100 ,000 for donations from foreign donors. A cap on the expenditure by political parties throughout Parliament and a cap on the expenditure by political parties during the election period.
3:15Paddy O'Connell:John Caldwell is the founder of Phones For You, A billionaire philanthropist, he founded a children's charity and he also donated£500 ,000 to the Conservatives ahead of the 2019 general election, but switched back to Labour in 2024. He's standing by live. First, to Lord Robert Hayward, a political analyst and Conservative peer. I asked him what kind of moment this was. This is an historic moment in terms of contributions and the organisation of British politics. One tends to say something's historic too regularly. But this is something that I don't think anybody had ever considered in terms of the scale that's involved.
3:55And therefore, we have to look at it in that context. It's a game changing series of events.
4:01Paddy O'Connell:Are we just importing Americans? I'm about to import American style systems. If we don't do anything about our law, then there is no question we will be into American politics where money buys attention and attention buys votes. I've made absolutely clear over a number of years I am opposed to that. There is a bill going through Parliament at the moment, the Representation of the People bill, with some calls to amend it to tackle this donation with retrospective legislation. What do you think? It's being debated in the House of Lords tomorrow afternoon. Clearly, some people want to table amendments which would be considered in committee.
4:44As far as I'm concerned, I'm not a fan of retrospective legislation. And therefore, you have to view the position as it is in the context of the bill that was going through Parliament. If somebody wants to change the law, it has to be considered carefully and not in a rush.
5:05Paddy O'Connell:So one of the headline grabbing parts of the bill is to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds. But there's also a cap on donations of 100 ,000 for people who live outside the UK, British citizens who live outside the UK. What is the bill doing about political donations that you like? There is, as you say, a whole raft of changes, changes in practice, changes in terms of entitlement to vote. And as you say, a series of clauses already in the bill, which has been through the Commons, to change the process in relation to political donations and particularly to start addressing the question of cryptocurrencies.
5:46circumstances, I and a number of peers from different political parties have said to the government what they should do is take the bill back and consider introducing the bill just with 16 and 17-year-olds and one or two other elements, and then put carefully considered amendments in relation to donations in the next session of Parliament.
6:12Paddy O'Connell:Wow, so you want it all separated. It sounds a bit of a mess. I wonder if this is a huge bomb that's gone off in the link between financial donations and politics and you're struggling to keep up. I think it's true that electoral law is struggling to keep up. I wonder if you think there'll now be an arms race where, say, a conservative or a Labour-inclined billionaire will get their checkbook out. I think there is every possibility that that will happen, that the trade unions might suddenly make a mega donation to the Labour Party, that some, as you say, very rich donor to the Tory party makes big contributions.
6:52That isn't good for politics. All it does is takes representation away from the ordinary voter, the community, and puts it in the hands of a very small group of people who are buying the publicity, buying the attention, buying the advertising.
7:10Paddy O'Connell:With thanks to Robert Hayward, the Conservative peer, speaking to me just a few moments before we came to air. And now, as promised, live to John Caldwell, who knows what it is to be a billionaire philanthropist and to give money to many causes, including politics. John, welcome back to BH. Yes, good morning, Barry. I take it you can completely understand why rich men give to political parties. Well, I don't know whether I can understand or not. Let's look at the facts there, that two crypto billionaires have given the biggest donation ever to influence the outcome of British politics. I don't think that's healthy at all.
7:49I don't know what the motive is. I can't understand the motive at all, other than hopefully in their case, presumably, currying some favor in the future. And I'm very much against that. And if we extend that argument further, if we are having a race of pouring money into political parties, vast sums of money into political parties, so that it can produce huge amounts of propaganda for themselves, that is just a waste of money because all we're doing is fighting each – all the political parties fighting each other with money rather than principles and paying to get those principles out in the fastest possible way.
8:27and I fundamentally disagree with that. Now, you might say that you could say that that's hypocritical, because I donated half a minute to the labour. That's hypocritical and sour grapes,
8:37Paddy O'Connell:because I want to just interrupt you. Hang on, did you say it is hypocritical and sour grapes? I was just following your lead. You said I could say it's hypocritical. Oh, OK, yeah, well, thank you for that. I set you up beautifully for that, didn't I? No, John, let me just break apart what you said. Firstly, you said you don't know what his motive was. I've read his motive in The Telegraph. Ben Dilo said Labour and Tories have run the place for 100 years more. This is levelling the playing field. It's giving them like a start-up. It's giving reform help to have campaign managers in every constituency.
9:08Paddy O'Connell:And then I suppose the fair question is, when you said I don't know what their motive is, what was your motive when you gave to the Conservatives? My motive was very, very clear and simple, which is that I'm a real patriot. I want the best for Britain. And at the time, McDonnell and Corbyn were likely to, or possibly going to get in, and I viewed that that would have destroyed Britain. So I was very anxious to have a government that was at least centre or centre-right and not left-wing. Because you know that is what they're saying from their perspective. It's not your politics, but they're saying Britain is broken and they want to help the party that's going to mend it.
9:48Yeah, and does a no net zero help to mend either the country or the world? And that's not a policy that I can support. So, you know, I'm very much an environmentalist in terms of wanting us to race to solve the climate problem in the world, not to just ignore it and think we can have money, more money today as a result of not doing anything towards net zero and risk the future.
10:14Paddy O'Connell:You're unique in the sense, well, you're one of a very few people who can appear on Radio 4 who is, A, a billionaire philanthropist, B, has given money to a political party, and therefore you are the person who can answer this question. Do you think there should be... Really? OK. Well, that's why we're very pleased you're here. Do you think there should be a change to the law that's going through Parliament? Absolutely I do, yes. I mean, I don't know what the law should say, but there should be a definite change in law. We should not have very wealthy people making undue influence. And where does undue influence exist?
10:51Well, I don't know. My half million gave me no influence at all, and nor should it. But does 36 million from two crypto billionaires, and why crypto? Why is it two crypto billionaires that have donated 36 million each? that to me puts a huge question mark over what is the point what is the strategy what's the reason so for me that's that's very worrying and look at it another way paddy if these people wanted to do something wonderful with the money they could have supported cordwell youth and 36 million each would take a hundred thousand young people in the country out of risk and make the lives better for all of those people, all of the victims that would be there as a consequence of not being supported and make young people's lives better.
11:38Why wouldn't they do that and influence something that really, really is for the common good?
11:43Paddy O'Connell:So Ben D 'Lo, who was diagnosed with autism, does support children's autistic charities already. His point is that he now has put crypto behind him. He made his money with crypto, but he would not benefit from any change to crypto rules if reform came into power. So there's this argument, which I don't know you've necessarily addressed. You don't like their politics, but you did this yourself, John. So I just wonder how is the fair minded listener going to make a law in the middle of your politics and their politics and money? Well, it's not my politics, Paddy. It's what's reasonable for society and having donations of that extreme huge number.
12:25Let me be clear on this as well. I don't support the fact that the Labour government are supported so heavily by the unions. I don't think the unions should have anywhere near that amount of power in government. I don't support what Lord Sainsbury did, I think it was Sainsbury, with the 10 million donation. It's not, there is a quantum at which the political system is fairly balanced and the quantum is not 72 million over a very short period of time. That's not. That's not. That is moving very much into the realms of buying political power.
13:03Paddy O'Connell:John Corwell, thank you for joining BH again live. We hope to see you again here in person soon. And now, rampant beer making. It's a contribution to our slow radio section sent by Bob Coburn, who's brewing some homebrew and offers it to us to enjoy.
13:26Thank you.
13:55Paddy O'Connell:Right, well, we've got the picture there now, and it sounds absolutely marvellous, let's put it like that. Simon Emeny, who's the Chief Executive of Fuller's, will be reviewing the papers in half an hour. The former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth has come into the room seeking poetry suggestions to memorise for recovery from a stroke. Hello, Jonathan. Hello. Nice to see you. Lovely to see you. What happened? Oh my word, on New Year's Day I woke up with the most intense pins and needles and stiffness down my left side and I immediately thought, gosh, have I slept in a peculiar way. But it didn't go away, it didn't resolve and eventually I just thought, well maybe I'll ring 111 and see if they've got any advice.
14:36By this point my whole left arm, it just felt like a prosthetic limb or something, it wasn't real. They took me through serious questions and they said, sir, we think you're having a stroke. and I was like, my word, what? I didn't have any facial drop or loss of speech. I was shocked because I'm 47. I've never smoked. I've ran marathons. But yeah, it was a stroke and I was blue-lighted an ambulance immediately to the hospital. Thank you to all the NHS staff who looked after me, but I've had a stroke. And actually, somebody will have a stroke every five minutes and one in four of those will be of working age.
15:09They'll be, you know, under the age. We think of stroke as something that impacts the elderly, but it doesn't.
15:14Paddy O'Connell:It's a huge thank you to the 111 operator who took you through the right questions. And it's great to see you because you look completely unchanged to me. And you've gone to ask people how poetry can help retrain your brain. Yeah. So why this is, when I'd had the stroke and I was thinking, my word, am I going to lose my speech and language? As it happened, the strokes impacted my left eyesight. I've lost a lot, a big chunk of my left eyesight. But I was lying in my hospital bed reciting my favourite sections of Shakespeare and poetry to test myself. I know it sounds very pretentious and I apologise for that.
15:49But simply to test myself that I could still speak and remember things. I mean, the other people in the hospital must have thought I was very eccentric.
15:56Paddy O'Connell:I don't think people are going to think you sound pretentious. I think they're going to think you're fighting for your sanity, Jonathan. Why should we say as British people, I know it sounds pretentious, I want my reasoning back. What's pretentious about it? Well, I've always loved literature and poetry ever since I was a child. So what I do now, in order to get the movement back in my left arm, I've been doing Lego. I started off doing my kids' Lego. They're teenagers now. They don't play with Lego. I started doing their old Lego sets. So I've now started doing Lego. And at the same time, I've continued to recite poetry.
16:31And I ask people on my social media to send me requests for poetry. and I put out a little video every Sunday afternoon of that week's poetry recital while I'm doing Lego. It's a very unusual little niche that I found on social media. But I mean, you obviously get all the balloons who have a go at you and say horrible things. That's the life of social media. But you also get people saying nice things as well.
16:54Paddy O'Connell:Dude, people have taken up time to insult you, have they? You know, this is another question because I want to return to that one another bit. But just what are you struggling with? What is this trick helping you do that you feel you can't do? Well, I mean, I think one of my... I'll put it in this context. One of my favourite authors when I was a child was C.S. Lewis. I love the Chronicles of Nartania. But C.S. Lewis also wrote a book called Screw... Screw... Screwtape... Yeah, I can't remember. He wrote a book anyway where he talks about the undulation, the idea that the humans, they peak and trough.
17:29You go through these waves of peaks and troughs. And when you're in a trough and you get a trough with stroke, because recovery is not linear. It's not like recovering from a broken arm. There are moments when your physical recovery goes backwards and you feel you're down in the dumps. And to help you through that, I have found that both my family, my children, but also reciting poetry has helped to lift my spirits and gets me through that.
17:53Paddy O'Connell:The title is The Screwtape Letter. That's it, The Screwtape Letter. Can I ask you bluntly, the fact that you couldn't remember it just then, it's one of your favourite books from one of your favourite authors, is that a sign of your stroke impact? No, I think that's just because because I'm just sort of trying to remember so many different things and get them in. OK, all right. So you want our listeners to send you suggestions? Yeah, and I'll be doing my latest poem this afternoon. I'll leave it. They can find me on my Instagram. It'll go out this afternoon. I'll leave them for the surprise of that one.
18:21Paddy O'Connell:Would you like a Frankie Howard limerick? A Frankie Howard? Give us a bit of Frankie Howard. There was a young woman from Spain who liked it now and again. Not now and again, now and again, but now and again and again. Titter ye not. Jonathan, you look really well and I hope it just continues to go brilliantly for you. But maybe you should come back and talk to us about the cesspit of what people say online as well. Yeah, but they do say nice things and they love it when I do my... One of my favourite poets is WB Yeats and I do love it when I do a bit of WB Yeats. Do you want to sing us out with a bit now?
18:57Paddy O'Connell:We can't move the arches, all desert islands. When you are old and grey and full of sleep and nodding by the fire, Take down this book and slowly read and dream of the look your eyes had once in their shadows to each. How many loved your moments of glad grace and loved your beauty with love false or true. But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you and loved the changing sorrows of your changing face. bending down beside the burning bars, no, burning bars, bending down beside the burning bars, murmur a little sadly of love that fled and pace upon the mountain overhead and hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
19:49WB Yeats, when you're old.
19:51Paddy O'Connell:Thank you so much. You were MP for Leicester South, weren't you? That's right, yeah. Did anyone ever pronounce it wrong? Only Americans. OK, OK. I'm asking because Worcester sourced up proceedings in Parliament as the gap between spelling Worcester and saying Worcester tripped up Angela Rayner. Few of us claim to get all our wonderful UK place names right. She's no different. We're not sniggering. But have a listen. Here was the local government secretary on Monday announcing areas affected by a review of her reorganisation plans. Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcester and where relevant, their neighbouring.
Read the full transcript
20:25Worcester, Worcester, Worcester.
20:27Paddy O'Connell:Conservative Nigel Huddleston, a Worcestershire MP, had this response. The three most difficult things to say in life are I'm sorry, I love you and Worcestershire. It's fascinating to see... It's fascinating to see that the Right Honourable Lady struggles with at least two of those three things. I took to the streets with a list of some of our trickiest names. Worcest? No, hold on. Worcest... Worcester. And what about the top word?
21:05Lothbrood? Lothbrood? Lothbrood? Lothbrood? I'm not sure.
21:11Paddy O'Connell:That's amazing because you're so close. It's Lothbrood. Lothbrood. Worcester. Worcester. Worcester. Tea? Toaster. Toaster? Toaster. Yes. That one there. Loughborough. Yes! Merrill Dane, Mousehole, Worcester, Tauester, Loughborough, Belvoir, Chumley I believe. Howick. You can try that one again, number 11.
21:43Paddy O'Connell:How did you know it was Howick? Because it's written next to it. It is, it is written next to it. I'll be a bit snobbish when people get this wrong because Angela Rayner got one word wrong then. She should be allowed to get things wrong, shouldn't she? Oh yeah, we certainly can be a little bit fussy about it. That's like all words, if you never actually hear somebody say them, you don't know how they're pronounced really, do you? Yes, hello in Hoyk, morning in Mousel, and Beaver of course is Belvoir's normal pronunciation, isn't it, Jonathan? It certainly is. Leicestershire connection there, but a lot of people do call it Belvoir.
22:17They do get it wrong, but it is Beaver. Beaver Castle.
22:20Paddy O'Connell:I mean, they're wonderful these names. We must be allowed to get them wrong, we just need to be told when they're right. Yes, of course we're allowed to get them wrong and of course you know, a lot of this is to do with the development of English. I mean there's the famous Oxbridge Colleges which gets pronounced Maudlin but they're actually named after Mary Magdalene from the Bible. We pronounce them in English as Maudlin for whatever reason because of historical quirks. Thank you very much. It looks like you're doing a lot of work for this programme. Very nice to see you. You can release now.
22:54Paddy O'Connell:You can go back to the bar. Pupils attending a mix of virtual and physical classes have told BH it helps tackle absenteeism. London Park School Hybrid is one of the only establishments of its kind where teenagers work from home four days a week and come to the actual place just once. Skipping school has become more common since COVID. You can blame the parents, you can blame the pupils, or you can try and do something about it. So said one of our listeners who wants your views on what you're about to hear, the school that I visited, because she's a director there. I visited to meet her and first joined an online maths class led by Mr Danzelman.
23:33Right, can we all see our screen share? Thumbs up if you can, we're going to start. Good, excellent. So, we're going to be doing a rearranging formula today. Now, when you're rearranging formula, we'll use a little rule. The rule is this, if it changes site, it changes sign. And in the first question...
23:48Paddy O'Connell:Right, now while they rearrange this formula, let me tell you about who we're going to be speaking to. We're going to be meeting the directors of hybrid schools for Duke's Education, Anne Breen Baig and Jamie Whiteside. Now together they have more than 20 years in education, each in the state and the private sector. A hybrid school is one in which students learn online for four days a week and then come together in person for one day a week. And what's wrong with them being educated five days a week in a school building? Absolutely nothing. However, the students who have come to us have found that that didn't suit them and that this really does suit them.
24:26Paddy O'Connell:Are you open to the criticism that you're very permissive, that actually children need to be told to go to school? End of story, mostly speaking. I believe that if a child for any reason is not going to school, we should get to the underlying root of why, rather than thinking let's punish and sanction. For many families, that just isn't working. If you look at the statistics, currently 18 % of the country's children are persistently absent. And this is a problem that actually is growing. So what do we do? Do we just keep sanctioning parents? or do we think let's have positive alternatives for families in which the students can flourish?
25:08Paddy O'Connell:By insisting on one day together, it's an acknowledgement that you don't want to be an online school. Not a solely online school. No, we want to be an embodied community of students and teachers. The one day together gives us that. The four days online, the other part of our model, is a more efficient and innovative version of schooling. Since Covid, all the technology that supports that part of education has really developed. You've mentioned Covid. There was a sort of big conversation about the mistake. It was seen as a mistake to keep children out of school for so long or even at all. So do you think you agree with that?
25:46Paddy O'Connell:The country is sort of wanting pupils to go to school? I agree that it's acknowledged that it was a big mistake for lots of students. and we see that in some of the residual damage of students that end up with us. There is so much innovation in the world and so little of it occurs in education. This is why we get attention because it's unusual to see education done in a different model. Now that doesn't mean that it's for every child in the country. It is an option that works really well for some kids. Is the destination that they go to a school five days a week, are you like a trampoline or are you a final version of schooling?
26:24So some of our students have loved their one day in so much and they transfer to our day school. And for us, that's a massive measure of success too. However, the other students who've remained with us throughout until the GCSE exams and then have gone on to a mainstream college or sixth form, that's also equally successful for us.
26:42Paddy O'Connell:Is this a privilege of choice for the private sector only? No, not at all. Well, certainly we don't want it to be like that and we don't see that reflected in the families who come to us. To be honest, many of the families who come to us feel that this is their only option. But they're also not traditional independent school families necessarily. They are looking for something that works for their kids. And so are you hoping that Radio 4 listeners will respond, which will include criticism? Yes, this is part of a conversation. So yeah, we welcome lots of feedback on this topic. So you are meeting our sixth form cohort.
27:15Some of those students had missed six to 18 months of school.
27:18Paddy O'Connell:18 months? Yes, absolutely. they each have a very unique and individual story but all of them were being failed by the current education system. I wasn't a very well behaved student I was getting a lot of suspensions getting in trouble a lot and then I came here after about eight months six months of me not being in any school and my life completely changed I went from being in a detention every day every Friday every Saturday to I'm now the first ever hybrid head boy and I haven't had a single detention in this entire school. I now do two A-levels and on the side I'm working in a Michelin star restaurant.
27:55Paddy O'Connell:And if you are chefing what's your go-to signature dish? Definitely a lemon drizzle cake. Good which we haven't don't seem to have one of here. It was very bad for me in year nine so when I was about 14 and 13 I ended up practically dropping out of the school and I'd attend like maybe an hour a week because I found the environment so harsh and inaccessible. If you looked at my attendance, it was about 20 % probably. What do you say to adults who are trying to understand why teenagers like you can't go to school, won't go to school, don't go to school? I'd say it's not a thing that people don't want to learn because everyone wants to do well and it's not being lazy.
28:39It's that the system is so old and rigid and I think people need to accept that we need a change and people can do amazingly in different environments.
28:49Paddy O'Connell:And are you doing amazingly? Have you noticed a big change in your productivity, in your academic success? I did really well in my GCSEs. I came first in the school without like hybrid I really wouldn't have gotten and I probably wouldn't have taken my GCSEs so it just shows that like not everyone needs that constant harsh environment to learn. I think now with hybrid it's quite a concentrated environment because there's no distractions. I've still got a proper rigorous structure. I've still got four hours of lessons per subject. I like being at home in like a comfortable environment where I have free periods and I can control what I do in my own study time.
29:29Paddy O'Connell:School is also a place where you learn lessons which aren't academic aren't they? How to get with people, how to resolve differences. Do you feel that you're missing out on life? I don't think I am at all. When I come in, I'm excited to see my friends and we can easily plan to meet up outside of school. I really don't miss out on the social side. Rather than saying P minus H over 6 equals M, we could say M equals P minus H over 6. I was going to say that, Mr. Donsman. I was just about to go and say that because it says make M the subject. I was going to say that Mr. Dantzelman. Right. So thanks to everyone there at the school.
30:07Paddy O'Connell:Let me just give you that algebraic equation. P equals H plus 6M. Can you make M the subject of the equation? So P equals H plus 6M. Can you make M the subject of the equation? Tom Sanders, over to you. I've done a fair bit of homework on this but I've finally managed to more or less get my head around it despite not having studied this stuff for over three decades. So M needs to be isolated on its own. We need to ditch the h which is nearby. So it's a positive h, so we need to subtract it. We need to ditch the 6 because that's in the vicinity of the m as well. So as it's multiplying, we need to divide it to get rid of it.
30:44So we divide then both sides by 6, and then we have the answer.
30:50Paddy O'Connell:So write the original equation p equals h plus 6m, subtract h from both sides to isolate the term with m, p minus h equals 6m, divide both sides by 6 to get m itself. P minus h over 6 equals m. Then flip the equation to put the subject on the left side. m equals p minus h over 6. Well put. Well, I'm reading that. Elaine, have you got that? No, not a clue. Kate? Well, I went along with it, but I can't claim to have got there first. Simon? I glazed over really quickly. That's normal between 9 and 10. So, thanks very much.
31:28Trading, full-service wealth management, automated investing, financial planning, thematic investing, retirement planning. Phew. And to think, that's just a small taste of what Schwab offers. Because Schwab knows that when it comes to your finances, choice matters. No matter your goals, investing style, life stage or experience, Schwab has everything you need, all in one place, so you can invest your way. Visit schwab.com to learn more. Tom, you are listening to Elaine C.
32:01Paddy O'Connell:Smith, the BAFTA Scotland winner who starred in the neighbourly TV sitcom Two Doors Down, a live stage version, opens at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow for ten shows later this month. Indeed it does. That's a massive venue, isn't it? Oh, it's like, well, I think I said earlier on, Beyonce was there, so now it's Elaine C. We never see you in the same room, do we? And Simon Emily is the chief executive, He's the boss of Fuller, Smith & Turner, PLC. He sits on the Government's Hospitality Council and is a non-executive director of UK hospitality, which means I think you're feeling pain, if I understand what I've heard from hospitality people, Simon.
32:40Paddy O'Connell:Not just I'm feeling pain, I think I've got some bad news for everybody. Oh, great, that's just what we need. Kate Ferguson is The Sun's political editor. Welcome back, Kate. Thank you for having me. So can we start with you, Kate, where? Oh, we are going to start with the Sunday Telegraph, page nine. And there's a bit of a mischievous story here, as it claims that they've discovered that a thousand word love letter penned by the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to the people of Manchester. The Telegraph has done some sleuthing and they say he's used AI to make some of this. Now, I have to say in the piece is a high up denial, which us journalists are very used to.
33:20But nonetheless, I thought it was interesting. You know, are we allowed to use AI yet? Is it just for research? Are we allowed to use it to write? I think my editor would have my guts for garters if he discovered I'd been writing my stories or the column with AI. But who knows? Maybe some of my colleagues are a bit mischievous. Yeah, funnily enough, I had a friend who was doing a reading, one of these self-tapes for a play or for a TV show. And as she was reading it, She was saying this isn't it. And I was doing lines and I said, that sounds like AI. Yeah. Well, we're having to get really cute at spotting letters coming in allegedly from customers that have been written by AI.
34:01So if you're going to write to a pub company, we're watching. And are we not allowed to write to you with AI? Do you think it's fake then? I think some of it is fake. Yeah.
34:11Paddy O'Connell:OK, so because there was a dating example where a text message was sent by a man to a woman in an online dating. And the message ended by saying, do you want me to make this more flirty? Because it was an AI generated thing. So anyway, Kate's brought us to that brilliantly. We're underway and the government denies any such thing. It's absolutely shocking suggestion. Simon Emanue, the Financial Times weekend paper. Many listeners enjoy this paper. It doesn't always get a mention because it comes out on Saturday, doesn't it? The big read, Britain thinks twice about free museums. Well, the context of this, Paddy, is that a bit of bad news for anybody that likes taking a break in the UK or going on holiday in this country is that the government are now putting in place a holiday tax.
34:56Paddy O'Connell:They call it a levy. It's a holiday tax. It's already in place in Edinburgh, where I think it's 5%. So it's going to put the cost of staying in a hotel room up by potentially about 20%. Really bad news for the hospitality industry. Bad news for three million people that work there. but the article by John Yeomans in the Sunday Times today has a solution. In countries like France, Italy, Spain where they also have a holiday tax they have a much, much lower rate of VAT and this article says that the solution to this is to reduce the VAT rate in hospitality and it links really well with the FT article that you referred to earlier Paddy where I was unaware that anybody from abroad visiting our amazing galleries in London goes in free of charge.
35:46And I think that could be part of the solution. It's probably about time, rather like the FUSI in Florence or the Met Gallery in New York, that we started charging people who aren't living in this country to visit our galleries.
35:58Paddy O'Connell:So the Natural History Museum has 7.1 million visitors, charges nothing. The British Museum charges nothing, has 6.4 million visitors. is take modern charges, nothing, 4.5, 1 million. The Victorian Albert has 3.3 million visitors, charges nothing. Where do you stand on charging foreigners, Elaine? I think I'm sort of going along with you on it. And one of the reasons I love the fact that in Scotland, particularly, we don't have any charges in the museums, you do for certain exhibitions that are on, you can pay and go. But I like the fact that if ordinary people have free access to go to these places, that should stay.
36:37And if people are visiting, I don't mind if I'm abroad and that's the charge, of course I'll pay. Yeah, and I do, I remember where they, I think it was in 1998 when New Labour lifted the charge on most of these museums. Before that, I was the kid growing up in London. We went to the British Museum so much because that was the free one. We knew it like the back of our hand. So I think it was brilliant when they made it free. But when you go abroad, and in the EU, I notice, they often have two charges. So if you're not EU, you'll pay more. So maybe given that they are looking at raising levies every single where, if this one could offset the hospitality tax, which is also a tourist tax, which is going to hit everyone, then that might be something to look at.
37:17Paddy O'Connell:OK. And in passing, you were appealing for a cut in VAT for hospitality, which we would expect you to do because you have an interest in that. But do you think it's going to happen? Can I ask you? I feel optimistic. I think Andy Burnham understands the role that pubs play in communities. OK, we celebrate the pub on BH often, so let's move on. Thank you very much indeed. That's also a shout out to the Financial Times weekend newspaper. Elaine C. Smith, the Observer magazine, I'm Hungry for Variety, says who? Well, it is the new Tanya Gold, who is the new restaurant critic in there. It's not something I particularly get involved in, but I love the fact that she's saying she has a lifelong affair with dining out.
38:01And what concerns me slightly is that it ties in with your pubs here. But what concerns me at the moment, and loads of my friends, particularly in show business who are on various weight loss drugs at the moment, the one thing that a couple of women have said to me is there's a level of depression because food was love and food is enjoyment. And when that has gone and you all of us, I think, look forward to going out for a nice meal or going out to one of your pubs or whatever, then when that is gone. So maybe we should be celebrating. I mean, we're a nation who sits and watches cooking programs all the time.
38:42Maybe we should be celebrating and bringing back a love of food. Yes. I mean, I suspect you know this, Paddy, but to the Sunday journalist, the lobby lunch, the famous political lunch is a very important thing. But I have to say, I find it harder and harder to convince politicians to come for long lunches with me. I don't know if that is to do with my company or the jab, but I do know that politicians... It's a wash parliament with the jab. I tell you what, it is no trouble at all getting a politician to go to a pub.
39:09Paddy O'Connell:So this is a story about the Telegraph's restaurant critic says she loves variety, a variety of food, then it links to the food jab, the fat jab, whatever we're meant to be calling it, and the love of going out generally. What's your go-to Sunday lunch? What would you all dream? I can supply it to you now, cooked by your favourite chef. What is it? It's in a pub, of course. Roast pork, crispy crackling, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and some broccoli. I love all roasts, but I do like pork belly because of the crackling, so I'll do that, I guess. No, chicken for me. Always a chicken, Sunday roast chicken.
39:45I'm having a chicken later. Oh, are you?
39:47Paddy O'Connell:There we go. I hope I am. You're listening to the Sunday Restaurant Choice of Kate Ferguson, Elaine C. Smith and Simon Emanie. It's your turn next. Harry Styles fans think he's at Glastonbury. Pray for other ticket buyers from Sunday Times. This is great. So this is on page three. Mary Downer has the scoop, she believes, that tickets go on sale in three weeks' time for Glastonbury 2027 after a fallow year. and Emily Evis has promised a big headlining act. There's lots of speculation as to who it could be and Mary's called it out that it's going to be Harry Styles. So, have you been to Glastonbury?
40:28I've actually been to Glastonbury a lot of times. I think the person... I'm not a huge Harry Styles fan, I just don't listen to his music, but I've been to Glastonbury quite a few times. I saw Dolly Parton at Glastonbury where she did the Legends slot on Sunday afternoon.
40:41Paddy O'Connell:The little pink ukulele. Which was amazing, yeah, and she led us all in a song of mud. She wrote a song about mud for us. But I remember, I was saying to you before, last time I was in Glastonbury, I think it was raining, I was on my own in a field and I swore to myself this was the last time I'd ever go. Tickets are currently£408, I'm told. My idea of hell would be standing in wellies in a field watching someone on a screen far away. I just don't know. Even though I would love them. And I like watching. Glamping, maybe. Older listeners would have gone to see the biggest acts, the Who jam, for about five, the equivalent of five pounds now.
41:22Paddy O'Connell:It was possible to see acts at much reduced prices. I don't know if you can explain to me as you're in hospitality. Why has the quota got up? And I could imagine when you were seeing the jam back in the 1970s, a pint of beer was 30 pence. I'm afraid, you know, putting on live events is an incredibly expensive business. Okay. It's also gone up massively. Kate Ferguson, who is the Sun's political editor. OK, yes, the next one, sorry. Andy Burnham could lose Chequers. Oh, that one, yes. From the Mail on Sunday. This is actually from the rival, the Mail on Sunday, page 14. So Andy Burnham gets his gorgeous, grace and favour house because he's Prime Minister, Chequers in Buckinghamshire, which is a place I've obviously never been invited into but have doorstep outside, seen down the lane.
42:07Anyway, he's not been using it much. This has been the chatter in Westminster. He's always in Manchester. He loves number 10 North. But he's not actually been to Czech as much. So the Tories have found some kind of detail where they claim if he doesn't use it, he should lose it. And they're claiming that he should sort of hand it over because he's not been using it enough. But it's just interesting to me about what... I mean, it is sitting there idle. Maybe we should take it off his hands for a few years. Maybe we should go with you, Simon, and have an entrance fee for people to go in and we could make money for the country and if the Prime Minister needed to use it, they could close it off and they could do all that?
42:47I've seen the photograph and I've got the answer. It will make an amazing country house hotel. Let's convert Chequers to a country house hotel. I thought you were going to say, like, set a TV show there, like The Chaters or something. You could do that, politically. Don't, I mean.
43:03Paddy O'Connell:Chequers. So just the chairing part for me, Number 10 has denied that he's not using it. He has made use of the costume. Apparently he's planning a New Year's Eve bash there. And I've just misnamed you. You're the sun on Sunday. Sun on Sunday. Sorry, I beg upon it. It's a very bad mistake. It's two different titles, isn't it? So I think it's your turn now, Elaine. Yes. Donations roll in for far-right Danny Tomo as anti-migrant rally hits Portsmouth streets from The Observer. Indeed, and I don't want to bring the mood down. I mean, the mood is down enough when you listen to the news at the moment.
43:39But this really concerned me. It was just a quote from, we are sick to death of the daily rapes and murders by the invaders. And that just sent chills through me. I'm sick to death of daily rapes and murders of women across the whole country when you look at the figures. But it seems that there's only demonstrations by other men when they're not white. and that is very concerning when you consider that the vast amount of domestic abuse, violence against women is perpetuated by people they know or people who are white as well.
44:22Paddy O'Connell:And conviction rates are very low in the courts and one woman had to wait eight years for her case to go to court. Disgraceful. But there's quite a lot going on in the issue that you've picked and I wonder, can I ask you all to address the anti-migrant rally and separate it from the rape question just for the moment. Kate, is this going to be a bigger headache for the government than it expected, this new force coordinating anti-migrant masked marches? Well, we've seen this emerge over the past couple of weeks and it looks like it's here to stay. It looks like they're well-funded, well-organised.
44:56This one was publicly organised the weeks before it was actually privately organised. The police didn't even know it was coming. So yes, I think a huge headache for our police, incredibly overstretched, our court system and definitely for our politicians.
45:11Paddy O'Connell:OK. Sorry, Simon. No, I mean, I think it's incredibly disappointing. This is all taking place in a year when immigration is down in the UK. And there's been a lot of very proactive steps that both the last government and this government have taken to reduce the number of migrants crossing. But in the conversation, people who voted, some of the most angry people I meet voted for Brexit and were told that immigration would go down. And it then went up to a record level under the Conservatives. So this issue has not been tackled for a decade. And that's why the protesters see and that's what people tell us.
45:45I think you always have to, I don't want to sound really right wing here, but you always have to listen to why people are upset and why they are. And emigration for a long time has not been explained enough to ordinary people and therefore they get very angry.
46:02Paddy O'Connell:Thank you all very much on ending on this subject, one of the most important in the country. It's been fabulous listening to you all. Thank you so much. The new film Pressure is out this weekend, telling the true story of the weatherman behind the change of date for D-Day. Andrew Scott plays group captain James Stagg, the chief meteorological advisor in 1944, a Scotsman who knew his weather. He predicted a brief break from the most violent of the summer storms, which led General Eisenhower to move the date of the Allied invasion from the 5th to the 6th of June. Here is Stagg talking to a young Jonathan Dimbleby in 1964.
46:35When you went in to see Eisenhower on that night, was the atmosphere in the room tense? The atmosphere was almost unbearably tense, and to me almost frighteningly so. As you've just said, the whole operation was in suspense, and everyone in that room knew that within a very few hours now an irrevocable decision had to be made, either that the operation would go forward on the morning of June 6th or else, which was a thing too awful to contemplate because of its implications, that the whole thing would need to be deferred for another fortnight.
47:15Paddy O'Connell:Simon King is the BBC's lead weather presenter. He served as a flying lieutenant at RAF Benson and was deployed overseas as a military meteorologist. Here he is doing a weather report for Five Live from Afghanistan in 2014. Yeah, good morning from Camp Bastion. I'm a reservist in the RAF and I'm out here actually doing weather forecasting for the military. Right, so the weather for the weekend, Simon. Yeah, well, I'll start off with the UK weather for the weekend. Well, I spoke to Simon to ask if Group Captain James Stagg is renowned by modern-day meteorologists. Yeah, absolutely. Stagg is very well known amongst meteorologists.
47:53I've been a weather forecaster and a meteorologist now for nearly 25 years. Since the war, basically. Since the war, absolutely, yeah. So I've known about him for a very long time and I knew about the forecast leading up to D-Day. But, you know, just seeing it dramatised like that really kind of hit home about how important the weather forecast is. And so have you seen the film? I've seen it a couple of times now. Well, he's such an interesting character because at first he comes across very quiet and almost quite meek. But then as the story develops, he really comes into his own. And one of the really important things about being a weather forecast, about being a meteorologist, especially in the military, is about owning your forecast.
48:34And you have got to present that and communicate that to the British public or military commanders. And you've got to really stick by that. You can't be swayed or influenced by any external factors with that. And that's something you really see come out of this and how Group Captain Stagg really stands his ground. If D-Day is cancelled, we will lose this war. The final decision on the timing of D-Day will be mine and mine alone. We must face the VAT. The VAT, however frightening they may be.
49:04Paddy O'Connell:It's fascinating to think that Eisenhower could instinctively have gone with American meteorological advice, but he chose to go with Scottish meteorological advice. So it tells us a lot about leadership. So you've got the ownership of the forecast, but you've got the leadership of Eisenhower being convinced by someone who was prepared to be wrong. And this is it. Stagg was very vocal in saying that he's not sure, you know, that the forecast in those days, 24 hours ahead, was almost impossible. You've got to think in 1944, we had no satellites, we had no computer modelling that generate the weather forecast.
49:38Just phoning these observing stations around the UK, out in the Atlantic and in Newfoundland and Greenland and getting these weather balloons being sent up and all that data being fed back to the forecast office. they drew charts based on that information and then tried to put a forecast together from it and that is such basic you know level of forecasting and he just has to stick with it which is of course very different to today we've got satellites we've got billions of bits of meteorologic
50:05Paddy O'Connell:information that we can put and we still get it wrong but the thing is well you don't but now you served in uniform yourself did you do weather forecasting for the military yeah absolutely So before I was a BBC weather presenter, I was at the Met Office and I joined a very specialist forecasting group called the Mobile Met Unit. And essentially what that meant was I did forecasted training and then I also commissioned into the Royal Air Force as an officer. It meant that I was able to go in uniform and forecast the weather out on deployment. Did you ever have to say, now, Brigadier, the weather conditions are extremely bad for your planned operation?
50:47Paddy O'Connell:I did. That's the similarity with 1944. While obviously I didn't have to forecast anything as major as D-Day, you know, there were operations going on all the time. And I knew that sometimes when I was talking about bad weather, really poor visibilities or thunderstorms or sandstorms coming in, I knew that that forecast was going to be detrimental to what they wanted to do. I heard an interview with Eisenhower talking about Stagg after the war. He completely remembered this extraordinary man. And I wonder, the subject we're talking about and the subject you love, when you feel it come into the news like this, does it make you just fall back in love with meteorology?
51:24The forecast was so uncertain in those days. For him to stand up and say what he was saying about these storms coming through the English Channel, I can't comprehend really how much pressure that would have been. Not only for Stagg, but obviously for Eisenhower as well to kind of trust what Stagg was saying. So it really is great to see this story being put up in lights and like this.
51:46Paddy O'Connell:Simon, I think you're going to see it a third time. I am going to see it a third time. Today's producers were Rose Nugy and Isabel Gough. Studio production from Graham White. The editor was Louisa Service. A last word to a listener. Ashworth, who seems a nice bloke, was elected MP by some folk. He now recites rhymes after facing tough times that resulted from having a stroke. Goodbye. Did America's war on terror work? I'm Asma Khalid, host of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. In the words of a former U.S. official, on September 11, 2001, the terrorists hijacked not just airplanes, but also the direction of U.S.
52:28foreign policy. 25 years on, what were the unintended consequences of the war on terror? For the full story, listen to The Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
From the publisher
Conservative pollster Lord Hayward voices concern over the role of big money in politics and we get the reaction of billionaire donor John Caudwell. Paddy visits one of the UK's only hybrid schools, where pupils mix online home learning with one day a week in class. Is it an answer to absenteeism? Former Labour MP John Ashworth asks for your poetry suggestions to help him recover from a stroke and we test your pronunciation of hard to say place names after Angela Rayner fell foul of Worcester this week.