Archives for August 2009
Is the feel-good factor returning to Britain?
You're the best people to tell us. I know many of you run your own businesses, and we also know some of you have been made redundant in the last year. So do give us an accurate picture of economic activity right now.
The positive side of social work
Today: the positive work that social workers do. Many times on 5 live and across the BBC we've reported inevitably horrific stories of child neglect where social workers have found to be wanting. Today we're going to try and redress the balance. And, as you'd expect, your experiences are key: if you are a social worker, do tell us in broad terms about the kind of cases where you have made life better for someone. And if you or your family have been helped by a social worker again we're very keen to hear from you.
Plus what's the point of Megan's Law after all? It's the legislation in the States where people have access to information on paedophiles living in their local area. Philip Garrido's details are on the Megan's Law website - and no one knew he'd kidnapped an 11-year-old girl and kept her captive for 18 years.
A Gay Soldier Speaks Out
Last year in a landmark case 32-year-old Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher was awarded £187,000 in compensation after a campaign of sexual harassment by a senior officer.
Here's how the story was reported by The Sun: "Bullied lesbian wants £400k Army compo" at the time.
And here's the Daily Mail: Lesbian soldier pestered for sex by her male boss wins 'obscene' £200,000 payout.
And here's The Telegraph: MoD apologises to lesbian soldier Kerry Fletcher over harassment
Ms Fletcher has never given any interviews - until today. You can hear her talk for the first time about the sexuallly explicit messages she received from her line manager, a senior officer, Staff Sgt Ian Brown at RAF Topcliffe in North Yorkshire. She speaks about how her life was made a misery and wrecked her career in the army:
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Anonymous until proven guilty?
This morning Victoria is talking to the former Emmerdale actor Lewis Linford, left, who was cleared of sexual assault by a jury in just 7 minutes earlier this week.
He's another high profile defendant in a sexual assault case who wants anonymity for men until and unless they are convicted.
Also, after the the hooliganism at last night's West Ham v Millwall match, we'll find out what happened to those who caused trouble between Hull and Millwall in their FA cup game last January - were they banned for life from football?
Why weren't we saying back in January that football seems to have returned to the dark days? Shouldn't a Carling Cup match between West Ham and Millwall be played in daylight on a Sunday morning? Why not ban away fans from high profile notorious games like this?
Where is British prisoner John Watson?
Six years ago, a British man from Bradford was arrested and jailed in Laos. John Watson was accused of smuggling amphetamines and was sentenced to life in prison in 2006. At the time of his arrest, the Watson family chose not to publicise his case, hoping they could quietly convince the Laos authorities to let him serve his sentence in the UK. BUT his name hit the headlines earlier this year - when another British prisoner - Samantha Orabator identified Mr Watson as the father of her unborn child. In a statement read in court on her behalf by the local prosecutor - she claimed to have artificially inseminated herself using John Watson's semen, and by becoming pregnant, avoided the death penalty for drug smuggling. Almost 3 wks ago, Samantha Orabtor was transferred to a British prison.
Meanwhile - Mr Watson was moved from a jail in the Laos capital Some reports say he has been taken to another jail that campaigners say is renowned for it's torture. But his actual whereabouts are unknown. This morning we'll talk to Mr Watson's sister who's never spoken about her brother's case before.
Victoria speaks to the Ashes champions
Victoria has been at the England cricket team's hotel in East London today.
The celebrations for their second Ashes win in four years are much more muted than last time round; no victory parade through London, but plenty of high spirits and confidence for the future.
She got to congratulate Andrew Flintoff personally, and also caught up with Alastair Cook (right.)
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Richard does The Freddie
Richard's at The Oval this morning for the start of the fifth and deciding Ashes Test. England must win in order to regain the Ashes, while Australia need only a draw to retain the famous urn.
It's farewell to Freddy as he takes part in his final Test match - can he rekindle a bit of the old Flintoff magic which was crucial in England's 2005 win? Here's Richard showing his support by copying Freddie's victory pose from 2005
Er, wrong knee Richard! Here's how Freddie does it.
Richard speaks to father of "miracle baby"
This morning Richard spoke to Mahmoud Soliman. At the start of this year Mahmoud was happily married and over the moon about becoming a dad for the first time. He and his wife Jayne were planning for the future - life with their baby and life after he'd finished his Master's degree - but then tragedy struck. On January 7th, at 25 weeks pregnant, his wife, Jayne suffered a brain haemorrhage and was declared clinically dead. She was 41 and a champion ice skater.
But doctors kept her heart beating for two more days - to try and save her unborn child. The little girl - named Aya was born by caesarean section, weighing just two pounds one ounce.
Seven months on, she's happy and healthy and doctors expect she'll develop normally.
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Richard Bacon interviews the Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York is talking to Richard from 10 this morning. She's spent ten days living on a deprived housing estate in Manchester to make a programme for ITV looking at so-called broken britain.
We'll talk to her about that documentary, what she thinks about the current row over the NHS and the media pressure on her daughters.
She's agreed to talk to us about anything apart from Princess Diana, Kate Middleton and what she thinks about the Queen. We'll ask her why those subjects are off-limits.
UPDATE: You can watch some of the highlights of Richard's interview with the Duchess of York below and listen to the whole programme in iPlayer.
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Your questions for James Toseland
Richard will be talking to British MotoGP rider, James Toseland today.
The twice World Superbike Champion has got to pull out all the stops at the Czech Republic Grand Prix on Sunday if he's going to secure another contract for next season.
If you've got a question you'd like to put to James email victoria@bbc.co.uk and if you send us your number we'll try and put you on air to talk to James direct.
Peter Andre meets Richard Bacon
It's been three months since Peter and Jordan announced they were splitting up. Richard Bacon, who's standing in for Victoria for the next fortnight, spoke to Peter Andre about the split, the tabloids and his new album. Watch a film we made here:
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Fighting for her autistic sons
If your child is disabled you qualify for grants to help you adapt your home - but if your child is autistic you don't.
5 live listener Hayley Moran got in contact with us to highlight what she calls the anomaly in the system. She's got two young sons with severe autism and needs to spend thirty thousand pounds making her home more accessible for them.
Watch the film we made with her here:
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Flintoff in his own words...
I had a chat with Flintoff yesterday where we talked about this series compared to the one in 2005.
He talks about missing that bus to visit World War I sites and answers some of your questions.
You can listen to the interview below:
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Would she do the same again?
Two years ago a mum from Norfolk went to the police to shop her two grown up sons after she believed they'd beaten up another man. At the time it was a case that really struck a chord with our listeners - 99 per cent of you supporterd this mum and most of you said you would do the same. .Well the brothers were jailed for GBH and have just been released. This morning we'll talk to Carol Saldinack again - about whether she's been reconciled with her sons, how she thinks the jail term has affected them, and whether she'd do the same again.
Plus our exclusive interview yesterday with the MoD military press officer prompted a big response from you. John Salisbury-Baker was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder earlier this year and is suing the MoD for disability discrimination. He says it was caused by his job which he claims involved holding back information about troops' safety and having to liaise with the families of deceased soliders, something which he says he wasn't trained to do. Many of you got in touch with your own experiences of PTSD and we'll feature some of them on the programme today.
One family's nightmare
We can bring you for the first time this morning the details of an extraordinary case involving a family from Derbyshire and their battle with Derbyshire social services.
Three years ago a father in this family was accused of sexual abuse by his own 21-year-old daughter. The young woman told her boyfriend her dad had abused her since she was 12. She then told her parents she'd lied to her boyfriend.
The father was investigated by the police and charged. After being tried in a criminal court, a jury cleared him of all charges.
Despite that, social services didn't want him to continue living at the family home with his daughter and her three younger sisters.
I've recorded an interview with his wife and the mother of the four girls. She has chosen to speak to this programme about their experiences. We're calling her Christine, not her real name, and her words are spoken for her to protect the family's identity. She explained how the allegations came about:
Your views on those who go AWOL from the military
What makes a member of the military go AWOL? Today Lance Corporal Joe Glenton from the Royal Logistics Corps faces a hearing over his refusal to return to Afghanistan. This morning at ten we'll talk to a man who went AWOL from the American military. He decided he was opposed to the war in Iraq after he'd served there for 6 months. He's now in hiding in Germany hoping to claim political asylum.
Plus we'll be live at Edgbaston - can England win this test match?
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