WP Radio shortlisted for Channel 4 Award

Thanks to all for the nomination wpradio.co.uk has had for the Channel 4 Political Awards to be announced in January 2008. We are on the short-list in the Hansard Democracy Section.

Women's Parliamentary Radio

PAGE 4 OF WP RADIO'S ORIGINAL AUDIO REPORTS

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Women supporting Women Emily Wilding Davison It is 90 years since women over 30 were first given the right to vote. In 2008, Women's Parliamentary Radio is campaigning to get a plaque to the miltant suffragette Emily Wilding Davison at St George's Church in Bloomsbury where her funeral procession started and a statue of her in Westminster. Writer and Producer Barbara Gorna has the sash Emily was trying to pin to the King's horse when she was killed and she told Boni Sones why she wants it to be known Emily's death was a tragic accident not suicide.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 8MB approx 2 mins Cable/DSL



Women supporting Women In WP Radio's new series: "Women supporting Women" our reporter Anne Garvey talks to two women MPs who are helping to change women's lives inside and outside Westminster.

Jo Swinson MP Jo Swinson is the Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire. She is the youngest MP in Westminster and her parties equality spokes person. She has championed issues such as the pay gap and also become a respected campaigner displaying her environmental concerns on issues such as un-necessary packaging.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 9MB approx 2 mins Cable/DSL

Eleanor Laing MP Eleanor Laing is the Conservative MP for Epping Forest. In July 2007 Eleanor was appointed Shadow Minister for Justice. She's previously worked as Shadow Minister for Children, and Women and Equality. She has a son Matthew who was born one week after the 2001 General Election. Eleanor believes women can stand up for themselves at the dispatch box, and has a few good tips for Prospective Parliamentary Candidates.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 9MB approx 2 mins Cable/DSL



Women supporting Women In WP Radio's new series: "Women supporting Women" our intern reporter Sophie Kainradl goes in search of women in other campaigning roles who are helping to change women's lives.

Joy Greasley on the Women's Institute The Women’s Institute was founded in 1915 with two aims: to revitalise the rural community and encourage more women to help with food production during World War I. Today the WI describes itself as ‘a modern voice for today’s woman’ and is even suggesting that brothels should be licensed in order to protect prostitutes. But can an organisation with such a strong sense of tradition ever really represent such a great diversity of women? WP Radio reporter Sophie Kainradl talks to Joy Greasley, head of the WI’s Training Committee, to ask how the WI is living up to its new image and if it really has as much power as its slogan suggests?	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 5MB approx 1 mins Cable/DSL

Frances O'Grady on the TUC Frances O’Grady became the Deputy General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress in 2003. She is the first woman to hold such a senior position in the organisation. Frances is a staunch campaigner for women’s rights in the work place, from equal pay to better maternity cover. She told WPR Radio reporter Sophie Kainradl what the government must do to improve the lives of female workers, why women make great politicians and how society desperately needs to change to cater for working mothers.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 9MB approx 2 mins Cable/DSL

Paul Goggins MP Paul Goggins MP, the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, has been at the forefront of pioneering complementary medicine on the NHS. In his previous role as Health Minister for Northern Ireland, he announced a new£200,000 fund to pilot the integration of complementary medicine into the NHS. He said that these therapies should be made available to all people, not just people who can afford to pay privately. The pilot project is being operated by Get Well UK and will aim to treat 700 patients initially. Boni Sones, went to Ulster to speak to four patients and their health practitioners to find out how the Get Well UK programme was improving their health.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 16MB approx 3.5 mins Cable/DSL

Dawn Butler MP Dawn Butler, the MP for Brent has just been given a new job by the Prime MinsterGordon Brown as one of six Vice-Chairs of the Labour Party. She will workdirectly to Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman on youth issues and be involved withthe new ministerial team at the Department for Children, Schools and Families.Dawn's enthusiasm for campaigning is infectious. Boni Sones talked to her abouther new role and her parliamentary career.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 11MB approx 2.5 mins Cable/DSL

Caroline Spelman MP The Chairman of the Conservative Party, Caroline Spelman, MP for Meriden, hasbeen working with others in her party to address the issue of forced marriages.She says women feel solidarity with others across party to stop women beingexploited in this way. The Conservatives and Labour have supported LordLester's (LD) Forced Marriage Bill. This aims to outlaw forced marriages aswell as supporting people who are victims of the practice. WPRadio journalistLinda Fairbrother asked Caroline how big a problem forced marriages were inBritain?	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 10MB approx 2 mins Cable/DSL

Margaret Moran MP Margaret Moran, the Labour MP for Luton South, Chair's the All Party DomesticViolence Group. After talking online to women survivors of domestic violencethrough a project called "Womenspeak" MPs have now turned their attention tochildren who experience violence in their own home. They joined with children'scharities and Women's Aid to listen directly to children's voices through anonline project called "KIDSPEAK" which Margaret helped shape. The aim is toprovide a safe, anonymous and secure online environment where children andyoung people affected by domestic violence can share their experience with thepolice, judges and parliamentarians. She explains in her own words why theproject is so important.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 6MB approx 1.5 mins Cable/DSL

Baroness Uddin Baroness Uddin is a Labour peer who has dedicated her life to public socialreform and equal rights. She was appointed to the Lords in 1998 for her work onwomen and disability rights where she has continued to champion diversityissues and issues affecting the Bangladeshi community. She's worked on theproblems surrounding forced marriages and more recently the collapse of theFirst Solutions company, which was involved in money transfers from Bangladesh.Boni Sones spoke to her at length about her 30 year career in politics firstin the community and now as a campaigner in the Lords. She started with herchildhood in Bangladesh.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 16MB approx 3.5 mins Cable/DSL

Hazel Blears MP Gordon Brown's new Cabinet has five women in it. The new Home Secretary isJacqui Smith, the first woman to hold this important office. Harriet Harman,fresh from her deputy leadership victory, is Leader of the Commons. The Leaderof the Lords is Baroness Ashton of Upholland. Ruth Kelly moves to Secretary ofState for Transport, and Hazel Blears, the former Party Chairwoman, is to takeover Communities and Local Government. WP Radio journalist Anne Garvey caughtup with her as she was saying goodbye to her former colleagues and before sheknew of her new role.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 6MB approx 1.5 mins Cable/DSL

A Day In The Life The Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, Emily Thornberry, has a tough job balancing work and family life, but she says she wouldn't swap being a backbench MP for the world. She, like other women MPs, believes the real life experiences of their constituents are helping to enhance and inform government policy. WP Radio journalist Anne Garvey asked her to talk about a "Day in her life".	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 19MB approx 4 mins Cable/DSL


A Rising Tide Women in the UK have been at the forefront of helping women internationally to progress their careers in politics. Many have to struggle to get their voices heard and suffer at the hands of oppressive regimes. No more so than in modern Uganda. A book "A Rising Tide", tells the histories of modern women politicians there from the 1940s through to the present time. "A Ugandan women's Struggle for a Public Voice 1940-2004" is published by Forwode. Here Sue Woodsford, tells how she supported one of those women, Rhoda Kalema, when she was in prison. Sue begins by reading Rhoda's story. Other stories in the book are read in this one hour radio documentary by Patricia Lashely, of Momentum Arts, and Boni Sones.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 19MB approx 4 mins Cable/DSL

Flexible working practices The MP for Solihull, Liberal Democrat Lorely Burt, has secured a debate on workplace diversity to promote her 10 Minute Rule Bill which promotes flexible working practices. She told the Trade and Industry Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, that she wants to see more sensitive employment policies for ethnic minority women, other minorities, and also for women generally. WPRadio journalist Anne Garvey asked her to explain why she thought new laws were needed?	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 7MB approx 1.5 mins Cable/DSL

Are women fairly represented at Westminster? Women MPs still only make up 20 per cent of MPs across party and it could be several hundreds of years before we have a fifty fifty gender balanced Parliament. Boni Sones, asked feminist academic, Joni Lovenduski, Professor of Politics at Birkbeck College at the University of London, why women's representation at Westminster was making such slow progress?	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 4.5MB approx 1 min Cable/DSL

Women Championing Women So what have women in Parliament been doing to champion issues of concern to women in the Country? Well if you asked them they’d say quite a lot. Sally Keeble for Labour, Caroline Spelman for the Conservatives, and Sandra Gidley of the Liberal Democrats have been talking to Linda Fairbrother about how Women MPs are helping us.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 14MB approx 3 mins Cable/DSL

Theresa May Interview On the 23rd November the Conservatives 'Women2Win' campaign celebrates its first birthday. So how effective has the campaign been? It has had its fair share of negative headlines but some positive ones too as more women creep onto the Cameron 'A list' of candidates. Women now make up almost 40 per cent of the candidates chosen to fight the most winnable seats. Yet even the organisers admit "there is still so much to do." Boni Sones talked toTheresa May as she travelled back from one event on the train.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 5MB approx 1 min Cable/DSL



Monstrous Regiment The 1997 election was extraordinary in many ways but not least because ofthe numbers of women in Parliament doubled from 60 to 120. Never before hadthe House encountered anything like it. And nor, it seems, had most of thewomen who joined it.Boni Sones, Deborah McGurran and Eva Simmons produced this documentary. It is presented by Jackie Ashley.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 24MB approx 4.5 mins Cable/DSL

The work of the Science Council Every day we read about how science is governing our lives. There are headlines about climate change and the future of the planet, how unequal the world’s health problems are particularly in countries like HIV and Aids stricken Africa, and how as a nation we are becoming more and more obese. Society needs scientists to help find solutions to these complex problems, so what does a career in science offer to young people and how can we ensure more young women opt for a career in science. Boni Sones reports.	PLAY or DOWNLOAD File size 23MB approx 4.5 mins Cable/DSL

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WP Radio
Executive Producer
Boni Sones

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