Latest news with #MichaelPortillo
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sussan Ley needs bold thinking to modernise the Liberals. She should look to David Cameron's Tories
When David Cameron was elected leader of the UK Conservatives in 2005, he faced up to the party's existential problem. The Tories were out of touch with voters and no longer looked anything like the modern British electorate. Smashed in three general elections by Tony Blair's New Labour, Cameron's party had 198 MPs, but only 17 were women and just two came from multicultural backgrounds. There were more people named David in the shadow cabinet than women. 'We were the oldest political party in the world – and we looked it,' Cameron said years later. The Tory grandee Michael Portillo went further, warning the parliamentary party was 'reactionary and unattractive to voters'. Cameron took action. He put a freeze on candidate selection and introduced a priority list to be considered by local branches conducting preselections. Half of the names on the so-called 'A-list' would be female, and a large number would be from minority backgrounds. Open primary contests were established, to include non-party members interested in standing for office. Despite strong internal opposition, within five years, the A-list and rules that required gender parity among candidates being considered by branches led to a near quadrupling of women in parliament. After 10 years, multicultural representation within Conservative ranks had increased threefold. The wider UK parliament is significantly more diverse than Australia's. The results were also noticed publicly. While the UK tabloids regrettably labelled women recruited to the party 'Cameron's Cuties', a new generation of senior Tories arrived – including the first Muslim woman to sit in cabinet, Sayeeda Warsi, home secretary and conservative favourite Priti Patel, and female prime ministers including Theresa May and Liz Truss. The party has since been led by Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch. As she starts to pick up the pieces from the 3 May electoral drubbing suffered by the Coalition here in Australia, newly elected opposition leader Sussan Ley could do worse than look to the Tories for a way forward. The A-list was not a magic bullet – among those elected for the Conservatives at the 2024 UK election, 76% were men and only 12% were ethnically diverse. But bold thinking is clearly needed as the Coalition faces the strong likelihood of at least two more terms in opposition. Labor takes great pride in the fact women outnumber men in the caucus in 2025, but the party first put in place quotas for preselection way back when Paul Keating was in the Lodge. In 1994, women made up just 12.5% of the caucus as the ALP national conference in Hobart thrashed out a proposal by the activist Sheila O'Sullivan calling for women to make up at least 35% of candidates in winnable seats by 2002. After her victory over Angus Taylor this week, Ley said she would bring a fresh approach to the job. The first woman to lead the party and the first to lead a federal opposition, Ley insists the Liberals 'must respect, reflect and represent modern Australia'. As party activist and former staffer Charlotte Mortlock has pointed out, the average Liberal member is a bloke in his 70s, while the average Australian voter is a 37-year-old woman. Worse, Mortlock warned quality female candidates were forced to sell a bad message to voters and paid the price themselves. To that end, Ted O'Brien, the new deputy Liberal leader, has said he mourns for the 28 women who stood for the Liberals and lost. Fortunately for Ley, some of the work has already been done – and some in the party are rejecting the usual conservative pushback against change. A review of the Liberals' 2022 defeat, led by the Victorian senator Jane Hume and the former Liberal director Brian Loughnane, found that a majority of women across age segments preferred Anthony Albanese and Labor, while the opposition's two-party preferred vote was weakest among women aged 18-34. The review warned the Liberals had failed to attract new members in the numbers needed to campaign effectively, pointing to multicultural communities, women and anyone under 40. It called for a much larger number of strong female candidates contesting key winnable seats, and for internal mechanisms to recruit and build up women who might otherwise not consider standing for parliament. Hume and Loughnane recommended a target of 50% female representation in Liberal parliamentary ranks within 10 years, or three terms. Hume has led on this herself, helping to establish the Dame Margaret Guilfoyle Network, charged with boosting female representation. But the kinds of targets the review recommended don't have the force of set quotas and can be routinely ignored. The review also proposed a special outreach program for culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including Chinese Australians, and for better campaign tools to win over multicultural voters. The Liberals could do a lot more to tap into Australia's naturally conservative south Asian and east Asian diaspora, and to recruit quality candidates from other culturally diverse places. The reviewers should speak to Liberal Jason Wood and defeated MP Keith Wolahan about this challenge. Surely the first step of this year's postmortem must be careful analysis of where these ambitions from 2022 have yet to be met, and where they were quietly ignored. Liberals including Simon Birmingham, Fiona Scott, Maria Kovacic and Linda Reynolds have all urged quotas be put in place to address the diversity problem now. The Sky News host Peta Credlin, however, on Thursday argued that the way back for the Liberals is better policy to fight Labor, rather than quotas she said would 'force' the party to install women candidates. Credlin is married to Loughnane. Ley herself has an incredible story to tell. Born in Africa to British parents, arriving in Australia as a teenage migrant, studying at university as a mature-aged student and raising her family in regional Australia, the Farrer MP might be as well placed as anyone to speak to voters who turned away from Peter Dutton or Scott Morrison. Ley should style herself as a no-nonsense grandparent, out to get the job done and impress voters just enough to take another look at the Liberals. One of the other silver linings from the Coalition's drubbing might also be that a new generation of talent – including Dave Sharma, Zoe McKenzie and Aaron Violi – now have a clearer path to senior roles. Tim Wilson and Bradfield candidate Gisele Kapterian will help inject badly needed energy in the months and years ahead. Since her victory, Ley has promised to meet voters 'where they're at'. Right now, that almost certainly isn't a Liberal party branch meeting.
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: Alison Hammond finally gets her own interview series
8.30pm, BBC OneAlison Hammond is a pro at getting laughs out of celebrities, but this new series – in which she spends a weekend at a star's house – proves she's a brilliant interviewer too. Who else could get away with asking Little Mix's Perrie Edwards if she needs to take a pregnancy test? The laughs are always there, but there's depth too when Edwards talks about anxiety and panic attacks. Hollie Richardson 9pm, BBC TwoThe three writers' retreats featured in this episode include Beatrix Potter's home-within-a-home (a doll's house containing more than 70 beautifully detailed miniatures), and the woodland cottage of Clouds Hill, Dorset, a refuge for TE Lawrence (of Arabia). Ellen E Jones 9pm, ITV1 The ever genial tourist Clunes wraps up his latest travelogue by setting course for the Faroe Islands. There he gamely mucks in with sheep-shearing and straps into a drysuit to dive for mussels. Then it's west to Greenland to marvel at some incomparable views and learn about the local wildlife ('Is this the penis bone of the walrus?'). Graeme Virtue 9pm, Channel 5Czech it out: another extended episode of Portillo's time in Prague – 'the city of a hundred spires' – from his previous Long Weekends series. This time he is leaving his one-room hotel to eat his way around the city, explore a centuries-old craft and visit a secret bunker. HR 9pm, Sky MaxThe late-night show is going great but, following Ava's (Hannah Einbinder) breakdown, can she continue to work as head writer with Deborah (Jean Smart)? Even if the answer is no, their millennial/boomer frenemy relationship finally looks back on track – and that could last … couldn't it? HR 9.30pm, BBC OneJulian's plan to rebrand himself in the eyes of the world approaches fruition in the penultimate episode of this underwhelming sitcom starring Ben Miller. But as the documentary release date approaches, is everything OK between him and Austin? Phil Harrison Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970), 6am, Sky Cinema GreatsA set text in any discussion about the New American Cinema, Bob Rafelson's zeitgeisty 1970 drama stars Jack Nicholson as Bob, who works on a California oil rig and is in a relationship with waitress Rayette (Karen Black) – but is noticeably disaffected by both. He is also hiding a past as the classically trained pianist son of a middle-class musical family. On a road trip back home to Washington state to see his ailing father, his rootlessness comes to the fore – but is he running away from boredom, failure, commitment or just the difficult business of living an ordinary life? Simon Wardell Bodies Bodies Bodies (Halina Reijn, 2022), 11.30pm, BBC OnePosing as a generic 'cabin in the woods' horror in the vein of And Then There Were None (though it is actually set in a mansion), Halina Reijn's film soon develops into a sly, brutally funny takedown of entitled generation Zers. A group of friends (the on point cast includes Amandla Stenberg, Myha'la and Rachel Sennott) prepare to party in a big, dark house, but storm-related power cuts and a bloody death precipitate a breakdown of order. Bitchy, indiscreet and jealous, the pals turn out to be hilariously incapable of staying united with a possible killer on the loose. SW
BBC News
17-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Sellafield train returned to firm which rebuilt it
A locomotive used to transport nuclear material around the Sellafield nuclear site has been returned to the firm that rebuilt Ltd said it was replacing its diesel vehicles with electric ones, which included selling a redundant locomotive to Brodie Engineering in Kilmarnock to use as a shunting Engineering, which rebuilt the same locomotive in 1997, said it was "pleased to welcome it back".It comes as Sellafield's rail network - one of the largest internal networks in England - features on the latest series of BBC Two's Great British Railway Journeys. In the episode, broadcaster Michael Portillo drives a train normally used to transport spent nuclear fuel at the Ltd said in the last two years it had donated redundant diesel locomotives to Chasewater Railway in Staffordshire and Eden Valley Railways in Earle-Payne, from Brodie Engineering, said: "We are pleased to welcome back what we believe was one of the last locomotives to be rebuilt at our Caledonia Works site."Following condition assessment and refurbishment, we hope to return it to service to support the ongoing work on our site."A spokesman for Sellafield Ltd described it as a "particularly satisfying solution"."The site's rail system plays a vital role in supporting the UK's energy needs and clean-up mission, so as it transitions to a more efficient fleet of electric locomotives it needs to dispose of the older ones sustainably." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Guardian
16-04-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
I thought seasonal affective disorder was a myth. Then I saw the joy that spring can bring
I've always thought seasonal affective disorder, what with its convenient acronym and all, to be a load of tosh. But that's because I don't live with Sad. It's shamefully easy to dismiss something when you don't feel it in your own bones. Sad, me? No, I can be grumpy whatever the weather. Also, just as without despair there is no joy, the staggering beauty of a blue sky over the British Isles would be less staggeringly beautiful if it was always there. Blue skies all year round? Nah, not for me. In fact, I find dismal winter weather somewhat liberating. When the weather's good, the opportunities it presents are overwhelming. A paralysis of choice takes hold. So many places to go and things to do with the sun on your back. That urgent need to be out there. Every sunny day leaves me with this feeling that I haven't quite made the most of it. And much as I love my job, being in an office or a studio, I love it a little bit less when the sun is shining outside. In a way, life is more straightforward when it's grey, windy and wet, as then I can forgive myself for staying at home and being still and calm, essentially doing bugger all for a bit without feeling bad about it. Still, while winter is fine, spring is finer. Seeing so many people of my acquaintance – especially older people – perk up no end these last couple of weeks, I am now quite sure that Sad is a thing after all. My mum's a changed woman – and why wouldn't she be after a long, dark, wet winter sitting in front of the fire watching endless quizshows, cooking contests and Michael Portillo pottering here, there and everywhere? The lifting of the health and spirits of her and those around her is as brightening as any spring flower. I spoke to Michael Morpurgo regarding the book he's written about spring. 'There's something about spring that makes you deal with what's difficult better,' he says. Nicely put. I asked him what writing about it had taught him that hadn't occurred to him before. 'I suppose the thing I've learned most is – it sounds rather dreadful – that if you're really concentrating on spring, you know it might be your last one. You get the wrong side of 80 and that thought does occur to you from time to time.' It wasn't his intention to strike any kind of morbid note, but there's surely something in this. If I throw myself backwards or forwards to last autumn or next, lurking somewhere deep down is the hope that I'll be around to see the leaves appear back on those trees. It says something positive about Morpurgo that it's taken more than 80 springs for this idea to strike him. It's been on my mind since I was a teenager. I used to look at the horse chestnut tree out the back of our house and fret a little that I'd not see it turn green again. I don't know what this negativity was all about. I suppose I could put it down to the football team I support, and also to reading more Thomas Hardy than was good for me. Daft, really. Back then, any bookmaker would have given me short odds indeed on making it safely through to the other side of winter. But perhaps this is the point – year upon year, those odds lengthen. So why wouldn't the coming of spring be so special? I'll come back to this idea in the autumn, by which time I hope to have found a way of putting a more positive spin on the falling of the leaves. Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist
Telegraph
05-04-2025
- Telegraph
A new rail journey is helping to heal the wounds of Sri Lanka's civil war
It didn't take long for me to get drawn into my first Michael Portillo moment. 'Come, come and eat with us!' came the cry from a family grouping eagerly tucking into rice and curry spread out on a banana leaf as the train eased into the new day and the journey from Colombo Fort to Jaffna. Curiosity had got the better of me. I was up in the posh seats (padded chairs; air conditioning), but wanted to wander through the train and get a sense of who else was on board and what the other compartments were like. The friendly family was in Second Class – perfectly comfortable, with table space enough for a full spread. 'It's very good, no? Come and join us! Can you sing?' It was a bit early in the day for that – just gone 7am – so I declined the invitation to burst into song, but gave an approximation of a little jig. The Thameslink service from Bedford to Brighton this was not. I've travelled on lots of trains in Sri Lanka, a country of quite extraordinary beauty and generous-hearted people, but this was something very special: the Yal Devi Express from Colombo to Jaffna. For years during Sri Lanka's protracted civil war, services ceased between the two cities which so symbolised the division between Tamils and Sinhalese, Hindu and Buddhist, north (or north-east) and south. And here I was on a train that was once again linking Colombo and Jaffna, a train running on gleaming new tracks providing a lifeline between two previously warring communities – but also a train giving travellers like me the possibility of hugely expanding their perceptions of this treasure trove of an island in the Indian Ocean. The family I'd joshed and eaten rice with was Tamil. So, too, was the fellow passenger sitting next to me in the First Class carriage as we'd pulled away from Colombo Fort at the magical pre-dawn time of 05.45. One of very few from his school cohort who hadn't fled abroad during the war, Gobi had stayed and studied, working his way up in a firm selling life assurance. He'd also been a good son, providing vital support for ageing and ailing parents, who he was on his way to visit now. 'Milk tea? Milk tea? Oh we do love a milk tea!' Our exchanges were broken by excited cries across the aisle coming from a group of animated Sinhalese ladies, former school friends, now mothers of strapping children themselves, who were travelling together (minus husbands) to visit Anuradhapura, a sacred city of Buddhist statutory and stupas (dome-shaped shrines) and Sri Lanka's ancient capital. They were clearly enjoying a good old catch up, the prospect of fresh discoveries ahead – and, more immediately, some 'milk tea', a wickedly calorific concoction involving black tea, condensed milk and several spoons of sugar – all boiled up together and served piping hot. The ladies confessed that they did not speak Tamil – 'our generation did not learn it… but our children will!' – but nevertheless showed interest in Gobi and plied him (in English) with questions about the north and eastern sides of the island, to them for so long out of bounds. I'd already heard plenty about the north to whet the appetite: the rice-based hoppers and coconut-infused crab curries; the puja rituals of the Nallur Kandaswamy temple; the elegant Dutch-era fort and lingering Portuguese influences; the sacred waters of Keerimalai. An equine-loving friend had told me breathlessly of the island of Delft and the wild horses descended from those originally transported there from Arabia; another spoke of the region's unblemished beaches, of the sense of time having stood still, of the mangroves providing sanctuary for exotic migrating birds. I looked forward to exploring these and much more from my base in the newly-opened (and history-replete) Mahesa Bhawan boutique villa in Jaffna. The Yal Devi Express – inaugurated in 1956 and affectionately known as the 'Queen of Jaffna' – made the last of its sorties between Colombo and Jaffna in 1990, when damage to the track meant the route was no longer passable or safe. Following extensive work on the war-damaged section of the line, the train made its first return in 2014, but the comeback proved premature as it soon became clear that other parts of the line were in need of serious restoration and the long-awaited connection with the north was at best stop and start. The Covid pandemic and political turmoil of 2022 did not speed matters, but late last year (2024), work on the new, improved line was finally declared complete and the 'Queen of Jaffna' was at last back on track. I had been looking forward to this journey for years – not because it promised to be Sri Lanka's most scenic (the journey from Kandy to Badulla through tea plantation territory lays claim to that), but because it bore testimony to the fact Sri Lanka was no longer tearing itself apart, and promised to serve as an introduction to a tantalisingly different side of the island. At around the time I was being offered rice and curry on a banana leaf, the sun was rising and the tall blocks and slightly incongruous Lotus Tower of modern-day Colombo had been replaced with gentler scenes of swaying palm trees and paddy fields; in one small settlement I spotted a man in flip-flops on a motor bike; in another, alms-seeking Buddhist monks attired in orange robes. Sri Lanka's lush vegetation and striking scenery make any journey here a pleasure – as do the people you share it with. As I embarked on further wanderings along the train, I shared happy exchanges with guards in peaked caps and crisp white uniforms, the legendary milk tea brewers in the buffet car and a friendly man called Vass who had spent years living and working in Hounslow but had chosen to come home for his golden years. 'Call me; visit me!' he implored. I also bumped into a film producer named Ayesha, who was travelling to the north to give Tamil women the tools to tell their stories and to record them for posterity. 'I had very negative images of Jaffna when I was growing up and the war was on,' said Ayesha. 'But going there has changed my view. And while there are problems all over the country, they are much worse in the north. 'We hope through this film project to help the women of the north, not educated, not rich, to tell their stories, to rebuild their lives.' It was heartening to hear these words and to realise that there are genuine efforts being made to build bridges between the two communities (though my experiences over the coming days alerted me to the fact that for many, the wounds of war still run deep). I returned to my seat for a final chat with Gobi, sharing his pride in the fact that he had recently been promoted to branch manager and enjoying hearing him say how much he loved his country and was glad to have stayed. Together we looked out of the window as we came to Elephant Pass, the strategically vital causeway linking the Jaffna peninsula with the mainland. The surrounding land was flat, the horizon wide; in this once fiercely-contested spot, the hand of history was palpable. And then, almost too soon, at a little past midday, our destination approached and after just over seven hours and 250 miles it was time to say our farewells. Trains unite and bring people together; they also open up new worlds. I gave a little whoop as I descended onto the bustling platform and posed for a photo beneath the sign that read Jaffna. More than four decades after my first visit to Sri Lanka, I'd finally made it. One small step for a rail aficionado; one giant leap for a country. How to do it Adrian Bridge was a guest of the Experience Travel Group which offers a 12-night trip to Sri Lanka including international flights, first-class train tickets from Colombo to Jaffna, three nights at Maniumpathy boutique villa in Colombo, four nights in Mahesa Bhawan in Jaffna, four nights at the Jungle Beach Resort north of Trincomalee and one night at the Notary's House close to Colombo Airport. Stays are on a B&B basis with some additional meals; also included are the services of a chauffeur-guide. From £4,500pp;
