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Woman's Hour

Ann Widdecombe remembered, Widow's Fight campaign, Bayeux tapestry replica

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This programme was recorded before the police announced an investigation into Ann Widdecombe’s death.

Ann Widdecombe's political career spanned decades, serving as Conservative MP for Maidstone for 23 years, and a minister in John Major's government, then later becoming an MEP and joining Reform UK in 2023. She was also well known for her TV appearances including taking part in Strictly Come Dancing. Kylie speaks to her colleague in the Conservative party Baroness Anne Jenkin and BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley.

Campaigners and a cross-party group of MPs and peers presented a petition to Downing Street yesterday, signed by over 100,000 people, urging the government to increase bereavement support for the first time in nearly a decade. Widow’s Fight – who started the petition - say bereaved young families are falling into poverty. Kylie is joined by Holly O’Connor from Widow's Fight and Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, who was widowed when her children were young, and is supporting the campaign.

The Bayeux Tapestry arrived in London in the early hours of this morning, under the cover of darkness, the first time it has left France for over 900 years. Meanwhile in Cambridgeshire, one woman has been painstakingly recreating the tapestry for the last decade.  Mia Hansson joins Kylie to explain why she took on this massive project.

This week we have heard about three different new diagnostic tests being developed for endometriosis, a condition thought to affect one in 10 women. We find out what these tests are, how long before they are available, and whether they could reduce the average nine year wait for a diagnosis in the UK. Kylie Pentelow hears from Evelyn Scott, author of A Bloody Scandal - How Medicine Fails Women in Pain and Elisabeth Bean, an NHS consultant gynaecologist and diagnostics chair of the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy.

Saint Olga of Kyiv, patron saint of Ukraine has her saint’s day tomorrow. In Ukraine, she’s a beloved religious figure, but she was also a real woman, known for exacting brutal revenge on those who crossed her. BBC Ukrainian’s Irena Taranyuk joins Kylie to discuss Olga’s mythological story, what she symbolises for Ukrainians and why her story is still relevant to women today.

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:06.0

Did you know, but now you can watch some of your favourite BBC Sounds podcasts on IPlayer.

0:12.4

Check out the mystery items for yourself in Saw Your Life Out unpacked.

0:16.7

I wasn't expecting this.

0:18.1

See trending interviews from Fame Under Fire.

0:21.1

What are we telling everybody to do?

0:22.4

Watch this.

0:23.0

And watch Wayne Rooney and his guests on the Wayne Rooney show.

0:27.0

What did he make you do, wine?

0:28.1

Can't make me do anything.

0:30.2

Your BBC Sounds favourites.

0:32.4

Available as video podcasts to watch on EyePlay player, listen on BBC Sounds.

0:38.6

Hello, this is Kylie Pentalo and you're listening to the Woman's Hour podcast.

0:43.4

Hello and welcome to the programme. Thanks for your company this very warm Friday morning.

0:48.9

Coming up today, the widows calling for more financial support after their partner dies.

0:54.1

They currently get £350 a month for 18 months. The widows calling for more financial support after their partner dies.

1:01.2

They currently get £350 a month for 18 months and that amount hasn't changed for almost a decade.

1:08.7

We'll be speaking to one woman who had to go back to work full time after her husband died while her children were still young.

1:12.6

Also, three new tests for endometriosis.

1:16.0

Currently, it can take an average of nine years to diagnose with women often in terrible pain.

1:19.4

So can these new tests make a difference?

1:22.8

As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts on anything you hear today.

...

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