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Woman's Hour

Dr Kirsty Sedgman, Esther Webber, Jenny Symmons, Elaine Dunkley, Nadine Benjamin

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2023

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Who gets to decide about social norms, about what's reasonable and unreasonable behaviour? Is it OK to breastfeed in public, to let your children play in the garden while others are working from home? Can we come together and talk about these things reasonably? According to Dr Kirsty Sedgman, the author of a new book, On being Unreasonable: Breaking the rules and making things better, we're living in an age of division. If she asks, we reimagined the rules of public togetherness, what would get better? What would change for the worse? And for whom? As MPs return to parliament today, they come back to a new set of proposals by the Standards Committee. It has recently published a report recommending that MPs arrested for serious offences should be banned from the parliamentary estate. We discuss with Esther Webber, Senior UK Correspondent for Politico, and Westminster parliamentary aide and GMB representative Jenny Symmons . Half of state-funded schools in England for children with special educational needs and disabilities are oversubscribed, new BBC research has found. Schools have been forced to convert portable cabins and even cupboards into teaching spaces due to a lack of space. Head teachers say this puts pressure on staff and makes pupils anxious. Parents say their children are missing education while they wait for places. BBC correspondent Elaine Dunkley who has led the investigation and produced an Iplayer documentary, ‘SEND help’, explains how this situation has arisen. Nadine Benjamin MBE is a celebrated Soprano. But if it wasn’t for the words of an encouraging high school music teacher, she would never have considered a career in Opera. Now, she’s played in the UK’s most prestigious Opera Houses in shows including La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and the Marriage of Figaro. Last year she performed for the new King. Nadine joins Nuala to talk about her journey into the industry and performs from Songs of Joy which brings together stories told through song and spoken word, celebrating the lived experiences of black and mixed-race composers. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:04.9

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

0:09.8

Hello and welcome to Woman's Hour. Good to have you with us this Monday morning.

0:14.5

There is a BBC investigation that we're going to look at today.

0:18.3

It has found that half of state funded schools in England for children with special educational

0:23.2

needs and disabilities are over subscribed to the BBC's Elaine Duncley has been looking

0:28.7

into the issues that are facing parents that are looking for help for their children.

0:32.9

She'll be with us. We'll also be joined by a parent and a head teacher who will immerse

0:37.6

in the difficulties day to day. If that's something that resonates with you, I want to hear

0:42.8

from you today. You can text the programme. The number is 84844 or on social media where

0:48.4

at BBC Woman's Hour or you can email us through our website. Another way is the WhatsApp message

0:54.4

or voice note and that number is 037001444. Another question for you. You might want to get

1:02.7

in touch on this one. Do you consider yourself a reasonable person? Here's a couple of questions

1:09.2

for you. How do you feel about women putting makeup on on public transport? What about reclining

1:14.7

your seat on a plane or the person in front of you doing it? What about that? And what is a

1:21.6

reasonable compromise when it comes to a difference in opinion on how we behave? And I'm thinking

1:26.9

even larger societal issues here as well. How do we define reasonable? Can we even agree on that?

1:33.8

Well, my guest today is Christy Sedgman and she is calling for what might be termed

1:40.0

being unreasonable. Her aim, she says, is making things better for everyone. So stay with us for

1:45.9

that discussion. It's coming up. Text the programme 84844 and also remember the term

1:51.0

pest minister. It referred to the sexual harassment at Westminster which led to repeated calls

1:57.2

for reform. Now there are a new set of proposals that would ban MPs charged with violent or sexual

...

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