4.2 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 3 December 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Justice Secretary David Lammy has announced plans for a sweeping range of reforms to criminal courts in England and Wales. The proposals include scrapping jury trials for cases where sentences are likely to be less than three years and for trials involving ‘particularly technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences’. They will only be kept for the most serious offences, including murder, robbery and rape. However there are fears that the proposed changes will have a disproportionate impact on women, whether as victims or when accused of a crime and then particularly for women of colour. Nuala McGovern discusses the reforms with Fiona Rutherford, Chief Executive of legal reform charity Justice, barrister Emma Torr, Co-chief of Appeal, a law practice dedicated to challenging wrongful convictions, and Val Castell, Deputy National Chair of the Magistrates’ Association.
A petition has been launched calling for a national endometriosis registry to track and audit data on diagnosis, treatment and surgery outcomes. It's been spearheaded by Jessica Smith, who, like an estimated one and a half million women in the UK, suffers with endometriosis, a condition which occurs when the tissue, similar to the lining of the uterus, grows in other places, such as the ovaries and the fallopian tubes. Campaigners say the level of care is a post code lottery, with long wait lists and that by streamlining this information some of the gaps in care could be eliminated. Jessica joins Nuala along with Professor Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians.
The Women's Institute has announced a big change - from next April it will no longer offer membership to transgender women. The UK Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that the legal definition of a woman can only be based on biological sex. This comes the day after it was announced that transgender girls can no longer join the Girl Guides, Brownies or Rainbows. The Women's Institute says it's decision comes with the ‘utmost regret.’ Melissa Green, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes explains why they came to this decision. The BBC's political correspondent Phil Sim gives the background.
Do you like everything to be perfect for Christmas dinner party hosting – the spotless house, the elaborate menu, the Instagram-worthy table setting? But what if the secret to a great dinner party isn’t perfection, but scruffy hosting – a trend that is apparently transforming the way we gather together and makes stress-free dinner parties more attainable - perhaps a one-pot dinner, mismatched cutlery, toys under the table or children running around screaming. Helen Thorn, Comedian, Podcaster and one half of Scummy Mummies tells Nuala why she embraces this type of hosting.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Right, start at the beginning. |
| 0:07.7 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast. |
| 0:09.7 | Okay, hello. |
| 0:10.6 | And if you're into true crime. |
| 0:12.3 | The message was clear. |
| 0:13.7 | You might like to investigate BBC sounds. |
| 0:16.1 | Somebody must know something. |
| 0:18.0 | Because there's a caseload of award-winning podcasts. |
| 0:20.7 | Do you think this is actually going to go to trial? |
| 0:22.8 | That casts light on shady cyber criminals, mysterious drownings and unsolved murders, from Bergen to Belfast. |
| 0:29.0 | I didn't know who I could trust. |
| 0:30.8 | Search, true crime on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:33.3 | The only thing left to do now is Ron. |
| 0:37.4 | Hello, this is Neula McGovern, and you're listening to The Woman's Hour podcast. |
| 0:42.2 | Hello, and welcome to the program. |
| 0:43.9 | Well, this morning, we can bring you an announcement from the CEO of the Women's Institute |
| 0:48.2 | that she says she makes with sincere regret that will be in half an hour. |
| 0:54.1 | Do stay with us for that. |
| 0:55.8 | Also today, we'll look at what the Justice Secretary's proposals |
| 0:58.6 | for new juryless trials means for women who are victims |
| 1:02.1 | and also for women who are accused of crimes. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.