The Edition: ghost children
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2023
⏱️ 33 minutes
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Summary
In her cover piece for The Spectator, Harriet Sergeant asks what's happened to the 140,000 pupils who have been 'severely absent' from school since the pandemic. She is joined by The Spectator's data editor Michael Simmons to account for the staggering number of children who were failed by the government's Covid response (01:08).
Also this week:
Owen Matthews, The Spectator's Russia correspondent, looks at the opposition candidate who could usurp President Erdogan in Turkey. He joins the podcast alongside Turkish journalist Ece Temelkuran to discuss whether it really could be the end of Erdogan's two decade long hold over Turkish politics (14:48).
And finally:
Kara Kennedy, staff writer at Spectator World, writes this week about her upbringing in the Welsh 'murder capital' Pontypridd, and her own near miss with a recently convicted killer. She is joined by Welsh crime writer and psychologist Emma Kavanagh, to examine Wales's murderous reputation (24:36).
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode is sponsored by Canacord Genuity Wealth Management, |
| 0:03.8 | experience wealth managers who go above and beyond to guide and support you. |
| 0:08.2 | Can Do is more than just an attitude. |
| 0:10.1 | It's navigating today for a brighter tomorrow. |
| 0:13.4 | Visit can-dowealth.com. |
| 0:32.1 | Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator, where every week we take a look at three pieces from the magazine with the writers behind them. |
| 0:35.3 | I'm Laura Prendergast, the Spectator's executive editor. |
| 0:38.0 | And I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor. |
| 0:43.1 | On this week's episode, we'll be asking what's happened to the 140,000 peoples who've been severely absent since lockdown. |
| 0:45.7 | We'll also be looking at the man taking on Erdogan, |
| 0:48.6 | and we'll finally be examining Wales's murderous reputation. |
| 0:52.3 | First up, in her cover piece for the magazine, journalist Harriet |
| 0:56.1 | Sargent writes about the country's ghost children, that is, the staggering number of |
| 1:00.8 | pupils that have not gone back to school since the pandemic. She joins us now alongside the |
| 1:06.0 | spectator's data editor, Michael Simmons. Harriet, could you talk our listeners through this problem? |
| 1:13.1 | Yes, so there's always been children who are out of school, who dropped out of school. |
| 1:18.8 | And before the pandemic in 2019, there were 60,000 children who were absent from school, |
| 1:26.4 | who were spending more time out of school than in school. |
| 1:30.5 | But that figure is quite extraordinary, has now risen up to 140,000 children. |
| 1:36.5 | And these children are the victims of lockdown. |
| 1:40.7 | These children, if we had not locked down the schools, they would still be in school having |
| 1:46.1 | sort of happy and fruitful lives. And they're not because of lockdown. And this is a story |
... |
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