The Letters of Edith Thompson, Women in Westminister, Donor-conceived Children, Lucy Rout on Dragons' Den

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 10 January 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One hundred years ago Edith Thompson and her lover Frederick Bywaters were hanged for the murder of her husband Percy, even though there was no evidence that she was involved with the killing. What condemned Edith were the letters that she had written to Freddy, which were interpreted by the law as incitement to murder. Laura Thompson has brought the letter together in a book Au Revoir Now Darlint. She joins Nuala to discuss the story and why the case still resonates a century later. A report out today by the charity the Fawcett Society has found a ‘toxic and exclusionary’ culture in Westminster which they say risks pushing out women MPs and having a damaging effect on democracy. Nuala is joined by Jemima Olchawski, CEO of the Fawcett Society as well as the Conservative MP Maria Miller who is Chair of the APPG on Women and Parliament and the Labour MP Stella Creasy who has campaigned for better maternity rights for MPs. When Nuala spoke about donor conceived children on Woman’s Hour last week, listener Hayley got in touch to share her own story, not only of being a donor conceived person herself, but of using a donor to conceive her own children too. She explains why she thinks it’s so important to be open and honest about your child’s conception. Dragons' Den has returned to our TV screens and the Dragons were impressed by Lucy Rout's pitch. The 28 year old became the first entrepreneur in 20 series to receive investment and a job offer from Peter Jones alongside investment backing from two other dragons. Lucy is the founder of Tabuu, a business that sells stylish pill cases with the aim of removing the stigma around taking medication. Lucy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the 25, and following reconstruction of her digestive system has to take medication every time she eats. She talks to Nuala about her illness and her experience in the Den. Presented by Nuala McGovern Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Beverley Purcell

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, this is Nulem O'Govrin and you're listening to the Woman's Hour podcast.
0:04.4	We're going to be taking a look at the culture of Westminster.
0:07.6	There is a new report out. It makes for sobering reading for any woman considering a career in
0:12.2	politics. We have Labour and Conservative politicians along with the FOSIT Society to talk us
0:16.8	through the findings. And here, what it tells us really about being a working woman MP today
0:24.0	in Parliament and also what changes need to happen. And really to have what the FOSIT Society
0:29.5	are calling a house for everyone. Also, following last week's conversation on people who are
0:36.4	donor conceived, we heard from a listener, Haley, and she's going to tell you about her experience,
0:41.1	not only as a donor conceived child, but also about becoming the parent of donor conceived
0:46.9	children. So I'm looking forward to hearing her story and so glad she got in touch with us.
0:51.0	Also, I've been reading and listening to the letters of Edith Thompson. Now, she was a woman
0:56.0	who was executed for crimes off her lover. That's a hundred years ago, but the letters that have
1:02.0	been published led in part to her execution. We're going to hear from Laura Thompson, no relation,
1:07.2	I should say. And she says about her that she was a sort of so-called ordinary woman who wanted
1:13.3	to be extraordinary. So we're going to hear that story. Also, here's what, particularly if you
1:19.5	are somebody who takes regular medication. If you're a dragon's den fan, you may already know about
1:25.6	Lucy Rout. She was a contestant who not only got three investors on board, that dragon's den,
1:31.4	but also a job offer after pitching stylish pill boxes. I hadn't thought about that before,
1:37.3	maybe you hadn't, but she has a personal story about why it matters as she's trying to remove
1:42.6	what she sees as the stigma of taking tablets in public. So she's on her way to us too here in
1:49.3	the Woman's Error Studio. And what about this? This is something that caught the eye of the woman's
1:54.7	Error team this morning. It's a poll of 2000 British adults who found that almost half
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