02-jul-2019
NRC
Tijdens een economisch turbulente periode in 2018 volgt de BBC medewerkers van de Bank of England, de centrale bank van het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Het eerste deel van het tweeluik Inside the Bank of England laat zien hoe de bank inflatie beïnvloedt door de rentevoet van het VK te bepalen. Het proces wordt stap voor stap gevolgd. Terwijl gouverneur Mark Carney en zijn team bezig zijn met de beslissing, is de Britse pers druk aan het speculeren. Ondertussen moeten Gareth Ramsay en zijn communicatieteam besluiten hoe ze beslissing over het rente naar buiten brengen. Er worden extra maatregelen getroffen zodat er geen gevoelige informatie lekt. Zo’n lek kan grote gevolgen hebben voor de financiële markten.
Over veiligheid gesproken: de Bank of England drukt ook het briefgeld in het land. De makers volgen Victoria Cleland. Zij overziet de opslag van het geld en wordt ook wel The Money Lady genoemd. In het programma vertellen medewerkers ook ze onderzoek doen naar alle mogelijke uitkomsten van de Brexit. Ze staan daarbij onder grote druk. Hoe zal het land reageren op een rapport van de bank?
The Independent
Judging by the thorough public relations job that is Inside the Bank of England (BBC2), you’d imagine nothing can, or has ever, gone wrong with the British economy. And yet, within the last decade alone, we have suffered a banking crash, followed by the Great Recession, followed by austerity, followed by the Brexit shock, followed by an investment collapse… and who knows what next. How can such clever folk get stuff so wrong? We don’t quite find out.
Of course, it’s not all their fault (well, you’d hope not)… but still, they do claim that their job is to make sure the British people don’t have to worry about their money, whereas we’ve spent most of our time since 2007 doing precisely that.
Hence we find, for example, Victoria Cleland, the 32nd chief cashier of the Bank of England, sashaying around her super-secure underground bunker, surrounded by no less than £3.6bn in readies – freshly printed banknotes available for distribution in any dire emergency. (Can’t think of anything imminent there, can you?)
Proudly, Ms Cleland then shows off what looks to be an old biscuit tin, filled with bundles of special £1m and £100m banknotes, all signed by her, just like the plastic tenner in your pocket is. She goes on about how many houses they’d buy, but if I were her, I’d be more worried about Boris Johnson mentally calculating just how many Conservative votes in marginal seats they might secure.
Ms Cleland further explains that the bank makes sure it has enough “contingency cash” for busy times such as Christmas, Easter, bank holidays, royal weddings and the like. Moreover, the Bank is also meticulous in ensuring a judicious mix of denominations, from £5 to £50 can be supplied. Very reassuring.
A mere 10 years ago, however, in a financial crisis that went virtually unmentioned during the course of the programme, Britain’s cashpoints were within two hours of running out of money (according to the memoirs of the then chancellor, Alistair Darling). As I say, that seems to be one of many a dirty secret buried even deeper in the Bank’s recesses than the gold, and far away from the BBC cameras.
Enter Mark Carney, the dishy Canadian governor of the bank. Here is a man so smooth, he outshines the highly polished Chippendale dining tables in the bank’s “parlours”. Again, you would not imagine for a moment that he has any qualms about inflation staying so stubbornly above his target for so long.
The programme makers certainly don’t challenge his record. I suspect – no proof, but still, that’s just like economics – that the producers would never have been allowed near such precious national assets as Carney, the UK gold reserves or Ian McCafferty, a tight-lipped City type sitting on the bank’s interest rate committee, if the broadcasters hadn’t consented to certain “parameters”, as they say in such monetary policy circles.
At any rate, the only remotely hostile criticism came from a few smartarse questions from the journalists at the bank’s monthly press sessions (an event I once attended myself, you know). When the FT’s man politely enquired whether the bank had simply decided to pretend that one appalling quarter of economic growth hadn’t actually happened, they didn’t demur, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. A few flakes of Carney’s veneer peeled off at one point, when asked about being an “unreliable boyfriend” to financial markets, but that was about it.
The documentary accurately captures the blend of tradition, antiquity and modernity that strikes any visitor to its elegant headquarters, so redolent of the age of imperial grandeur and mercantile adventure that the bank grew up in. It is an institution, whatever its record, that has talented and dedicated people, the most impressive and proudest of which was Alison McClean. She is a doorkeeper, and a formidable figure who uses a giant wooden ruler to calibrate precisely the place settings at the governor’s formal meals, and hits her own targets more reliably than the Monetary Policy Committee does theirs.
Ms McClean looks like she takes no scrip from anyone, and I can only hope she will use that hefty ruler to stop Boris getting his mucky paws on their lovely £100m banknotes. Even if no other female in London is safe, we must stop Boris from ravishing the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street like in an old Gilray cartoon. That would be worth filming, mind.
woensdag 3 juli 2019
woensdag 19 juni 2019
Thatcher a very British revolution
BBC may-june 2019
1.1 Making Margaret
In the first episode of this series charting the irresistible rise and dramatic downfall of Margaret Thatcher, her inner circle reveals how Margaret Thatcher manages to overcome her outsider status to become a prominent political figure in Britain. After a controversial policy has the press label her the 'Milk-snatcher' her political future is in jeopardy but she survives when prime minister Edward Heath decides not to sack her.
Dismayed by his stewardship of the country in the early 1970s Mrs Thatcher challenges Heath for leadership of the Conservatives. As a woman from a modest social background she appears unlike any of her colleagues but with the help of canny political operators she achieves the apparently impossible and defeats Heath and the party elite who backed him.
Those closest to her at the time describe how as new leader of the Conservatives she begins to support controversial policies that will shake-up the economic and political settlement that has prevailed in Britain since the second world war. She promotes free market ideas, transforming the economy and reducing trade union power.
She also adopts a new political persona taking on the mantle of the 'Iron Lady' given to her by the Soviet press and seeks help from advisors who change her image and her voice as she seeks the support of the British electorate.
As the 1979 election approaches Margaret Thatcher embarks on an energetic campaign to unseat Labour and usher in a new era that will
bring turbulent change and division and be dominated by the force of her personality and ideas.
1.2 Power
Mrs Thatcher's victory in the 1979 general election propels her into power as Britain's first female prime minister. On the steps of Downing Street she promises "hope" and "harmony" but her first two years are characterised by disruption and division.
Her first cabinet is split between a small group who are aligned with her plans for radical change, but the majority are experienced ministers from the traditional power base of the party who prefer a more consensual style of politics. From day one there is friction between Mrs Thatcher and some of her senior colleagues.
She also confronts an economy that is in deep trouble. All the indicators are pointing in the wrong direction with inflation rising, unemployment spiralling and public spending growing. The government have to raise taxes and interest rates but these tend to make things worse. A year after taking power Mrs Thatcher sees the economy plunge into the deepest recession since the great depression.
As the heavy industries that are the backbone of many British communities collapse, unemployment starts to climb. Mrs Thatcher refuses to reinflate the economy and invest millions in failing industries. She gains a public reputation as uncaring and harsh that will become part of her image and her legacy. Within her own party there is deep dispute about economic policy and she is forced into a famous conference speech asserting her determination, stating “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning”.
Within the cabinet, Mrs Thatcher’s style creates tensions. Many of her colleagues find her demanding and argumentative and she finds many of them indecisive and insufficiently committed to her political philosophy. In stark contrast her close staff however find her an unusually sympathetic and attentive boss.
1981 is a year of unrest and change. Serious riots scar British inner cities with many pointing the finger at Mrs Thatcher and her policies as the cause of the trouble. In government Mrs Thatcher’s doubters are emboldened and seek to force her into a change of direction. But the prime minister refuses to relent and moves against her critics removing them from the cabinet and bringing in allies who will back her as she leads Britain into the turbulence of the 1980s.
Featuring interviews with the surviving members of her first cabinet, John Nott, Michael Heseltine, Norman Fowler and David Howell, her private secretaries Tim Lankester, John Cole and Nick Sanders, her personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, her protection officer Barry Strevens, Downing Street secretary Janice Richards and press secretary Bernard Ingham. We also hear from senior Conservatives who were close to her, including Michael Dobbs, Lord Gowrie, Jonathan Aitken, Norman Tebbit, Kenneth Baker and Nigel Lawson, as well as political opponent David Owen.
1.3 Enemies
The third episode sees Mrs Thatcher plunged into dramatic conflicts with determined enemies that will define her premiership and her legacy.
Against a backdrop of economic downturn Mrs Thatcher is struggling in the opinion polls and is labelled the “least popular prime minister since polling began” but her public image is transformed by a totally unexpected turn of events in the South Atlantic. When Argentine forces occupy the British Falkland Islands Mrs Thatcher finds herself a war leader. She wins the respect of the public by remaining resolute in her belief that the islands should be recovered. She wins respect in cabinet and the military by remaining calm and clear through the short conflict in the Falklands despite the serious political jeopardy she faces and the emotional toll of sending men into war. The triumph of the British forces transforms Mrs Thatcher’s reputation in the country and in the world.
Following her victory in the 1983 general election Mrs Thatcher begins to assert herself in global politics, beginning an engagement with Mikhail Gorbachev, a rising star of the Soviet Communist party. At home she faces another challenge to her leadership from the left-wing leadership of the National Union of Miners.
The controversial decision to call a national strike puts Mrs Thatcher into a conflict she had long anticipated. Having watched the miners destabilise the Conservative government of Edward Heath in the 1970s Mrs Thatcher has prepared for this dispute. In the background, she plays a role in a strategy that will eventually force the miners into a return to work and allow the government to claim a historic and transformative victory. The price is a sense of nation divided by class, region and economic fortunes.
The jeopardy of the Falklands and miners is surpassed by the threat of another enemy. At the 1984 Conservative Party conference the IRA bomb her hotel in an attempt to kill her and her most senior colleagues. She has a narrow escape as close friends die or suffer terrible injuries.
This episode includes interviews with defence secretary John Nott, press secretary Bernard Ingham and cabinet members Norman Tebbit, Michael Heseltine and Malcolm Rifkind, senior civil servants Robin Butler, John Coles and Andrew Turnbull, personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, Downing Street administrator Janice Richards, Falklands commander Sir Julian Thompson, opposition leader Neil Kinnock and striking miner Chris Kitchen.
1.4 That bloody woman
In episode four of the series Mrs Thatcher and her government seek to transform the British economy with far reaching consequences.
Tensions surface amongst her closest allies as she seeks to improve her public image and events reveal that the Iron Lady has emotional vulnerabilities in relation to her family.
Mrs Thatcher’s reputation amongst some sections of the public is poor. Her forthright style, such as telling the press not to be “moaning minnies” about unemployment when visiting north east England, has led to her being viewed as domineering and unsympathetic. In an embarrassing TV interview she is told that this issue is referred to within her own party as the TBW factor (“that bloody woman”). When colleagues attempt to discuss this problem she becomes angry at the Conservative central office team who bring her the news.
In an attempt to present a softer image Mrs Thatcher opens the doors of Downing Street to cameras and interviewers. Quizzed by Miriam Stoppard about her family, Mrs Thatcher offers insights into her modest upbringing in Grantham and in a startling moment is moved to tears when discussing her father and his departure from his senior position on the local council. The interview also raises questions about her own role as a mother and how she has balanced this with her political career. Her vulnerabilities around family are further exposed when the press ask questions about whether business deals her son is involved in create conflicts of interest.
Meanwhile, her government embarks on a radical transformation of the British economy. Mrs Thatcher is determined that Britain will embrace the free market and entrepreneurship. A programme of privatisation is underway that takes major nationalised industries into the private sector and offers millions of people the opportunity to own shares. It is a hallmark policy that will define the Thatcher years. Additionally, Mrs Thatcher greenlights a transformation of the operations of the City of London. Trading restrictions are lifted and regulation relaxed in the “Big Bang” that will bring a flood of new money into the City and a new generation of young, ambitious financiers. Many find the explosion of wealth and extravagance distasteful and damaging.
As the 1987 election approaches there are serious tensions inside the Conservative Party. Disagreements about strategy and personal differences between some of Mrs Thatcher’s closest advisors have been building. Mrs Thatcher is becoming suspicious of her party colleagues and closer to her inner circle of civil servants and specially appointed advisors. These tensions break out during the 1987 election campaign when polls seem to suggest that Labour are closing on the Conservatives and threatening to deny Mrs Thatcher a third victory. After explosive rows Mrs Thatcher asserts her authority and leads the campaign. When the results come in she has won another landslide victory but relationships with some of her closest allies are damaged forever.
This episode features interviews with Conservative party officials Norman Tebbit and Michael Dobbs, press secretary Bernard Ingham, political secretary Stephen Sherbourne, personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, cabinet member Lord Young, MPs Matthew Parris and Jonathan Aitken and senior civil servants Robin Butler, Charles Powell and Tim Lankester, as well as opposition leader Neil Kinnock and journalist Miriam Stoppard.
1.5 Downfall
In episode five of the series covers the period after the 1987 election when Mrs Thatcher secured a third term as prime minister.
She sets out to play a full part in international affairs, partnering with American Presidents Reagan and Bush to engage with the Soviet Union and play a pivotal role in the journey to the end of the Cold War.
Her international prominence augments her dominant role in British politics where her long period in office of nearly a decade is unprecedented in the 20th century. Within Downing Street, she has a loyal coterie of advisors who project her influence and protect her position but some feel she has become over dependent on loyalists and detached from opinion with the country and the party.
She continues to push hard for the introduction of a radical reform of local government finance, the community charge. The policy is known as the poll tax and is widely disliked. Despite warnings that the tax will negatively affect her constituency in the country, Mrs Thatcher refuses to compromise. Protests against the tax explode in violence in central London but more damagingly, there is widespread disenchantment in Tory strongholds across the country.
Fractures emerge with senior cabinet colleagues over European policy that will jeopardise her authority. Her preference for the counsel of a part time advisor over the views of her chancellor on how to position sterling against other European currencies leads to Nigel Lawson's resignation.
Her prototypical scepticism about Brussels' ambitions for the EU lead to a growing tension with long-term ally Geoffrey Howe. A bravado performance in the House of Commons where she denounces the EU tips Howe into resignation.
Howe’s departure provokes a leadership challenge from Michael Heseltine who had left the cabinet some years before in protest at Mrs Thatcher's leadership style. Mrs Thatcher is plunged into a leadership contest. In contrast to the contest that propelled her to the party leadership in the 70s, her campaign is poorly organised and she has been weakened by the resignation of senior colleagues and the reverberations of the poll tax.
To her shock she does not defeat Mr Heseltine in the first ballot and is forced into a second ballot. Over a dramatic few days, she consults senior colleagues about whether she can depend on their support in a second ballot. Cabinet members tell her they believe she could lose and that she has lost control of the political momentum. Faced with this, she decides to resign.
In a highly-dramatic cabinet meeting, she offers a tearful resignation and prepares to leave Downing Street. In the country, emotions run high as supporters lament and opponents celebrate her departure.
The episode features interviews with Charles Powell, senior advisor, Bernard Ingham, press secretary, Caroline Slocock, private secretary, senior political figures Michael Heseltine, Nigel Lawson, Norman Tebbit, Ken Clarke, Ken Baker, Chris Patten, Peter Lilley and Malcolm Rifkind, and journalist Simon Jenkins.
1.6
1.1 Making Margaret
In the first episode of this series charting the irresistible rise and dramatic downfall of Margaret Thatcher, her inner circle reveals how Margaret Thatcher manages to overcome her outsider status to become a prominent political figure in Britain. After a controversial policy has the press label her the 'Milk-snatcher' her political future is in jeopardy but she survives when prime minister Edward Heath decides not to sack her.
Dismayed by his stewardship of the country in the early 1970s Mrs Thatcher challenges Heath for leadership of the Conservatives. As a woman from a modest social background she appears unlike any of her colleagues but with the help of canny political operators she achieves the apparently impossible and defeats Heath and the party elite who backed him.
Those closest to her at the time describe how as new leader of the Conservatives she begins to support controversial policies that will shake-up the economic and political settlement that has prevailed in Britain since the second world war. She promotes free market ideas, transforming the economy and reducing trade union power.
She also adopts a new political persona taking on the mantle of the 'Iron Lady' given to her by the Soviet press and seeks help from advisors who change her image and her voice as she seeks the support of the British electorate.
As the 1979 election approaches Margaret Thatcher embarks on an energetic campaign to unseat Labour and usher in a new era that will
bring turbulent change and division and be dominated by the force of her personality and ideas.
1.2 Power
Mrs Thatcher's victory in the 1979 general election propels her into power as Britain's first female prime minister. On the steps of Downing Street she promises "hope" and "harmony" but her first two years are characterised by disruption and division.
Her first cabinet is split between a small group who are aligned with her plans for radical change, but the majority are experienced ministers from the traditional power base of the party who prefer a more consensual style of politics. From day one there is friction between Mrs Thatcher and some of her senior colleagues.
She also confronts an economy that is in deep trouble. All the indicators are pointing in the wrong direction with inflation rising, unemployment spiralling and public spending growing. The government have to raise taxes and interest rates but these tend to make things worse. A year after taking power Mrs Thatcher sees the economy plunge into the deepest recession since the great depression.
As the heavy industries that are the backbone of many British communities collapse, unemployment starts to climb. Mrs Thatcher refuses to reinflate the economy and invest millions in failing industries. She gains a public reputation as uncaring and harsh that will become part of her image and her legacy. Within her own party there is deep dispute about economic policy and she is forced into a famous conference speech asserting her determination, stating “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning”.
Within the cabinet, Mrs Thatcher’s style creates tensions. Many of her colleagues find her demanding and argumentative and she finds many of them indecisive and insufficiently committed to her political philosophy. In stark contrast her close staff however find her an unusually sympathetic and attentive boss.
1981 is a year of unrest and change. Serious riots scar British inner cities with many pointing the finger at Mrs Thatcher and her policies as the cause of the trouble. In government Mrs Thatcher’s doubters are emboldened and seek to force her into a change of direction. But the prime minister refuses to relent and moves against her critics removing them from the cabinet and bringing in allies who will back her as she leads Britain into the turbulence of the 1980s.
Featuring interviews with the surviving members of her first cabinet, John Nott, Michael Heseltine, Norman Fowler and David Howell, her private secretaries Tim Lankester, John Cole and Nick Sanders, her personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, her protection officer Barry Strevens, Downing Street secretary Janice Richards and press secretary Bernard Ingham. We also hear from senior Conservatives who were close to her, including Michael Dobbs, Lord Gowrie, Jonathan Aitken, Norman Tebbit, Kenneth Baker and Nigel Lawson, as well as political opponent David Owen.
1.3 Enemies
The third episode sees Mrs Thatcher plunged into dramatic conflicts with determined enemies that will define her premiership and her legacy.
Against a backdrop of economic downturn Mrs Thatcher is struggling in the opinion polls and is labelled the “least popular prime minister since polling began” but her public image is transformed by a totally unexpected turn of events in the South Atlantic. When Argentine forces occupy the British Falkland Islands Mrs Thatcher finds herself a war leader. She wins the respect of the public by remaining resolute in her belief that the islands should be recovered. She wins respect in cabinet and the military by remaining calm and clear through the short conflict in the Falklands despite the serious political jeopardy she faces and the emotional toll of sending men into war. The triumph of the British forces transforms Mrs Thatcher’s reputation in the country and in the world.
Following her victory in the 1983 general election Mrs Thatcher begins to assert herself in global politics, beginning an engagement with Mikhail Gorbachev, a rising star of the Soviet Communist party. At home she faces another challenge to her leadership from the left-wing leadership of the National Union of Miners.
The controversial decision to call a national strike puts Mrs Thatcher into a conflict she had long anticipated. Having watched the miners destabilise the Conservative government of Edward Heath in the 1970s Mrs Thatcher has prepared for this dispute. In the background, she plays a role in a strategy that will eventually force the miners into a return to work and allow the government to claim a historic and transformative victory. The price is a sense of nation divided by class, region and economic fortunes.
The jeopardy of the Falklands and miners is surpassed by the threat of another enemy. At the 1984 Conservative Party conference the IRA bomb her hotel in an attempt to kill her and her most senior colleagues. She has a narrow escape as close friends die or suffer terrible injuries.
This episode includes interviews with defence secretary John Nott, press secretary Bernard Ingham and cabinet members Norman Tebbit, Michael Heseltine and Malcolm Rifkind, senior civil servants Robin Butler, John Coles and Andrew Turnbull, personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, Downing Street administrator Janice Richards, Falklands commander Sir Julian Thompson, opposition leader Neil Kinnock and striking miner Chris Kitchen.
1.4 That bloody woman
In episode four of the series Mrs Thatcher and her government seek to transform the British economy with far reaching consequences.
Tensions surface amongst her closest allies as she seeks to improve her public image and events reveal that the Iron Lady has emotional vulnerabilities in relation to her family.
Mrs Thatcher’s reputation amongst some sections of the public is poor. Her forthright style, such as telling the press not to be “moaning minnies” about unemployment when visiting north east England, has led to her being viewed as domineering and unsympathetic. In an embarrassing TV interview she is told that this issue is referred to within her own party as the TBW factor (“that bloody woman”). When colleagues attempt to discuss this problem she becomes angry at the Conservative central office team who bring her the news.
In an attempt to present a softer image Mrs Thatcher opens the doors of Downing Street to cameras and interviewers. Quizzed by Miriam Stoppard about her family, Mrs Thatcher offers insights into her modest upbringing in Grantham and in a startling moment is moved to tears when discussing her father and his departure from his senior position on the local council. The interview also raises questions about her own role as a mother and how she has balanced this with her political career. Her vulnerabilities around family are further exposed when the press ask questions about whether business deals her son is involved in create conflicts of interest.
Meanwhile, her government embarks on a radical transformation of the British economy. Mrs Thatcher is determined that Britain will embrace the free market and entrepreneurship. A programme of privatisation is underway that takes major nationalised industries into the private sector and offers millions of people the opportunity to own shares. It is a hallmark policy that will define the Thatcher years. Additionally, Mrs Thatcher greenlights a transformation of the operations of the City of London. Trading restrictions are lifted and regulation relaxed in the “Big Bang” that will bring a flood of new money into the City and a new generation of young, ambitious financiers. Many find the explosion of wealth and extravagance distasteful and damaging.
As the 1987 election approaches there are serious tensions inside the Conservative Party. Disagreements about strategy and personal differences between some of Mrs Thatcher’s closest advisors have been building. Mrs Thatcher is becoming suspicious of her party colleagues and closer to her inner circle of civil servants and specially appointed advisors. These tensions break out during the 1987 election campaign when polls seem to suggest that Labour are closing on the Conservatives and threatening to deny Mrs Thatcher a third victory. After explosive rows Mrs Thatcher asserts her authority and leads the campaign. When the results come in she has won another landslide victory but relationships with some of her closest allies are damaged forever.
This episode features interviews with Conservative party officials Norman Tebbit and Michael Dobbs, press secretary Bernard Ingham, political secretary Stephen Sherbourne, personal assistant Cynthia Crawford, cabinet member Lord Young, MPs Matthew Parris and Jonathan Aitken and senior civil servants Robin Butler, Charles Powell and Tim Lankester, as well as opposition leader Neil Kinnock and journalist Miriam Stoppard.
1.5 Downfall
In episode five of the series covers the period after the 1987 election when Mrs Thatcher secured a third term as prime minister.
She sets out to play a full part in international affairs, partnering with American Presidents Reagan and Bush to engage with the Soviet Union and play a pivotal role in the journey to the end of the Cold War.
Her international prominence augments her dominant role in British politics where her long period in office of nearly a decade is unprecedented in the 20th century. Within Downing Street, she has a loyal coterie of advisors who project her influence and protect her position but some feel she has become over dependent on loyalists and detached from opinion with the country and the party.
She continues to push hard for the introduction of a radical reform of local government finance, the community charge. The policy is known as the poll tax and is widely disliked. Despite warnings that the tax will negatively affect her constituency in the country, Mrs Thatcher refuses to compromise. Protests against the tax explode in violence in central London but more damagingly, there is widespread disenchantment in Tory strongholds across the country.
Fractures emerge with senior cabinet colleagues over European policy that will jeopardise her authority. Her preference for the counsel of a part time advisor over the views of her chancellor on how to position sterling against other European currencies leads to Nigel Lawson's resignation.
Her prototypical scepticism about Brussels' ambitions for the EU lead to a growing tension with long-term ally Geoffrey Howe. A bravado performance in the House of Commons where she denounces the EU tips Howe into resignation.
Howe’s departure provokes a leadership challenge from Michael Heseltine who had left the cabinet some years before in protest at Mrs Thatcher's leadership style. Mrs Thatcher is plunged into a leadership contest. In contrast to the contest that propelled her to the party leadership in the 70s, her campaign is poorly organised and she has been weakened by the resignation of senior colleagues and the reverberations of the poll tax.
To her shock she does not defeat Mr Heseltine in the first ballot and is forced into a second ballot. Over a dramatic few days, she consults senior colleagues about whether she can depend on their support in a second ballot. Cabinet members tell her they believe she could lose and that she has lost control of the political momentum. Faced with this, she decides to resign.
In a highly-dramatic cabinet meeting, she offers a tearful resignation and prepares to leave Downing Street. In the country, emotions run high as supporters lament and opponents celebrate her departure.
The episode features interviews with Charles Powell, senior advisor, Bernard Ingham, press secretary, Caroline Slocock, private secretary, senior political figures Michael Heseltine, Nigel Lawson, Norman Tebbit, Ken Clarke, Ken Baker, Chris Patten, Peter Lilley and Malcolm Rifkind, and journalist Simon Jenkins.
1.6
zondag 26 mei 2019
De (h)eerlijke jaren 50 -3-
23-mei-2019
Zaanstreek, communisme & consumenten
Do 23 mei 20:25 • NTR • 46 min
Niet om schoolmelk durven vragen omdat je ouders elk dubbeltje moeten omdraaien. De arbeidersgezinnen in de Zaanstreek, vanouds een industriegebied, hebben het krap. Maar niet alleen zij; iedereen moet begin jaren 50 de broekriem aanhalen om de wederopbouw van de economie ruim baan te geven. En dat lukt wonderwel. Albert Heijn opent naar Amerikaans voorbeeld supermarkten, de munitiefabriek draait op volle toeren met dank aan de Koude Oorlog. Langzaam profiteren de Zaanse arbeiders én de huisvrouwen mee. Wasmachines en koelkasten winnen terrein, terwijl de communisten, na de oorlog sterk vertegenwoordigd in de Zaanstreek, steeds meer in de verdrukking komen.
Zaanstreek, communisme & consumenten
Do 23 mei 20:25 • NTR • 46 min
Niet om schoolmelk durven vragen omdat je ouders elk dubbeltje moeten omdraaien. De arbeidersgezinnen in de Zaanstreek, vanouds een industriegebied, hebben het krap. Maar niet alleen zij; iedereen moet begin jaren 50 de broekriem aanhalen om de wederopbouw van de economie ruim baan te geven. En dat lukt wonderwel. Albert Heijn opent naar Amerikaans voorbeeld supermarkten, de munitiefabriek draait op volle toeren met dank aan de Koude Oorlog. Langzaam profiteren de Zaanse arbeiders én de huisvrouwen mee. Wasmachines en koelkasten winnen terrein, terwijl de communisten, na de oorlog sterk vertegenwoordigd in de Zaanstreek, steeds meer in de verdrukking komen.
De (h)eerlijke jaren 50 -1-
09-mei-2019
Mill-Langenboom, babyboom & emigratie
Do 9 mei 20:25 • NTR • 46 min
Het huwelijk dient om kinderen te krijgen, dat is de boodschap van de pastoor. In het katholieke Noord-Brabant wemelt het dan ook van de grote gezinnen. Vierentwintig kinderen telt het gezin waarin de 'Millse schoonheden' opgroeien. En het huishouden met drie tweelingen én een drieling uit het dorp haalt in 1951 zelfs de Panorama. Voor al die kinderen is er weinig toekomst in de naaste omgeving. De plaatselijke keuterboeren houden het hoofd net boven water; ze slachten hun eigen varkens, telen hun eigen groente en zijn op die manier zelfvoorzienend. Maar meer zit er niet in. Dit deel van Noord-Brabant wordt in de jaren 50 zelfs officieel bestempeld als probleemgebied. Dus trekken veel bewoners, gestimuleerd door de overheid, weg naar Canada of Australië. Met als gevolg gehalveerde voetbalteams en verscheurde gezinnen.
Mill-Langenboom, babyboom & emigratie
Do 9 mei 20:25 • NTR • 46 min
Het huwelijk dient om kinderen te krijgen, dat is de boodschap van de pastoor. In het katholieke Noord-Brabant wemelt het dan ook van de grote gezinnen. Vierentwintig kinderen telt het gezin waarin de 'Millse schoonheden' opgroeien. En het huishouden met drie tweelingen én een drieling uit het dorp haalt in 1951 zelfs de Panorama. Voor al die kinderen is er weinig toekomst in de naaste omgeving. De plaatselijke keuterboeren houden het hoofd net boven water; ze slachten hun eigen varkens, telen hun eigen groente en zijn op die manier zelfvoorzienend. Maar meer zit er niet in. Dit deel van Noord-Brabant wordt in de jaren 50 zelfs officieel bestempeld als probleemgebied. Dus trekken veel bewoners, gestimuleerd door de overheid, weg naar Canada of Australië. Met als gevolg gehalveerde voetbalteams en verscheurde gezinnen.
De (h)eerlijke jaren 50 -2-
16-mei-2019
Den Haag, woningnood & repatrianten
Do 16 mei 20:25 • NTR • 46 min
Den Haag komt na Rotterdam als meest gehavende stad van Nederland uit de oorlog; veel huizen zijn verwoest. Voor jonge gezinnen is het dan ook vrijwel onmogelijk om een zelfstandige woning te krijgen. Ze wonen gedwongen bij anderen in huis, op een paar vierkante meter, moeten keuken en badkamer met wildvreemden delen. Dat geldt ook voor de repatrianten die na de onafhankelijkheid van Indonesië naar Nederland komen. Hoe groot is het geluk bij de bewoners als er midden jaren 50 een gloednieuwe wijk met flats gereed is waar niet alleen gewoond maar ook gewinkeld, gespeeld en getuinierd kan worden?
Den Haag, woningnood & repatrianten
Do 16 mei 20:25 • NTR • 46 min
Den Haag komt na Rotterdam als meest gehavende stad van Nederland uit de oorlog; veel huizen zijn verwoest. Voor jonge gezinnen is het dan ook vrijwel onmogelijk om een zelfstandige woning te krijgen. Ze wonen gedwongen bij anderen in huis, op een paar vierkante meter, moeten keuken en badkamer met wildvreemden delen. Dat geldt ook voor de repatrianten die na de onafhankelijkheid van Indonesië naar Nederland komen. Hoe groot is het geluk bij de bewoners als er midden jaren 50 een gloednieuwe wijk met flats gereed is waar niet alleen gewoond maar ook gewinkeld, gespeeld en getuinierd kan worden?
zondag 10 februari 2019
De Kennedy's - 6
09-feb-2019
Bobby Kennedy stelt zich kandidaat voor het presidentschap, maar dan slaat het noodlot weer toe: hij wordt vermoord in Los Angeles. Ted, de enige nog levende Kennedy-zoon en jongste broer van Bobby en John, is de volgende die het probeert in de politiek. Hij wordt achtervolgd door schandalen en ongeluk, maar kent een glansrijke carrière als senator. Na zijn dood in 2009 maakt een nieuwe generatie Kennedy's zich klaar om het stokje over te nemen en de familietraditie voort te zetten.
Bobby Kennedy stelt zich kandidaat voor het presidentschap, maar dan slaat het noodlot weer toe: hij wordt vermoord in Los Angeles. Ted, de enige nog levende Kennedy-zoon en jongste broer van Bobby en John, is de volgende die het probeert in de politiek. Hij wordt achtervolgd door schandalen en ongeluk, maar kent een glansrijke carrière als senator. Na zijn dood in 2009 maakt een nieuwe generatie Kennedy's zich klaar om het stokje over te nemen en de familietraditie voort te zetten.
maandag 4 februari 2019
De Kennedy's - 5 De Camelot legende
02-feb-2019
Net als John zijn draai begint te vinden, maakt een kogel abrupt een eind aan de droom van een Kennedy in het Witte Huis. Zijn vrouw Jackie werpt zich op als hoeder van zijn nalatenschap en creëert de legende van Camelot. Bobby Kennedy begint zich in te zetten voor kansarmen en groeit zo uit tot de nieuwe politieke hoop van de Kennedy's.
Net als John zijn draai begint te vinden, maakt een kogel abrupt een eind aan de droom van een Kennedy in het Witte Huis. Zijn vrouw Jackie werpt zich op als hoeder van zijn nalatenschap en creëert de legende van Camelot. Bobby Kennedy begint zich in te zetten voor kansarmen en groeit zo uit tot de nieuwe politieke hoop van de Kennedy's.
Tegenlicht - De Chinese dollar
03-feb-2019
De Amerikaanse dollar is dé reservemunt van de wereld. Maar hoelang nog? Want nu China als handelsrijk razendsnel groeit, wordt ook de voetafdruk van de opkomende macht in de financiële wereld groter en groter. Het land duwt z'n munt, de yuan, bijna onzichtbaar richting wereldreservemunt. Financieel journalist Maarten Schinkel onderzoekt een toekomst waarin de hele wereld met Chinese munten betaalt.
De Amerikaanse dollar is dé reservemunt van de wereld. Maar hoelang nog? Want nu China als handelsrijk razendsnel groeit, wordt ook de voetafdruk van de opkomende macht in de financiële wereld groter en groter. Het land duwt z'n munt, de yuan, bijna onzichtbaar richting wereldreservemunt. Financieel journalist Maarten Schinkel onderzoekt een toekomst waarin de hele wereld met Chinese munten betaalt.
zondag 27 januari 2019
De Kennedy's een Amerikaanse Dynastie - 4
26-jan-2019
Terwijl de wereld op de rand van de afgrond balanceert, wordt de regering Kennedy opgeschrikt door schandalen die Johns huwelijk dreigen te verwoesten, zijn presidentschap te ondermijnen en iedere hoop op herverkiezing de grond in te boren. De president en zijn broer Bobby moeten de handen ineenslaan om een nucleaire ramp te voorkomen en de erfenis van de Kennedy's te beschermen.
Terwijl de wereld op de rand van de afgrond balanceert, wordt de regering Kennedy opgeschrikt door schandalen die Johns huwelijk dreigen te verwoesten, zijn presidentschap te ondermijnen en iedere hoop op herverkiezing de grond in te boren. De president en zijn broer Bobby moeten de handen ineenslaan om een nucleaire ramp te voorkomen en de erfenis van de Kennedy's te beschermen.
zondag 20 januari 2019
De Kennedy's een Amerikaanse Dynastie - 3
19-01-2019
Een nieuw tijdperk breekt aan met de beëdiging van John F. Kennedy, de jongste Amerikaanse president uit de geschiedenis. Zijn vrouw Jackie nodigt de camera's uit in het Witte Huis. Kennedy's eerste jaar als president wordt echter gekenmerkt door nationale en internationale crises. Hij leunt zwaar op zijn familie en ontwikkelt een sterke band met zijn broer Bobby, die hem bijstaat tijdens de uitdagingen in 1961.
Een nieuw tijdperk breekt aan met de beëdiging van John F. Kennedy, de jongste Amerikaanse president uit de geschiedenis. Zijn vrouw Jackie nodigt de camera's uit in het Witte Huis. Kennedy's eerste jaar als president wordt echter gekenmerkt door nationale en internationale crises. Hij leunt zwaar op zijn familie en ontwikkelt een sterke band met zijn broer Bobby, die hem bijstaat tijdens de uitdagingen in 1961.
dinsdag 15 januari 2019
BBC Four - The eyes of Orson Welles
BBC4 13-01-2019
Granted exclusive access to hundreds of drawings and paintings by Orson Welles, film-maker Mark Cousins dives deep into the visual world of this legendary director and actor, to reveal a portrait of the artist as he’s never been seen before – through his own eyes, sketched by his own hand, painted with his own brush. Executive produced by Michael Moore, The Eyes of Orson Welles brings vividly to life the passions, politics and power of this 20th-century showman and explores how the genius of Welles still resonates today, more than 30 years after his death.
Welles was one of the great creative figures of the 20th century. But one aspect of his life and art has never been discussed. Like Akira Kurosawa and Sergei Eisenstein, Welles loved to draw and paint. As a child prodigy, he trained as an artist, before a drawing trip to Ireland in his teens led to his sensational stage debut at Dublin’s Gate Theatre. Welles continued to draw and paint throughout his life, and his groundbreaking film and theatre work was profoundly shaped by his graphic imagination.
When he died over 30 years ago, he left behind hundreds of character sketches, set designs, visualisations of unmade projects, illustrations to entertain his children and friends, images in the margins of personal letters, and portraits of the people and places that inspired him. They are a window on to the world of Welles, and a vivid illustration of his creativity and visual thinking. Most of these have never been made public. Now, for the first time, Welles’s daughter Beatrice has granted Mark Cousins access to this treasure trove of imagery, to make a film about what he finds there.
The Eyes of Orson Welles is a cinematic essay which avoids the techniques of conventional TV documentaries. It combines Cousins’s trademark commentary with new digital scans and specially made animations of the artworks, which bring vividly to life the magic of Welles’s graphic world. These are intercut with clips from Welles’s films, recordings of his radio performances and TV interviews, and encounters with Beatrice Welles, telling the personal stories of the images. An original score by young Northern Irish composer Matt Regan gives the film emotion and expressivity. The title music is Albinoni’s famous Adagio, a nod to the fact that Welles was the first film-maker to use this in a movie soundtrack, in his 1961 adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial.
The film is told in three central acts – Pawn, Knight and King – with an epilogue on the theme of Jester. The Pawn sequence looks at Welles’s politics, his sympathy with ordinary people, those images that deal with the modesty of human beings – children, decent people who are not in positions of power. The Knight section looks at Welles's obsession with love, his romances with the likes of Dolores del Rio and Rita Hayworth, and his quixotic attachment to what he himself saw as outmoded chivalric ideals. The King section looks at Welles’s fascination with power and its corruption, through illustrations that deal with figures such as Macbeth, Henry V, Kane and Welles himself – the epic mode of human beings, the lawmakers and abusers. The Jester epilogue explores the images that are about fun or mockery, with a surprising intervention by Welles himself.
Cousins also travels to key locations in Welles’s life – New York, Chicago, Kenosha, Arizona, Los Angeles, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Ireland – to capture beautiful images and locate the artworks, and serve to dramatise some of the defining moments in Welles’s career and personal life.
Mark shot the film with two handheld cameras, one a conventional HD camera and one a 4K camera which gives a new Steadicam style of tracking shot without the need for tracks and dolly. It’s the sort of technology that Welles would have loved and could only have dreamed of as he spent a lifetime wrestling with the creative and financial limitations of traditional film-making techniques. This shooting style reflects the immediacy of Welles’s sketches and paintings in their swift engagement with the visual world. These cameras are like Mark’s paintbrushes, giving him a direct, personal and tactile contact between his hand and the captured/created image, without the intermediation of cumbersome equipment and crews.
In the end, this essay film is about much more than the drawings and paintings. Just as Leonardo da Vinci’s sketchbooks show his passions, his changes of mind, his trains of thought and visual thinking, so this film is an almost mythic encounter with the imagination of this great artist, who extended cinema, was profoundly political, engaged with questions about power, existentialism, memory, destiny, psychology, space and light. These ingredients make The Eyes of Orson Welles not only a portrait of a great man, but an account of the 20th century and a meditation on the continuing relevance of his genius in what Mark describes as these Wellesian times.
Granted exclusive access to hundreds of drawings and paintings by Orson Welles, film-maker Mark Cousins dives deep into the visual world of this legendary director and actor, to reveal a portrait of the artist as he’s never been seen before – through his own eyes, sketched by his own hand, painted with his own brush. Executive produced by Michael Moore, The Eyes of Orson Welles brings vividly to life the passions, politics and power of this 20th-century showman and explores how the genius of Welles still resonates today, more than 30 years after his death.
Welles was one of the great creative figures of the 20th century. But one aspect of his life and art has never been discussed. Like Akira Kurosawa and Sergei Eisenstein, Welles loved to draw and paint. As a child prodigy, he trained as an artist, before a drawing trip to Ireland in his teens led to his sensational stage debut at Dublin’s Gate Theatre. Welles continued to draw and paint throughout his life, and his groundbreaking film and theatre work was profoundly shaped by his graphic imagination.
When he died over 30 years ago, he left behind hundreds of character sketches, set designs, visualisations of unmade projects, illustrations to entertain his children and friends, images in the margins of personal letters, and portraits of the people and places that inspired him. They are a window on to the world of Welles, and a vivid illustration of his creativity and visual thinking. Most of these have never been made public. Now, for the first time, Welles’s daughter Beatrice has granted Mark Cousins access to this treasure trove of imagery, to make a film about what he finds there.
The Eyes of Orson Welles is a cinematic essay which avoids the techniques of conventional TV documentaries. It combines Cousins’s trademark commentary with new digital scans and specially made animations of the artworks, which bring vividly to life the magic of Welles’s graphic world. These are intercut with clips from Welles’s films, recordings of his radio performances and TV interviews, and encounters with Beatrice Welles, telling the personal stories of the images. An original score by young Northern Irish composer Matt Regan gives the film emotion and expressivity. The title music is Albinoni’s famous Adagio, a nod to the fact that Welles was the first film-maker to use this in a movie soundtrack, in his 1961 adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial.
The film is told in three central acts – Pawn, Knight and King – with an epilogue on the theme of Jester. The Pawn sequence looks at Welles’s politics, his sympathy with ordinary people, those images that deal with the modesty of human beings – children, decent people who are not in positions of power. The Knight section looks at Welles's obsession with love, his romances with the likes of Dolores del Rio and Rita Hayworth, and his quixotic attachment to what he himself saw as outmoded chivalric ideals. The King section looks at Welles’s fascination with power and its corruption, through illustrations that deal with figures such as Macbeth, Henry V, Kane and Welles himself – the epic mode of human beings, the lawmakers and abusers. The Jester epilogue explores the images that are about fun or mockery, with a surprising intervention by Welles himself.
Cousins also travels to key locations in Welles’s life – New York, Chicago, Kenosha, Arizona, Los Angeles, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Ireland – to capture beautiful images and locate the artworks, and serve to dramatise some of the defining moments in Welles’s career and personal life.
Mark shot the film with two handheld cameras, one a conventional HD camera and one a 4K camera which gives a new Steadicam style of tracking shot without the need for tracks and dolly. It’s the sort of technology that Welles would have loved and could only have dreamed of as he spent a lifetime wrestling with the creative and financial limitations of traditional film-making techniques. This shooting style reflects the immediacy of Welles’s sketches and paintings in their swift engagement with the visual world. These cameras are like Mark’s paintbrushes, giving him a direct, personal and tactile contact between his hand and the captured/created image, without the intermediation of cumbersome equipment and crews.
In the end, this essay film is about much more than the drawings and paintings. Just as Leonardo da Vinci’s sketchbooks show his passions, his changes of mind, his trains of thought and visual thinking, so this film is an almost mythic encounter with the imagination of this great artist, who extended cinema, was profoundly political, engaged with questions about power, existentialism, memory, destiny, psychology, space and light. These ingredients make The Eyes of Orson Welles not only a portrait of a great man, but an account of the 20th century and a meditation on the continuing relevance of his genius in what Mark describes as these Wellesian times.
zondag 13 januari 2019
De Kennedy's, een Amerikaanse dynastie - 2
12-jan-2019
De weg naar de macht.
John F. Kennedy, de ogenschijnlijk perfecte kandidaat voor het presidentschap, verbergt duistere geheimen. Of hij de verkiezingen kan winnen, hangt af van zijn familie en de populariteit van zijn echtgenote Jackie. Uiteindelijk wordt hij tot president verkozen, waarmee zijn vaders droom in vervulling gaat.
De weg naar de macht.
John F. Kennedy, de ogenschijnlijk perfecte kandidaat voor het presidentschap, verbergt duistere geheimen. Of hij de verkiezingen kan winnen, hangt af van zijn familie en de populariteit van zijn echtgenote Jackie. Uiteindelijk wordt hij tot president verkozen, waarmee zijn vaders droom in vervulling gaat.
dinsdag 8 januari 2019
Brexit - the uncivil war
Channel 4 - 07-01-2019
Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear star in this profoundly timely, witty and compelling behind-the-scenes exploration of one of the biggest political earthquakes of recent times
Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear star in this profoundly timely, witty and compelling behind-the-scenes exploration of one of the biggest political earthquakes of recent times
maandag 7 januari 2019
De Kennedy's, een Amerikaanse dynastie - 1 de macht van het geld
05 jan 2019
Als de oudste kinderen van Joseph P. Kennedy omkomen bij een vliegtuigongeluk, is het John F. Kennedy die zijn vaders ambities waar moet gaan maken.
Als de oudste kinderen van Joseph P. Kennedy omkomen bij een vliegtuigongeluk, is het John F. Kennedy die zijn vaders ambities waar moet gaan maken.
donderdag 3 januari 2019
Andere Tijden Special: Door weer en wind: drie decennia Hollands weer
02-jan-2019
We bekijken het weer in Nederland en de invloed op de bewoners gedurende de weerperiode 1950-1980. Het blijkt dat het weer Nederland verbroedert: we hebben samen strand-, sneeuw- en schaatspret, maar ook de gedeelde verontwaardiging over de zoveelste regendag, de zomer die maar niet komt of de keren dat het weer wezenlijk verdriet tot gevolg heeft. Zoals de zware storm van 1953 die tot de Watersnoodramp leidde of de windhoos over het Betuwse plaatsje Tricht in de zomer van 1967, waar in twee minuten tijd vijf doden vielen en tientallen huizen en bedrijven van de kaart werden gevaagd.
We bekijken het weer in Nederland en de invloed op de bewoners gedurende de weerperiode 1950-1980. Het blijkt dat het weer Nederland verbroedert: we hebben samen strand-, sneeuw- en schaatspret, maar ook de gedeelde verontwaardiging over de zoveelste regendag, de zomer die maar niet komt of de keren dat het weer wezenlijk verdriet tot gevolg heeft. Zoals de zware storm van 1953 die tot de Watersnoodramp leidde of de windhoos over het Betuwse plaatsje Tricht in de zomer van 1967, waar in twee minuten tijd vijf doden vielen en tientallen huizen en bedrijven van de kaart werden gevaagd.
Jinek - eerste aflevering 2019
di, 01-jan-2019
Gasten: Helene Hendriks, Sjoerd van Ramshorst, Sven Kockelmann, Dries Roelvink en Anna Gimbrere. Helene Hendriks en Sjoerd van Ramshorst over het komende spectaculaire sportjaar. Met media-duo Sven Kockelmann en Dries Roelvink vieren we 1 januari. Wetenschapsjournalist Anna Gimbrere vertelt wat er in 2019 gebeurt in de ruimte.
Gasten: Helene Hendriks, Sjoerd van Ramshorst, Sven Kockelmann, Dries Roelvink en Anna Gimbrere. Helene Hendriks en Sjoerd van Ramshorst over het komende spectaculaire sportjaar. Met media-duo Sven Kockelmann en Dries Roelvink vieren we 1 januari. Wetenschapsjournalist Anna Gimbrere vertelt wat er in 2019 gebeurt in de ruimte.
2DOC - Van verlies kun je niet betalen
di 01-jan-2019
Adrie en Francien runnen al 65 jaar een groentezaak in Vlissingen. Hard werken is hun credo, maar hun gezondheid laat te wensen over en Adrie werkt nog steeds veertien tot zestien uur per dag. Hoe lang houden ze het nog vol?
Adrie en Francien runnen al 65 jaar een groentezaak in Vlissingen. Hard werken is hun credo, maar hun gezondheid laat te wensen over en Adrie werkt nog steeds veertien tot zestien uur per dag. Hoe lang houden ze het nog vol?
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