|
|
 |
| |
| Fisk’s reaction to 9/11
attacks |
IT never occurred that Diary would hear that extraordinary campaigning
reporter Robert Fisk call himself a racist.
But that was his accusation towards himself at the ICA on Saturday.
It all harked back to September 11, 2001, and Fisk was demonstrating
the point that everybody is supposed to remember where they were
that day.
Mr Fisk was on a plane coming back from the Middle East heading
for Heathrow.
On hearing the news he walked around the plane with a friend picking
out suspicious passengers.
“We went looking for suspicious characters we didn’t like
the look of,” he told a packed audience at the artistic centre
in the Mall.
“We came back and swapped profiles. Who would have thought
it? Liberal Fisk turned into a racist in a minute? That’s the
power of terrorism.”
Mr Fisk, The Independent’s Middle East correspondent, helped
to lead a discussion on the politics and morality of suicide bombing
after a film by documentary maker Kevin Toolis, The Cult of the
Suicide Bomber, had been shown. In this frightening film there’s
a scene showing a mother happily signing a letter of consent for
her 14-year-old son to blow himself up.
“It is hard to comprehend,” said Mr Toolis, “but
that is its power – it is all about sending a message.”
Quest to credit the forgotten labourers
who rebuilt bridge
Waterloo Ladies, from left, producer Jo Wiser, historian Christine
Wall, director Karen Livesey and producer Rosa Rogers |
A COUPLE of weeks ago Diary revealed a plan to make a film dedicated
to the women who rebuilt Waterloo Bridge in World War II.
And this week Diary met the all-female film crew who are behind
the project.
Dubbed Concrete History, historian Christine Wall, director Karen
Livesey and producers Jo Wiser and Rosa Rogers together won a grant
from the Big Lottery Fund to research the documentary.
They are searching for anyone who was involved in the construction
of the ‘Ladies’ Bridge’, or who knew of anyone, to
help bridge the 60-year gap in history.
They hope it will eventually be shown at the National Film Theatre
and be used as a resource in schools to explain women’s role
in the war effort.
Christine Wall, an architectural historian, first heard the story
about the Ladies’ Bridge on a boat trip down the Thames.
Determined to find out more about the pioneering female workers,
she soon found that their efforts had been overlooked in the history
books.
Dr Wall joined forces with Karen Livesey, a director who has previously
made documentaries about women in construction.
Ms Livesey told Diary: “In official labour records there is
no acknowledgement of these women. It is as if the trade unions
of the time didn’t really want women workers to break too many
boundaries.
“These women seemed to have a stronger affiliation with the
war effort than the trade union movement and there was a strong
sense of morale between female workers in the war.”
It seems that when the bridge was opened in 1945 men were given
undue recognition and the film hopes to redress the balance.
In the opening ceremony, in a speech by the Lambeth Council leader
on December 10, 1945, the virtues of the male workforce were extolled.
The councillor said: “The men who built Waterloo Bridge are
fortunate men.
“They know that, although their names may be forgotten, their
work will be a pride and use to London for many generations to come.”
It does seem about time the women construction workers were recognised.
The group asks that anyone who worked on the bridge, lived nearby
or knew someone involved contact either Karen Livesey on 020 7771
9596 or Christine Wall on 020 7320 3026.
Mark shows loyalty
MARK Field MP claims to have been “semi-detached” from
the Conservative Party leadership campaign, when Diary spoke to
him yesterday (Thursday).
Diary spoke to him before he headed off to Committee Room 14 to
vote for his preferred candidate, David Davis, in the election,
which has dragged on through the summer. But Mr Field knew he was
facing a challenge but he was generous about 39-year-old David Cameron,
who won 90 votes in the second round of the election last night
while Mr Davis got just 57.
He said: “Obviously Cameron has got a big head of steam over
the last couple of weeks. I hope he withstands the scrutiny and
see that we have a good campaign over the next couple of months.”
But Mark dismissed any suggestion that he might switch his support.
He said: “I pledged my support to David Davis and I will stick
with that; that is the honourable thing to do.”
City Hall uncomfortable as light shone
on Porter
NO doubt senior figures in City Hall are not looking forward
to March next year when reporter Andrew Hosken publishes his warts
and all book on the era of Dame Shirley Porter.
Nothing Like a Dame covers the rise of the former leader of Westminster
Council and her ignominious departure.
Along the way, readers will be treated to coverage of her sale of
cemeteries, at 5p a snip, where all her £70 million Tesco
fortune has vanished, and, of course, the Homes for Votes scandal.
Figures such as leader Councillor Simon Milton and chief whip Cllr
Robert Davis are unlikely to avoid scrutiny by Hosken, a reporter
for the BBC’s Today programme. Readers will remember that it
was Hosken who lay at the heart of the recent Standards Board inquiry
into leader of the opposition, Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg.
Cllr Dimoldenberg, while technically guilty of breaching the councillors’
code of conduct, was found to have acted in the public interest
when he revealed information demonstrating City Hall’s go slow
in the recovery of the £42 million surcharge slapped on Dame
Shirley.
Hosken will no doubt shed further light on this murky situation. |
|
Give power to the people
POST-war, early 1950s Britain was still experiencing food rationing
and was a disillusioning place for English gourmands. The war had
destroyed the restaurant trade and, with few exceptions, post-war
eateries made the worst of a bad situation.
FULL STORY
|
