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The pound takes a pounding

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The British Pound has been taking a hit all week and it took another beating yesterday dropping to its lowest price since July 1985. While the government is rapidly injecting tax payer funds into the economy, the gloomy market has garnered the moniker "Reykjavik-on-Thames." We are joined by Julia Werdigier who is reporting on this from London for our partner The New York Times.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown heads to his Obama photo op

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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown begins an official visit to the United States today. He’ll be the first European leader to meet President Obama in the White House. And on the agenda — you guessed it —the global financial crisis. Joining The Takeaway to tell us what Britain’s embattled Prime Minister will be saying to our new President is Philip Stephens, Associate Editor of the Financial Times.

For more from Philip Stephen's, read his article on Gordon Brown's U.S. visit, The way to reset a once-special relationship in today's Financial Times.

Posted at the Pub, A Soldier's Letters Home

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The U.K. has sent more than 8,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, but the account of one soldier, Michael Saunders, has become a local link to the war for residents of Worcester, England. Michael's been sending home stories of his first few weeks in Afghanistan to the local pub where, over a pint, the locals can keep up with his travels. The Takeaway talks about the experience with his sister, Tracy Tyrls.

To read one of Michael Saunders' blog posts, click through.

AFGHANISTAN MY JOURNEY TO THE HELMAND PROVINCE PART 8

Greetings friends and readers at the Marwood, Worcester!

I hope you are well and in my mind you are sinking a good cold pint while you read this. Perhaps you are wondering what it’s like to be in Afghanistan and I hope my blogs so far have given you a little window in to the world as a soldier serving far away from home.

Today I would like to relay some of the realities of combat here and in doing so I would like to highlight an individual, who in my humble opinion deserves great respect for his dedication, drive and leadership under pressure.

In the comfort of home many might quite rightly question the need for so many soldiers to be so far from home in places that have names that mean little to most. To a great number of people there is little or nothing worth fighting for let alone dying for and in answer to this I would like to quote if I may John Stuart Mill, English philosopher:

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself”.

Although it must be clear we are not at war here we are still engaged militarily with a determined and organised insurgency. This is in addition to all of the good work that we are doing with great results, with the Afghans, for the Afghans and with the majority of Afghan consent. The men and women of your Armed services do this because it is the right thing to do and on a personal level it is what they have trained many years to be tested in doing.

The many battles that your soldiers find themselves in are not the subject of mainstream news, yet for those who are the line in the sand, they are very real and equally deadly. Daily these men rise in the knowledge that conflict is almost a certainty and that injury or worse fatalities are not a distant concept but a close reality.

One such individual and a good friend of mine is Alan Dennis who you may have seen in the news after he escaped near fatal consequences for the second time and has been injured as a result of insurgent action on this and the previous tour. Al from first impressions does not strike you as a man of courage and strong leadership that said I couldn’t tell you what a person with those qualities would look like, although the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment has several. A Senior Sergeant of good standing Al has proved himself under fire on a number of occasions including the incident I would like to relay to you in this blog. A modest family man, quiet and unassuming Al is known to most and liked by all.

On our tour of the Helmand province in 2007 Al was badly injured in an incident that left a good friend and member of the Battalion dead. His recovery and determination to get back to work with his mates was nothing short of exceptional. Having spoken to Al about that incident it is amazing to me that he would fight so hard and for so long to put himself back to a deployable level of fitness, a lesser man would perhaps attempt to avoid the current deployment and in this case would not be blamed for doing so. But Al is not that person, to my knowledge he never entertained the thought that others would go in his stead and this is typical of his type in that he would never have another soldier do something he would not do himself and he would hate his Platoon to deploy without him in to danger of any kind.

On the morning of his latest incident Al was again in charge of a patrol in to territory hotly contested by the insurgents of that area. Such areas are a mixture of open sand covered expanses that are broken up by high walled compounds designed to keep herds and harvested crops in and intruders out. The walls of these compounds are made from age hardened mud and are virtually impenetrable. It is very easy to become disorientated in these areas as pretty much everything looks similar. There are few tracks that even resemble roads in these areas and movement is often restricted to moving on foot. This presents its own security problems and calls for a high degree of control and communication.

The twisting narrow streets if they can be classed as such are pre-disposed to ambush by small, heavily armed groups of insurgents who choose the ground in advance, fire on the friendly forces and attempt to extract themselves before they can be out flanked and killed or captured. Unfortunately there is little option but to patrol these areas and in doing so the troops put themselves in danger time and time again.

While patrolling on what seemed a perfectly routine day the troops very suddenly found themselves caught in a wave of enemy fire as they had walked into the insurgent ambush killing area. In an ambush every instinct and fibre in your body tells you to go back but it is often the case that this is the most dangerous thing to do. Any insurgent worth his salt will attempt to seal any ambush exits with deadly rifle fire so conventional wisdom is to try and fight through to break free. Sitting at my table in the light this is easy to say, however on the ground with rounds flying past your head it takes an iron will to grip the situation and lead your troops to safety.

The patrol is now firing at the insurgents in an attempt to pin them sufficiently to allow them enough movement to escape the ambush. Conventionally this means you have to fire more rounds at your enemy than he can at you, thereby forcing him into taking cover. This however must be balanced by the urgent need to conserve precious ammunition as there is no time limit on an engagement with the insurgent forces.

It does not take Al and his troops long to earn a brief lull in battle and they use this to gain entry by force into a compound. Once inside they take precious seconds to take stock of their situation which is grim. Still under fire they are now virtually cut off and the insurgents are moving around them in an effort to surround the patrol. At this time Al is given scant seconds to radio a situation report to his headquarters, tell them what is going on and what he intends to do about it. Clearly all efforts will be made to assist the patrol but this will take time and it is time they have not got.

Murphy’s Law states “that if anything can go wrong it will” and this maxim holds true even in Afghanistan. Barely has Al appraised his superiors when disaster happens. As he tries to move forward with an Afghan soldier, in an attempt to stop them being a static and therefore an easier target, a rocket propelled grenade strikes the ground only meters ahead of Al. When the smoke and dust clears he finds himself partially buried and having felt a sharp pain and heard a loud snap believes he has shattered his arm.

Now almost fully pinned down by a force of insurgents determined to overrun the patrol Al has seconds to decide his and his troop’s next actions, while he has been on the floor injured his troops have been frantically trying to find another way to exit the compound that initially seemed like a refuge but is quickly becoming a trap. Eventually one of his troops finds and kicks through a door leading to a track that may facilitate extraction. Still fully in command and still engaging the insurgents as they appear with one arm, Al and his troops fight desperately out of the compound and continue to fight until the insurgents eventually give up and allow them to break clean.

After this engagement the troops fought all the way back to their patrol base from which Al would eventually be flown out injured but glad that he was able to escape the clutches of the determined insurgent force with the lives of all of his men. Many others distinguished themselves that day and it was the aggression of the Infantry soldier, his determination and his refusal to be beaten that won the day.

Al is now back in the UK recuperating with family and friends and has the best wishes of all of the Regiment, he has as with others epitomised the motto of the Regiment as they “Stand Firm and Strike Hard”.

Next episode we will look deeper in to the realities of fighting an insurgent enemy that can at times strike with great force and determination and equally can melt back into the surrounding country like they were never there.

Until then thank-you for taking time to read the blog, take care and be safe. --Michael Saunders

Charge It! An Expense-Account Scandal in Parliament

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There's a juicy scandal brewing in England over what politicians claimed on their expense reports. The furor has engulfed Parliament and provoked wide public outrage. The expense claims didn't violate the law-- just public standards of good taste and fair play. MPs were charging everything from extra toilet seats and dog food to swimming-pool maintenance. Members of both parties are implicated, but Prime Minister Gordon Brown is likely to pay the highest price. Joining The Takeaway is the BBC's political reporter Naomi Grimley in Westminster, with the delicious details.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell — Except in Britain

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The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will not review the Pentagon's controversial "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy, which requires U.S. service members to keep their sexual orientation under wraps. In 2000, the UK armed forces integrated gay and lesbian service members nearly overnight with some surprising results. The Takeaway talks to Retired Lieutenant Commander Craig Jones of the British Royal Navy. He was a fierce advocate of British military integration.

France Breaks Up Afghan Migrant Camps

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The northern French town of Calais is known as a crossing point into England; hopeful immigrants to Britain have frequently created makeshift camps while waiting to cross the border into England. But this week French police cleared out one camp known as "the jungle," where hundreds of illegal migrants, mainly from Afghanistan, had been making their home in unsanitary conditions. Emma Jane Kirby, the BBC's Paris correspondent, was there and joins us with the story.

Gordon Brown Set to Step Down as Labour Party Leader

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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he is set to step down as Labour Party leader by September. This shocking announcement comes in the wake of last Thursday's elections which saw the Conservative Party win the most seats, but not the majority.

Now both the Labour and Conservative Parties are vying for the support of the Liberal Democrats to try and form a government. BBC reporter, Rob Watson has the details as this story continues to unfold.

2012 Olympics Mascots Revealed to Mixed Reviews

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Which creatures have just one eye and are made from drops of steel? Wenlock and Mandeville, the 2012 Olympics mascots, unveiled earlier this week in London. They are magical, androgynous figures, fashioned from materials used to build London's Olympic stadium.

Their appeal is not yet widespread, but could they actually grow on us over the next two years? John Ryan, animation director for Dagnabit in Atlanta has some insight into this problem. He was the designer of the maligned Olympic mascot, Izzy, from the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.


The Case Against WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

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Julian Assange turned himself over to police in London on Tuesday, bringing to a close a period of speculation about how and whether the WikiLeaks founder would wind up in custody. Assange currently faces extradition to Sweden where he is wanted for discussion with the police on alleged sex crimes. His problems may not end at the Swedish border, however.

The United States is also conducting a criminal investigation into the WikiLeaks founder's disclosure of thousands of pieces of classified information, including the Thanksgiving data dump of secret diplomatic cables. There is a question of legal foundation, however, as the United States doesn’t have a states secret law. Before he could be charged with anything, prosecutors would have to answer one question: What U.S. laws has Assange actually broken?

For the answer we speak with Scott Ritter, former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq (1991-1998) and Lauren Donahue, Professor of Law at Georgetown University.

'She-Wolves:' Queens Before Elizabeth

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In England, and around the world, all eyes may be on Kate Middleton, the future queen. But long before Middleton or even Queen Elizabeth I, women of the monarchy were attracting great attention and wielding surprising power in England. Helen Castor is a historian who’s been delving into the lives of these powerful, but largely unrecognized women, as far back as nine hundred years ago. She’s the author of “She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth.

Far from feeble, these royal women showed great power, like Eleanor of Aquitaine, who rebelled against her husband and was faced with 15 years in jail.

UK's Youth Planning to be 'Poorer Than Their Parents'

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As riots and unrest continue to spread throughout England, some say they began with youths who are unhappy with the economic climate there. Throughout the U.K., there is a growing sense that many young people are going to face more difficult financial times than their parents' generation did. The future will bring fewer job opportunities and lower pensions, which will mature at a later date and come at a greater personal cost. Overall, there’s a feeling that politicians are inept to fix the nation’s economic problems.

We're speaking with personal finance guru Alvin Hall, host of the BBC series "Poorer Than Their Parents."

Queen Elizabeth Marks 60 Years as Monarch with Diamond Jubilee

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On June 2, 1953, Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey in London. 2012 marks 60 years of her renowned and at times tumultuous reign. She was famous for having traveled to Germany in 1965 and infamous for keeping silent in the days after the death of Princess Diana, her late daughter-in-law. 

The Diamond Jubilee is a series of celebrations throughout England to honor the Queen's 60-year rule. Historian at London University Kate Williams has written several books about the monarchy, including "Young Elizabeth."

The Two Faces of London: John Lanchester's "Capital"

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London has had plenty of reasons to celebrate lately. Last April was the Royal Wedding, and just a few weeks ago thousands commemorated the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. But behind these posh events, and the billions of dollars in taxes they require, is a struggling citizenry that has been plagued by terrorism, and more recently, widespread rioting.

In his book, "Capital," John Lanchester writes about life on one London street in 2007 just before the city — and the world — would fall into economic disarray. The book highlights a diverse group of neighbors, each facing their own hurdles in a world ruled by money. 

How a British Spy Agency is Manipulating the Internet

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New documents provided to journalist Glenn Greenwald by NSA leaker Edward Snowden show that a British intelligence agency has been manipulating the internet.

Greenwald's new site, "The Intercept," reports that the British spy agency Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) has developed a suite of covert tools to manipulate internet content and usage.

Ranging from tools to change the outcome of online polls, to artificially increasing website traffic, this startling report questions whether the GCHQ may be blurring the line between online surveillance and state propaganda. 

The revelations come as hearings begin in the United Kingdom to determine whether the GCHQ's mass surveillance programs violate human rights. The British Parliament also plans to debate a new law that would expand the government's reach into internet activity.

To help us understand this new leak and what it means for internet users in the U.K. and around the globe, we turn to Julia Angwin, an investigative reporter at ProPublica and author of "Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance."

What's at Stake Ahead of Scotland’s Historic Independence Vote

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On September 18th, more than 4 million people in Scotland will get to vote in a historic referendum on whether their country should become independent for the first time in more than 300 years.

Much is at stake—if voters in Scotland decide to break away from the United Kingdom, including England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland's leaders will need to renegotiate everything from the country’s currency and its foreign policy, to its relationship with the British Army and the rest of the European Union. 

“Absolutely no one will do a better job of running Scotland than the people who live and work in Scotland,” Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, has said.

But British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged the people of Scotland to vote against independence and save a union which dates back to 1707.

For its part, the U.S. has tried to remain neutral about next month's vote.

“With respect to the future of the United Kingdom, obviously ultimately this is up to the people of Great Britain," President Barack Obama has said. "In the case of Scotland, there’s a referendum process in place and it’s up to the people of Scotland." Although the president did add that, “the United Kingdom has been an extraordinary partner to us. From the outside at least, it looks like things have worked pretty well.”

Scottish political commentator and broadcaster Greg Russell weighs in on how the referendum is playing out in his homeland, and why he's considering a vote for independence.


Cameron, Conservatives Claim Victory in U.K. Elections

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It was one of the tightest elections in decades, but Prime Minister David Cameron was able to come out on top, a stunning defeat for the opposing Labour Party and its leader, Ed Miliband, who stepped down.

Cameron has issued a call for unity, but the numbers reveal a number of growing divisions: The far left Scottish Nationalist Party took 56 of 59 seats in Scotland, a victory that is raising questions about the U.K. economy and its role in Europe.

Gavin Haynes is a London-based political correspondent for VICE. He weighs in on the election results, and the way forward for the U.K.

Click here to find more of Gavin's coverage of the 2015 U.K. General Election.

Why Pencils Still Have a Place in The Age of Digital Art

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When was the last time you used a pencil? Once possibly the most important tool of any artist, the pencil  has largely become optional. Animators and designers can easily draw with computers and tablets without getting up to sharpen anything.

But the pencil still has its advocates. A new photography exhibit in London is celebrating the pencil as an artistic emblem—one that shows the inner character of the artist who uses it.

Photographs of pencils belonging to famous artists are on display. One belongs to comedian Stephen Fry, another to novelist Dave Eggers. Oscar winning make up artist Michele Burke also had her pencil photographed as well.

The photos will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will go to a charity called Children in Crisis. 

Alex Hammond, director of the exhibit, tells The Takeaway what we can learn about artists just by looking at their pencils. 

Check out some photos from the exhibit below, which were all captured by photographer Mike Tinney.


 

Policing Without Guns: How British Officers Keep the Peace

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According to Sir Peter Fahy, chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police, a police officer's "best weapon is their mouth.”

Fahy, who is also the spokesman on workforce development for the Association of Chief Police Officers, currently commands 6,700 officers, just 209 of which are armed. Talking through a situation and remaining calm are some of the tactics Fahy puts before employing weaponry.

Handguns and assault rifles are completely banned in Britain, and a very small percentage of British police officers carry guns, something that has led to a lower number of fatal police shootings. Over the last three years, just three people died at the hands of law enforcement in Britain—in 2012 alone, 409 Americans were killed by police shootings, according to data compiled by the FBI.

Sir Peter Fahy joins The Takeaway to discuss the differences in policing across the pond, and how Americans can avoid some of the high-stakes policing we see more and more often in the media and in cities across the nation.

 

Long Live the Queen: Elizabeth II is Now Britain's Longest-Serving Monarch

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Click on the audio player above to hear this segment.

In the summer of 1952, Queen Elizabeth II took the throne in Great Britain. Today she becomes the country's longest-serving monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria, whose record had been of 63 years, seven months, and two days.

John Hockenberry reflects on the many changes Queen Elizabeth has seen in her long reign, and how her decades in power are similar to and different from those of Queen Victoria.

Your Guide to The Weirdest Places in the U.K.

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Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.

This edition of The Takeaway Weekender Podcast features a special extended interview with American humorist and writer Bill Bryson.

More than 20 years ago, Bryson published the popular travelogue, “Notes from a Small Island.” The Iowa native used the book to share his quirky observations and insights about his adopted country of Britain.

Back then, Bryson was planning to return to the United States, and he wanted to take one last trip around the U.K. before leaving. “Notes from a Small Island” was based on his tour of the country and became a best-seller.

Bryson eventually returned to England and settled right back into British life, but after decades of living in the land of green hedges, he says he still finds the place quite a mystery.

Now the author has published a sequel to his much beloved book about Britain. With the English psyche as his compass, Bryson has once again tracked from one end of the U.K. to the other.

The Takeaway talks with Bryson about his latest volume, "The Road to Little Dribbling," which is a guidebook to all the odd places that appear on maps of the U.K. and constitute what he describes as a grand geography of weirdness. 

 

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