Flying a flag .... and a bit of history

As ever the Long View on BBC Radio 4 didn't disappoint.*

FOR FREEDOM, picture postcard,1919,

Today it explored the current wave of adding flags to lamp posts, road signs and even roundabouts with a moment in the past.

"What does raising a Union Jack or drawing a flag of St George on a street sign signify? 

As flags appear across England and now Wales, Jonathan Freedland and his guests look back to a street gathering in 1780 which also used flags to get a message across. 

Organisers of 'Operation Raise the Colours' say it's about promoting patriotism and is non-partisan but the appearance of flags on mini-roundabouts, motorway bridges and lamposts has been met by opposition from anti-racist groups and by differing responses from some local authorities. 

Eleanor Lawson is a BBC News reporter in the West Midlands where flags began appearing earlier in August. Ian Haywood is Emeritus Professor in English at the University of Roehampton and he has studied the initially peaceful protest and petition which became known as the Gordon Riots. The reader is Django Bevan.

Produced by Jayne Egerton"*

Location; BBC Radio 4

Picture; FOR FREEDOM, picture postcard sold to commemorate the anniverary of the end of the Great War, 1919, Tuck and Son, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://www.tuckdbpostcards.org/

*Flags, The Long View,  BBC Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002httm

Gold ... copper ... cobalt ..... minerals and violence over two continents .... one to listen to

The theft of land and the treasures of the earth from indigenous peoples is not new but the BBC's The Long View with Jonathan Freedland revisited the story fastening on the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Democratic Republic of Congo during 150 years of exploitation, violence and misery. 

Opal fields, Western Australia 1984

"In 1875, the US 7th Cavalry, led by Colonel Custer announced they’d found gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota, leading to a gold rush and the outbreak of the so-called Great Sioux War. 

150 years later, today in the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed militia fight for control of gold mines, and mining for copper and cobalt leads to mass displacement of people. Jonathan Freedland investigates links between mineral extraction and armed conflict, then and now.

With, Professor Kathleen Burk, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London and Guillaume de Brier, Researcher at the International Peace Information Service in Antwerp. Reader: Jason Barnett, Producer: Luke Mulhall"*

Location; BBC Radio 4

Picture; Opal fields, Western Australia 1984, from the collection of June Pound

*Minerals and Violence, The Long View, BBC Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002dzfm

Race Riots in Britain …. The Long View ….. one to listen to today

I am a great fan of Radio 4’s The Long View, which takes a topical news story and looks to find parallels in the past, and in so doing seeks to explore the modern event.

Clifford’s Tower, York, 2010

And today’s features the recent riots manipulated by the Far Right and antisemitic attacks in the Middle Ages.

“Mob violence breaks out across the country, with an explosion of hatred directed at minority communities who feel under siege. As British courts process hundreds of those involved in the riots of August 2024, Jonathan Freedland looks back more than 800 years ago when hatred was directed at a different group of outsiders. In the late 1180s, Britain's small Jewish community was targeted by violent mobs in the wake of the coronation of Richard I. 

The worst incident was the York Massacre of 1190 in which 150 people died. What are the historical parallels with today's race riots against British Muslims and asylum seekers, and what can be learnt about how to heal communities?

Guests: Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Queen Mary, University of London; Joe Mulhall, Director of Research, Hope Not Hate; Hina Bokhari, Liberal Democrat Member of the London Assembly and Founder, Naz Legacy Foundation

Producers: Dan Hardoon and Luke Mulhall

Reader: John Lightbody”

Picture; Clifford’s Tower, York, Tim Green, 2010, his file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. his image was originally posted to Flickr by Tim Green aka atoach at https://flickr.com/photos/93416311@N00/5259021070. It was reviewed on 8 October 2016 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

*Race Riots, The Long View, BBC Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021w6y

The Drama of Scandal ....... now and then

This is one to listen to.

Child labour, 1844

Its from the series The Long View which takes a current news story and looks back into the past to explore similar events.

"The Post Office Scandal has gripped the nation’s attention – but only truly captured the public's imagination following the popular ITV drama of the postmaster’s ongoing quest for justice. 

As the government takes steps to legislater and offer further compensation, Jonathan looks at two important factors from the Post Office inquiry – a drama making all the difference to overturning a scandal, and a miscarriage of justice being righted to make permanent and impactful change.

Professor Rosalind Crone looks back at the curious case of Adolf Beck, whose wrongful conviction and fight for freedom ended in the Court of Criminal Appeal being founded. Dr Ella Dzelzainis shines a light on writer Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, whose novels were integral in bringing the plight of child factory workers to public attention and resulted in the Factory Acts being passed.

In both cases, it took notable storytelling in the press and popular literature of the day and the outcry of the British public for meaningful change to be made.

Producers: Olivia Sopel and Mugabi Turya"*

Picture; from The Life and Adventures of Michael Armstrong, Trollope, Frances, 1844,

*The Drama of Scandal,   https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wxh7

"Age shall not weary them"* ....... when politicians pass their 70th birthday

So much of my life has been set against aged politicians who continued to aspire to the reigns of power.  

Michael Foot, Leader of the Labour Party, aged 70, Birmingham,1983

In 1951 Winston Churchill returned to power aged 78, Harold MacMillan departed office in his 67th year and through the 1980s heaps of Soviet leaders settled on the top job in their 70s and 80s.

So I was drawn to today's Radio 4 The Long View on "Aged Premiers". 

"If Donald Trump is elected to a second term as President of the United States he would be 82 at the end, if Joe Biden is re-elected he would be 86. Age has become a campaign weapon.

How effective have the octogenarian leaders of the past been shown to be?

One was William Ewart Gladstone who was Prime Minister four times, the last when he was 82. 

Dr Ruth Windscheffel Head of Teaching and Learning Enhancement at York St John University and author and editor of a number of books and articles about Gladstone discusses how his advanced age affected his final administration.

Emperor Gordian I acceded to Rome's Imperial throne in 238 AD in his early eighties. Dr James Corke-Webster is Reader in Classics, History and Liberal Arts at King's College London. 

He discusses with Jonathan Freedland the events surrounding Gordian's rise to power in ancient Rome's most turbulent year.

Reader: Josh Bryant-Jones, Producer: Harry Parker"**

Location; On the Wireless

Pictures; Michael Foot, Leader of the Labour Party, aged 70 in Birmingham, in 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*For the Fallen, Robert Laurence Binyon, published in The Times newspaper on 21 September 1914.

**Aged Premiers, The Long View, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001trq3

When Marches of Mutiny are the flavour of the month .... one to listen to

With a march on power still hitting the news this programme from the The Long View is a fascinating listen.*

 The only portrait of the dictator Sulla. 2016

"The notorious Wagner group of mercenaries marched for Moscow after calls from its leader to 'end this disgrace’. Yevgeny Prigozhin insisted it was a ‘march for justice’ and not a coup, but for 24 hours Russia’s future seemed uncertain and the political impact of the brief uprising remains to be seen.

The Roman general, Sulla, was the first leader of the Republic to seize power by force, marching twice on Rome – first in 88 BC, and the Streltsy uprising of Russian soldiers in 1698 proved a decisive moment in the rule of Peter the Great.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of marches of mutiny.

Contributors: Catherine Steel, Professor of Classics, University of Glasgow, and Simon Sebag Montefiore, historian and writer

Readings: Gerard McDermottand Samuel James

Producer:

Joel Moors"

Picture;This coin issue bears the only portrait of the dictator Sulla. 2016, https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=310030, Author, CNG, Licensing; Classical Numismatic Group, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publishes it under the following licenses: GNU head Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License.

*Marches of Mutiny, The Long View, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ng73

Removing and Replacing Prime Ministers ...... The Long View ... today on the wireless

Now I am a great fan of the Long View on Radio 4, which takes a story in the news and examines historical parallels.

The Sun Shining through the Fog, 1904

And so of course with the recent resignation of a Prime Minister, who seemed reluctant to leave, and a subsequent leadership contest, this episode seems highly appropriate. 

"In this edition of The Long View Jonathan Freedland finds historical comparisons to the current Tory leadership contest, considering moments in history when the Conservative Party has removed a prime minister and sought a new figure for Number 10.

He is first joined by Professor Laura Beers to discuss the removal of David Lloyd George in October 1922. 

Lloyd George, a Liberal, had led a War Time Coalition consisting of majority Conservative MPs. A charismatic figure, Lloyd George had a reputation as an innovator and a doer, but his time as PM was also plagued by scandal. Unhappy with the PMs economics, his foreign policy and his reputation, Conservative MPs met at the Carlton Club to decide whether to abandon the coalition and oust Lloyd George. Some of the loudest criticisms came from rising star and future PM, Stanley Baldwin who described Lloyd George as a 'dynamic force'.

The Houses of Parliament, sunset, 1903

Fast forward 40 years to 1963 and the Party is once again seeing a change of leader. This time after Harold Macmillan decides to resign on the eve of the Tory Conference, citing ill health. 

The non-democratic 'soundings' procedure, run by the party elite, settles on Alec Douglas-Home to be leader, refusing to back any of the favourites. The choice causes controversy and will have a lasting impact on how future leaders of the party are selected.

Presented by Jonathan Freedland, Produced by Sam Peach, Readings by David Hounslow"*

Pictures; The Sun Shining through the Fog, Claude Monet, 1904, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, and The Houses of Parliament, sunset, Claude Monet, 1903, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

*Removing and Replacing Prime Ministers, The Long View, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00193n3

Inflation and the cost of living crisis...... The Long View today on the wireless

Now I am a great fan of the Long View which takes a topical issue and looks back into the past for parallels, which might or might not help explain the situation.

And as one of those much derided baby boomers I lived through the inflationary period of the 1970s and 80s when interest rates seemed to climb each month.

Added to which I had studied and went onto teach that period of inflation in the 1920s, particularly in relation to Weimar Germany, when prices increased almost by the hour.

"With the warning of potential double digit inflation on the way and the already very real cost of living crisis, Jonathan Freedland is joined by Economic Historians Albrecht Ritschl and Duncan Needham to compare today's situation with the context, causes and impact of UK inflation spikes in the 1920s and the 1970s.

Economies rarely fall prey to single drivers, but war, pandemic, international oil price and food costs have all been part of Britain's story in the past. 

Jonathan discovers how politicians dealt with inflation in the 1920s and 1970s, what the costs of their interventions were, and to what extent the insights of hindsight might help an approach to today's growing pressures.

Producer: Tom Alban"*

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Inflation and the cost of living crisis, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017cln

This Union .....The Long View ....today on the wireless

I am a great fan of the Radio 4 series, The Long View, and today's programme on the Union will be an interesting one.

It will be broadcast at 9 am.

"Jonathan Freedland and a team of historians and BBC correspondents take The Long View of the Union of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

The peoples of this island and their relationship with each other is hotly discussed and contested. 

Its relationship – constitutionally, economically and culturally - is up for debate, especially as issues of the Union after Brexit and the pandemic come to the fore. 

In this special edition of The Long View Jonathan Freedland and a team of historians and BBC correspondents look back at three separate moments in the history of the birth of the Union where its future - and its terms of engagement - were under similar scrutiny".*.

Producer: Mohini Patel

Pictures; Flags of the World, courtesy of Flags of the World**

*The Long View, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xrz9

**Flags of the World, http://www.deanscards.com/c/716/1956-Topps-Flags-of-the-World

Now and then ..........The Roaring Twenties ...... and post Covid Britain

I am a great fan of the Radio 4 series the Long View, which seeks to explore comparisons with events today and similar ones in the past.

Entertainment, 1926, Josephine Baker, Paris

Today's programme turns on the expected burst in activity across the economy, politics, and the world as we move out of the stagnation which was Covid.

And for some that leads to that decade following the Great War when there was an explosion of new ways of doing things, from the Charleston to the age of the cinema.

"Break-neck technological innovation, a realignment in both British politics and the global order, a decade of economic boom and bust. Jonathan Freedland and his guests ask if the post-pandemic 1920s deserve their golden reputation and whether we're now on the brink of a second 'Roaring Twenties'.

Joining Jonathan to look back at the 1920s and forward to the 2020s are the historian Dr Luke Blaxill of the University of Oxford, the economists George Magnus and Dr Linda Yueh and journalists Tim Stanley of The Telegraph and John Harris of The Guardian. The actor is Beattie Edmondson.

Manchester, 2021 as Covid regulations are relaxed

Producer Julia Johnson"

Pictures; Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston at the Folies-Bergère, Paris, 1926, Walert, partying in Stevenson Square, 2021 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*The Roaring Twenties, The Long View, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wrjs