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Leader Conference

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Politics

Andrew Rawnsley chairs a live discussion about the top stories of the moment

Leader Conference: Series 3

Leader Conference: Series 3: Episode 4

Series 3

Episode 4

BBC Radio 4 - Leader Conference, Series 3, Episode 4

Journalists debate with Andrew Rawnsley what leading articles about the news should say.

Creating newspaper leading articles about a UK referendum on the European Union, the crisis facing NHS casualty departments, and women and Scottish golf clubs.

Andrew Rawnsley was joined by Kirsty Buchanan of the Sunday Express; Lesley Riddoch of the Scotsman; Nigel Nelson of the People; Aditya Chakrabortty of the Guardian; and Graeme Demianyk of the Western Morning News, for the live, studio-based debate series taking the form of newspaper leader conferences.

They debated: Britain and Europe; the crisis in casualty; and whether women should be admitted to private Scottish golf clubs.

Catch a Grip!
The political convulsion at Westminster over the European Union has been extraordinary. Not since 1946 has an MPs' rebellion on the Queen's Speech been so great nor, in our view, so damaging to a prime minister and his party.
Many of his backbenchers doubt Mr Cameron's claim to have a clear position on an EU in/out referendum. We strongly suspect it is questioned by the wider electorate too; in Scotland, it is regarded with mystification. For their part, Tory MPs argue they want to strengthen the prime minister's hand; they are in reality seeking to shackle him. To stop this issue from bedevilling the Conservative party yet again we think both MPs and their leader have to catch a grip of political reality and stop, in Mr Cameron's own words from opposition, "banging on" about Europe. The prime minister may need to discipline those ministers who are exacerbating the row.
We also recommend the Tories stop "feeding the crocodile" on Europe in their own interest. For most voters the economy matters much more―where the Conservatives have an edge. We doubt that there is much political advantage for Mr Miliband or Mr Clegg in emulating Mr Cameron's referendum offer; Europe is the Tories' problem.
When elected leader of his party, Mr Cameron set out to offer distinctive, more voter-friendly policies on the environment, social inclusion and welfare. He needs to recover that impulse. Meanwhile, we think that leaving the EU at the moment would be a mistake.

A&E's perfect storm
An increasingly elderly population, the deficiencies in the new 111 non-emergency advice line and the effective ending of out-of-hours care by GPs are combining to impose acute pressures on hospital accident and emergency departments.

We agree with the Secretary of State for Health in England, Jeremy Hunt, and the Foundation Trust Network that remedial action needs to be taken now―or some A&E units will face collapse. The number of patients presenting themselves for treatment in casualty has increased by four million in eight years. At the same time, waiting times in England have doubled; in Scotland they have trebled.
If the National Health Service is to serve the requirements of patients today it needs a radical overhaul. Sentimentality about the NHS has inhibited governments from grappling with structures that sometimes date back more 65 years. In addition the re-negotiation of English GPs' contracts by the last government failed to take account of the large amount of work by family doctors which was effectively done for free. That needs to be reviewed―as will the coalition's poor management of the pilot of the 111 advice line.
More fundamentally, England may have lessons to learn from north of Hadrian's Wall, specifically, in the amalgamation of health and social care functions and budgets. Scotland has found that the distinguishing feature of the patients who turn up at A&E units is that they are poor, malnourished and elderly. Ministers need urgently to investigate the possibilities of holistic, community-based services providing what these patients require―not A&E.

From fore to hole in one.
"Fore!" they shout on golf courses as a wayward ball descends on you or your property. The Royal & Ancient, the sport's governing body, should prepare for the sound of shattering glass.
Golf's hallowed clubhouses are as much a part of its unique contribution to international sport as its celebrated courses. Women as well as men should enjoy them. Sadly in Scotland the R&A is resisting calls to encourage private men-only golf clubs to admit women, describing it as an attempt to "bully" the clubs concerned.
We see it as an overdue adjustment of tradition to modernity. Private clubs may be single-sex provided they ensure guest access. But what is good enough for Augusta, home of the Masters―where former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and another woman were last year made members―is good enough for us. Muirfield, location of this year's Open Championship, should follow suit. A hole in one for sexual equality.

Producer Simon Coates.

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