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Woman's Hour: Grandparents providing childcare,  Kate Griffiths MP's barrister Charlotte Proudman; Under pressure - Fibromyalgia

13/12/2021

Grandparents providing childcare,  Kate Griffiths MP's barrister Charlotte Proudman; Under pressure - Fibromyalgia

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Grandparents providing childcare,  Kate Griffiths MP's barrister Charlotte Proudman; Under pressure - Fibromyalgia

What's the impact of providing childcare for your grandchildren?

The company SAGA has decided to give employees who've just become grandparents some special leave. They say it's about helping new grandparents celebrate but also it's to highlight how important older workers are, not just to the company but to families and wider society. So if you're a grandparent providing childcare for your kids, what's the cost? What does it take out of you, time-wise and energy wise? How much are you saving your kids? And do you see it as a precious thing you’ll never have the chance to do again, or after a while is it too much pressure? We hear from one of our listeners Linda who looks after two of her grandchildren and Shireen Kanji, a Professor of Work and Organisation at Brunel University.

New Covid measures are being introduced across the UK, because of the threat posed by the Omicron variant.  In England it's known as Plan B, and mandates mask-wearing, working from home and Covid passports. However, around 75 Conservative MPs are expected to rebel as it's put to a vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday.  As parliament debates these new restrictions, where do you stand on taking personal responsibility for containing the virus, and how will it affect your Christmas? To discuss, Emma is joined by Guardian journalist Lucy Mangan and Lucy Fisher, Deputy Political Editor at The Telegraph.
 
In November 2020 a family court found that the conservative MP Kate Griffiths' then husband, Andrew Griffiths (also a former conservative MP for the same Staffordshire seat and former Conservative minister) raped her in her sleep, abused & coercively controlled her. These were civil proceedings, so the finding was based on the balance of probabilities, rather than the criminal standard of probable doubt.  As is the norm in family cases, this information was private and not made public.  But following a successful application by journalists, supported by Kate Griffiths - the details of this case, with both parties' names attached, were published last Friday. In the recent judgement, judges from the Court of Appeal referred to the ‘mother's right to tell her story.’ Andrew Griffiths has denied allegations made by his ex-wife and ‘adamantly denied’ rape. Dr Charlotte Proudman, the barrister who represented Kate Griffiths joins Emma.

The next in our series Under Pressure which looks at what happens to relationships when life gets in the way. Carla and Brendon met at school. Their lives looked to be on track and then everything changed when Carla was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Jo Morris reports.

The nominees for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2021 have been revealed.  There have been 66 recipients of the award, but only 13 of these have been women.  Anna Kessel, Women’s Sports Editor at The Telegraph talks to Emma about the women on the shortlist and who is favourite to win.

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