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Woman's Hour: Merope Mills on her daughter Martha, Rugby World Cup preview, Truss impersonators, Iran update

06/10/2022

Merope Mills on her daughter Martha, Rugby World Cup preview, Truss impersonators, Iran update

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Merope Mills on her daughter Martha, Rugby World Cup preview, Truss impersonators, Iran update

The journalist Merope Mills voices her anger at her daughter Martha's preventable death.

Merope Mills’ 13-year-old daughter Martha died in hospital in August 2021. She had sustained a rare pancreatic trauma after falling off a bike on a family holiday, and spent weeks in a specialist unit where she developed sepsis. An inquest concluded that her death had been preventable, and the hospital has apologised. Merope, who is Editor of the Guardian’s Saturday magazine, says her daughter would be alive today if doctors had not kept information from them about her condition, because as her parents they would have demanded a second opinion. She joins Emma for her only broadcast interview.

As the Prime Minister Liz Truss jets off to Prague to a meeting of a new political club of nations, the summit of the European Political Community - the impressionists have been busy at work. Politicians have always been their lifeblood especially our Prime Ministers. Jess Robinson who does many of the famous female voices for Spitting Image and Jan Ravens from Radio 4's Dead Ringers join Emma.

It has been three weeks since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who fell into a coma hours after being detained by morality police on 13 September in Tehran for allegedly breaking the strict law requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf. She died in hospital three days later. It sparked widespread unrest in Iran which has moved to the classroom where schoolgirls have been removing their hijabs. Meanwhile the protests are going global. Last week British Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe cut her hair and yesterday a video was posted in which 50 high profile French women also cut their hair in support, including the actor Juliette Binoche. On Tuesday Abir Al-Sahlani, MEP for the Swedish Centre Party made a speech in the European Parliament where she cut her hair while standing behind a podium. Abir joins Emma along with Faranak Amidi,

This Saturday marks the start of the Women's Rugby World Cup. It's being held in New Zealand and England are the runaway favourites. Wales and Scotland are also taking part and Northern Ireland, who play as Ireland, failed to qualify. To give us a preview Emma is joined by Ali Donnelly, podcast host and author of Scrum Queens, the story of women's rugby and Rocky Clark, England's most capped player (men and womens). Rocky represented England in the last four World Cups, lifting the trophy with her team in 2014.

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Merope Mills on her daughter Martha, Rugby World Cup preview, Truss impersonators, Iran update

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