1.
Despatch box
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A despatch box is a wooden box used as a lectern from which frontbench members of Parliament deliver speeches to their parliamentary chamber. The original purpose of the box was for members to carry bills. Whereas backbenchers in both Parliaments generally deliver addresses to the chamber while standing at their seat, frontbenchers deliver their addresses from their sides despatch box, by tradition, the modern despatch boxes often contain the religious texts used for swearing in of new members of the respective chamber. The despatch boxes in the British House of Commons were gifts from New Zealand and they are made of puriri wood and are modelled on the Australian boxes, which are replicas of the original despatch boxes destroyed in World War II. The box on the Government side contains holy books of various religions, the Opposition box contains a singed Bible. The Bible was resting on the table when a German bomb fell on the Commons chamber on 10 May 1941, in the Second World War. More recently, the Government despatch box is reported to have sustained damage at the hands of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, browns habit of jabbing his marker pen at his papers led to the surface of the box becoming covered in black pen marks. The despatch boxes in the Australian House of Representatives were gifts from King George V to mark the opening of the Old Parliament House in Canberra on 9 May 1927 and they are made of rosewood and have enamel and silver decorations. They are replicas of the despatch boxes kept in the British House of Commons until those boxes were destroyed on 10 May 1941, inside the lid of each box is an inscription signed by George V. The Senate has two lecterns which serve a purpose, but they are used only by the Senate leaders of the Government. Other frontbenchers in the Senate address the chamber from their location in the first row of their side of the chamber
2.
Zeinab Badawi
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Zeinab Badawi is a Sudanese-British television and radio journalist. She was the first presenter of the ITV Morning News, and co-presented Channel 4 News with Jon Snow, Badawi was the presenter of World News Today broadcast on both BBC Four and BBC World News, and Reporters, a weekly showcase of reports from the BBC. Badawi was born in Sudan and has lived in Britain since the age of two and her great-grandfather, Sheikh Babiker Badri, fought against Kitcheners British forces at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 and pioneered womens education in Sudan. Badawis father was an editor in Sudan committed to social reform who. Badawi speaks Arabic but not fluently and she was educated at Hornsey High School for Girls in North London, before studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at St Hildas College, Oxford. At Oxford, Badawi was a member of the Oxford University Broadcasting Society, after Oxford, Badawi was a researcher and broadcast journalist for Yorkshire TV from 1982 to 1986. After a period at BBC Manchester she joined Channel 4 News in 1988, Badawi co-presented Channel 4 News from 1989 until 1998 when she joined the BBC. At the BBC Badawi worked as presenter and reporter for Westminster live political programmes for five years and she also worked on BBC radio as a regular presenter of The World Tonight on Radio 4 and BBC World Services Newshour. In 2005, Badawi became the new presenter of The World on BBC Four, in May 2007 the programme was rebranded as World News Today and is also shown on the BBC World News channel. She is a presenter of the BBC interview programme HARDtalk. In an exclusive interview in May 2009, Badawi interviewed Sudans President Omar Al-Bashir, since 2010, in addition to her presenting role on BBC World News, Badawi has presented on the BBC News Channel and the BBC News at Five. Badawi was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the School of Oriental, in May 2014 she was based in Johannesburg presenting coverage of the South African Elections on BBC World News and BBC News Channel. For many years, Badawi has led an annual Nobel laureate discussion in connection with the Nobel festivities in Stockholm, the programme is shown on Swedish television. Badawi has been an adviser to the Foreign Policy Centre and a Council Member of the Overseas Development Institute, Badawi has also been Chair of the Royal African Society since 2014. She is a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and the British Council, in June 2011 her appointment to the advisory board of the New College of the Humanities was announced. Badawi is founder and chair of the Africa Medical Partnership Fund, a charity which aims to help local medical professionals in Africa
3.
Michael Dobbs
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Michael Dobbs, Baron Dobbs is a British Conservative politician and best-selling author, most notably for his House of Cards trilogy. Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire and he was educated at Hertford Grammar School, Cheshunt Grammar School, and Christ Church, Oxford. After graduating from Oxford in 1971 with a degree in PPE, Dobbs moved to the United States. He attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts and graduated in 1977 with an M. A. M. A. L. D. and his doctoral thesis was published as China and SALT, Dragon Hunting in a Multinuclear World. In 2007, Dobbs gave the Alumni Salutation at Fletcher, Dobbs studies at The Fletcher School were funded by a job as feature writer for the Boston Globe, where he worked as an editorial assistant and political feature writer from 1971 to 1975. After getting his PhD in 1977, Dobbs returned to England, from 1977 to 1979, he was an advisor to Margaret Thatcher, who was then leader of the Opposition. From 1979 to 1981, he was a Conservative MP speechwriter, from 1981 to 1986, he served as a Government Special Advisor. From 1986 to 1987, he was the Conservative Party Chief of Staff, in 1984, he survived the Brighton bombing at the Conservative Party Conference. Considered a masterful political operator, he was called Westminsters baby-faced hit man, from 1994 to 1995, he served in the John Major government as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. On 18 December 2010, Dobbs was made a peer, as Baron Dobbs, of Wylye, in the County of Wiltshire. He sits as a Conservative Peer, Lord Dobbs is also an Executive Board Member of the Conservative Friends of the Chinese. In August 2014, Lord Dobbs was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to Septembers referendum on that issue, from 1983 to 1986, Dobbs worked at Saatchi & Saatchi as Deputy Advertising Chairman. From 1987 to 1988, he was Director of Worldwide Corporate Communications, from 1988 to 1991, he was Deputy Chairman, working directly under Maurice Saatchi. From 1991 to 1998, Dobbs was a columnist for The Mail on Sunday newspaper, from 1998 to 2001, he hosted the current affairs programme Despatch Box on BBC Two. In 1990 House of Cards was turned into a miniseries which received 14 BAFTA nominations. Netflix made a US version based upon Dobbss first novel and its BBC adaptation and his novels are also published in the United States. Anthony Howard of The Times said Dobbs is following in a respectable tradition, shakespeare, Walter Scott, even Tolstoy, all used historical events as the framework for their writings. And, unlike some of their works, Dobbss novel is, in fact
4.
Andrew Neil
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Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster and the editor of The Sunday Times for 11 years. He currently presents live political programmes Sunday Politics and This Week on BBC One and he is also the former editor-in-chief and current chairman of the Press Holdings group, which owns The Telegraph and The Spectator. Neil was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire and he grew up in the Glenburn area and attended the local Lancraigs Primary School. At 11, Neil passed his 11-plus examinations and obtained entrance to the then-selective Paisley Grammar School and his father was an electrician and member of the Territorial Army, and his mother worked in the local cotton mills. After school, Neil attended the University of Glasgow, while there, he edited the student newspaper, the Glasgow University Guardian and dabbled in student television. He was also a member of the Dialectic Society and the Conservative Club, in 1971, he was chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students. He graduated in 1971 with an MA with honours, in economy and political science. After his graduation, Neil briefly worked as a correspondent for local newspaper. In 1973, he joined The Economist as a correspondent and was promoted as editor of the publications section on Britain. A passionate follower of cricket, he is a member of Marylebone Cricket Club, Neil was editor of The Sunday Times from 1983 to 1994. It was argued that he was appointed by Rupert Murdoch over more experienced colleagues, such as Hugo Young, opposition to perceived public school and Oxbridge attitudes was a hallmark of Neils Sunday Times editorship. During his editorship, the newspaper lost a case over claims that it had made concerning a witness interviewed in the Death on the Rock documentary on the Gibraltar shootings. While at The Sunday Times in 1988, Neil met the former Miss India, Pamella Bordes, in a nightclub, the News of the World suggested Bordes was a call girl. Worsthorne argued in an editorial article Playboys as Editors in March 1989 for The Sunday Telegraph that Neil was not fit to edit a serious Sunday newspaper, Worsthorne effectively accused Neil of knowing that Bordes was a prostitute. Neil won both the case and £1,000 in damages plus costs, the Sunday Times was campaigning for an already-discredited claim that AIDS is neither an infectious disease and was not caused by HIV. In 1992 Neil was criticised by groups and historians like Hugh Trevor-Roper for employing, as a translator of the diaries of Joseph Goebbels. In 1988 he also became founding chairman of Sky TV, also part of Murdochs News Corporation, Neil was instrumental in the companys launch, overseeing the transformation of a down market, single channel satellite service into a four channel network in less than a year. Neil and Murdoch stood side by side at Skys new headquarters in West London on 5 February 1989 to witness the launch of the service at 18.00
5.
BBC
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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
6.
BBC Two
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BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It covers a range of subject matter, but tending towards more highbrow programmes than the more mainstream. Like the BBCs other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence and it is a comparatively well-funded public service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public service networks worldwide. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched, a high-definition version of the channel launched on 26 March 2013, replacing BBC HD. British television at the time of BBC2s launch consisted of two channels, the BBC Television Service and the ITV network made up of regional companies. Both channels had existed in a state of competition since ITVs launch in 1955, the 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and that ITV lacked any serious programming. It therefore decided that Britains third television station should be awarded to the BBC, prior to its launch, the new BBC2 was promoted on the BBC Television Service, the soon to be renamed BBC1. The animated adverts featured the campaign mascots Hullabaloo, a mother kangaroo, however, at around 18,45 a huge power failure, originating from a fire at Battersea Power Station, caused Television Centre, and indeed much of west London, to lose all power. BBC1 was able to continue broadcasting via its facilities at Alexandra Palace, associated-Rediffusion, the London weekday ITV franchise-holder, offered to transmit on the BBCs behalf, but their gesture was rejected. At 22,00 programming was officially postponed until the following morning, there was believed to be no recording made of this bulletin, but a videotape was discovered in early 2003. By 11,00 on 21 April, power had restored to the studios and programming began. The launch schedule, postponed from the night before, was successfully shown that evening. In reference to the cut, the transmission opened with a shot of a lit candle which was then sarcastically blown out by presenter Denis Tuohy. To establish the new identity and draw viewers to it. The production chosen was The Forsyte Saga, a adaptation of the novels by John Galsworthy, featuring well-established actors Kenneth More. Unlike BBC1 and ITV, BBC2 was broadcast only on the 625 line UHF system and this created a market for dual standard receivers which could switch between the two systems. On 1 July 1967, during the Wimbledon Championships, BBC2 became the first channel in Europe to begin broadcasts in colour. The thirteen part series Civilisation was created as a celebration of two millennia of western art and culture to showpiece the new colour technology, BBC1 and ITV later joined BBC2 on 625-line UHF band, but continued to simulcast on 405-line VHF until 1985
7.
This Week (BBC TV series)
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This Week is a British current affairs and politics TV programme, screened on Thursday evenings on BBC One. It is hosted by former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil, with a panel of two commentators, one each from the right and left of the political spectrum, the show was introduced in 2003, along with The Daily Politics, after a major review of BBC political programmes. It replaced the nightly Despatch Box, for which Andrew Neil had been the presenter in its later years. With a more light-hearted tone than most political programming, This Week prides itself on being punchy, irreverent and it is also committed to being one of the only current affairs shows on television with an absence of party spin from its regular co-hosts, despite their party affiliations. The two were thereafter ostensibly an odd couple coming from different sides of the political spectrum, eventually, her place was taken by another Labour MP, in rotation each week, always a backbencher, most often Alan Johnson. After returning to the backbenches in 2013, Abbott appeared on a fortnightly basis, since her appointment as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development in September 2015, she has rarely appeared, and the tradition of Labour MPs alternating in the spot has continued. Since 2013, Neils golden retriever Miss Molly has also appeared on the show. Miss Mollys first appearance was coupled with an increase in This Weeks ratings, at the beginning of each episode, Neil asks the two regular commentators for their Moment of the Week, occasionally contributing his own moment. The standard format consists of three segments, with a guest contributor featuring in each, the first features a journalist or commentator who presents their Take of the Week in a short film before appearing in the studio to discuss their perspective further. The second segment is a light-hearted Round-up of the Week in and around Parliament, formerly presented by Mark Mardell, currently, the Round-up segment is presented by a rotation of writers and broadcasters. This is followed by a discussion between the hosts of the issues raised, the third main segment, Spotlight, typically focuses more on cultural topics and features a final guest. Though primarily a discussion programme, This Week has achieved notoriety for its humorous approach to current affairs. For example, during the 2005 General Election, the title sequence spoofed the recently re-released version of Is This the Way to Amarillo. The clip subsequently went viral on YouTube, helping to increase the shows popularity amongst younger audiences. In 2006, the won the Hansard Society Award for Opening Up Politics which was awarded at the Channel 4 Political Awards ceremony. In keeping with its style, This Week has several recurring jokes and nicknames. It is also frequently said that the show has a budget of almost zero. While giving out the Twitter and Facebook handles for the show, also, every episode begins with the words Evenin all and ends with Thats your lot for this week
8.
Millbank
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Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico, Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, the Millbank Tower and prominent art institutions such as Tate Britain and the Chelsea College of Art and Design. The area derives its name from a watermill owned by Westminster Abbey that once stood at a close to present day College Green. Described as a place of plague pits and a low, marshy locality suitable for shooting snipe in the nearby bogs, facilities at the prison camp on the marshy ground were so poor that 1,200 prisoners were recorded as having died in the primitive conditions. Baltic Wharf, a site just to the north of Vauxhall Bridge, was for much of the 19th century the location of a Henry Castle & Son, a ship breaking and timber merchant. Numerous wooden ships of the line of the Royal Navy were dismantled at this location, their ornate figureheads often displayed on the gates and perimeter of the yard walls. Millbank shares the name of the road along the north bank of the River Thames, extending northwards from Vauxhall Bridge to Abingdon Street. There are parliamentary offices situated across this road, notably No.7, the road was created as part of the Thames Embankment in the mid 19th century and lies above a large interceptor sewer. The listed site has since been renovated as a purpose built arts college for the Chelsea College of Art, the Tate Britain art gallery is directly opposite near the end of Vauxhall Bridge, providing a distinct arts presence in the area. The headquarters of the British chemicals giant ICI was originally located at Imperial Chemical House on Millbank before it relocated to Manchester Square, the headquarters for the Northern Ireland Office, MI5 and Thames House are also nearby. On 18 December 1973, the Provisional Irish Republican Army exploded a bomb on Thorney Street at 8, the bomb resulted in over 50 people injured, including two seriously. Millbank Studios reside in the area as an independent broadcast company, the studio is situated opposite the Houses of Parliament. The BBC Parliament broadcasting channel is situated nearby. No.4 is the commonly used by broadcasters for producing coverage of the Westminster area, including the BBC, Sky News. RTÉ News and Current Affairs also have their London bureau at the same location, neighbouring College Green is used as a setting for interviewing politicians outdoors. Millbank Estate is a large but highly regarded Grade II-listed red-brick housing estate that gives the area behind Tate Britain a distinct character, the estate was built between 1897 and 1902, the bricks being recycled from Millbank Prison, which had closed in 1890. The 17 buildings, comprising one of Londons earliest social housing schemes, are named after distinguished painters such as Turner, Gainsborough, Millais, the estate has 562 flats, all managed on behalf of Westminster City Council by MEMO, the largest tenant management organisation in Westminster. The estates management board is elected annually from the resident population, half of the estates flats are private leaseholds, the other half are rented from Westminster City Council
9.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
