Podcasts about international development secretary

In this special episode Laura speaks to Penny Mordaunt, former Defence Secretary and International Development Secretary who recently came a very close third in the Conservative Party Leadership Contest with close to a third of the MPs' votes. They talk about her upbringing, the international challenges we are facing, her experiences in the leadership contest and the cost of living crisis.

Dame Jenni Murray - Broadcaster & Journalist | John McDonnell - Former Shadow Chancellor (2015-2020) & Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington | Andrew Mitchell - Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield and former International Development Secretary

The plans for a merger between the two departments has united three former prime ministers in their criticism. Andrew Mitchell, Tory MP and former International Development Secretary, certainly thinks it's a disastrous idea, and claims that Boris Johnson promised to his face that this would not happen. Andrew joins Katy Balls and Jame Forsyth on the podcast, together with David Lidington, former Cabinet minister and previously at the Foreign Office, who thinks that it's actually a good idea. Click here (https://subscription.spectator.co.uk/?prom=A521B&pkgcode=03) to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher.

Lesley's back and so is the podcast. Estonia regained its independence in 1991 and Lesley went there to make another in her series of groundbreaking films exploring our Nordic neighbours. She reports back on what she found and makes a surprising revelation. Lesley was struck by the lack of bureaucracy in Estonia and how connected the citizens are. I, on the other hand, reflect on the death of Prince Fosu at an Immigration Removal Centre in 2012 and what it says about our society. Priti Patel is, once again, in the headlines, this time for accusations  of bullying. We pass no comment on these recent allegations but look back to 2017 and her resignation from her post as International Development Secretary of State.However we do question whether there can be a fair process given the statements by Johnson and Gove. There have been half a dozen notifications by notable SNP MSPs that they will not be standing in 2021. I try and dispel any sinister inferences but Lesley wonders if the resignation of Gail Ross tells us something significant about how outdated even Holyrood is as an institution. Along the way we preview Super Tuesday in the States, Ruth Davidson's fee, and I shoehorn football into the chat on Estonia.  

Oxfam has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. It’s an internationally recognised charity famous for humanitarian work often in some of the most troubled and dangerous parts of the world. Oxfam has been severely criticised by the Charity Commission for the way it dealt with claims of serious sexual misconduct by its staff in Haiti. In 2018 Oxfam was accused of covering up claims staff sexually exploited victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Claims first emerged in The Times last year that Oxfam employees, including former country director Roland van Hauwermeiren, used young prostitutes while based in Haiti after the earthquake. An internal Oxfam investigation in 2011 led to four people being sacked and three others resigning, including Mr Van Hauwermeiren. But a report published by Oxfam after the investigation failed to mention sexual exploitation. The charity commission said the incidents in Haiti identified in 2011 were not "one-offs", with evidence of behavioural issues as early as June 2010. The commission said there was a "culture of poor behaviour" at the charity, and issued it with an official warning over its "mismanagement". Oxfam accepted the findings, saying what happened in Haiti was "shameful". There were also issues at some of the charity's UK shops - the report highlighted 16 serious incidents involving volunteers under the age of 18. "What went wrong in Haiti did not happen in isolation," Charity Commission chief executive Helen Stephenson said. "Over a period of years, Oxfam's internal culture tolerated poor behaviour, and at times lost sight of the values it stands for." The Charity Commission said Oxfam should have tried harder to substantiate the claims at the time, despite the lack of evidence. In our experience of representing victims of sexual exploitation in developing countries there simply is not the structure or mechanisms in place to enable them to report wrong-doing or simply to get advice. If you are in a refugee camp you are intent on survival and are unlikely to be thinking about legal issues. Those who find themselves on the margins of survival are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. There are sadly too many cases of food and water being bartered in return for sex. We have also found that unfortunately in many developing countries there is a perception that those from the “west” and particularly men are “powerful” and should be obeyed. It has been said that this somehow legitimised illegal behaviour. Geography and circumstances make investigation and accountability extraordinary difficult. When there are attempts made to investigate it is very challenging to trace witnesses and victims for example in refugee camps. Where do you start? In investigating a Ugandan case we were fortunate to have the assistance of a charity worker who knew where the witnesses were likely to be, but even so, we could only go so far because of safety and security implications. The United Nations needs to have a greater role in ensuring there is a minimum standard of investigation and accountability which hopefully would be legally binding on the international community. Offenders and those responsible for them should be held to account in any country. Nationality and legal jurisdiction should be irrelevant so that a victim of abuse, say in Haiti, should be able to ask the authorities in any country to investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute. Likewise he or she should be able to hold them to account in any country. Oxfam's chair of trustees, Caroline Thomson, said the charity accepted the findings, describing them as "uncomfortable". "What happened in Haiti was shameful and we are deeply sorry," she said. "It was a terrible abuse of power and an affront to the values that Oxfam holds dear." Oxfam has also not been able to bid for government funding pending the outcome of the 18-month Charity Commission investigation. The Department for International Development said decisions over its funding relationship with the charity would be made "in due course". International Development Secretary and Conservative leadership contender Rory Stewart said the revelations about Oxfam had "shone a light on fundamental problems", adding that there were "no easy answers or room for complacency". Maybe there are “no easy answers” but that should not prevent the UK government taking a lead on the international stage with an objective to ensuring that the vulnerable have enforceable legal rights no matter who they are or where they live.

The candidates for the Conservative Party leadership will each go head-to-head with LBC’s Iain Dale and the station’s listeners in a series of programmes this month. This episode features Rory Stewart, International Development Secretary and Conservative MP for Penrith and The Border.

The new International Development Secretary on his pitch for the top job, the climate change 'emergency' and the joy of walking

On literally his first day in the office, the UK's new International Development Secretary, Rory Stewart, sat down with Christopher Hope to discuss this week's dramatic reshuffle, why he’s now a Brexiteer, and his environmental priorities for the department. Also on the show: former UK ambassador to the U.S., Sir Christopher Meyer, with a positive spin on the Brexit chaos, and pollster Chris Curtis presents YouGov’s latest findings about why some people back a no deal Brexit. Plus The Sunday Telegraph’s Political Editor, Edward Malnick, brings us the inside track on the cross-party Brexit talks. Read YouGov's no deal polling here: http://bit.ly/2VcTY4w Get 30 days free access to The Telegraph online: www.telegraph.co.uk/chopper Sign up to The Telegraph’s daily Brexit newsletter: www.telegraph.co.uk/brexitbulletin Email: choppersbrexitpodcast@telegraph.co.uk  Twitter: @brexitbroadcast

Priti Patel was forced to resign as International Development Secretary this week after holding extra curricular holiday meetings in Israel. Luke Jones profiles this passionate Leave campaigner, the ambitious daughter of Indian newsagents, who wants to follow in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher. Presenter: Luke Jones Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Producer: Siobhan O'Connell.

What’s all the fuss about? Priti Patel drops in on, er, 12 meetings while on “holiday” in Israel, including a friendly chat with the local prime Minister and before she knows it people are making a fuss and insisting she comes back early from a business trip to Kenya. It’s enough to make the ambitious International Development Secretary give up her job. Oh wait, she has. Then there’s dear old Boris, blundering through a statement that may condemn a British citizen to even more time in an Iranian jail. But never mind her, think of those nasty Remoaners trying to land poor Boris in the shite with the boss (whoever that is). In a week of glorious celebration for Scots everywhere, marking the anniversary when one of our own won the race to the White House and became President-elect McTrump, Derek Bateman invited writer and playwright Peter Arnott and TV producer Maurice Smith to the studio to chew everything over. You can tune in to their resultant indigestion now.

Adam Boulton and guests discuss the so-called Paradise Papers which revealed the offshore financial affairs of some of the world's richest people. Have we become apathetic about aggressive tax avoidance and is it morally wrong? The panel examine whether the concept of a Universal Basic Income could be the future of the welfare state and of course, there has been the week's chaos in the Cabinet with Priti Patel's resignation as the International Development Secretary and Boris Johnson's comments about a British woman imprisoned in Iran. Joining Adam this week are Sky's political editor Faisal Islam, Guardian columnist Zoe Williams, Sky's Technology correspondent Tom Cheshire and Head of Data Harry Carr. #ParadisePapers #tax #PritiPatel #BorisJohnson #SkyNews

Highlights from today's Murnaghan programme, featuring interviews with the Shadow Business Secretary, Angela Eagle MP; the former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond MP; and finally the former International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell MP. #refugeecrisis #TurkeyEU #steel #SteelCrisis #MigrantCrisis #tata