port across the commons here's an example of the government's own about benches facing the case i thank you speaker i welcome the very significant contribution made by the british council to projecting british values overseas and regularly witness this on my visits trace in the pacific given the importance of the british council when it comes to our soft power what all the implications of possible cuts in funding into. a funding to the councils work and how much these affect the government plans for a global britain now i think my older friend for his question as part of our vision for global britain we want a properly funded and effective council the project has critical use right across the world i believe that the council will continue to deliver activity in the countries through the income generated from other sources such as its commercial income and from both chambers as soft power has strong supporters and advocates out folk forced to problem crossbench of buying decision from the house of lords and then to go to lisa cameron the member of parliament peace corp right stephen and

last may go. i'm delighted to be joined by a certain herself one of the foremost exponents in the house of lords so both these organizations which are generally thought to constitute soft power how do you rate the importance by a certain i think that organizations for example british council but many of the organization that are working in south africa in different parts of the world makes our work much more easy and they set the space for greater understanding and i think more cooperation everything about the recent comment of conference was very unusual because it became almost a lightning conductor. started to see itself some of the other commonwealth countries assume because of the hostile environment policy and when russia generation and public policy in the u.k. to be changed as a result you girls are a beneficial process for public policy makers in the u.k. sadly i think that it was through woods changing and. sort of.

enabling a climate where more honorable discussion could take place and put aside some of our difficult years as colonizers i think that i can say that safely in one of the debates in the lords i actually said and i highlighted the you know our foreign secretaries lack of diplomacy when he mentioned in a meeting that you know it may be seen as how it should be colonize asia number two or whatever it is disgraceful so i think we had to do quite a lot of work and some of these international organization had to make you know do with what he had said as president to say no we have a long history in many countries in the wild and we have a very important place for us while these very small now you know it's a global world and we need to work together so that you are going to be the soft diplomacy is rather more effective than the the sharp and sometimes unfortunate

phrase i think is much more significant than phrase who historically we've been. used to working in such a way that you know we have this government to government relationship and then we've set out organizations like commonwealth parliament so c.h.f. the british council some of the large n.g.o.s to do the soft power a bit but we never recognise them in public so you know whenever in debates or in the public arena we're all too quick to criticize these organizations saying they're not accountable when we really need is that they have made sure the government work becomes absolutely integrated in what they do and we've got to try and make sure that you know no. strategy no government strategy calls funding back one of your great campaigns usually has been on the overseas students and you seem to give those almost a disconnect between the policy which generates such goodwill for students being educated in this country. being liberal scotland across these islands

a bit secondly the government's hostile attitude to the number of overseas students so what do you be doing with your campaign to try and change the government's mind i think must be stated categorically we mustn't say leg where those student comes from so we mustn't say for instance only tiny students are good enough only indian students are good enough we must say also russian students you know students from pakistan bangladesh you know all the other countries that can really you know make sure that they contribute to the diaspora community that is already very vibrant in britain so your message to government is get a couple of overseas students and demonstrate you're really interested in international influence completely change the script which is my verdict i have to take every opportunity of saying it i think that what we must say now in an open global way that we mustn't talk about it and one way in the media and do something

completely different we have to be concise and you know just to. really say that we value these organizations and they globally. thank you so much for being here it's always a pleasure. and i'm from the house of lords to the house of commons i'm about to speak to dr lisa problem another parliamentarian hugely active in these organizations promoting international cooperation. a member of the parliamentary union you farm the international development select committee and of course the major different offices in your constituency porton do you think it's generally called soft. and international relations thank you stream liam forth and i know you from posting parliamentarians to the u.k. parliament and they were saying bilateral discussions on generations west something that there was full and sustained even the most difficult times when perhaps political difficulties arise if you have those bilateral relationships over time

then. you can rely on to try to negotiate a way forward. with the states tweak something offensive two o'clock in the morning and then to national media jumps could actually how the role for these long term relationships instant media and constant insults well you know the media is is one aspect but behind are the relationships of parliament to parliament over a lengthy history piece of time and the ships are built up points just. on prior working agreements their belts and sustainability and those are the ones that despite and state media reactions both sustain over time you see when you're approaching the commonwealth countries where so many of them for example still have what we would think of us repressive legislation on gay rights. subject you are

able to discuss openly. tof by those in case people take offense i think that is importance of self higher perhaps and ministers from different countries would find it difficult to discuss those sorts of issues in the public domain parliamentarians parliamentarian which are the types of issues that can be discussed and countries are very anxious to two ways forward the house works in other areas and to try to and to trace in their own country and make sure that nothing happens you have championed the point. of national income going to international development and of course the difference major losses in your own constituency share and a regular participant in the different programs are a great deal about can you point to because this product is often a challenge to the real effect of these development programs and my constituents are very supportive of deficits and the constituency but not just because it's in

the constituency we know what it is doing such valuable work and to nationally getting disabled children into skill and seeing the smile on their faces is worthwhile on that with talk on the heart strings of of any conception across united kingdom. for the energetic tabloid press campaign against international development budget is still being sustained at the present moment are you confident that the cross party support for it will be enough to to maintain that position the it budget but it is important it's important times of eradicating poverty that sixty million porton in terms of stability and the world and if we can try to create stability jobs and livelihoods for people and other countries then issues such as migration a search are listened and those are issues that the government also is prioritizing and be able to feel the. as you champion the cause of of soft problems solved them for was to just stop shouting at each other and stop the scar single of the the

long. can you see a change in the environment. or the advantages of these long term relationship yeah i mean it can be stating at times when people take very polarized possessions because he knew that the way forward is that is the middle path often but as a psychologist standing up to people doesn't often. to your own type of thinking so is it by reasoning is about getting people inside inspect pragmatism i think going forward and as a psychologist you ever feel like tweeting but to the president of the united states. no i haven't thought of a treaty so the christian earth the united states as a psychologist i think i'm quite concerned by the level of your son trolling the mail in particular parliamentarians in the u.k. and actually we've done some work on not through the end to parliamentary union israel and westminster foundation for democracy and you'll continue to champion the

cause of soft power as indeed are all yes i think it's extremely important it works behind the scenes but it's often what is effective and what works over the long term a member and some national delegations it should be a part of a particular residence when people find a member of parliament from. most definitely is often the case that delegates will come up to me and say that they have a board already with scotland they've studied in scotland they've child in scotland perhaps they've been it's under university aberdeen or they mention this they feel that as a limb. with scotland and they want to increase the bilateral relations which is really important for scotland both of them thank you very much. in the studio. coming up after the break we'll look from the theory of soft power to the practice and specifically tie these initiatives have impacted on the key commonwealth country of pakistan as we speak to on the run and that russia will see that.

when you do the ability to make war is unfolding in the realm of education the right to education is being supplanted by the right to access educational loan higher education is becoming just another product that can be bought and sold so this not just about education anymore it's also about running a business where you could. look at this also. fairly couldn't you. want is the place of students in this business model before college i was born now and i'm extremely bored higher education with a new global economic war. with your adversary even here in the week even your did leave us with is

a good idea i think a lot of americans disorder standards to bridge the ways in which failures to communicate for example where there are military operations in syria or even about the baltics lewdly as they do they make. a bunch of disorder standing at the end of which would be a catastrophic war which would be crazy for russia would be crazy for your. tomorrow there may not be any kind i mean and maybe bacterial life may not be anything intelligent but i think it's probably there is sometimes life out there and certainly from now we can you can send him off a robot to interact with some other. species. look.

as if you. could. do it a little. destroy every. one of them. you'll be. welcomed by the. organization deploy it the focus to one country.

i'm speaking to. the west. you worked for a number of years as the country of the westminster foundation for democracy what was the main area of your work. and it's first of all thank you very much for inviting to this your. book my work with this mr foundation for democracy was more focus on sporting unstinting parliamentary performances in pakistan and linking pakistani parliament with a u.k. parliament and your scottish parliament. we were working a number of countries and we had been linking those parliamentary experiences between pakistani parliament and those parliament i'm a former board member of the west first of a nation and i think it be true to say that across the political parties the board

members were very concerned that the wouldn't programs which would be seen as preaching to people or say to the westminster system was was perfect and beyond reproach but rather to support the do you think. managed effectively in pakistan to get across to support the idea with. being at the holier than thou than saying westminster the mother of parliaments was perfect the specifications experience in provoking in pakistan it was more like widely accepted because she has the same common values and westminster parliament to democracy system but at the same time as you're mentioning you're right in mentioning that. like telling other parliaments what to do is something which is not acceptable to the integrity of pakistani parliament as then i remember i was there in the scottish parliament two thousand and fourteen and we had some great learning from

the way committee systems but we're thinking of the scottish pakistan relations. tell me how you felt. pakistan plan. as working particularly the emphasis on education and also in women's participation in politics pakistani citizens have very much respected image of scottland and especially. because like they are they are like getting now well educated so so they are much more focusing on their education and that there are certain opportunities for the pakistani you'll to get benefit from the amazing education of scottish institutions women and power was not the thirty year ago and we see women in every sphere of life in pakistan you had a woman prime minister before scotland yes we have the woman speaker of the

nation somebody the first ever woman speaker of the countries at the same time i must share my parliament experiences just like in two thousand and seventeen eighteen we have twenty percent of women parliamentary and their country voted fifty percent of the parliament of business so their choice how serious they are and and in pakistan has gone some very good problem unless nation as well but that does not mean that everything is like at the moment is very very rosy. for the woman in pakistan close connections with pakistan legion of course i remember i was in the commonwealth games twenty four team there was a difficulty with the the pakistan bowling team in terms of the formulation so the very last minute the cold. a couple of chico and ali from from glasgow to represent pakistan in the very last minute they had two of those the pakistan team and we're actually getting the favor. of the first but of course

there was no fear that. they got of a good better. very close couldn't ship and family connections between scott and pakistan like there are certain cooperation areas. i think that was a part of scottish government's policy as well and. one such area was this in a few sector and water sector right now pakistan is facing a great challenge in terms of water management. is getting one of the water stressed countries and there should be serious prices in next ten years so i think again water and energy is another area where there can be like these kind of support scott those of us a great natural advantages but water technology and has one of the relatively few publicly owned but extremely water companies in the world which gives a certain advantage will it's contributing to the international international development yes and one final thing which i would like to highlight is the by later

cleared because pakistan since two thousand and fourteen is having this huge e.s.p. plus status like the father you are union access to the pakistani market and backs on the market can sell their products through your union rights which is the all consuming issue in the westminster parliament in the british politics. the impact on public discourse in pakistan that the common perception in pakistan is that is seeing a market economy and like this trade relationship between you and the union that's going to be in the benefit of the rest of the world as well. somehow. see that like this but exit impact is not only going to impact the economy but it's going to impact the economy is that pakistan view britain's membership of european union or certainly the european single market place as effect of the gate of entry for pakistan for britain into the way the european marketplace was an aspect that

the terms of the economic relationship and most of the pakistanis they believe that this single market economy was going to be beneficial for the pakistan. as well to like have this common market where they can come inside and once which isn't coming out of there of course because as i've already mentioned that these people are status if you are out of the union then this just replaced it as is not going to work and a box on has to build those kind of by local trade agreements have a relationship that you can that's going to impact a lot but with the common market economy i think i was getting some great benefit out of the way you're a lawyer by profession as pakistani politics is dominated by the legal profession those british boat. yes we have some great lawyers who are

working in the parliament so yes it's not dominated but yes there are certain great lawyers who are in the parliament and in the key government positions so we would say well that's a good or a bad thing. thank you so much for the interview just before you go i want to present you with a quick which is the scots girl that for a loving cup you know that usually traditionally the scot that's where the quicken vote but other soft drinks are available could be brew could even be diet coke but for probably thanks indeed for the well thank you very much alex thank you ali thank you thank you. so part of course can be used in a number of ways not least. but there may be anybody diaspora to exist across the island i'm delighted to be joined by zara shah the chief executive officer and trustee of the british heart foundation welcome to the alec family like you were having me tell us a bit about the british accent foundation for the british rock sound foundation is

a social enterprise it's a nonprofit secular bipartisan community building that was founded in two thousand and ten and provides an opportunity to professionally develop and support entrepreneur. among the one point five million british box on these in the u.k. so of course it well across you kate many in scotland and all contributing extremely well to the core to me do you find that the setting up of this foundation of which has many supporters has engaged british overseas pakistanis who've come here with the wider indigenous community as well i would say it has the one way we have done it through creating professional forums such as for law and medicine finance entrepreneurs and by offering mentoring and intel chips and opportunities for people to network interact not with just members of the british pakistani community but the wider community and kind of share and celebrate the best of the culture find that the rich parts and find has a role to play in engaging soft power definitely because we have influence within

the diaspora and also through the diaspora in pakistan as well we will close it with a pox on high commission and we've been working closely supporting the u.k. government both the foreign office and the commonwealth summit the u.k. department of trade the home office building stronger britain together program and the department of communities and local government and a number of your projects my took my interest funders in relation to women and young people tell us a bit about that so under the women's program we have various initiatives we run a leadership program in london the first focus on communication in assertiveness skills what we discovered is a lot of british. women from the think minority background there's a bit of a conflict within their own culture of bringing which kind of teaches them to be more you know sometimes subservient and in the workplace they're meant to be very assertive so that was there were some cultural barriers there that women faced currently running an entrepreneurship program for the most disadvantaged b m e women and british box on the women in birmingham at the center and that was very

fulfilling we launched the program in may and we had an initial workshop this month and it was great to see you know a lot of enthusiasm for a lot of these ladies have never had. these opportunities you do have various setups and then your organization where people from say the medical profession legal profession women can mix and meet with each other definitely because they want the lack of positive role models from such as yourself you know women who kind of out there engaging participating or fifty percent of british box money women don't vote is very important for them to understand their role and how they can have a say in you know shaping the political future right now especially with backside and all of these you know challenges that via facing now of course you have the support the u.k. government the home office and you're in day five on the pakistan high commission which is excellent do you find that they have you have a good working relationship and how does it what's it like to be a british pakistani. i'm very proud to be a british box on the i'm proud to be british and i'm proud to be fox on the i think

that vantage is that you can take the best of both cultures and in that way you add the most value to commute to society in this country i do feel that we would love the government to support more we always need more support to be able to expand because a well established in london we know trying to expand our programmes are there much needed in bradford leeds glasgow manchester and birmingham and the conduit with all the support of the government set a shot thank you very much indeed thank you god i mean thank you night over to alex a few years back i was in a meeting in the leadership compound in beijing with the then chinese foreign minister it was an important meeting not least of which because the u.k. was in the don't close the hadn't been any zone and hardly a meeting with any minister of any description from the u.k. for some considerable time. halfway through the meeting the the foreign minister. but i thought he should accept the offer of an on a degree from these. the london school of economics. i said of course the

foreign minister should go to london. for good measure but the point about the story is this evening. then connections of education and culture can cut through more conventional diplomacy might well feel. like the united kingdom should abandon any attempt to project power and often instead more education a cultural exchange is not totally doesn't mean as one of our viewers. know. but it's difficult to the conclusion that countries compete to. be fundamentally more attractive and rather than one of their countries compete in the number of missiles that can balance the nuclear sub believe. that conclusion that the balance of expenditure of the united kingdom is out of kilter and that

more use more soft power. to the benefit of a song and so from myself and all of the team. it's good bye for now.

u.s. president donald trump has repeatedly said he wants better relations with russia he did finally how his long sought summit with lot of here putin both presidents called it a success the american political class and corporate media describe the helsinki summit as a failure and worse. seventy four design submissions. seven thousand islands. to join judges. and eight hundred sixty nonstop days of work. a russian w.b. a jump ahead. and

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to take to the white house announces don't chunks inviting the russian president to the u.s. in the. wild speculation burson security minister dismisses media reports that police have identified the russian perpetrators behind the script how poisoning attack. i. touch. i french president son depression off to one of his aides is called to beating a protester to the ground.