in great britain zionism was weak. britain in 1914 had a population of close to 45 million. it had a jewish population of about 900,000 -- 300,000. of those 300,000, 8,000 were zionists, and they were organized in several competing groups. the fact is that about 292,000 british people, british jews thought of the zionists as impractical visionaries and dreamers. it's not that they were unfriendly. in fact, events were to prove that there was much latent support within the jewish community for zionism. but they were too busy we wering livings -- earning livings, going about their business to pay a lot of attention to impractical dreamers as they deemed them. that's the majority. some jews in great britain objected strongly to zionism. they argued that jews share a culture and a belief system, but that they do not constitute a distinct and separate nation. these jews, anti-zionist jews, argued that jews can practice their beliefs anywhere and that they should assimilate in the countries in which they lived now, 1914 say. they could be jews in england or in france or in the uni

never britain was willing to zig, turkey was about to sag. and thus, it continued to the end of the war. let me conclude, too often historians have teamed the declaration that bears the name of this man arthur about four to happen inevitable product of chaim weizmann bre-x campaign to educate and win over the british governing the elite. chaim weizmann conducted a brilliant can -- a bollea campaign but "the balfour declaration" was the highly contingent result of a tortuous process that might have turned out very, very different me and that process was characterized as much by the sea and betrayal as adherence to principles and liberal values. today we have only touched the tip of the iceberg so far as to see and betrayal go. during world war i planting dragon's teeth in the middle east the fruit gum the suspicion and resentment and recrimination, hatred and eventually appalling that a great myth, soldiers rose up from the ground and tragically they are rising still. that is the top. thank you. [applause] [no audio] [inaudible] a major emphas

britain was seen as no longer a major power of great significance. now when people ask whether america's decline can be reversed, that really needs to be kept in mind. because margaret thatcher did reverse it. it was further gone in the united states. and she did reverse it. point one: let's talk a little bit about the people that put together her campaign strategies. three people that i want to talk about today. keith joseph, and john hoskins, and nigel lawson who game her chancellor. i want to talk about one document in particular, which is a stepping stones report. has anyone heard of the stepping stones report? anyone who hasn't read my book. okay. i've actually got it here. i really want to draw your attention to. written by john hoskins who was the head of her policy unit. hoskins was an extremely influential figure in her first government. he subsequently resigned on the grounds that she wasn't radical and conservative enough. he was government was famously divided into the wets and dries. he thought that thatcher herself was a little bit damp

/britain or u.s./israel, then i would say that kind of relationship is neither desirable or feasible. it's not desirable because i think the united states should work with the e.u. as a collective entity, not with individual e.u. member states. and when we work with individual e.u. member states, that tends to come at the expense of their willingness to participate in a broader european enterprise. the british, for example, very skittish about the e.u. the polls, again, tilting towards relations with the u.s. not strengthening the e.u. in the big scheme of things, germany alone, britain alone, is not big enough to be the partner we need. so i would say let's build a special relationship with europe, not just with germany. and i don't think it's feasible, because if you look at the two cases you mentioned, britain and israel, they're unique in the sense that with the british, we've got a historic ancestral relationship that goes back several hundred years, and the british have generally lined up with t

don't worry, britain seems to be sane. you couldn't wriggle -- you can wriggle out of it. >> they did give a commitment that the accused would serve out the sentence in scotland. the commitment was not absolute. there were robust attempts to get a definitive commitment. we held out the possibility. our relations with libya might change. >> in the end, he released him under the terms of britain oppose a new transfer agreement. and under scottish law, that is specifically where prisoner has three months or less to live. in the autumn of 2008, less than 12 months before he was released, it was thought that he had a 50% probability of living between 18 months into years -- and two years. >> that bit has been blocked out. >> without further application, this auction did not look promising for the libyans. >> why were compassionate grounds now ok? this cancer get worse? we can't know. the medical details were left out as private. >> while many in the west view africa as a land of poverty, the chinese see it as limitless business

/britain or u.s./israel, then i would say that kind of relationship is neither desirable or feasible. it's not desirable because i think the united states should work with the e.u. as a collective entity, not with individual e.u. member states. and when we work with individual e.u. member states, that tends to come at the expense of their willingness to participate in a broader european enterprise. the british, for example, very skittish about the e.u. the polls, again, tilting towards relations with the u.s. not strengthening the e.u. in the big scheme of things, germany alone, britain alone, is not big enough to be the partner we need. so i would say let's build a special relationship with europe, not just with germany. and i don't think it's feasible, because if you look at the two cases you mentioned, britain and israel, they're unique in e sense that with the british, we've got a historic ancestral relationship that goes back several hundred years, and the british have generally lined up with the

someone innocent very in mind that obviously the the arms trade is a very big industry not just in britain but many countries throughout the world how can possibly a country that sells arms to another country have influence in the way they're used . well this is the problem is that once you've handed over the weapons you have little control over how they use but that doesn't mean you can morally justify handing them over in the first place if you have selling someone weapons the weapons are going to be used it doesn't your chain of more responsibility doesn't stop once you've handed over the weapons and frankly the u.k. government needs to seriously reconsider how approaches arm sales in the first place not only have these arms being licensed to be so dioceses in the case of bahrain. they are actively promoted as such the u.k. government and actively promotes arms sales to a number of repressive regimes this very weekend the u.k. government is sending representatives out to the large arms fair in abu dhabi it's called i debts. which the arms industry trade body in the u.k. claims ten perce

and great britain for enemies. we have forgetten because we were partners in world war i, partners in world war ii, now we talk about the special relationship. but from 1700s when we broke away from the british empire through the war of 1812, when the british kindly burned down the white house, through the balance of the 19th century, breath tan -- britain was enemy number one. in uk, america was enemy number one. at the time of the battleship, we kept our cruisers ready. we almost went to war on numerous occasions in the 19th century. everything starts to change in 1895. the precipitating event is a dispute that breaks out between british and venezuela over their border. you may say, what does that have to do with angelo-american relations? the united states, keep in mind in the 1990s, the u.s. is coming on as a great power, believing it should have a say in the world commence rate with the the -- commensurate with the economic power. this dispute between britain and venezuela is in the western hemisphere. it's in

unresolved issues still hanging over the to what has been speaking to the new russian ambassador to britain alexander about how he expects the relationship to progress that's our interview next. today i'm at the russian embassy in london talking to mr alexander has just taken up the post as the new russian ambassador to the u.k. he was formerly of the press department at the ministry in moscow is the academic thank you very much for talking to us he congratulations on your new pasting and a very warm welcome to london now as you took up your first post as a diplomat in one thousand nine hundred seventy six how do you think that working for the diplomatic service and diplomatic relations between countries in general have changed since then i think since that time you know there were quite a serious changes. first of all if you look at the gender of the leaders of the countries and the agenda of the negotiations between the ministers or foreign affairs you can find you know thirty thirty five years ago. more than fifty percent were the by little issues know when the ministers are meeting they

that is the case of the united states and great britain. the case which today we take for granted the a dsm how the u.s. and great britain were ideas, a partner '04 one and world war ii know the special relationships. up from 1700 breaking away from the british empire when the british kindly burn down the white house to the balance of 19th century, britain was enemy number one. in the uk america was number one. we kept our cruisers that the ready and troops on the border and almost went to war on numerous occasions but everything starts to change 1895 and the precipitating event is a dispute that breaks out from venezuela of the border and you say what does that have to do with anglo-american relations? united states keep in mind to the u.s. is coming and negative a great power and the levying with the growing economic power, the president dispatches a note to london that says this dispute is in the western hemisphere and is in our backyard and we recommend you take this to neutral arbitration. lowered sells very discusses this with his cab

despite criticism of britain's slow response, the capt. insists they made all speed to get here. >> in that time from three days ago, we are headed to to embark extra personnel. i think it is a pretty fast response. as they come on board, there is a surge of relief. >> it is weird coming from a war zone to get on a british ship as an american. i never thought i would look at the union jack and say, it is really good to see the union jack. >> in a few hours' time, they will be in malta. >> president obama has called the leaders of britain, france, and italy to discuss the response to the crisis. it can't be very encouraging that their meeting with the interior ministers. we have relations with these people and we have to bear in mind that they supply our energy. >> that is also something that president obama is thinking about. even though the u.s. imports no libyan oil itself, because of the risk to oil supplies to europe, china, and other parts of asia, it is driving up the price. gas prices are all very high in the u.s.. it is something t

you were or the middle east britain or egypt when people do this. the world should know it's time to listen to what they have to say a little the scale of events doesn't compare the anger does it is that a leadership deaf to the needs and desires of its people what we're seeing play out in tunisia in egypt and other countries is no different than what we saw in in greece and what we've seen in italy and what we've seen in the u.k. are violent at least what is different is how the media choose to approach their cause bridge depending on what country has its streets in chaos you look at the double standard if you burn a bank in greece you're a villain if you burn the party headquarters in cairo you're a hero if you're not a mockery of course when recently tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of britain in reaction to to wish an hikes in an economy that was dwindling the u.s. media downplayed what was happening was stressing the young age factor the youth in britain are very disappointed and spinning the bad kids a plea aspect smashing o

security contractor locking margin in britain's national census reignited a debate on confidentiality and ethics. and in russia the markets are just about to open analysts say oil will continue to drive the russian market but some on the surface also likely to see some gains more in business in twenty minutes. from our studios in moscow you're watching r t thanks for joining us opposition forces in libya say they're planning a final assault on the capital tripoli it's essentially the last part of the country. that remains under the control of longtime leader colonel gadhafi and protesters say his days in power are now numbered the recent u.n. resolution has referred him to the international criminal court for war crimes but some say there are details of his recent friendship with western countries that neither washington or london would like to be revealed are his correspondent in the middle east peter all over has more from cairo. the current frontline if you will of the battle between opposition forces and those troops still loyal to colonel gadhafi is the city of zawiya around fift

to do their best to have good to political relations and as far as the russian britain liberation who i would like to say that the last year was very fruitful from that point of view there were two meetings of the. value of the president of russia and the prime. mr britain that was in canada and in seoul we expect the visit of mr rove this will be next week which is very important in the event mr hague was. in brush or you know the negotiations were very productive and we expect the visit of mr cameron this year i mean the embassy we're studying preparing this visit so the the texture of the political contacts a very important but i would like to say what is even more important that you know of course the. as you said the. the connections between the people and the russian culture is the probably this is the test for that and we know that a lot of events are going on in london a lot of people are coming russians feel comfortable in london we have thousands of them who doing business who just simply leave here and what is very important that the economic relations are going very well a

i think it's got to survive even though i did not want britain to join the euro. i think once you've made a big decision like creating a single currency, you've got to make it work. and there's three thicks that can -- things that can be done to make it work. you've got to bring together the fiscal deficits, the bank liabilities i've just talked about, and the inability to grow. and if europe can only solve its fiscal deficits but not grow, you can have massive unemployment. if it cannot solve its bank liabilities, you've got pig, big problems because banks will not be lending to businesses, and you'll have low growth anyway. so they've got to have a meeting of the euro leaders, they have got to look at these three problems, find a way forward in one fell swoop for dealing with these problems. it's important they do this in private. and then they've got to seize the initiative from the markets because cubs are being picked off -- countries are being picked off one by one. you hear about greece, then ireland, portugal today, spain next. and you've got to seize the

suggested in britain the united states is just this he wouldn't continue the development of chemical weapons and that they would supply oil and arms contracts with the countries as well so we'll be keeping an eye should he end up in the international criminal court and just come out for not investigation although i will peter the violence there has been going on for almost two weeks now and we know people are actually just escaping the situation what is the humanitarian situation in the country. well what we're looking at at the moment is the international red cross have described the border between cheney and libya as a humanitarian crisis forty thousand people across the border fleeing from violence in libya in the last week alone now around one hundred thousand people are extra estimated by the u.n. to have fled libya in total some coming here to egypt where i am i was going on board elsewhere now the also there's been a mass exodus of foreigners who have been in the country we've seen in the past few days britain france the united states doing the best to get their nationals out

that is the case of the united states and great britain. a case which today we take for granted. the idea that somehow the u.s. and great britain were enemies, we have forgotten because the were partners in world war one, partners in world war ii. now we talk about the special relationship. but from 1700's when we broke away from the british empire through the war of 1812 when the british kindly burned down the white house to the balance of the 19th century britain was in a number one. in the u.k. the america was in a number one. we kept battleships. we did that have any at the time, but we kept cruisers at the ready, trips on the u.s.-canadian border. we almost went to war on numerous occasions in the 19th century. everything starts to change in 1895. the precipitating event is a dispute that breaks out between british guiana and venezuela over their border. you may say kamala to is that have to do with anglo-american relations? well, the united states -- and keep in mind in the 1890's the u.s. is calling on line as a great power selling its vote, believing it should have of say

britain is also implementing these direct measures against the regime. a special counsel was held yesterday where we froze the assets of qaddafi, five of his family members, people acting on their behalf, and entities controlled or owned by them. the government has revoked colonel qaddafi's immunity as head of state so that he nor his family may enter the u.k. we have also revoked in number of visas to those linked to the regime, and have placed many of them on a watch list. further isolation of the regime, for the use of asset freezes and travel bans to give the clearest possible message to those on the fringes of the regime that now is the time to desert it. and we do not rule out the use of military assets. we must not tolerate this regime using military force against its own people. in that context, i have asked the defense staff to work with our allies on a no-fly zone. it is clear this is an illegitimate regime that has lost the content of its people, and our message to colonel gadhafi is simple. go now. everyone hopes the situation will be resolve

he compared himself to the monarchs of britain and thailand and blamed al qaeda for fomenting the demonstrations now surrounding him in tripoli. to the west and east of the capital, fighting has erupted between loyalists to the regime and protesters. the french president, nikolas sarkozy, has said he will call another meeting of the un security council to take concrete measures against the libyan regime. >> their liberation is sweet and the celebrations go on. this is the east where the opposition and military appeared to have joined forces. they know it's too early to talk of victory. the struggle for democracy and prosperity goes on. today, the man whose state media calls dear brotherly leader phone in to blame islamist radicals for the ongoing violence. >> its is bin laden who is duping your sons. this is a fact. the whole world has sided with us to combat terrorism, including europe and the west. >> he has ruled the country for more than 40 years that sounded indignant that others had rained longer without being challenged. >> there are people who have been in power longer than me, like quee

britain's favorite choir, live at wales's premier venue, the wales millennium center.h we are relatively young, as a choir -- we're only 10 years old, in fact -- the tradition we come from spans centuries. i'm talking of the welsh male choir tradition, which is renowned internationally for its excellence and its roots. and in this program, you'll hear a whole variety of repertoire, with some very special guests. ladies and gentlemen, it's bryn terfel. ♪ it ain't necessarily so ♪ it ain't necessarily so ♪ da t'ings that you're liable to read in the bible ♪ ♪ oh, it ain't necessarily so ♪ little david was small, but, oh, my ♪ ♪ little david was small, but, oh, my ♪ ♪ he fought big goliath, who lay down and dieth ♪ ♪ little david was small, but, oh, my ♪ ♪ wa do ♪ wa do zimbaboloo ♪ ♪ zimbaboloo ooh la la la la la ♪ ♪ ooh la la la la la scaniwa ♪ ♪ scaniwa ♪ yeah ♪ oh, jonah, he lived in a whale ♪ ♪ oh, jonah, he lived in a whale ♪ ♪ for he made his home in that fish's abdomen ♪ ♪ oh, jonah, he lived in a whale ♪ ♪ little moses was found in a stream ♪ ♪ little moses was f

ec teddy roosevelt, who by this time as president calling war between britain and the united states a civil war. british counterparts similarly prefer to war between the united states and great britain as fratricide, or against a brother, or within the family. and it is that change in language, the sense that the british and the americans are up and knock them. begin to see a stable peace settlement. and in 1902 britain and removes the yeah the states from the two power standard, which is a standard they used for the and royal navy. in 1906 the last contingent of british regulars leave the canadian border never to return. the u. s-canada border was essentially a demilitarized. so the story, an initial, bold gambit, wrapping of knuckles on the window to get the other side to pay attention to your willingness to move the relationship from conflict to cooperation, a time of dialogue and putting your problems on the table and discussing them. society's getting involved more after that, and then this change in this course, that is the basic story that i found more or less through all of th

britain's former labor government has come under fire off the report review they could to secure the bulk of the promise release a little less of a liberal he was the only person to vehicle experience of the eighty eight that killed two hundred seventy people he was sentenced to life in prison but returned to their theory in two thousand and nine passionate grounds. just released by the present government says the u.k.'s commercial interests in the country with the driving force behind. richard offices from the two koreas have sat down for talks only months of high tensions on the peninsula pyongyang and so broke contact late last year when the north responded tortellini finally hit it. barratry questioning a south korean island it's only talks which took place in the telling started in the troy so we need to hire a little dog between both countries defense ministers. firefighters battling to bushfires near perth australia as west coast now brought the flames under control the place is destroyed sixty homes and dozens more damaged missiles have to clear the situation so forget the wa

it makes it easier for everyone of us to say this is britain.is what we are doing pretty -- this is what we are doing. >> with four wins tonight, it is fair to say u.k. urban music is riding high. >> 25 lines from [unintelligible] the lions are a few months old and will be sent to nature reserves. this follows a landmark decision two years ago when bolivia became the first country to ban the use of all animals in circuses. iran's president said the opposition protests are going nowhere and he vows to punish the organizers. stay with us. you are watching "bbc world news." >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. new man's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companie

the big society bank will be taking 200 million pounds from britain's banks to put into the voluntary sector. labour would have got nothing out of the banks, so i am sure that he will want to stand up and welcome that. >> the prime minister does not mention that he is cutting billions of pounds from voluntary sector organizations up and down this country. let us take an example of where parents volunteer and of a crucial part of local communities -- sure start. before the election, he promised to protect sure start, but in fact he decided to cut funding by 9%, and the daycare trust says that 250 sure starts are expected to close. can he tell us how that is helping the big society? >> first, let me just say this -- labour put money into the banks. we are taking money out of the banks and putting it into the big society. the right honorable gentleman asks specifically about sure start and the daycare trust. i must say that, not for the first time, he has not done his homework, because the chief executive of the daycare trust, anand shukla, said, "the government has allocated sufficient

we get back to our top story the unrest in the middle east and north africa it's emerged that britain's prime minister has taken defense firms representatives with him on his tour of the troubled region david cameron praised the changes taking place and the will of the people in achieving freedom but the campaign against arms trade accused him of using his tour as a cover for selling arms deals let's talk now to kay stearman from that pressure group she joins us live from london firstly you are going to zation calls david cameron's actions a disc race what do you think he's planning to achieve during his four day tour exactly. what you've got to remember to david ridgen. in order to see deals with various middle eastern countries she took a quick trip to egypt where he talked a lot about democracy and freedom praised the people in toyota square but really it was. a site should do what he's hoping to do is so arms and lots of them to the middle east and i have to say so far british arms sales do seem to have been very successful there but of course the main reason for these arms sales is

where the ball went to a controversial if you want security contractor laclede margin in britain's national census reigniting a debate on confidentiality and ethics. and russia's proposal we can balance that just signed agreements with the slew of foreign companies try the end of this year we're in business in twenty minutes. from our studios and also you're watching r t thanks for joining us opposition forces in libya say they are planning a final assault on the capital tripoli it's especially the last part of the country that remains under the control of longtime leader colonel gadhafi and protesters say his days in power are now numbered a recent u.n. resolution has referred him to the international criminal court for war crimes but some say that there are details of his recent friendship with western countries that might or washington or london would like to be revealed archies correspondents in the middle east peter all over has more from cairo. essentially the frontline of the battle between colonel gadhafi and the opposition forces is currently in the the city of zawiya around fifty

is open for the united states and russia to pursue further bilateral reductions of course here in britain we are very much pressing our government also to go down the same route not to replace our nuclear weapons system in the next few years so there is a go global trend away from nuclear weapons this is a very very important factor within that process as you were mentioning just a moment ago that as now the two because boys on the block are reducing their nuclear arsenals and could in turn influence other countries to do the same with very collection of nuclear warheads but let me ask you what in the world to be less safe without nuclear weapons in order to deter attacks. well our view is if there aren't any nuclear weapons no one could attack with nuclear weapons it seems mad to have nuclear weapons in order not to use them not to have them in order not to use them it'll save the world a lot of money as well it's a big issue here in britain now when we're facing big big government austerity cuts people here do not want to spend over seventy six billion pounds on replacing our system peo

from sweden then from britain the swedish government has has shown itself to be more pliant then the british surprisingly given the so-called special relationship of trust between britain and the usa and the swedish press has been and swedish public intellectuals have been less vocal in defending we could leaks than many people and many papers in britain so i think he's he's safe the the once very progressive sweden has become something of a voluntary. apprentice state some would say vassal state of the usa. that you can watch the full interview with dr brian palmer in about twenty five minutes here up to. now egypt's new cabinet is increasing pay and pensions for public sector workers in attempt to quell two weeks of unrest but protesters are still refusing to back down until hosni mubarak quits the country's vice president who is leading talk to create a new government has been courted by the u.s. with washington considered a question the mediator was all to reports. it's important to support the transition process announced by the egyptian government actually headed by now vice pr

has britain is prepared to tell all in the makes us national census there is deep concern that the u.s. firm collecting the information could dish out their data to american intelligence by law. you're watching out eight pm moscow time welcome my name is kevin though in our top story tonight gunmen gun fire has been heard on the streets of the libyan capital as hundreds of opposition protesters gather to call for an end so colonel gadhafi is rule there are also reports of pro-government forces launching airstrikes on for testers in other parts of the country as he's paid for all of his keeping across developments in neighboring egypt. colonel gadhafi is not in control anywhere outside of the capital of tripoli or in tripoli on monday we've seen hundreds of protesters on the streets protesting against the gadhafi regime this protesters apparently resulted in mercenaries firing upon the protesters there's also been reports that security forces fired shots into the air to try and disperse these groups of people on the streets we've been hearing that it's a military base a libyan military