welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.here are some human experiences which most of us find very hard to get our heads around. my guest today experienced the unimaginable torment of more than four decades in solitary confinement in a tiny cell in one of america's most notorious prisons. albert woodfox was the victim of ingrained racism and brutality inside america's system of criminaljustice. he is now a free man. but what does freedom really mean after everything he has been through? albert woodfox, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. here you are, in london as a free man. but given everything you have been through, is it possible for you to ever feel truly free? yeah, i mean philosophically, mentally and emotionally i was free long before my physicalfreedom. and so that was a part of my survival technique. it allowed me to survive being in solitary confinement for such a long period of time. i wonder in terms of, literally in terms of muscle memory, whether the way your body is, whether your muscles remember four decades in

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.re are some human experiences which most of us find it ha rd to experiences which most of us find it hard to get our heads around. my guest today experienced the unimaginable torment of more than four decades in solitary confinement ina tiny four decades in solitary confinement in a tiny cell in one of america's most notaries prisons. albert woodfox was the victim of ingrained racism and brutality inside america's system of criminal justice. he is now a free man, but what does freedom really mean after everything he's been through? albert woodfox, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. here you are, in london, asa thank you. here you are, in london, as a free man, but given everything you've been through, is it possible for you to ever feel truly free? well, yeah. philosophically, mentally, emotionally, iwas well, yeah. philosophically, mentally, emotionally, i was free long before actual physical freedom occurred. so there was a part of i guess you could say my survival... one of my many sur

i'm stephen sackur. this year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most remarkable feats of exploration in the history of humankind. the apollo 11 mission which landed man on the moon. i'm in florida to meet one of the crewmembers. while neil armstrong and buzz aldrin were setting foot on the moon's surface, michael collins was piloting the command module which got them all home. 50 years on, how does he reflect on the significance of that extraordinary mission? michael collins, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, stephen. this year marks the 50th anniversary of the historic apollo 11 mission which you were a key part of. it means the spotlight is back on that mission and back on you. how do you feel about that? there were three of us, of course, on that flight. neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and i. three very lucky people. neil armstrong was born in 1930. buzz aldrin in 1930, mike collins in 1930. three quite different people. neil armstrong did not like the spotlight. buzz aldrin does like the s

i'm stephen sackur.ald trump is the most unpredictable of us presidents, as is obvious from his policy approach to north korea, china trade, iran and a host of other domestic and international challenges. well, my guest today is the republican senator from florida, rick scott. he was a strong supporter of donald trump back in 2016, now he's created a distance between himself and the president. so just how solid is republican support for donald trump? senator rick scott, welcome to hardtalk. it's nice to be here. you've been in europe for a few days, you've been meeting politicians, you've been meeting diplomats, how hard is it being a senior us politician defending the trump administration overseas right now? you know, i don't look at it that way. i don't defend, you know, the trump administration. i'd try to explain, you know, both what president trump is trying to do and what i believe in. so something like now it's a positive that we're having conversation with north korea. now, we don't have anything

i'm stephen sackur.n this infamous wall was breached, 30 years ago, the darkest secrets of the east german police state were soon exposed. among them, the systematic doping of thousands of young athletes to make them into world—beaters, regardless of the damage to their health. now, one of those victims is my guest today, former sprinter, ines geipel. now, she has been fighting for justice for those who were doped for decades. others chose to remain silent. why did she opt to speak out? theme music plays. ines geipel, welcome to hardtalk. let us go back to the beginning and tell me how you, as a child born in east germany — yourfamily raised you in dresden — how you, as a girl, became involved in the abuse of hormones, the doping scandal in east germany? obviously you were lied to. what did your coaches tell you, when they presented you with these blue pills, what did they say they were, and what were they for? the drug you were administered — and we now know because it is all written about in detailed s

i'm stephen sackur. pressing in potentially dangerous strategic confrontation is playing out in the narrow waterway between iran and arabia. the united states is leading effo rts arabia. the united states is leading efforts to isolate the government into a efforts to isolate the government intoa run, efforts to isolate the government into a run, iran is responding with defiance despite severe economic disruption —— in tehran, my guest, former british foreign secretary, jack straw, is a veteran of engagement with iran. hi hi —— how high is the risk of committee must —— the maximus conflict? —— climactic conflict? jack straw, welcome to hardtalk. welcome. your diplomatic engagement with iran spans two decades and through that period, you've been an advocate for dialogue, for engagement, with tehran. but here we are today, with relations between the us in the uk and tehran toxic. so is ita the us in the uk and tehran toxic. so is it a story of complete failure? is not a story of complete failure? is not a s

he was speaking to stephen sackur on the bbc‘s hardtalk programme.of that sense, but a very large part of that electorate appeared to have joined the conservative party within recent months or the last year. now i have not seen any great successes about a conservative party that should have created a flood of members coming into it over the last year. i wish i had. members coming into it over the last year. iwish i had. i really members coming into it over the last year. i wish i had. i really wish i had, but i haven't. so you have to ask why these members coming in? they certainly aren't lifelong conservatives, they are people who have flooded into the party recently and from all one can gather, they have flooded into it because they wish to take a view on brexit. many people i suspect, i cannot know this but i suspect, have their boots in the conservative party but have the ha rd the conservative party but have the hard in brexit or the uk. that is a very odd way to choose the next leader of the conservative party.“ they are infiltrators, one can o

now stephen sackur interviews former british prime minister sir john major on hardtalk.come to hardtalk. within weeks, the conservative party will have a new leader and britain a new prime minister. as with so much in uk politics, that battle between boris johnson and jeremy hunt boils down into brexit. who the tories believe it is better equipped to navigate the political and constitutional crisis that lives as at the departure date of october 31 draws near. my guest is former prime minister is sirjohn major, what kind of conservative and what kind of country will emerge from brexit mess? welcome. the conservative party leadership is in its final lap. you have been watching it very closely. what is it telling you about the state of your party? i have been a member of the conservative party since my 16th birthday. it's been a very large part of my life. i have a great deal to it and i hope i have given quite a lot to it. i do not think i have ever seen a party so divided or in such difficulty as it is at the moment. and we need as we look forward, first to look at what i

stephen sackur speaks to former prime minister sirjohn major. welcome to hardtalk.n weeks, the conservative party will have a new leader and britain a new prime minister. as with so much in uk politics, that battle between borisjohnson and jeremy hunt boils down to brexit. who the tories believe it is better equipped to navigate the political and constitutional crisis that looms as the departure date of october 31 draws near. my guest is former prime minister sirjohn major. what kind of conservative party and what kind of country will emerge from the brexit mess? welcome. the conservative party leadership is in its final lap. you have been watching it very closely. what is it telling you about the state of your party? i have been a member of the conservative party since my 16th birthday. it's been a very large part of my life. i owe a great deal to it and i hope i have given quite a lot to it. i do not think i have ever seen the party so divided or in such difficulty as it is at the moment. and we need as we look forward, first to look at what is right for the count

now on bbc news, stephen sackur speaks to us republican senator rick scott on hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. most pressing and potentially dangerous strategic confrontation is playing out in the narrow waterway between iran and arabia. the united states is leading efforts to isolate the government in tehran. iran is responding with defiance, despite severe economic disruption. my guest, former british foreign secretary jack straw, is a veteran of engagement with iran. how high is the risk of calamitous conflict? jack straw, welcome to hardtalk. welcome. your diplomatic engagement with iran spans two decades, and through that period you've been an advocate for dialogue, for engagement, with tehran. but here we are today, with relations are between the us and the uk and tehran toxic. so is it a story of complete failure? it's not a story of complete failure at all, and indeed, the nuclear negotiations which the french foreign ministers and i got going in the summer of 2003, by fits and starts, laid the foundations for discussions which president 0bama and his secretaryjohn kerry had with rouha

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.ritish legal system has long enjoyed an international reputation for independence, integrity and efficiency, but for how much longer? seniorjudges, lawyers and police officers are voicing concern about a judicial system close to breaking point. my guest today is the most seniorjudge in the land, president of the uk's supreme court, lady hale. is one of the world's most—admired justice systems failing the people it is supposed to serve? lady hale, welcome to hardtalk. you have had a seat on the supreme court since its foundation ten years ago. it is something new in the british constitution, do you think it is made a difference? it's made a bit of a difference. there was of course always a top court for the whole united kingdom, but we used to be a committee of the house of lords. and then in 2009 we became this brand—new institution, the supreme court of the united kingdom. so we moved out of the houses of parliament, across the square, into the old middlesex guildhall where we have a

he was speaking stephen sackur on the bbc‘s hardtalk programme.ficers. go and ask the taoiseach, there were plenty of people both on the nationalist side and on the republican side he would be only too willing to have an excuse be only too willing to have an excuse to restart violence. so let us excuse to restart violence. so let us not just concentrate excuse to restart violence. so let us notjust concentrate on one aspect of that are now that is a huge impediment. now, ispent aspect of that are now that is a huge impediment. now, i spent a large number of years of my time in downing street working on the irish peace process, which, to his credit tony blair picked up and finished. you cannot risk returning to the problems we had before in which over 3000 people were killed. i have never seen you sing 3000 people were killed. i have never seen you sing it as i thought you several times in the past, i've never seen you so you several times in the past, i've never seen you so exercised, you several times in the past, i've never seen you so exercised

and coming up at 1.30 — hardtalk — stephen sackur speaks to former prime minister sirjohn major.n and welcome to bbc news. murderers who fail to disclose the whereabouts of a victim's body could spend longer behind bars, under legal changes being set out by the government. what's become known as "helen's law" — which will apply in england and wales — follows a campaign by the mother of helen mccourt. she was killed thirty one years ago, but her body has never been found. ben ando has more. for 31 years marie mccourt has been fighting for helen's law, named after her daughter, who was just 22 when she was abduct and murdered in 1988. her killer, pub landlord ian simms. he has never revealed the whereabouts about of helen's body. to have this law means that other families will not have to hopefully go through the pain and grief for as long as i have. i believe that these killers now have to face up to what they have done, because to take a life is horrendous, but then to take the lives of the family of that loved one, and not let them know where their loved one's body is, there is