Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal (born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician and a former bureaucrat who is the current and 7th Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. He was also the Chief Minister of Delhi from December 2013 to February 2014, stepping down after 49 days of assuming power. Currently, he is the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party, which won the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections with a historic majority, obtaining 67 out of 70 assembly seats. In 2006, Kejriwal was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in recognition of his involvement in the grassroots level movement Parivartan using right to information legislation in a campaign against corruption. The same year, after resigning from Government service, he donated his Magsaysay award money as a corpus fund to found the Public Cause Research Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Before joining politics, Kejriwal had worked in the Indian Revenue Service as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi.[1][2] Kejriwal is a graduate in Mechanical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. In 2012, he launched the Aam Aadmi Party, which won in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election. Following the election, he took office as the Chief Minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013. He resigned 49 days later, on 14 February 2014, stating he did so because of his minority government's inability to pass his proposed anti-corruption legislation due to a lack of support from other political parties.[3][4] On 14 February 2015, he was sworn in as Chief Minister for a second term after his party's victory in the Delhi Legislative Assembly election

Early life and education

Arvind Kejriwal was born in an upper middle-class educated Agrawal [7] family in Siwani, Bhiwani district, Haryana on 16 August 1968, the first of the three children of Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. His father was an electrical engineer who graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. Kejriwal spent most of his childhood in north Indian towns such as Sonipat, Ghaziabad and Hisar. He was educated at Campus School in Hisar[8] and at a Christian missionary Holy Child School at Sonipat.[9]

In 1985, he took the IIT-JEE exam and scored All India Rank (AIR) of 563.[10] He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, majoring in Mechanical engineering. He joined Tata Steel in 1989 and was posted in Jamshedpur. Kejriwal resigned in 1992, having taken leave of absence to study for the Civil Services Examination.[8] He spent some time in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), where he met Mother Teresa, and volunteered with The Missionaries of Charity and at the Ramakrishna Mission in North-East India and at Nehru Yuva Kendra.[11]

Career

Arvind Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) as an Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax in 1995, after qualifying through the Civil Services Examination.[12] In November 2000, he was granted two years' paid leave to pursue higher education on condition that upon resuming his work he would not resign from the Service for at least three years. Failure to abide by that condition would require him to repay the salary given during the leave period. He rejoined in November 2002. According to Kejriwal, he was not given any posting for almost a year, and kept getting his salary without doing any work; so, after 18 months, he applied for leave without pay.[13] For the next 18 months, Kejriwal was on sanctioned unpaid leave.[14] In February 2006, he resigned from his position as Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi.[12] The Government of India claimed that Kejriwal had violated his original agreement by not working for three years. Kejriwal said that his 18 months of work and 18 months of unpaid absence amounted to the stipulated three-year period during which he could not resign and that this was an attempt to malign him due to his involvement with the Indian anti-corruption movement. The dispute ran for several years until, in 2011, it was resolved when he paid his way out of the Service with the help of loans from friends.[14] Kejriwal paid ₹ 927,787 as dues, but stated that this should not be considered as an admission of fault.[13]

After joining politics, Kejriwal claimed in 2013 that he had chosen public service over earning crores as an Income Tax Commissioner. This led to a controversy, with the IRS association pointing out that he has never been promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Income Tax.[15]

Anti-corruption activism

Parivartan and Kabira

In December 1999, while still in service with the Income Tax Department, Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and others found a movement named Parivartan (which means "change"), in the Sundar Nagar area of Delhi. A month later, in January 2000, Kejriwal took a sabbatical from work to focus on Parivartan.[16][17]

Parivartan addressed citizens' grievances related to Public Distribution System (PDS), public works, social welfare schemes, income tax and electricity. It was not a registered NGO - it ran on individual donations, and was characterised as a jan andolan ("people's movement") by its members.[18] Later, in 2005, Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia launched Kabir, a registered NGO named after the medieval philosopher Kabir. Like Parivartan, Kabir was also focused on RTI and participatory governance. However, unlike Parivartan, it accepted institutional donations. According to Kejriwal, Kabir was mainly run by Sisodia.[19]

In 2000, Parivartan filed a public interest litigation (PIL) demanding transparency in public dealings of the Income Tax department, and also organised a satyagraha outside the Chief Commissioner's office.[20] Kejriwal and other activists also stationed themselves outside the electricity department, asking visitors not to pay bribes and offered to help them in getting work done for free.[21]

In 2001, the Delhi government enacted a state-level Right To Information (RTI) Act, which allowed the citizens to access government records for a small fee. Parivartan used RTI to help people get their work done in government departments without paying a bribe. In 2002, the group obtained official reports on 68 public works projects in the area, and performed a community-led audit to expose misappropriations worth ₹ 7 million in 64 of the projects.[17] On 14 December 2002, Parivartan organised a jan sunvai (public hearing), in which the citizens held public officials and leaders accountable for the lack of development in their locality.[22]

In 2003 (and again in 2008[23]), Parivartan exposed a PDS scam, in which ration shop dealers were siphoning off subsidised foodgrains in collusion with civic officials. In 2004, Parivartan used RTI applications to access communication between government agencies and the World Bank, regarding a project for privatisation of water supply. Kejriwal and other activists questioned the huge expenditure on the project, and argued that it would hike water tariffs ten-fold, thus effectively cutting off the water supply to the city's poor. The project was stalled as a result of Parivartan's activism. Another campaign by Parivartan led to a court order that required private schools, which had received public land at discounted prices, to admit more than 700 poor kids without fee.[20][21]

Along with other social activists like Anna Hazare, Aruna Roy and Shekhar Singh, Kejriwal came to be recognised as an important contributor to the campaign for a national-level Right to Information Act (enacted in 2005).[20] He resigned from his job in February 2006, and later that year, he was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership, for his involvement with Parivartan. The award recognised him for activating the RTI movement at the grassroots, and empowering New Delhi's poor citizens to fight corruption.[21]

By 2012, Parivartan was largely inactive. Sundar Nagri, where the movement was concentrated, suffered from irregular water supply, unreliable PDS system and poorly done public works.[18] Calling it "ephemeral and delusionary in nature", Kejriwal noted that Parivartan's success was limited, and the changes brought by it did not last long.[24]

Public Cause Research Foundation

In December 2006, Kejriwal established the Public Cause Research Foundation in December 2006, together with Manish Sisodia and Abhinandan Sekhri. He donated his Ramon Magsaysay Award prize money as a seed fund. Besides the three founders, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi served as the Foundation's trustees.[25] This new body paid the employees of Parivartan.[18] Kejriwal used the RTI Act in corruption cases in many government departments including the Income Tax Department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Public Distribution System and the Delhi Electricity Board.[11]

Jan Lokpal movement

In 2010, Kejriwal protested against corruption in the Commonwealth Games. He argued that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) did not have any powers to take any action against the guilty, while CBI was incapable of launching an unbiased investigation against the ministers who controlled it. He advocated appointment of public ombudsman - Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states.[26]

In 2011, Kejriwal joined several other activists, including Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi, to form the India Against Corruption (IAC) group. The IAC demanded enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill, which would result in a strong ombudsman. The campaign evolved into the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement. In response to the campaign, the government's advisory body - the National Advisory Council - drafted a Lokpal Bill. However, the NAC's Bill was criticised by Kejriwal and other activists on the grounds that it did not have enough powers to take action against the prime minister, other corrupt officeholders and the judiciary. The activists also criticised the procedure for selection of Lokpal, the transparency clauses and the proposal to disallow the Lokpal from taking cognisance of public grievances.[27]

Amid continuing protests, the Government constituted a committee to Draft a Jan Lokpal Bill. Kejriwal was one of the civil society representative members of this committee. However, he alleged that the IAC activists had an unequal position in the committee, and the government appointees kept ignoring their recommendations. The Government argued that the activists could not be allowed to blackmail the elected representatives through protests. Kejriwal retorted that democratically elected representatives could not be allowed to function like dictators, and asked for a public debate on the contentious issues.[28]

The IAC activists intensified their protests, and Anna Hazare organised a hunger strike. Kejriwal and other activists were arrested for defying a police directive to give a written undertaking that they will not go to JP Park. Kejriwal attacked the government on this and said there was a need for a debate over police power to detain and release people at will.[29][30] In August 2011, a settlement was reached between the Government and the activists.[31]

Besides the government, the Jan Lokpal movement was also criticised by some citizens as 'undemocratic' on the grounds that the ombudsman had powers over elected representatives. Arundhati Roy claimed that the movement was not a people's movement; instead, it was funded by foreigners to influence policy making in India. She pointed out that the Ford Foundation had funded the Emergent Leadership category of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, and also donated $397,000 to Kejriwal's NGO Kabir.[32] Both Kejriwal and Ford Foundation termed the allegations as baseless, stating that the donations were made to support the RTI campaigns. Besides, several other Indian organisations had also received grants from the Ford Foundation.[33][34] Kejriwal also denied the allegations that the movement was a plot against the ruling Congress by the RSS, or that it was an upper-caste conspiracy against the Dalits.[19]

By January 2012, the Government had backtracked on its promise to implement a strong Jan Lokpal, resulting in another series of protests from Kejriwal and his fellow activists. These protests attracted lower participation compared to the 2011 protests.[35] By mid-2012, Kejriwal had replaced Anna Hazare as the face of the remaining protestors.[36]

In 2015 during the second term of AAP government in Delhi the Jan Lokpal Bill was passed by the assembly awaiting presidents approval[37]

Political career

Establishment of AAP

One of the major criticisms directed at the Jan Lokpal activists was that they had no right to dictate terms to the elected representatives. As a result, Kejriwal and other activists decided to enter politics and contest elections.[38] In November 2012, they formally launched the Aam Aadmi Party; Kejriwal was elected as the party's National Convener. The party name reflects the phrase Aam Aadmi, or "common man", whose interests Kejriwal proposed to represent.[39] The establishment of AAP caused a rift between Kejriwal and Hazare.[40]

AAP decided to contest the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, with Kejriwal contesting against the incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Kejriwal became the fifth most-mentioned Indian politician on social media channels in the run-up to the elections.[41]

Chief Minister of Delhi (first term)

In the 2013, Delhi Legislative Assembly elections for all 70 seats, the Bhartiya Janta Party won 31 seats, followed by Aam Aadmi Party with 28 seats.[42] Kejriwal defeated incumbent Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit of the Indian National Congress (INC), in her constituency of New Delhi[43] by a margin of 25,864 votes.[44]

AAP formed a minority government in the hung assembly, (claiming support for the action gauged from opinion polls) with outside support from the eight INC MLAs, one Janata Dal MLA and one independent MLA.[45][46] Kejriwal was sworn in as the second-youngest chief minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013, after Chaudhary Brahm Prakash who became chief minister at the age of 34.[47][48] He was in charge of Delhi's home, power, planning, finance, services and vigilance ministries.[49]

On 14 February 2014, he resigned as Chief Minister after failing to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi Assembly. He recommended the dissolution of the Assembly.[50] Kejriwal blamed the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party for stalling the anti-corruption legislation and linked it with the government's decision to register a First Information Report (FIR) against industrialist Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries.[51] In April 2014 he said that he had made a mistake by resigning without publicly explaining the rationale behind his decision.[52]

2014 General elections

Kejriwal said in January, prior to his resignation as chief minister, that he would not contest a seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.[53] Party members persuaded him to change his mind,[54] and on 25 March, he agreed to contest against the BJP prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, from Varanasi.[55][56] He lost the contest[57] by a margin of around 3,70,000 votes.[58]

Chief Minister of Delhi (second term)

Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party to win 67 of the 70 constituencies in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, leaving the BJP with three seats and the INC with none.[59] In those elections, he was again elected from the New Delhi constituency, defeating Nupur Sharma by 31,583 votes.[60] He took oath on 14 February 2015 as Delhi's chief minister for a second time at Ramlila Maidan.[61] Since then his party has passed the Jan Lokpal Bill though with some differences.[37][62]

There has been a long-running dispute between Kejriwal's office and that of the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi during Kejriwal's second term as Chief Minister. Various issues have been involved, relating which office has ultimate responsibility for various aspects of government, including some significant public appointments. Manish Sisodia characterised it as "It is a battle between the selected and the elected" and indicated after a legal setback that the government was prepared to take the issues to the Supreme Court of India.[63]

Mohalla Clinics that are primary health centres in Delhi was first set up by the Aam Aadmi Party government in 2015, and as of 2018, 187[64] such clinics have been set up across the state and served more than 2 million residents.[65] The Government has kept a target of setting up 1000 such clinics in the city before 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections. Mohalla Clinics offer a basic package of essential health services including medicines, diagnostics, and consultation free of cost.[66] These clinics serve as the first point of contact for the population, offer timely services, and reduce the load of referrals to secondary and tertiary health facilities in the state.[67] Beginning in October 2019, New Delhi began rolling out free bus transit for women on the Delhi Transport Corporation, with women traveling for free when using pink tickets carrying a message from Kejriwal.[68]

Shunglu Committee submitted a report to LG of Delhi raising questions over decisions of Government of Delhi.[69]

Legal affairs

Arvind Kejriwal has had a controversial history of allegations, subsequent defamation cases against him. In several cases Kejriwal has unconditionally apologised after allegations have been found baseless in defamation cases in courts and then he has issued apology letters to several leaders on the same. It started with Kejriwal releasing his list of most corrupt politicians in January 2014 that included several leaders across the political spectrum.[70] Of the several on the list, Nitin Gadkari immediately filed a defamation suit against Kejriwal. Kejriwal further made allegations against finance minister Arun Jaitley for irregularities in DDCA. This was followed by Arun Jaitley filing a 10 crore defamation suit against Kejriwal. In the meanwhile in 2016, Kejriwal made allegations against Bikram Majithia, then revenue minister of Punjab of involvement in drug trade for which Majithia filed a defamation case against him and two others from Aam Aadmi party.[71] Kejriwal apologised to Majithia a couple of years later in March 2018.[72] Subsequently, Kejriwal also apologised to union minister Nitin Gadkari for his unverified allegations and also sought apology from former minister Kapil Sibal.[73] Around the same time on 2 March 2016, Delhi High Court asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad to file their written statements in a civil defamation suit of Rs 5 crores filed by DDCA for their alleged remarks against the cricket body regarding its functioning and finances.[74] Following this in April 2018 Arvind Kejriwal and three others from his party including Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chaddha and Ashutosh apologised Arun Jaitley in a joint letter.[75]

In his affidavit to Election Directorate before the second term elections in 2015 Kejriwal had declared that he has 10 criminal charges and 47 total charges against him.[76]

Political views

Kejriwal discussed his views on corruption and the state of the Indian democracy in his book Swaraj. He advocates for a decentralisation of government and the involvement of the panchayat in local decisions and budgets. He claims that foreign multinational corporations have too much power in the decision making process of the central government and that the politicians at the Centre are not being held accountable for their actions and inaction after their election.[24]

Personal life

In 1995, Arvind married Sunita, a 1993-batch IRS officer. She took voluntary retirement in 2016 as Commissioner of Income Tax in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

The couple have a daughter named Harshita, and a son named Pulkit.[77] Kejriwal is a vegetarian and has been practising the Vipassanā meditation technique for many years.[8] He is diabetic.[78] In 2016, Kejriwal underwent a surgery for his persistent cough problem.

Eddie Marsan

Eddie Marsan

Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Happy-Go-Lucky in 2008.

He has appeared in films such as Gangster No. 1 (2000), Ultimate Force (2002), V for Vendetta (2005), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Sixty Six (2006), Hancock (2008), Sherlock Holmes (2009), War Horse (2011), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), The Best of Men (2012), and The World's End (2013). He also appeared as Terry in Showtime's series Ray Donovan (2013), and as Mr. Norrell in the BBC drama Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015).

Early life

Edward Maurice Charles Marsan was born on 9 June 1968[1] in the Stepney district of London, to a working-class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother was a school dinnerlady and teacher's assistant.[2][3] He was brought up in Bethnal Green and attended Raine's Foundation School.[4] He left school at 16 and initially served an apprenticeship as a printer, before beginning his career in theatre.[3] He trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, graduating in 1991, and went on to study under Sam Kogan[5] and the Kogan Academy of Dramatic Arts, of which Marsan is now a patron.[6][7]

Career

Marsan's first television appearance was in 1992, as a "yob", in the London Weekend Television series The Piglet Files. One of his more significant early television appearances was in the popular mid-1990s BBC sitcom Game On as a bungling bank robber. Marsan went on to have roles in Casualty, The Bill, Grass, Kavanagh QC, Grange Hill, Silent Witness, Ultimate Force, Southcliffe, and more. He also voiced the Manticore in the Merlin episode "Love in the Time of Dragons".[citation needed]

In 2012, he played Dr Ludwig Guttmann in the television film The Best of Men. He portrays Terry Donovan, brother to the lead character in Showtime's drama series Ray Donovan. In May 2015, Marsan appeared as the practical magician Gilbert Norrell in the BBC period drama Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.[citation needed]

Marsan has appeared in numerous and varied film roles, as the main villain in the 2008 superhero film Hancock alongside Will Smith and as Inspector Lestrade in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. His other films include Sixty Six, Gangs of New York, 21 Grams, The Illusionist, V for Vendetta, Gangster No. 1, Miami Vice, Mission: Impossible III, I Want Candy, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky, Filth, Tyrannosaur, and Heartless.[8]

Personal life

Marsan married make-up artist Janine Schneider in 2002. They have four children

Michael Gove

Michael Gove

Michael Andrew Gove (/ɡoʊv/; born Graeme Andrew Logan;[3] 26 August 1967) is a British Conservative politician who has been Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since July 2019 and Minister for the Cabinet Office since February 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Surrey Heath since 2005. Gove served in the Cameron governments as Secretary of State for Education from 2010 to 2014[4] and Secretary of State for Justice from 2015 to 2016, and in the second May government as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He has twice run to become Leader of the Conservative Party, in 2016 and 2019, finishing in third place on both occasions.[5]

Gove began a career as an author and journalist for The Times before entering the House of Commons.[6] He was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet by David Cameron in 2007 as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. As Education Secretary, the National Association of Head Teachers[7] Association of Teachers and Lecturers, National Union of Teachers and NASUWT passed motions of no confidence in Gove's policies at their conferences in 2013.[8]

In a 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, Gove was moved to the post of Chief Whip.[9][10] Following the 2015 election, Gove was promoted to the office of Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. In 2016, Gove played a major role in the UK's referendum on EU membership as the co-convenor of Vote Leave.[11] Along with fellow Conservative MP Boris Johnson, Gove was seen as one of the most prominent figures of the Vote Leave campaign.[12]

On 30 June 2016, Gove, who was campaign manager for Boris Johnson's leadership bid to become Prime Minister, withdrew his support on the morning that Johnson was due to declare, and announced his own candidacy in the leadership election. Following Theresa May’s appointment as Prime Minister he was sacked from the Cabinet; however, following the 2017 general election he was appointed Environment Secretary.[13]

Gove launched another Conservative Party leadership bid in 2019 although eventually came third behind Johnson and Jeremy Hunt. Upon the appointment of Johnson as Prime Minister, Gove was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with responsibilities including preparations for a no-deal Brexit. He took on the additional role of Minister for the Cabinet Office in the cabinet reshuffle post-Brexit.

Early life

Graeme Logan was born on 26 August 1967.[14] His biological mother, whom he originally believed to have been an unmarried Edinburgh student, was in fact a 23-year-old cookery demonstrator.[3] Gove regarded his birthplace as Edinburgh until it was revealed in a biography in 2019 that he was born in a maternity hospital in Fonthill Road, Aberdeen.[15]

Logan was put into care soon after he was born. At the age of four months he was adopted by a Labour-supporting couple in Aberdeen, Ernest and Christine Gove, by whom he was brought up.[16] After he joined the Gove family, Logan's name was changed to Michael Andrew Gove.[3] His adoptive father, Ernest, ran a fish processing business and his adoptive mother, Christine, was a lab assistant at the University of Aberdeen, before working at the Aberdeen School for the Deaf.[17]

In Aberdeen, Gove was educated at two state schools (Sunnybank Primary School and Kittybrewster Primary School), and later, on the recommendation of his Primary school teacher, he sat and passed the entrance exam for the independent Robert Gordon's College. Later, as he entered the sixth form he had to apply for a scholarship as his family fell on difficult economic circumstances.[16] In October 2012, he wrote an apology letter to his former French teacher for misbehaving in class.[18] From 1985 to 1988 he read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, graduating with an upper second.[19][20]

During his first year, he met future Prime Minister Boris Johnson and helped him become elected President of the Oxford Union.[21] In an interview with Andrew Gimson, Gove remarked that at Oxford, Johnson was "quite the most brilliant extempore speaker of his generation."[22] Gove was elected President of the Oxford Union a year after Johnson.[23]

Journalism career

Gove became a trainee reporter at The Press and Journal in Aberdeen, where he spent several months on strike in the 1989–1990 dispute over union recognition and representation.[24]

He joined The Times in 1996 as a leader writer and assumed posts as its comment editor, news editor, Saturday editor and assistant editor. He has also written a weekly column on politics and current affairs for the newspaper and contributed to The Times Literary Supplement, Prospect magazine and The Spectator. He remains on good terms with Rupert Murdoch,[25][26] whom Gove described in evidence before the Leveson Inquiry as "one of the most impressive and significant figures of the last 50 years".[27] He wrote a sympathetic biography of Michael Portillo and a highly critical study of the Northern Ireland peace process (The Price of Peace), where he compared the Good Friday Agreement to appeasement of the Nazis in the 1930s.[20][28][29]

He has worked for the BBC's Today programme, On The Record, Scottish Television and the Channel 4 current affairs programme A Stab in the Dark, alongside David Baddiel and Tracey MacLeod, and was a regular panellist on BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze and Newsnight Review on BBC Two.[17][30][31]

Political career

He briefly joined the Labour Party in 1983 in Aberdeen, but has stated that by the time he left to go to Oxford University he was a Conservative  Gove joined the Oxford University Conservative Association and was secretary of Aberdeen South Young Conservatives.[32] He helped to write speeches for Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet ministers, including Peter Lilley and Michael Howard.[33] When applying for a job at the Conservative Research Department he was told he was "insufficiently political" and "insufficiently Conservative", so he turned to journalism.[34]

Gove had been chairman of Policy Exchange, a conservative think tank launched in 2002.[35][36] He was involved in founding the right-leaning magazine Standpoint, to which he occasionally contributes.[37] Gove expressed admiration in late-February 2003 for New Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair because of the way he was handling the crisis in Iraq: "As a right-wing polemicist, all I can say looking at Mr Blair now is, what's not to like?" Blair, he thought, was "behaving like a true Thatcherite".[38]

Member of Parliament

Gove first entered the House of Commons after the 2005 general election having been elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Surrey Heath, after the sitting Conservative MP Nick Hawkins was deselected by the local Conservative Association.[39][40] When David Cameron was first elected as Leader of the Conservative Party in December 2005, he appointed Gove as Shadow Housing Spokesman.[41] Gove is seen as part of an influential set of Conservatives, sometimes referred to as the Notting Hill Set, which includes: former Prime Minister David Cameron, former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, Edward Vaizey, Nicholas Boles and Rachel Whetstone.[42]

On 2 July 2007, Gove was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (a newly created department set up by Gordon Brown), shadowing Ed Balls. Prior to the 2010 general election, most of Gove's questions in Commons debates concerned children, schools and families, education, local government, council tax, foreign affairs, and the environment.[43]

In June 2012, Michael Portillo backed Gove to be a serious contender in a future race for the Conservative Party leadership,[44] though Gove had said in an interview a few months before that "I'm constitutionally incapable of it. There's a special extra quality you need that is indefinable, and I know I don't have it. There's an equanimity, an impermeability and a courage that you need. There are some things in life you know it's better not to try."[45]

Secretary of State for Education (2010–2014)

With the formation of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government following the hung parliament after the 2010 general election, Gove became Secretary of State for Education. His first moves included reorganising his department,[46] announcing plans to allow schools rated as "outstanding" by Ofsted to become academies,[47] and cutting the previous government's school-building programme.[48] He apologised, however, when the list of terminated school-building projects he had released was found to be inaccurate; the list was reannounced several times before it was finally accurately published.[49]

In July 2010, Gove said that Labour had failed in their attempt to break the link between social class and school achievement despite spending billions of pounds: quoting research, he indicated that by the age of six years, children of low ability from affluent homes were still out-performing brighter children from poorer backgrounds. At a House of Commons Education Select Committee he said that this separation of achievement grew larger throughout pupils' school careers, stating, "In effect, rich thick kids do better than poor clever children when they arrive at school [and] the situation as they go through gets worse".[50]

Building Schools for the Future and school capital projects

In February 2011, a judicial review deemed Gove's decision to axe Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects in six local authority areas was unlawful as he had failed to consult before imposing the cuts.[51] The judge also said that, in five of the cases, the failure was "so unfair as to amount to an abuse of power" and that "however pressing the economic problems, there was no overriding public interest which precluded consultation or justifies the lack of any consultation".[51] The councils' response was that the government would have to reconsider but the government said it had won the case on the substantial issues.[51] The judge made clear that, contrary to the councils' position, they could not expect that their projects would be funded.[51]

In March 2011, Gove was criticised for not understanding the importance of school architecture and having misrepresented the cost.[52] In February 2011, he gave "not-quite-true information to Parliament" by saying that one individual made £1,000,000 in one year when the true figure was £700,000 for five advisers at different times over a four-year period.[52] He told a Free Schools conference that "no one in this room is here to make architects richer" and specifically mentioned architect Richard Rogers.[53]

Exam and curriculum reforms

Gove's views on exam systems became clear in December 2014 after the release of archive papers from 1986. GCSEs were the brainchild of Sir Keith Joseph. Margaret Thatcher, believing they lacked rigour, fiercely opposed them. However, opposition to the new exams from the teaching unions persuaded her to introduce them immediately, purely so as not to appear weak. Although Gove had sought but failed to replace them, his special advisor, Dominic Cummings, described the 1986 decision as catastrophic, leading to a collapse in the integrity of the exam system.[54]

During the 2010 Conservative Party Conference, Gove announced that the primary and secondary-school national curricula for England would be restructured, and that study of authors such as Byron, Keats, Jane Austen, Dickens and Thomas Hardy would be reinstated in English lessons as part of a plan to improve children's grasp of English literature and language. Academies are not required to follow the national curriculum, and so would not be affected by the reforms. Children who fail to write coherently and grammatically, and who are weak in spelling, would be penalised under new examinations. Historian Simon Schama would give advice to government to ensure that pupils learnt Britain's "island story". Standards in mathematics and science would also be strengthened. He said that this was needed because left-wing ideologues had undermined education. Theirs was the view, he thought, that schools "shouldn't be doing anything so old-fashioned as passing on knowledge, requiring children to work hard, or immersing them in anything like dates in history or times tables in mathematics. These ideologues may have been inspired by generous ideals but the result of their approach has been countless children condemned to a prison house of ignorance".[55]

In a November 2010 white paper, Gove declared reforms would include the compulsory study of foreign languages up to the age of sixteen years, a shake-up of league tables in which schools are ranked higher for the number of pupils taking GCSEs[56] in five core subjects (English, mathematics, science, a language and one of the humanities), and the introduction of targets for primary schools. It proposed that trainee teachers should spend more time in the classroom, teacher training applicants should be more rigorously tested — including tests of character and emotional intelligence — and sponsorships for former troops to retrain as teachers to improve discipline. It also said teachers would receive guidance on how to search pupils for more items, including mobile phones and pornography, and when they can use force.

In April 2011, Gove criticised schools for not studying pre-twentieth century classics and blamed "England's constricted and unreformed exam system" for failing to encourage children to read. Gove also blamed an "anti-knowledge culture" for reducing achievement and said children benefited when expectations were set higher.[58] In June 2011, his "ignorance of science" was criticised[by whom?] after he called for students to have "a rooting in the basic scientific principles" and by way of example assigned Lord Kelvin's laws of thermodynamics to Sir Isaac Newton.[59]

In June 2012, the Daily Mail published leaked plans to scrap GCSE examinations, return to O-level exams and allow less academic students to take alternative qualifications. The Liberal Democrats claimed that the plans had not been discussed with the Deputy Prime Minister and were subsequently heavily criticised by some teachers, trade unions and Labour Party MPs;[60][61][62] they had been discussed with the Prime Minister at Cabinet level, and a subsequent YouGov/Sunday Times poll suggested that the public supported this policy by a margin of 50% to 32%.[63][64] They received praise from the then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who said that he "could be... singing a hymn of praises for my old chum Gove and his brilliant new Gove-levels."[65] The leaked documents also suggested that Gove was intending to create a single exam board to organise all exams, and to scrap the National Curriculum in its current form. However, there were "rebukes" from both the Welsh and Northern Ireland Education ministers who said it was important to communicate before making announcements on proposed changes to jointly owned qualifications.[66]

In February 2013, shortly after the draft Programmes of Study for History in the national curriculum was released by the DfE,[67] the representatives of the principal organisations for historians in the UK wrote to The Observer to register "significant reservations" about its contents and the way in which it had been devised. They described it as "too narrowly and exclusively focused on British history" and argued that structuring history teaching in a strictly chronological sequence meant that students would learn about pre-modern history only in the early stages of their studies.[68]

In March 2013, 100 academics wrote an open letter arguing that Gove's curriculum placed too much emphasis upon memorisation of facts and rules over understanding, and would lead to more rote learning.[69] Gove retorted that "there is good academia and bad academia."[70] In response, one signatory to the letter opined that Gove suffered from a "blinkered, almost messianic, self-belief, which appears to have continually ignored the expertise and wisdom of teachers, head-teachers, advisers and academics, whom he often claims to have consulted",[71] A senior civil servant admitted that one of the most controversial parts of the proposed secondary curriculum had been written internally by the DfE, without any input from experts.[72]

In May, Simon Schama, earlier mooted as a supporter of Gove's reforms of the history curriculum, delivered an excoriating speech in which he characterised the finalised proposals as "insulting and offensive" and "pedantic and utopian", accusing Gove of constructing a "ridiculous shopping list" of subjects. He urged the audience at the Hay Festival: "Tell Michael Gove what you think of it. Let him know."[73] In June, leaked documents revealed that a member of the government's curriculum advisory group had described the reform process as having had "a very chaotic feel. It's typical of government policy at the moment: they don't think things through very carefully, they don't listen to anyone and then just go ahead and rush into major changes."[74] In September, Robin Alexander said that the proposed reforms to the primary-level national curriculum were "neo Victorian", "educationally inappropriate and pedagogically counter-productive".[75] In October, almost 200 people, including: Carol Ann Duffy, Melvin Burgess and Michael Rosen, as well as academics from Oxford, Bristol and Newcastle universities signed a letter to The Times condemning Gove's reforms, warning of the "enormous" and negative risks they posed to children and their education.[76]

That same month saw Oxford's head of admissions warn that the timetable for secondary-level reforms would "just wreck the English education system."[77]

2012 English GCSE results

In September 2012, following the furore surrounding the downgrading of GCSE English results, he refused, during his answers to the Parliamentary Education Committee on 12 September, to instruct Ofqual to intervene, and attacked his Welsh counterpart as "irresponsible and mistaken" for ordering disputed GCSEs to be regraded.[78] On 17 September he announced to the House of Commons an English Baccalaureate Certificate to replace GCSE, comprising English, Maths, Science, together with a Humanities subject and language, to be first examined in 2017. His plans to replace GCSE examinations with an English Baccalaureate were rejected by Parliament in February 2013.[79]

Education vouchers

As Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Gove advocated the introduction of a Swedish-style voucher system, whereby parents can choose where their child should be educated, with the state paying what they would have cost in a state-school. He has also advocated Swedish-style free schools, to be managed by parents and funded by the state,[80] with the possibility that such schools may be allowed to be run on a for-profit model.[81]

Creationist schools

In June 2012, Gove approved three creationist schools, including Grindon Hall Christian School in Sunderland,[82] which opened in September 2012. This led to concerns about whether Department for Education (DfE) requirements not to teach creationism or intelligent design as science would be met.[83] The other creationist schools included Exemplar-Newark Business Academy, whose previous application was rejected because of concerns over creationism, and a third school in Kent. Both schools said they would teach creationism in RE but not in Science.[83]

The British Humanist Association (BHA) said teaching creationism in any syllabus was unacceptable.[83] In 2014, Gove's department acceded to the BHA's campaign by banning creationism from being taught as science in state-funded English schools, including Academies and Free Schools, as well as introducing a requirement that such schools must teach evolution.

Mothers Day

Mothers Day

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father's Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparents Day.

The modern Mother's Day began in the United States, at the initiative of Anna Jarvis in the early 20th century. This is not (directly) related to the many traditional celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have existed throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, Rhea the Great Mother of the Gods, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration (originally a commemoration of Mother Church, not motherhood).[1][2][3][4] However, in some countries, Mother's Day is still synonymous with these older traditions.[5]

The U.S.-derived modern version of Mother's Day has been criticized[6][7] for having become too commercialized. Founder Jarvis herself regretted this commercialism and expressed views on how that was never her intention.

The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia.[9] St Andrew's Methodist Church now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine.[10] Her campaign to make Mother's Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother's Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work she started and to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world".[11]

In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday, joking that they would also have to proclaim a "Mother-in-law's Day".[12] However, owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday,[13] with some of them officially recognizing Mother's Day as a local holiday[14] (the first being West Virginia, Jarvis' home state, in 1910). In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.[15]

Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mother's Day, she became resentful of the commercialization of the holiday. By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother's Day cards. Jarvis believed that the companies had misinterpreted and exploited the idea of Mother's Day, and that the emphasis of the holiday was on sentiment, not profit. As a result, she organized boycotts of Mother's Day, and threatened to issue lawsuits against the companies involved.[16] Jarvis argued that people should appreciate and honor their mothers through handwritten letters expressing their love and gratitude, instead of buying gifts and pre-made cards.[15] Jarvis protested at a candy makers' convention in Philadelphia in 1923, and at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925. By this time, carnations had become associated with Mother's Day, and the selling of carnations by the American War Mothers to raise money angered Jarvis, who was arrested for disturbing the peace.[15][16]

Spelling

In 1912 Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrase "Second Sunday in May, Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, Founder", and created the Mother's Day International Association.[17] She specifically noted that "Mother's" should "be a singular possessive, for each family to honor its own mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world."[18] This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his 1914 presidential proclamation, by the U.S. Congress in relevant bills,[19][20] and by various U.S. presidents in their proclamations concerning Mother's Day

Casualty (TV series)

Casualty (TV series)

Casualty, stylised as CASUAL+Y, is a British medical drama series that airs weekly on BBC One.[1] It is the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world,[2] and the most enduring medical drama shown on prime time television in the world.[3] Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 6 September 1986. The original producer was Geraint Morris.[4]

The programme is set in the fictional Holby City Hospital and focuses on the staff and patients of the hospital's Accident and Emergency Department. The show has strong ties to its sister programme Holby City, which began as a spin-off series from Casualty in 1999,[5] set in the same hospital. Casualty is shown weekly on a Saturday evening, which has been its time slot since the early 1990s.

Casualty's exterior shots were mainly filmed outside the Ashley Down Centre in Bristol from 1986 until 2002, when they moved to the centre of Bristol. In 2011, Casualty celebrated its 25th anniversary and moved production to the Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff, where it is currently filmed. The 1,000th episode of Casualty aired on 25 June 2016.[6] A feature-length 30th anniversary episode of Casualty aired on 27 August 2016, episode 1 of series 31. For the series 31 finale, creator Paul Unwin returned to write a special episode which was entirely recorded in one take using only one camera, five boom operators and forty microphones.

Creation

The series was created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin.[8] According to writer Susan Wilkins, it was meant to be a response to the Margaret Thatcher era, and Unwin said that as young socialists, they wanted to create a "television revolution" that would be feminist, anti-racist, pro-NHS and anti-Conservative.[9]

Production

Location

Casualty and Holby City are both set in Holby City Hospital,[10] in the fictional county of Wyvern, in the south-west of England.[11]

From the show's inception to series 26, episode 16, the city exterior was represented by Bristol,[12] including well-known landmarks such as the floating harbour and Clifton Suspension Bridge often visible in outdoor scenes.[13] The City of Bristol College was used as the location for most exterior shots of the hospital from 1986 until 2002, when a new exterior set was built in Lawrence Hill Industrial Park in the city.[14] Casualty has also filmed at Chavenage House back in 1997.[15]

Following plans to switch filming to Birmingham, it was confirmed on 26 March 2009 that filming of Casualty from 2011 would move to a purpose-built studio and backlot set at the BBC Roath Lock studios in Cardiff, South Wales.[16][17] Episode 16 of series 26 marked the final episode filmed in Bristol, with a fire destroying the department. The first episode from Cardiff,[18] broadcast on 7 January 2012, was an 80-minute episode.[19] Most exterior shots of the city of Holby are now shot within the city of Cardiff and wider area of South Wales. Railway scenes are shot on location at various preserved railways, which from the start of shooting have centred around the West Somerset Railway, the Avon Valley Railway and more recently the Barry Tourist Railway. In May 2018, filming for the premier of series 33 was shot in Bristol and Yate.[20]

Broadcast

The programme has usually been transmitted on Saturday nights, although for a period in the late 1980s and early 1990s it switched to Fridays. The first two series each consisted of 15 episodes; series 3 ran for 10 episodes (although one of those episodes was postponed following the death of its guest star, Roy Kinnear); series 4, 5 and 6 were 12, 13, and 15 episodes long respectively. The final episode of series 6, which focused on a plane crash, was postponed until February 1992, after being initially scheduled for transmission on 20 December 1991 – one day before the 3rd anniversary of the Lockerbie disaster.

When the show moved back to Saturday nights in September 1992, the series length was extended to 24 episodes per year, and placed in a pre-watershed slot at approximately 8 pm. This initially caused some controversy due to the graphic and controversial nature of some of the storylines.[21] In 1997–8, the episode number was increased again, with 26 episodes (including two 75-minute specials) making up series 12. Subsequent series each saw an increase in episodes; series 13 ran for 28 episodes, series 14 ran for 30 episodes, series 15 ran for 36 episodes, series 16 and 17 ran for 40 episodes and series 18 ran for 46 episodes. Since 2004, popularity of the show resulted in a switch from a traditional seasonal format (which had progressed from three months in its early years to around seven months by 2001) to an almost year-round production and transmission — each series from series 19 (2004/5) to 25 (2010/11) has lasted for 48 episodes. However, this figure was dropped to 42 for series 26, with no summer break, which was related to production moving from Bristol to Cardiff.[22] Series 27 consists of 44 episodes – an increase of 2 episodes on the previous series and returned to 48 for series 28.[23][24] In addition, from series 26, the show also began broadcasting in August of their respective years, rather than start in September with a two-week break in late December.

Casualty usually runs for 50 minutes between 20:00—22:00 slot on BBC One. Special events such as the Eurovision Song Contest and sporting events sometimes see the schedule moved around. On most of these occasions, Casualty is taken off-air for the night to make way for alternative shows. It has been known in the past that if an episode is in two parts, part one will be aired on the Saturday and part two on Sunday. It is broadcast across Europe via BBC Entertainment on the same date.

Cast and characters

Casualty follows the professional and personal lives of the medical and ancillary staff of Holby City Hospital's emergency department. It features an ensemble cast of regular characters, and began with ten main characters in its first series. The original characters are consultant Ewart Plimmer (Bernard Gallagher), senior house officer Baz Samuels (Julia Watson), charge nurse Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson), staff nurse Clive King (George Harris), state enrolled nurse Megan Roach (Brenda Fricker), student nurse Lisa "Duffy" Duffin (Cathy Shipton), paramedics Sandra Mute and Andrew Ponting (Lisa Bowerman and Robert Pugh), receptionist Susie Mercier (Debbie Roza) and porter Kuba Trzcinski (Christopher Rozycki).

Currently, the regular cast consists of lead consultant in emergency medicine and cardiothoracic surgeon Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing); consultants Ethan Hardy (George Rainsford), Dylan Keogh (William Beck) and Will Noble (Jack Nolan); foundation training doctor Rash Masum (Neet Mohan); clinical nurse manager, senior charge nurse and emergency nurse practitioner Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson); advanced clinical practitioner Faith Cadogan (Kirsty Mitchell); staff nurses Robyn Miller (Amanda Henderson), Jacob Masters (Charles Venn), David Hide (Jason Durr), Marty Kirkby (Shaheen Jafargholi), and Jade Lovell (Gabriella Leon); operational duty manager Jan Jenning (Di Botcher), paramedics Lev Malinovsky (Uriel Emil) and Fenisha Khatri (Olivia D'Lima); receptionist Noel Garcia (Tony Marshall); and porter Rosa Cadenas (Jacey Sallés).

A survey published by Radio Times magazine in March 2004 found that Casualty has featured more future stars than any other UK soap or drama series.[25] Actors who appeared in the show prior to wider success include Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, Minnie Driver, Christopher Eccleston, Tom Hiddleston, Ashley Artus[26], Parminder Nagra, Sadie Frost, Ray Winstone, David Walliams, Jonny Lee Miller, Martin Freeman, Helen Baxendale, Robson Green, and Brenda Fricker.[25] Discussing her 1993 appearance in Casualty, Winslet told the Radio Times: "In England, it almost seems to be part of a jobbing actor's training [to appear in Casualty]. As far as I was concerned it was a great episode, a great part. Appearing in Casualty taught me a big lesson in how to be natural in front of the camera."[25] In addition, the series has featured a variety of more established stars, including Norman Wisdom, Amanda Redman, Anita Dobson, Jenny Seagrove, Rula Lenska, Prunella Scales,[27] Celia Imrie,[28] Toyah Willcox, Maureen Lipman,[29] Frances Barber, Andrew Sachs,[30] Russ Abbot, Stephanie Beacham,[31] Honor Blackman and Michelle Collins in cameo roles.

Titles and theme music

1986–1989, 2015 (S1–3, 30)

The original title sequence featured a speeding ambulance with flashing lights arriving at casualty with a police escort. A CGI heart monitor was shown over the titles. The 49 second sequence shows the patient's point of view and their journey through the department into resus. The heartbeat turned into electric arcs, possibly as a result of a defibrillator being used as the bed moves around the hospital. The theme is used again in second episode of series 30, this time inter-cut with scenes of Connie Beauchamp (Amanda Mealing) performing CPR on Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) and also Lofty (Lee Mead) travelling through the Emergency Department.[32]

1989–1992 (S4–6)

Series 4, in 1989, launched with a new title sequence, opening with an ambulance travelling in daytime. Different activities are then shown, including the ambulance clinicians, hospital equipment, a patient being treated and a blood pressure gauge, all separated by flashes of blue light. The next part of the sequence features new camera shots of the patient's journey into resus.

1992–1993 (S7)

Series 7 from 1992 to 1993 saw a sequence returning to the original style, with the ambulance coming over the hill and a new heartbeat line moving across the bottom of the screen. As the ambulance arrives, the staff come out of the department to move the patient to resus.

1993–1997 (S8–11)

In September 1993 (Series 8), the titles were revamped, based on the series 4 style, with the ambulance. Clips showed accidents and the ambulance journey instead of the patient's journey. Whilst the ambulance is being driven, a series of clips are superimposed. The sequence ends with the ambulance arriving at casualty. The Casualty logo flashes up on the screen when the screen blurs out. The sequence was tinted blue. These lasted until February 1997 when series 11 ended.[33]

1997–2000 (S12–14)

Again September 1997 saw a new look, with fragments of glass flying and a sequence utilising footage of medical staff, hospital equipment and patients' relatives. The sequence ends as all the pieces of glass that were shattered in the first few seconds of the sequence are re-formed into a single pane, which spells out the new Casual+y logo. Minor edits were made when these titles were shortened towards the end of 1998 for series 13 but they remained essentially the same until series 14 ended in March 2000.[34]

2000–2001 (S15)

A more arty sequence appeared in September 2000 (series 15), with a fast forward technique, featuring a clock ticking through the night, an airbag deploying, the ambulance, speeding through evening traffic and patients arriving at reception. The second half of the sequence focuses on a patient being treated in Resus from a bird's-eye perspective. The sequence ends in slow motion as the patient recovers and his relatives crowd round his bed, before the people and equipment disappear, leaving the distinctive chequered flooring of the department and the Casual+y logo. The original 1986 theme tune remained, but as the 'September 1998' shortened version again.[35]

2001–2002 (S16)

A new theme tune marked the arrival of series 16 in September 2001, with a distinct change to the opening titles. For the first time, the focus was on the characters, who were presented posing to the camera against a blurred dark background. The only 'medical' references were the glimpses of an ambulance and a heart rate graphic in the opening seconds of the titles. The same logo introduced in 1997 remains at the end.

2002–2006 (S17–20)

Series 17, starting in September 2002, saw a return to a generic medical-themed title. The focus was on the international symbol of medical aid, the red cross, shown at different sizes moving around the screen, often filled with footage such as paramedics and a patient being given CPR, against a stark white background. This sequence was also filled with abstract graphics, elements of the Casual+y logo and footage of medical emergencies. The logo is formed by the merging of the various crosses & abstract shapes at the end of the sequence. Similarly to the titles of September 2001 – June 2002 (which featured the characters), the 1997 logo remained at the end until these credits were replaced in September 2006 (series 21).[36]

2006–2011 (S21–26)

Brand new titles were introduced in series 21 – this also marked the usage of a brand new Casual+y logo – using stop-frame footage of the ambulance on its journey, followed by images of characters and equipment, mixed with footage of a patient being taken to resus. The sequence was tinted in a turquoise hue and interrupted by a flashing amber graphic, reminiscent of the heart rate line from the original titles sequence. Series 21 saw the use of an orchestral-style variation of the theme tune, though this reverted to the previous version used since series 16.[37]

2012–2013 (S26–28)

Series 26 returned after its Christmas break in January 2012, filmed in high-definition for the first time, to coincide with the move to Cardiff's Roath Lock. A new opening sequence was introduced, reminiscent of the early opening titles, in homage to the show's roots. The variant of the theme music used since series 16 (except series 21) remained in use.[38]

2014–2016 (S28–S30)

On 4 January 2014, the theme tune received a revamp and had a resemblance to the original 1986 theme tune. The closing credits were a continuation of the new updated theme tune. As of 8 February 2014, new titles were used and so was a new CASUAL+Y logo.[39]

2016–2018 (S31–S33)

On 27 August 2016, the 30th anniversary episode and series 31 opener, the theme tune and opening titles received a complete revamp with a darker effect as scenes around the hospital are shown with Charlie being the only character in shot with the opening titles ending with the logo and title cards. The theme tune features the BBC Wales Orchestra performing background instruments.[40]

2018–present (S33–present)

From Episode 13, which aired on 17th November 2018, new titles were used. The theme tune remained the same.

Closing theme

1986–2001

The original closing credit music was known for being slightly different from its opening music. It was originally over one minute in length and over the years was shortened. The original music also had a lead in, known for being haunting and emotional. At the beginning it was not used in every episode. Between series 1–9, it was only used during emotional endings, for example when Duffy was raped and Sandra Mute being killed off. Between series 9–12, it was mainly used to close every episode. In September 1998, the closing theme was moved up a semitone, making the tune even more haunting. The end theme was reduced further in 2000 to go with BBC guidelines. Usage of this tune ended with series 15 in April 2001.

2001–2013

When the theme tune was updated in 2001, the closing credit music was a shortened version of the opening music. The main change was the lead-in music: two versions were used in the twelve years. Series 21 saw the theme tune being changed for a single series; it was made orchestral and only lasted one series. When Adam left the series at the end of series 25, a sad piano-based version was used. It has only ever been used on that one occasion.

When the theme tune changed for series 21 in September 2006, the closing credits were essentially a continuation of the opening tune. Dramatic and edgy, it was more akin to the original 1986 theme and the current 2014 theme.

2014–present

When the series returned in 2014 after the Christmas break, the theme tune had received a revamp, more akin to the original. The closing credits had been slightly extended with sections from the original end theme returning, for example the final end notes.

The end lead in music, a short emotional piece building up to the credits, harked back to the original music which was used between series 1–15. There were a few variations used in episodes between 2014 and 2016. An emotional version using strings and violin, A version using trumpet and beeps and a much basic sounding version just using beeps, those that sound like medical machinery. This package was used mostly until towards the end of Series 30 when a new package was slowly introduced. The original pack is still used occasionally.

Towards the end of series 30, a new package slowly introduced itself. The introduction of piano replaced the "medical/beeps" that had been heard. Again this package includes, an emotional build up (Connie breaks down after Hugo leaves with his father), a dramatic heartbeat build (Gemma stands in shock after running Lily over), a simple piano build up (Cal finds a cufflink, not his), and a romantic version (Ethan tells Alicia that he loves her at Christmas). There has also been a version based on the actual theme tune.

Episode 1 of series 31, and episode 15 featured incidental music. Earlier series of Casualty experimented with incidental music but very rarely. Episodes 1 and 2 of the 32nd series also featured a score by the series composer Jeremy Holland-Smith.

Music cues

Following the successful 30th anniversary celebrations and music composed by Jeremy Holland-Smith, it was decided to include regular musical 'cues' from Series 32 onwards as part of each episode. The music is conducted, arranged, and produced by Justine Barker. The music is often used to emphasise the significance of a part in the story, and there are multiple versions of these cues that have been produced. The music is generally formed of piano, strings, and guitar instruments, and whilst varied in structure, it contains themes that are resonant with the main theme tune of the show, allowing for use in many different circumstances across different episodes

Casualty

Casualty

Casualty may refer to:

Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster

The emergency department of a hospital, also known as a Casualty Department or Casualty Ward (chiefly in the UK and in some English-speaking Commonwealth nations)

Casualty (TV series), a long-running British emergency medical drama series

Casualty 1900s, a British medical drama, then series, including Casualty 1906, Casualty 1907, and Casualty 1909

Casualty insurance, a type of insurance

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett

Warren Edward Buffett (/ˈbʌfɪt/; born August 30, 1930)[2] is an American investor, business tycoon, and philanthropist, who is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world[3][4] and has a net worth of US$88.9 billion as of December 2019, making him the fourth-wealthiest person in the world.[5]

Buffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He developed an interest in business and investing in his youth, eventually entering the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1947 before transferring and graduating from the University of Nebraska at the age of 19. He went on to graduate from Columbia Business School, where he molded his investment philosophy around the concept of value investing that was pioneered by Benjamin Graham. He attended New York Institute of Finance to focus his economics background and soon after began various business partnerships, including one with Graham. He created Buffett Partnership, Ltd in 1956 and his firm eventually acquired a textile manufacturing firm called Berkshire Hathaway, assuming its name to create a diversified holding company. In 1978, Charlie Munger joined Buffett and became vice-chairman of the company.[6][7]

Buffett has been the chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway since 1970.[8] He has been referred to as the "Oracle" or "Sage" of Omaha by global media outlets.[9][10] He is noted for his adherence to value investing and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth.[11] Research published at the University of Oxford characterizes Buffett's investment methodology as falling within "founder centrism" – defined by a deference to managers with a founder's mindset, an ethical disposition towards the shareholder collective, and an intense focus on exponential value creation. Essentially, Buffett's concentrated investments shelter managers from the short-term pressures of the market.[12]

Buffett is a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent[13] of his fortune to philanthropic causes, primarily via the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He founded The Giving Pledge in 2009 with Bill Gates, whereby billionaires pledge to give away at least half of their fortunes

Early life and education

Buffett was born in 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska, the second of three children and the only son of Leila (née Stahl) and Congressman Howard Buffett.[15] Buffett began his education at Rose Hill Elementary School. In 1942, his father was elected to the first of four terms in the United States Congress, and after moving with his family to Washington, D.C., Warren finished elementary school, attended Alice Deal Junior High School and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1947, where his senior yearbook picture reads: "likes math; a future stockbroker."[16] After finishing high school and finding success with his side entrepreneurial and investment ventures, Buffett wanted to skip college to go directly into business but was overruled by his father.[17][18]

Buffett displayed an interest in business and investing at a young age. He was inspired by a book he borrowed from the Omaha public library at the age of seven, One Thousand Ways to Make $1000.[19] Much of Buffett's early childhood years were enlivened with entrepreneurial ventures. In one of his first business ventures, Buffett sold chewing gum, Coca-Cola bottles, and weekly magazines door to door. He worked in his grandfather's grocery store. While still in high school, he made money delivering newspapers, selling golf balls and stamps, and detailing cars, among other means. On his first income tax return in 1944, Buffett took a $35 deduction for the use of his bicycle and watch on his paper route.[20] In 1945, as a high school sophomore, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barber shop. Within months, they owned several machines in three different barber shops across Omaha. The business was sold later in the year for $1,200 to a war veteran

Buffett's interest in the stock market and investing dated to schoolboy days he spent in the customers' lounge of a regional stock brokerage near his father's own brokerage office. On a trip to New York City at age ten, he made a point to visit the New York Stock Exchange. At 11, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred for himself, and three for his philanthropic sister Doris Buffett.[22][23][24] At the age of 15, Warren made more than $175 monthly delivering Washington Post newspapers. In high school, he invested in a business owned by his father and bought a 40-acre farm worked by a tenant farmer. He bought the land when he was 14 years old with $1,200 of his savings. By the time he finished college, Buffett had accumulated $9,800 in savings (about $105,000 today).[21][25]

In 1947, Buffett entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He would have preferred to focus on his business ventures, but his father pressured him to enroll.[21] Warren studied there for two years and joined the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.[26] He then transferred to the University of Nebraska where at 19, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. After being rejected by Harvard Business School, Buffett enrolled at Columbia Business School of Columbia University upon learning that Benjamin Graham taught there. He earned a Master of Science in Economics from Columbia in 1951. After graduating, Buffett attended the New York Institute of Finance

Early business career

Buffett worked from 1951 to 1954 at Buffett-Falk & Co. as an investment salesman; from 1954 to 1956 at Graham-Newman Corp. as a securities analyst; from 1956 to 1969 at Buffett Partnership, Ltd. as a general partner; and from 1970 as Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

In 1951 [31], Buffett discovered that Graham was on the board of GEICO insurance. Taking a train to Washington, D.C. on a Saturday, he knocked on the door of GEICO's headquarters until a janitor admitted him. There he met Lorimer Davidson, GEICO's Vice President, and the two discussed the insurance business for hours. Davidson would eventually become Buffett's lifelong friend and a lasting influence,[32] and would later recall that he found Buffett to be an "extraordinary man" after only fifteen minutes. Buffett wanted to work on Wall Street but both his father and Ben Graham urged him not to. He offered to work for Graham for free, but Graham refused.[33]

Buffett returned to Omaha and worked as a stockbroker while taking a Dale Carnegie public speaking course.[34] Using what he learned, he felt confident enough to teach an "Investment Principles" night class at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The average age of his students was more than twice his own. During this time he also purchased a Sinclair Texaco gas station as a side investment but it was unsuccessful.[35]

In 1952,[36] Buffett married Susan Thompson at Dundee Presbyterian Church. The next year they had their first child, Susan Alice. In 1954, Buffett accepted a job at Benjamin Graham's partnership. His starting salary was $12,000 a year (about $114,000 today).[25] There he worked closely with Walter Schloss. Graham was a tough boss. He was adamant that stocks provide a wide margin of safety after weighing the trade-off between their price and their intrinsic value. That same year the Buffetts had their second child, Howard Graham. In 1956, Benjamin Graham retired and closed his partnership. At this time Buffett's personal savings were over $174,000 (about $1.64 million today)[25] and he started Buffett Partnership Ltd.