Wednesday, 6 February, 2008
- 6 Feb 08, 07:03 PM
Afghanistan
Is Afghanistan going to be the remaking or breaking of NATO? The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the prime minister in London today to discuss strategy in Afghanistan. British Generals are calling for troop reinforcements, meanwhile the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was scathing about the ability and willingness of NATO members, other than the US and Britain, to put up forces for Afghanistan. So who is prepared to send more troops to Afghanistan? Mark Urban has been investigating.
US elections
Gavin has moved from New York to Washington, and will be picking over the results of yesterday's "Super Tuesday" primaries. Results are still coming in, but it looks as if John McCain now has an unassailable lead in the Republican race. Gavin has been looking at Senator McCain's Presidential credentials - what is it about the 71 year old who is at odds with his party on many of the key issues that has allowed him to do so well? And what of this talk of a deal with his rival for the nomination - Mike Huckabee?
On the Democrat side - it's looking much tighter. Barack Obama won more states than Hillary Clinton in last night's contest, but they are almost neck-and-neck in the race for delegates. It's possible that no clear winner will emerge until the party convention in August. David Grossman is in California and will be asking when the race for the White House will become clear cut.
Intercept evidence
Meanwhile there seems to be political consensus that the law should be changed so that intercept evidence can be used, in certain circumstances, in courts. But what do the security services make of the government's announcement today? Richard Watson has been investigating.
Shy Keenan
And the story of Shy Keenan's campaign for justice. She was raped and sexually abused by a series of men led by her stepfather from the age of three until she was 14. As a young woman she repeatedly tried to get the authorities to listen to her horrific story, but it was not until she worked with Newsnight on a special investigation into her abuse that she was able to confront her stepfather and secretly film him admitting it. He and two other men were then jailed for a total of 32 years. Since the conviction she has campaigned for the child victims of sexual abuse, and tomorrow her account of her destroyed childhood and the long road to a recovered life will be published - read an extract. She will be live tonight on the programme.
Shy Keenan was systematically raped by her stepfather Stanley Claridge throughout her childhood. When she was just ten she was almost killed by a group of abusers he had sold her to. In a Newsnight special investigation in 2000, she secretly recorded Stanley Claridge admitting the abuse 鈥 an admission that led to him and his accomplices being arrested and brought to trial. Shy Keenan鈥檚 testimony ensured he and two other men were imprisoned. 
First, the use of the term 鈥渕iddle class voters鈥. The trouble is that 鈥渕iddle class鈥 in America means a very different group of people to the British 鈥渕iddle class鈥. In the USA 鈥渕iddle class鈥 essentially means 鈥渕iddle income鈥 鈥 the average Joe 鈥 people we in Britain might term 鈥渓ower middle class鈥 or 鈥渦pper working class鈥. But the 鈥渕iddle class鈥 in Britain are essentially the top half of the population - the better off, people in professional jobs, who own their own homes and so on. This difference explains why American politicians, Democrat and Republican, frequently win cheers for saying 鈥渨e鈥檝e got to do more for middle class voters鈥, whereas any politician who said that in Britain would be taking a huge risk. They would be condemned as elitist, and accused of neglecting the less well-off. So talking of "middle class" people in the the American context becomes confusing and meaningless for a British audience. It's better, if talking of the American "middle class", to use the term "middle income".