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On Sunday last I sat on a panel on Marian Finucane’s radio programme. After a pretty hectic week, I had a whirlwind of reading to do to brief myself on everything I might have missed in the news.
The majority of the stories we covered on the show actually centred on women and the different situations they had found themselves in. This ranged from the story of Maria Bailey and her insurance claim to that of Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, the wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, and her alleged escape to Britain.
One of my fellow panelists commented that it was hard to fathom the term “escape” when you are fleeing to your £85m home in London and that the story read like something of a fairytale. More like a nightmare is my reading.
Being rich beyond comparison does not mean that you cannot be trapped and the fact that she has fled taking her two children with her emphasises this.
Only last December Haya was vocal in support of her family, when her step daughter Princess Latifah, who when allegedly trying to escape her family was forcibly returned to Dubai
Earlier this year, Yvonne Kerr wrote an article for Irish Country Living and it detailed the dark side of Dubai.
Only last December Haya was vocal in support of her family, when her step daughter Princess Latifah, who when allegedly trying to escape her family was forcibly returned to Dubai. She claimed that Latifah was a vulnerable woman and that this had been done for her own wellbeing.
With her own departure, and considering Haya is a woman of considerable fame and connection, although perhaps no less vulnerable, whatever happens next has the potential to show the world what this dark side really looks like for Emirati women.
On a more positive note, in terms of a women’s position in our western society – and although it didn’t come up on the show – there was a huge amount in the papers over the weekend about the gender-balanced top four jobs in the EU institutions that are now going forward for approval to various groupings.
There is often a claim that the women are not there, but this shows clearly that they are – if you look hard enough
The intention was to have a gender balance but what is plain to see is that the two women selected, Ursula von der Leyen, who will potentially head up the EU Commission, and Christine Lagarde, in line to lead the International Monetary Fund, are hugely capable women.
There is often a claim that the women are not there, but this shows clearly that they are – if you look hard enough.
Of course, Mercosur took up a huge amount of air time. My fellow panelists were quick to point out that economically for Europe there is a lot more to this trade deal than just beef and it shouldn’t fall because of it.
I was at pains to point out that fundamentally our beef production system means that EU consumers are gifted with an affordable, high-quality product that we could not guarantee with an imported product that comes from Brazil.
In terms of trade deals, food is different and it should be. We have two articles in the paper this week that support the case for the importance of a high-quality, local food system.
Margaret Hawkins talks to Helen Brown from the National Infertility Support and Information group. Helen points to eating good-quality food as essential when trying to conceive. Our cover feature with nutritionist Daniel Davey also supports the local food message when he says: “Farmers know a lot about food, they know how to produce extremely good food.” This production must be respected and protected.
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