Tag: current affairs

Times Radio wants to hear from Edinburgh and the Lothians today

  • The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Radio announces 2024 election marketing plans 
  • Times Radio is hitting the road with an Election Bus tour 
  • The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Radio launch “From Westminster to your World” marketing campaign 

As the British General Election on July 4th approaches, Times Radio is excited to announce the launch of the Times Radio Election Bus tour. 

Broadcasting live from a studio within the giant branded tour bus, Times Radio will travel across the country to listen to the voices of local communities and highlight the political issues that matter most to them. 

Starting its journey travelling from Dover to London, the bus will visit key battlegrounds and politically significant areas up until polling day, including Glasgow, Cardiff, Bournemouth, Birmingham, and more.

At each location, Times Radio will provide real-time updates, expert analysis, lively debates, and must-hear interviews, ensuring listeners are fully informed on every twist and turn of the election campaign. 

Along the way, the British public will be able to record messages for the next Prime Minister against a realistic No.10 Downing Street backdrop. Messages will then be incorporated into Times Radio’s programmes. 

Tim Levell, Programme Director of Times Radio, said; “The General Election is the one moment when power flows to every individual person across the United Kingdom.

“We are delighted that the Times Radio Election Bus, complete with its state-of-the-art on-board radio studio, will be visiting communities right across the country, to hear the concerns and opinions of the voters who will decide our next government.”

The tour bus was supplied by Empire RV, the design, advertising and activation was created by The Tenth Man and produced by Extreme Productions. 

Gethin Evans, UK Managing Director, The Tenth Man, added: “It’s been pretty exciting working with the team at one the worlds best known media brands as our founding client for the London office.

“It’s not very often you get the chance to help brands that are almost 250 years old – and we are delighted to help them promote Times Radio across the UK in a pivotal political period for the country.

“We’re taking current affairs on the road, without the boring bits.” 

Coinciding with the launch of the tour, The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Radio have today also unveiled a new election marketing campaign. Created by News UK’s dedicated agency, Pulse Creative, the integrated campaign, “From Westminster to your World,” illustrates how these brands help customers better understand the real-life impact of the election on the issues that matter to them. 

The striking hero social films feature British political icons – the red budget box, green Commons bench, Big Ben, and the door to Number 10 – in relatable scenarios, symbolising that Times journalism brings everyday context to Westminster politics.

These films are supported by a series of insightful social videos, created in partnership with The Times, The Sunday Times, and Times Radio’s editorial teams, that take a closer look at the key political issues set to shape the 2024 election. 

Louise Agran, Marketing Director of Times Media, said; “This campaign demonstrates what sets The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Radio apart – insightful journalism that helps our subscribers and listeners understand the consequences of the election, and politics more broadly, so that they can make the right decisions for themselves and their families.” 

Russell Ramsey, ECD of Pulse Creative London, said: “There’s a lot of negativity about Westminster party politics at the moment, so we wanted to tell a more relatable story about the election.

“This campaign highlights the real value of The Times by focusing on what truly matters in an election – the lives of the voters.” 

Social media will be an important battleground for this election, so ‘From Westminster to Your World’ is designed to be social-native.

The campaign leverages a diverse array of social formats across various platforms, delivering multiple touchpoints with politically engaged audiences, ensuring The Times is active wherever opinions are shaped and debated. 

The details for Edinburgh are:

Times Radio Election Bus x Edinburgh and the Lothians

Date: Friday 14th June

Time: 6am – 5pm

Location: Register Square, Edinburgh (next to Starbucks at St James Quarter entrance)

Topics to be discussed include:

  • The investigations into SNP finances and its impact on SNP performance in the capital
  • Labour’s potential gains in the city
  • Scotland’s first game at the Euros

New series of BBC ALBA’s flagship current affairs programme premieres with special on Nagorno-Karabakh

In September 2023, Azerbaijan retook the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan, until recently much of it was under Armenian control as the Republic of Artsakh.

Armenia had captured the territory during a war in the early 1990s. After Azerbaijan’s recapture of the enclave, most of its Armenian-majority population fled, and are now living in Armenia.

In this latest instalment of BBC ALBA’s European current affairs programme Eòrpa, Annabel Maclennan meets several of those displaced, as well as representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments who are currently involved in talks to formally set their respective borders.

Scottish Government External Affairs Secretary, Angus Robertson MSP, also sheds lights on Scotland’s connection to this decades-old conflict. Mr Robertson facilitated talks in Edinburgh and Moray between the two sides in 2003, and sees a role for Scotland in helping resolve tensions today.

He said: “If it comes to the Scottish Government which can help in the hosting of events, academics and experts who could share their expertise, and NGOs who have expertise on the ground in different parts of the world and have been involved in peace and reconciliation processes elsewhere.

“If we recognise that we have all of these resources here, these are things that we can offer to places like the South Causasus. So when the time is right for them, if they want, it’s up to them. If they want to come here, they would be very welcome.”

Viktorya Balayan’s husband, Sevak, was killed when defending Nagorno-Karabakh. She was left to tell her daughter, Maria (six), that her father would not be coming home. She said: “I sat her and explained to her that Sevak had died and he is a star now, and he will always be with her, he sees her from the above and is very proud of her.

“One time we noticed that Maria couldn’t be found anywhere. We found her on the balcony, speaking to the stars: “Mom, look, Dad is the biggest star.”, I said, “Yes, he is the biggest star.”

Elin Suleymanov is Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He says those who fled Nagorno-Karabakh are welcome to return: “Of course, anybody who can come, who wants to come back, can come back.

“But they need to prove that if they want to be citizens of Azerbaijan.”

Reporter Annabel Maclennan reflects on her time covering this issue, on those she met, and why what happens in Nagorno Karabakh and the Southern Caucasus matters.

She comments: “The tragic human stories and powerful testimonies we heard in Armenia left me in no doubt that this is a situation to which we should be paying attention.

“That, coupled with the current situation in neighbouring Georgia, as well as the wider geo-political situation of the Southern Caucasus, bordering Russia, Turkey and Iran, highlights the significance of this conflict and the importance of peace in the region.”

Eòrpa is BBC ALBA’s flagship current affairs programme, covering a range of domestic and European stories, ranging from the impact of fires and flooding in Greece, to gender-based violence in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

The new series of Eòrpa will premiere on BBC ALBA and BBC iPlayer weekly, on Wednesday evenings at 9pm (in Gaelic with English subtitles).

Watch live or on demand: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mvwb

Two people from Edinburgh feature in tonight’s Eòrpa about Assisted Dying

Two people from Edinburgh feature in the next episode of European Current Affairs programme, Eòrpa, which is about the proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill and will air on BBC ALBA tonight (Thursday, November 18) at 8.30pm.

Dr Donald MacDonald – from Edinburgh – practiced as a doctor, and as a minister, for many years, both in the UK and in India and he’s had MS for almost 40 years. He is against the assisted dying Scotland Bill because it goes against the age old medical ethic of not ending a life deliberately. He’s concerned that people would feel like a burden on their family, friends or caregivers and due to this they might opt for ending their life via assisted suicide or euthanasia.

And Leighanne Baird-Sangster from Edinburgh. In May 2020, her wife Gill was terminally ill with melanoma cancer and when she reached the end-of-life stage they had a very difficult 10 days before she died when she suffered a lot of pain. Leighanne supports the Assisted Dying Scotland Bill, so that no one else goes through what her wife did.

Assisted dying has always been a divisive, and deeply controversial topic. Those in favour may see it as a compassionate way to end suffering. Many people come to support it due to their own personal experience. But on the other hand, many of those against changing the law see it as gravely immoral, and as something which could be used to undermine the rights of the most vulnerable in society.

Any new change in the law in Scotland would not make it easy for someone to go through the assisted dying process. Anyone who wishes to go through with it must have a terminal, incurable illness, and must be deemed to be near the end of their lives. Although the proposed bill currently contains no recommendation on exactly how long someone might naturally have left to live.

Spain is the latest country to pass an assisted dying bill, giving people the option to end their lives when they choose. From March this year, those living in Spain who suffer from incurable illnesses can begin the process to end their own lives.  

In Spain, a doctor can administer the final drug – something which would not be allowed were the law to change in Scotland.

Other Contributors include: 

Dr Gordon MacDonald, Chief Executive Care not Killing, believes it would put people who are vulnerable in a very dangerous situation, that they would come under pressure to end their lives prematurely and rather than that we should be investing in proper palliative care.  

Ally Thompson, Director – Dignity in Dying – says the current blanket ban is unfair and unjust, and causes so many dying people and their families to suffer needlessly. He believes legalising assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults, would be better.

Liam MacArthur MSP for Orkney Islands – he thinks people have increasingly come to the conclusion that having this choice of an assisted death is compassionate, it’s what a progressive country ought to aspire to,

Rev Domhnall Michael Macinnes – he believes that passing this Bill would open Pandora’s Box and we should be encouraging life for people because it’s a precious gift from God. Mr MacInnes, who is minister of Gairbraid Church in Maryhill, Glasgow, is originally from Lewis. He is also a former minister at St Columba’s Church in St Vincent Street, Glasgow.

Javier Serrano Martin from Spain – was the first person in Madrid to die under the new assisted dying legislation. He suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and spoke to Eorpa shortly before his death.

Ross Kemp: Living with Homelessness

Ross Kemp presents Living With … , a brand new four-part series on ITV in which he travels the country to meet people living with some of the biggest issues affecting Britain today.
Ross immerses himself in situations to gain a first-hand taste of the difficulties they face and highlight what is really going on, often unnoticed, under the nose of mainstream society.

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