Miliband: The UK’s role in the Arab Spring

Has British foreign policy helped or hindered the Arab Spring? The former British foreign secretary David Miliband joins Sir David Frost to discuss the UK’s role in the Arab world over the last year and a half.

Miliband also shares his thoughts on the Iranian nuclear issue and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. If the foreign forces’ withdrawal does go wrong, as some speculate, Miliband believes that going back would not be possible.

“I dont see that as being a possible option…because foreign troops are helping Afghan troops hold security, but that must stick in the gullet of the Afghan mothers and fathers who have seen their children killed in this dreadful incident just recently. It must stick in the gullet of the fathers and mothers of the western soldiers who have the guns turned on them by the Afghans who they are training. So I think we are in a situation where the urgency of a political process grows by the day.”

Also in the studio is Merhezia Labidi Maiza, the deputy speaker of the Tunisian Parliament, which makes her the woman who holds the highest political position across the Arab world. She discusses her country’s achievements and challenges following the revolution.

Following ten years as struggling musicians, the band Snow Patrol is now a multi-platinum success story. Lead singer Gary Lightbody joins Sir David to discuss his career and their latest album, Fallen Empires.

Bishop Gene Robinson, who became the first openly gay cleric to become an Anglican Bishop in 2003, and Reverend Lynda Rose debate the controversial subject of same-sex marriages and whether or not homosexuals should be allowed join the clergy in the Anglican Church.