What was appealing about Crosland was that he was a Cavalier in a Roundhead party, so many of his comments were outrageous, particularly his undisguised dislike of the House of Commons.

I thought of him this week, because Tuesday was the deadline for nomination papers to be handed in for those wanting to run for election to the House of Commons.

Nomination used to be a little town hall ceremony where rival politicians chatted uneasily while sipping sherry.

“That awful sherry should be a warning of what’s to come,” Crosland said to me in 1964. “You’ve been elected to parliament and you’re consumed with pride right now, but soon you’ll be bored to death with the place. The only way you’ll be able to tolerate it is to stay away as often as possible.”

‘Contemporary buzz’

Crosland wasn’t trying to shock, he meant it. In his own early parliamentary career he’d been rebuked for being drunk in parliament. “How else is one to endure being here?” he replied.

At the present time, when we’re told the House of Commons isn’t respected - though it’s one of our most famous institutions - it’s worth remembering that the decline in its prestige didn’t start recently.

The Commons doesn’t now have, and is never going to regain, the reputation it had in the 19th Century. Yet prodigious efforts have been made to restore its former glories. For instance, in my time there from 1964 to 1977 the great cry was for . In many ways it still is.

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Tony Crosland’s open contempt for parliament wasn’t widely shared, but many of my contemporaries sensed that the House of Commons was in decline.

They put this down to parliament giving the appearance that it was out-of-date. They felt it needed a contemporary buzz.

My friend Sir Robin Day suggested one. He made a powerful case for televising parliament. Eventually the change was made. Has this brought fresh life to parliamentary debate? I don’t think so and it’s had one unfortunate, unintended consequence. The chamber of the House of Commons is emptier than it ever was, because MPs can now watch Commons’ debates on the telly in the comfort of their offices without going into the building at all.

The modernisation programme went far beyond televising parliament, but perhaps it made things worse. MPs voted themselves adequate pensions, special offices and large secretarial allowances. They were given greater security to concentrate on their job and better facilities to do it.

Professional politicians

But what exactly is an MP’s job? Is it like a full-time job in private business? I remember discussing this issue with some of my colleagues 30 years ago. They were reformers to a man.

To begin with, most of them were eager that the parliamentary day should be changed. They didn’t want the existing arrangement of afternoon and evening sittings. They wanted something much closer to the nine-to-five working day.

Again and again the significant word “normal” was used. “Normal” hours should be worked so that a “normal” family life could be lived. When I pointed out that one of the reasons for using the evenings was to free up the day so that MP’s didn’t have to be professional politicians, but could do some work outside parliament, some of my friends grew enraged.

They let me know that they wanted to be professional politicians and they disapproved of MP’s having outside financial interests. So did the British people, they said. The people no longer trusted MP’s and were suspicious of any activities they didn’t know about. There should be a register of interests so that every penny earned and every treat enjoyed must be written down. Then the people would be reassured.

Genius in the House of Commons represents failure, any government job equals success

What was necessary was to make an MP’s work open to scrutiny, so that the voters could see that he, or she, was working flat out to get their benefits paid, their jobs preserved, their drains unblocked and their hospitals improved.

I wasn’t particularly enchanted by this vision of the narrow and puritan life politicians would have to lead in order to be trusted and it did occur to me that neither Winston Churchill nor Disraeli could have lasted five minutes in such a climate of opinion. Hugh Gaitskell and Nye Bevan wouldn’t have been around for long either.

Nevertheless events proved my colleagues were right. The avoidance of scandal has become the chief duty of an MP. And it helps to be regarded as diligent, obedient and orthodox.

The changes made in the House of Commons were an unavoidable response to both public and fashionable demand. But if anybody thought that lost respect would be recaptured by these means then they’ve been .

The Commons isn’t well regarded however hard it tries. And I might know the reason why. I used to be friendly with an elderly peer who’d been close to the Conservative Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin.

Democracy in danger

One day he disturbed Baldwin apparently asleep on a couch in his room in the House of Commons. Baldwin opened an eye and said: “I’m not asleep, I’ve just been thinking that mine will be the last government where parliament is supreme.”

Alarmed by what seemed a prediction that democracy was in danger my friend, who was then an earnest young man, said: “Oh dear, prime minister where do you think the threat will come from?” Baldwin sat up and said briskly: “Why from Whitehall of course, where else? The time’s coming when the government will swamp parliament.”

Baldwin, a grossly underrated figure , foresaw in 1936 what becomes ever more obvious as year succeeds to year.

When I was first told this story it made a great impression on me because it made transparent what I’d always half-known, but tried to avoid thinking about. Some of my friends, including Tony Crosland, had very little interest in the House of Commons. They wanted to be ministers. If they had to spend any serious length of time on the backbenches they’d be off. Of course there’s nothing wrong with such ambition.

Indeed I’d go further. It’s the only kind of political ambition many lobby journalists understand, as I can illustrate. The greatest House of Commons figure of my time was Michael Foot, who for 30 years made brilliant and witty speeches at the drop of a hat. But he’d always refused ministerial office, until he joined the cabinet in1974.

Sir Robin Day pushed for televising parliament

Jimmy Margach, lobby with the Sunday Times, came up to me chuckling and said: “I’ve just been asked by a new boy in the lobby why Foot, who’s been a failure for so long, has suddenly become a success.” There you have it. Genius in the House of Commons represents failure, any government job equals success.

It is government - where Tony Crosland wanted to be - that’s prized, not the House of Commons. And it’s easy to see why.

Jimmy Margach went on to write a book in 1978 in which he said: “The stark fact is that Whitehall and the Executive have during this century - and before my very eyes - arrogated to themselves the supreme power and authority of parliament.”

That was written 27 years ago. Since then the British Government has got stronger, not to mention the power now exercised by the European Union. The House of Commons is a poor, frail thing alongside this. Yet I’d be upset if anybody thought the House of Commons had been diminished by some dark conspiracy. Everything that’s happened has been done in the open.

Of course there’s a concerned minority in the country that worries about the impotence of the House of Commons, and may be disturbed by the implications of the new European constitution, or the long-term consequences of Scottish devolution.

But politics these days is no longer about such things. It’s been reduced to basics - the big issue is whether the government is dishing out the goodies - or failing to. Tony Crosland would have been delighted to know that his priorities prevailed.

Terms & Conditions

Your comments on “A Panorama special - London under attack”, first broadcast on Sunday 10 July 2005 at 22:15 BST.

Due to the high number of e-mails we get we cannot guarantee to publish every single message we receive, however the e-mails published will reflect the balance of opinion. We may also edit some e-mails for legal reasons and for purposes of clarity and length.

The views expressed on these pages are not the views of the BBC. The e-mails published will be reflective of the balance of opinion received.

The bombings are no more representative of Islam than the crusades were of Christianity, but these people are Muslims, and terrorism is an issue that Islam has to address. Saying this is nothing to do with Islam is a lie, and as long as the lie stands nothing will be done to tackle this unacceptable face of Islam.
Paul, Hereford

I have always feared that al-Qaeda were operating in London and tonight’s programme has shown how easy it for them to do so what looks like quite legally. Peter Taylor’s investigation has shown how easy it is for them, I am very surprised that a cleric was allowed to preach in the street about heads rolling and encouraging the killing of British troops. I hope that the Government watch the programme and action is taken on some of the facts found by Peter Taylor during his investigation. Al-Qaeda is an evil which has to be put out of action in the United Kingdom. Physical scars will heal for those who have survived this evil attack in London but mental scars will take a lot longer if ever to heal.
Steve Fuller, Hove, East Sussex, England

I was appalled with the ease in which these extremists could operate in London. Many in the programme actively involved themselves in either the propogation of the ‘ideology of murder’ or actively engaged in recruitment. I am a member of a minority community and the state does me no favours by not deporting, imprisoning or prosecuting them. It will be no surprise if the political opinion shifts to the far right in the face of such government impotence. The government should not play vote bank politics. It is sad that the muslim community does not condemn the incident without any caveats, hesitation, or without linking the incident to Palestine, Kashmir etc. It only helps to doubt the genuineness of their statments of condemnation.
Leo K, Durham, UK

I am a devout Muslim who was born in this country. I was extremely saddened by what happened on Thursday. But this sadness is just an extension of the pain I and other Muslims feel daily, for the thousands of innocent Muslim civilians killed or maimed in the past year. Although I would never let this pain lead me to commit such evil that took place on Thursday myself, I cannot guarantee the same for the millions of Muslims living in this country and around the world.

I personally think that some responsibility for this disaster has to be taken by those responsible for sending this country to Iraq. Whatever the justifications, the rights and wrongs, the methods of the war, how can they expect to kill tens of 1000s of innocent civilians in Iraq and not expect some sort of reaction, however perverse? I pray sincerely for the cycle of attacks to end.
Mujahid Aziz, Birmingham, United Kingdom

The programme told us that UK passport holders were joining the jihad and that they may bomb in this country. But the only quotes you sought from Muslims were to blame Blair for Iraq. You didn’t ask them to admit that they share mosques with would be terrorists. You didn’t ask them why they don’t identify those jihadis to the police. You didn’t ask them why fatwas were not being issued to inform the jihadis of their error in thinking that they would die as martyrs.
Danni, Leeds, England

A very disappointing piece of propaganda against innocent Muslim people. What about the mass market for games, simulating the ‘greatness’ of warfare, with the aim to recruit soldiers to be send into unjust wars to slaughter and torture innocent people. I as a Westerner am deeply ashamed of the way our media and politicians is reacting to such devastating events.
Sebastian, London

Am I the only person who failed to see the point of tonights programme? Using unrelated to each other, wholly-unconnected, old video clips with speculative voiceover and adding allegations from some American military officers together with general claims of anti-terror police officers proved what exactly? Out of all ‘Panorama’ programmes I watched with great interest and amazement, this is the first time I felt that it was a waste of time spared for a truly souless and almost as a rushed programme without single new information. Shame.
Dr Ethan Bayer, Baltimore, USA

Is this really all the BBC and Peter Taylor can come up with after one year of ? To me it looked like a programme that was cobbled together in reaction to the bombings in London.

Was there really anything newsworthy in the 55 minutes of programme time? Did we really have to be told what it feels like to be close to a bomb and survive? What was the point of having an al-Qaeda member state on camera that al-Qaeda used to like to come to London because they didn’t need papers? Are we supposed to think that the cards can’t come soon enough? Even Charles Clarke admitted that ID cards wouldn’t have made a difference to the attacks in London. And finally, the news that al-Qaeda members actually look like your Muslim next-door neighbour. What a surprise. Is this a preparation for more unjustified police actions against British citizens who have the wrong colour? Very disappointed, BBC.
Susan S, Manchester

I wanted to ask Peter Taylor if there was any way in which extremist websites that show how to make bombs and aquire weapons, can be shutdown in any way. Without access to the internet it would be very difficult for the potential terrorist to communicate. Isn’t it illegal for these websites to operate in the first place?
Chris F J Cyrnik, Great Britain

I feel quite angry after watching your show this evening. I think the muslim community has a responsibility do more within their communities to uncover those who would carry out terrorist acts. I’ve heard anger, dismay, fear and sympathy but I haven’t heard a clear call to action from the muslim leaders to seek out those who are in support of a violent jihad.
Michael Price, UK

Your comments on “Undercover hospital cleaner”, first broadcast on Wednesday 13 July 2005 at 19:00 BST.

The views expressed on these pages are not necessarily the views of the BBC. The e-mails published will be reflective of the balance of opinion received.

I am disgusted with the reports shown on your programme, not only with the unacceptable levels of hygeine but lack of basic knowledge from all levels of staff including, nursing staff. My wife spent four days in hospital in Florida at beginning of the year and during her stay I was impressed with the levels of cleanliness from everybody in the hospital.

Every person who entered her room used hand cleaner, gloves and aprons no matter what they were going to do and dispenesed with the garments before leaving the room.There was never any occasion when this safe practice was not complied with. Shame on the Health Service in the UK and shame on the individuals who carry out these shoddy practices and with their superiors who are failing the UK public.
Gordon Kidd, Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland

I think it is scary how dirty some hospitals are and seeing the first one I am appalled!
Kirsty, Andover Hampshire

How, how true. I spent ten days in an isolation room last year. Everyone had to wear masks, aprons and gloves. Everyone that is except the cleaners, who just breezed in and out without a care in the world. Fortunately I didn’t have what I was suspected of having, else there would have been many deaths at that hospital.
Christopher Hill, London, UK

The ignorance of both cleaning and medical staff disgusted me Lesley Johnson

As an ex-nurse and midwife I have just watched with a degree of amazement and frustrated anger your undercover report on Initial hospital cleaning. The ignorance of both cleaning and medical staff disgusted me. I now realise that the drop in MRSA is probably wholly due to the growing awareness of patients and their families of what to do to protect themselves against infection if they need to go into hospital.
Lesley Johnson, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

Having just finished watching your report on hospital cleaning I have to say I am shocked at the complete disregard for hygiene displayed. I am mostly surprised at the lack shown by the ‘nurses’ in the film more so than the cleaning staff. This is a disgrace, and the government should be taking action immediately. Next week’s programme looks far more disturbing.
David Watt, Motherwell, Scotland

Hospital cleaners should be employed by the individual ward/department, not contracted out. If a cleaner was dedicated to a particular area then closer monitoring can take place. Also, the cleaner would take more pride in their work. This is how wards were looked after in the 1970s. Cleaners felt part of the ward team.
B Wade, Faversham, Kent

As a deputy charge nurse I feel that this programme shows the worst of the NHS. It is true that if you pay peanuts then you will get monkeys. However, as it was pointed out, cleaners are part of the health team and it should be the responsibility of the ward sisters to ensure that all staff including cleaners maintain correct hygiene procedures and chase up any problems.
Karl, Colchester

Prevention of the spread of MRSA and other infectious diseases in our hospitals should be the number one priority of our NHS management Simon Edwards

Prevention of the spread of MRSA and other infectious diseases in our hospitals should be the number one priority of our NHS management. And I am sure it is. But this urgency is clearly not getting through to the workers on the front line. As a qualified engineer in the manufacturing industry, I am familiar with the problems associated with getting a workforce to undertake correct practices whilst meeting targets. Unfortunately, these staff are not being managed correctly at all. They need strong superiors who are not afraid to make sure they are doing their jobs correctly. Less management and more leadership is required in our NHS.
Simon Edwards, Woking, Surrey

No great surprises, was disgusted by the attitudes of the staff. I am a dentist and our practice treats cross-infection control very seriously. It takes time, but that’s the only way to do it properly. Unfortunately a lot of employees who have responsibility for cross-infection control are poorly educated, poorly paid, poorly trained and motivated. Is it any wonder?
Claire Warren, Glasgow, Scotland

l have worked in a hospital as a hostess. The cleaners there had to make cleaning equipment last because they were allocated not enough. There were not enough mops or cloths to go around.
Sharon Scrase, Brighton, England

Your into hospital cleanliness was enlightening. However I am wondering when hospitals are going to realise that contracting out the cleaning leaves them in this vulnerable position. Private companies put profit first - their contracts are designed to make money this is understandable however the shortcuts they take demonstrate the risk these hospitals take.

My grandmother used to clean for our local hospital she was employed by the hospital, trained by the hospital and only had one or two wards to cover. The ward was mopped and swept twice a day. In addition the bedding was put in large laundry baskets - nurses where not allowed to drop it on the floor. The laundry was also cleaned on site - the hospital had its own laundry. I have to say that the sheets then looked much cleaner than they do now! The fresh hospital bedding that I have seen has had one or two stains on it that the wash cycle has obviously not removed.

I understand that the Hospital Trusts have funding issues but surely it is important to get the basics right first otherwise what is the point in treating patients for one illness only for them to die from another? Incidentally my grandfather caught MRSA when he was in the hospital - the same hospital that my grandma used to clean some years before!
Karen Cooper, Wakefield, West Yorkshire

The whole problem is that the cleaners are an essential part of the health service and are paid the minimum wage Sarah Nicolson

No offense but the whole problem is that the cleaners are an essential part of the health service and are paid the minimum wage, with no sick pay and have an impossible workload to fit in. The fact that they are under-staffed makes it worse as you are expected to cover for the vacancies in the same time with no overtime and you are also quizzed at to why you use so much cleaning equiptment, The whole problem is that the private cleaning contracts are a scam used to pay poor wages and do the work at the lowest possible cost. Good cleaners still only get 4.55 per hour with no thanks, constant criticisim and complaints - ask your self would you do the job?

Give the cleaners a decent wage and enough time & resources to do the job & then you’ll get people who feel appreciated & valued and the work will be done properly.
Sarah Nicolson, Scotland

I am glad this topic is being kept in the public eye. Although the subject is very relevant to me on a personal level, i am still shocked that people don’t even know what MRSA is and am as shocked to hear of MSSA being talked of as ‘not so bad’ .The government may have made some changes but obviously from your footage not enough. I am amazed and scared by the enormity of the problem and don’t understand why extreme measures aren’t taken to get rid of it.

Why isn’t everyone in the country swobbed before they go into hospital? Why are visitor numbers not rigidly enforced? Why isn’t bed linen washed at the required temperature? Why don’t doctors still wash their hands between patients? I personally don’t think the issue of hospital acquired infections will be seriously tackled until more children and babies start dying - and unfortunately they will. Thank you, your reporter was excellent.
Julie Whitehouse-Jones, Wellington, Shropshire

The shortcomings of contract cleaning were of no surprise. But where were the ward sisters? Were they not aware of what goes on? Or were they in their offices completing the vast amount of paperwork and target chasing with which their life is bedevilled?
Dr EJ Barnett, Mold, Wales

As a nurse working in an hospital, I underline the need of appreciation to the cleaners. Start with giving better wages and more time to do their job. Second is the appreciation for their job. The fact a nurse is talking about ‘immunity’ a big insult for this profession.

Everything starts with appreciating the job you are making your money with. for yourself and from others.
Jore van der Burg, Utercht, The Netherlands

Watching the programme tonight revealed more to me about the failure of contract-driven services to deliver their hollow promises, and the impotence of the stratified management style, whereby the one truly accountable person delegates through a chain of progressively worse paid, overworked and apathetic staff.

We are surely entering a new phase in the area of employment liability whereby the phrase ‘we provided full training’ just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Scott Pawsey, Birmingham England

Basic hygiene should be a drill and not a rather blurred picture Jo Bond

The burden falls upon those that are on the front line - cleaners in this instance are named and shamed but I cast my eye to seeing what lies behind the scenes, to those who make the decisions on time and resources which are obviously flawed. The documentary only serves to again place blame on to individuals rather than seeing and focusing on the larger picture. Basic hygiene should be a drill and not a rather blurred picture. It seems to me that a ward needs their cleaners to feel part of the team and a contracted service is far from this model.
Jo Bond, Cambridge

WhenI worked in the NHS as a secretary I used to say good morning to the cleaner who was always there first thing cleaning the window sills. She told me once that I was the only one to greet her, the Trust chairman and chief executive often walked past her by and never once greeted her. The cleaners wages are appalling the work load too, how can they take a pride in their work if they have to cover so much ground.
Carol Smith, St Neots, England

What a disgrace, and still at the end of the programme the chief executive was grasping for excuses. There is only one way to ensure that areas are kept hygenic and safe. That is for the ward cleaner to become a valued member of the ward team under the direction of the ward sister/charge nurse as used to happen. Do away with these profiteering and useless companies. As far as the ignorance and lack of knowledge of the nursing staff as to the importance of infection prevention, well, words fail me. Disgraceful, shameful, is the very least I can think of. These nurses should try to remember that it could be them or a loved one needing the care, and they should be thouroughly ashamed.
William Murray, Dawlish, Devon

It is not an excuse for NHS cleaners not to do their job properly, but when you only have so long to clean each room or department and not enough staff, how can you expect them to comply with all the rules. Maybe if the company employing them were to give a decent living wage, then more people might want to join the company, which in the long run would alleviate the work load and give the cleaners more time to comply with the rules.
Jean Roberts, Sleaford, Lincs

My husband is a very good cleaner at another Birmingham hospital. However, although he adheres to the correct training, it is often the doctors who do not wash their hands inbetween patients. There are some cleaners who do not do a proper job, but don’t tar them all with the same brush! Being an ex-microbiologist it seems people need to be re-educated on the subject of MRSA. Some patients believe they can catch it off a dirty wall and others think it is a virus. Hand washing is the key - so don’t just blame the cleaners - they deserve more respect than they are given.
R Kerr, Birmingham, UK

Flags were flown at half mast on all Russian navy vessels and sailors observed a minute of silence.

Church services were held in Moscow, St Petersburg and at the sub’s Arctic home base of Vidyayevo. In the city of Kursk a new monument was unveiled.

Just days ago a Russian mini-sub’s crew was rescued in the Pacific.

The dramatic intervention of a British rescue team to free the trapped Priz submersible and its crew of seven from the seabed brought back painful memories.

It raised questions about why, five years on from the Kursk, Russia still had no modern deep-sea rescue equipment.

The sinking of the Kursk - one of Russia’s newest and most modern submarines - during exercises in 2000 was the country’s worst peacetime military disaster.

Poignant monument

The 118 sailors who died were remembered with services on all Russian fleets.

The Kursk was one of Russia’s most modern submarines In pictures: Russia mourns

Relatives attended services in Moscow and St Petersburg, where many of the men are buried, local media reported.

They laid wreaths at the graves and flowers were cast into the sea at Vidyayevo.

In the central Russian city of Kursk, from which the vessel took its name, a monument made from fragments of the submarine was unveiled.

“For us, it’s as if part of our boys were here,” one woman told Russia’s Channel One TV.

A small number of the crew survived the initial explosion of an unstable torpedo - only to die hours later, slowly in freezing conditions and pitch darkness.

A rescue mission of sorts had been launched but Russia refused foreign assistance, even though its navy lacked modern search-and-rescue equipment.

Many believe that 23 sailors who survived the blast might have been saved, had the Russian navy reacted in time.

Reforms delayed

The sinking was also a public relations disaster for the Russian navy and the Russian authorities.

Mr Putin was widely criticised after he stayed on holiday and said nothing.

The BBC’s Steven Eke says live media reports of the incident, which happened early in Mr Putin’s , helped shape Russia’s current leadership.

Analysts say the negative coverage was one of the key factors in the way the Kremlin went on to wrest back control of Russia’s TV channels.

There could be no admission of impotence, our correspondent says, and none of the offers of resignation from navy officers were accepted.

Even the government inquiry into the disaster decided no blame or responsibility could be apportioned, he adds.

Military closed their in July 2002, concluding that no sailors could have lived long enough after the explosion to be rescued.

Return to the top

The day after 17 African immigrants died in a house fire in Paris, France’s national and regional press reflects on the underlying causes of the tragedy.

Many papers blame the high cost of property in France, which has led to a serious shortage of social housing and consequent in the poorer districts of Paris.

Commentators also accuse politicians who vowed to take action in the wake of the tragedy of shedding “crocodile tears”, pointing out that the roots of the housing crisis go back a long way.

This fire revives the debate on the inadequacy of social housing in Paris.

To the gap between the haves and the have-nots has been added a new divide - the property divide… The crocodile tears shed by various people since yesterday morning do not convince anyone.

The embers had not yet gone cold before everyone seemed to be trying to pass the buck for the tragedy and Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy was promising a far-reaching inquiry… For years, social housing has been the great absent element in national and municipal political programmes.

This tragedy, apart from prompting our politicians to the utterances in which they are past masters, ought to force them to act. Is it acceptable for decent housing in France to become a privilege?

Four months after the conflagration at the hotel in the Rue de Provence the Paris-Opera hotel, where 24 people, most of them African immigrants, died in a fire in April, the fire on the boulevard Vincent-Auriol comes along as further evidence of impotence… But we will soon have a register of dangerous buildings: a new black list! Too late.

Everyone knows that neither this building nor the Paris-Opera are isolated cases… Nationwide efforts to provide social housing are far from being adequate to address the consequences of this situation. The declaration over the smouldering ashes by the minister of the interior, ordering the Paris Prefet to compile a register of all the apartment buildings in Paris in terms of safety and overcrowding, leaves at the very least a bitter taste.

Seventeen deaths, fourteen of them children, is a high price to pay to get things moving in a situation we have been aware of for a long time… With a tragedy like this, grandstanding is out of place. Pointing a vengeful finger in the direction of this or that person does not get us very far, and could even add one injustice to another.

Rather than pointing the finger of blame the better in order to exonerate oneself, it would make more sense to recognize the extent of the housing crisis in Paris, the consequence of the over-concentration of economic activity in this country. The most vulnerable are the first to be affected, and among those are the immigrants whose family size does not correspond to the French norm.

There are thousands of buildings like the one that caught fire yesterday. There is thus every likelihood that we will see other such tragedies. The embarrassment of the political class is understandable: it feels collectively responsible because it is responsible, as there is nothing new about the housing crisis in Paris.

The terrible tragedy that took place in Paris yesterday is unworthy of our country… At the same time as France is witnessing an unprecedented degree of property speculation, the country is incapable of providing decent housing for thousands of families living in extremely precarious conditions… In the Ile-de-France alone, 300,000 requests for social housing have not yet been met.

What is in question is the entire policy of the accommodation of people from the margins of society, foreign in origin and faced with the eternal problem of assimilation.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.