Mark Foster

Senior Teaching Fellow at Birmingham Business School, PR consultant, journalist, video producer. Always look on the bright side of life.

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

For years we had the most dependable DPD driver but his route was changed and now we have a new one. In a week he has lied about missing us, delivered someone else’s parcel and failed to show today. Why does @JohnLewisRetail use #DPD?

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

#YnylasView Aberdovey “unique holiday home” promoted as the “perfect spot for family and friends” is now maximising profits by lodging van loads of construction workers. #aberlovelyholidays #absenteelandlord #booking.com #airbnb #aberdyfigwynedd

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Diary clash means now new episode this week but you can hear Miriam and @llewela on last week’s That’s It From Us on Spotify https://t.co/64HGF5tlzg

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

They’re back! After a winter break Miriam O’Reilly and Llewela Bailey @Llewela discuss Dry January (or not) in That’s It From Us https://t.co/eu3mUGQKBd

[Nick Robinson @bbcnickrobinson]

It is easy…tempting indeed…to be distracted by the sound & fury of the battle between two powerful men – the billionaire who owns X and has turned it into a megaphone and the British Prime Minister. However, this story is much more important than a clash between Elon Musk and Keir Starmer. It is about how to protect girls and young women from terrible sexual abuse. For more than 10 years official reports and police investigations have revealed that some have covered up and others have played down the fact that gangs of men - mainly but not exclusively of Pakistani origin - have targeted, groomed, raped and tortured mainly white girls. Musk has attacked and abused the PM and his safeguarding minister Jess Philips for refusing to agree to a new inquiry into what really happened. The Conservatives and Reform UK have echoed his call if not his language (which, the former head of counter terrorism, has warned risks inciting violence). Now the one woman who had not commented when so many others had has broken our silence. Professor Alexis Jay - who chaired the Independent Inquiry into child sexual abuse which reported more than two years ago and who led the investigation into the cover-up of masss rape in Rotherham more than a decade ago - has told me on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme there is no need for a new inquiry. What’s more she argues that it would get in the way of what needs to be done – implementing the findings of her report which was published more than two years ago. Professor Jay refuses to comment on the words used by Musk or, indeed, Farage or the shadow Justice secretary – the Conservative Robert Jenrick who has argued that what is to blame is mass migration of millions of people with what he calls "alien cultures". However, she had a clear message for them all. Those who "politicise child sexual abuse" are ignoring the needs of the victims she says. In another interview on the Today Programme I asked Robert Jenrick whether he accepted the Conservatives in government for 14 years had failed to do enough to tackle a problem that was first highlighted more than a decade ago. Why, I asked him, had Tory ministers failed to implement the recommendations of the inquiry? Why had they refused calls for a second wider national inquiry when they had the power to set one up. I asked him whether he’d ever raise these issues as a minister in the Home Office and pointed out that there was no mention in the parliamentary record Hansard of him ever raising the subject before Elon Musk did. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, I asked Jenrisk whether he now wanted to stop immigration from those "alien cultures" he condemns despite the fact that immigration from, say, Pakistan has recorded since Brexit and that many of Pakistani heritage have and are serving this country proudly - not least the former Home Secretary Sajid Javid and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. You can hear his answers by listening back to the Today programme on @bbcsounds at 8.10 (that's 2 hours & 10 minutes into the programme) and Professor Jay's at 7.30ish (one hour & 30 minutes into the programme)Jenrick, like Messrs Farage and Musk insists that much more is now known about what happened in the past and much more needs to be known about what might be happening now right across the country. So they argue that there is a case for that second enquiry. Jay argues that that would distract from implementing the protections that are needed now and which the Home Secretary hastily announced last night - making it an offence to know about but not report or to actively cover up child sex abuse and improving the collection of the data on who the offenders really are.Having spent years investigating these crimes - unlike some who read a few tweets before firing off their own ill informed opinions - she is clear about two things. Firstly, the scandals exposed in Rotherham and Oldham - the covering up of mass child abuse - has undoubtedly happened elsewhere any may still be happening now. Secondly, child sexual abuse is not limited to any one group in society as repeated scandals have revealed.
I've written this long post to put into context the clips of the interviews I'm also posting which I know will be taken out of context by some who want to abuse their political opponents more than they want to stop the abuse of young girls

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

@bbcnickrobinson Well done, Nick, for your well-researched and insightful questions.

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Thank you to all our listeners who found us in 2024. There’s more to come in 2025 from That’s It From Us https://t.co/nqSFwnozMM

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

That’s It From Us with Miriam O’Reilly and Llewela Bailey @llewela is also available on other platforms inc Apple https://t.co/eHkHpcHsOC or search online.

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Listen to That’s It From Us on Spotify for Creators https://t.co/nqSFwnozMM Thank you for listening and wishing you a Happy New Year.

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Was your Christmas like @llewela and Miriam’s? Disasters and See You Next Tuesday in That’s It From Us https://t.co/iLLu1NUNHb

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

It’s the season to be jolly. Lots of Christmas laughs with Miriam O’Reilly and Llewlela Bailey @Llewela here https://t.co/iLLu1NUNHb

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Listen to That’s It From Us on Spotify for Creators https://t.co/pQmJ41chtB A great laugh about Christmas and those who deserve the C word.

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Hear, hear!

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Keep on trucking’, Jamie.

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

That’s It From Us - Christmas calamities and See You Next Tuesday with Miriam O’Reilly and Llewela Bailey @Llewela. Hilarious banter. https://t.co/4J9N94q8wg

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Stormy Sunday? Cosy up to That’s It From Us with Miriam O’Reilly and Llewela Bailey @Llewela. https://t.co/mKpsp5ZPpk

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

In the latest That’s It From Us, Miriam O’Reilly and Llewela Bailey @Llewela battle to be heard over building work to chat about regrets, getting stuck in shapewear, and Llewela’s fascination for men in uniform. https://t.co/QuPGcWDwfW

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Looking a warm glow to beat the cold snap? Listen to That’s It From Us with Miriam O’Reilly and Llewlela Bailey @Llewela https://t.co/gnmpKhzoyD

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

In this week’s That’s It For Us, Llewela Bailey @llewela is less than enthusiastic about Miriam O’Reilly’s allotment by the sea, and Miriam offers to be her matchmaker. https://t.co/Umi9lbo0ep

[Mark Foster @CallmeFoz]

Digging and dating are the themes for this week’s That’s It From Us with Miriam O’Reilly and Llewela Bailey @Llewela. Llewela is sceptical of Miriam’s allotment and Miriam offers to be a matchmaker for Llewela. LOL. https://t.co/O1yhEh66QJ