Bronwen Lewis, Football Racists Ban and 'The Three Hijabis', Pregnancy & the Covid Vaccine, The Joy of Skating

Bronwen Lewis is a Welsh singer songwriter whose style sits between Country, Pop, Folk and Blues. She starred in the BAFTA Award Winning and Golden Globe nominated film ‘Pride’ where she sang the theme song ‘Bread and Roses' and brought Tom Jones to tears during her time on BBC’s The Voice in 2013. Proudly bilingual, this year her TikTok following grew as she went viral for her Welsh language covers of famous Pop songs and singing the Welsh National anthem in the lead up to the Wales v Denmark Euros game. She joins Anita to discuss her passion to promote the Welsh language and the inspiration behind her new music.

Three female football fans – hashtag ‘The Three Hijabis - set up a petition calling for racists to be banned for life from all football matches in England. This was in response to the shocking levels of racism that was directed towards Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka on social media after their missed penalties resulted in England losing to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. Within 48 hours Shaista Aziz, Amna Abdullatif and Huda Jawad had more than a million signatories and on Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced that he would ensure the football banning regime was changed and that people guilty of online racist abuse towards players would be banned from football matches. And yesterday it was announced that people have been arrested after the English footballers were racially abused online.

Like many others our reporter Ena Miller took up a new hobby over lockdown - skating. As a form of socially distanced, COVID -compliant exercise it's boomed over the last 18 months and manufacturers of skates are struggling with demand. Ena is still learning and for us she put on her beautiful new roller skates and gingerly joined the legions of women who skate in car parks, on the streets and in halls all over the country. Pregnant women are facing a “perfect storm” of risks according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). They’re concerned that the combination of restrictions easing from next week, an increasing prevalence of COVID-19 in the community and hesitancy to get vaccinated will lead to a further increase in infections among pregnant women. We talk to Asma Khalil Professor of Obstetrics at St George’s Hospital, University of London. She is also the Obstetric lead for the national maternity and perinatal audit with the RCOG.

Presented by Anita Rani Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Karen Dalziel