Ann MacMillan's London
| Date | 01 March 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200005500105 |
| Published date | 01 March 2000 |
| Subject Matter | Comment & Opinion |
Ann
MacMillan's
London
IT
IS
STRANGELY
REASSURING
that
three
big
issues
in
Britain this
autumn
were
sex,
spies,
and
sovereignty.
All
are
familiar
themes
that
have
cropped
up
regularly
in
this
country
for
the
past
century,
if
not
the
past
millennium.
Politicians
and
pundits
talk
of
a
new,
vibrant,
for-
ward-looking
country,
but
some
things
never
change.
As
Britain
moves
into
the
21
st
century,
there
is
a
sense
of
continuity.
Sex
is
always
a
popular
subject
in
Britain.
Next
to the weather,
it's
probably
the most
talked
about
matter
in
the land.
So
far
the
new
look,
new
labour
leaders have
failed
to
deliver
the sorts
of
sex
scandals
that
threatened
to
destroy
the
last
Conservative
government.
No
cabinet
ministers
were
discovered
disporting
themselves
with
Spanish
actresses
this
year.
Instead,
British
tabloids
have
been
full
of
the
perils
of
teenage
sex.
Recent
reports
of
twelve-year-old
girls
made
pregnant
by
fourteen-
year-old
boyfriends
have
set
tongues
wagging
and
heads
shaking.
They
also
provoked
a
serious
debate
over
the
problems
caused
by
children
having
children.
In
certain
parts
of
Britain
teenage
pregnancy
is
an
accepted
part
of
life.
Three
young
mothers
who
became
pregnant
at
the
age
of
twelve
became
headline
stories
lately.
The
mother
of
one
is
only
28
years
old
herself.
News
that
the
Catholic
church
in
Scotland
has
set
up
a
special
fund
to
help
financially
strapped
youngsters
bring
up
babies
has
not
been
welcomed
by
reformers.
The
latest
girl
to
benefit
from
the
Church's
munificence
is
a
12-year-old
with
severe
learning
difficulties.
When
her
father
asked
her
boyfriend's
family
for
help,
he
got this
response:
'Oh
Christ,
we've
got
18
grandchildren
already.'
Ann
MacMillan
has
been
London
Television
Correspondent
for
the
Canadian
Broadcasting
Corporation
since
1981.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter 1999-2000
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