#WITW – First Minister of Scotland talking to Tina Brown

Tina Brown’s Women in the World Summit  is being held over three days in New York. I lined up with many others at the beginning of the afternoon session yesterday outside in the freezing rain, but it was certainly worth the wait.

The David Koch Theater at the Lincoln Centre is an impressive venue, and trying to find a seat among the hundreds of media present was a challenge in itself.

There were cables and cameras galore, all linked in to the sound system in a very slick conference offering. The guests were ushered carefully onto the stage in such a way that the whole afternoon unfolded seamlessly.

Among yesterday afternoon’s guests were Scarlett Johansson, Arianna Huffington, Brendan Cox. There were four Australians all talking about the disgrace of the Australian refugee camps. Next minute we listened to the heart rending story of Felicia Sanders whose son died in a shooting in a church in Charleston.

I was there to listen to the First Minister who spoke to Tina Brown, and while this was most interesting, perhaps as even the First Minister herself pointed out the star of the afternoon was Secretary Clinton! There were selfies galore on Twitter from backstage.

Nicola Sturgeon was listened to by a rapt audience but there were audible gasps of astonishment when she explained the UK Government’s policy on child benefit and how it impacts on rape victims.

The First Minister said : “It is a disgusting and disgraceful policy but that policy has been introduced by a woman prime minister. That’s the point I’m making its not enough to be a woman in politics, you have to do the right thing with the power you’ve got.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moFPpH2m80M?feature=oembed&w=696&h=392]