Earlier today, I heard that my friend Paul Blakey, and indirectly the Street Angels, had received an MBE for services to Community Safety in Halifax.
As Deputy Mayor of Calderdale, I had the great privilege of attending the Street Angels' fourth birthday party earlier this month, and a nicer and more dedicated team of volunteers you couldn't wish to meet.
A couple of years back, when I was Mayor of Hebden Royd, I invited Paul and his team to Hebden Bridge to show us how the scheme operated, and I am pleased to say that following their example, earlier this summer a similar scheme led by Revd. Marcus Bull was started on Fridays.
I think that people like Paul show that there is enormous depth and strength within our communities across Yorkshire, and that overall there is a fount of civic and community goodwill at work without much recognition.
Well today of all days, I'd like to raise a cup o' kindness to Paul, his family, and the Street Angels.
Thursday 31 December 2009
Wednesday 30 December 2009
On suffering - 3
If you're still not convinced have a look at a Polish film called Krótki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film About Killing) directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski in 1988, as part of his Dekalog TV series.
On suffering - 2
I forgot to say, that in 1998 the UK abolished the death penalty for all crimes. That was one of the high-water marks in terms of human rights that this government achieved, for which it should be rightly applauded.
On suffering
There is something intolerable in the suffering of humans... for it is evil and that the person who causes it is a criminal.
Romain Rolland
Like many people, I was disgusted by the state murder of Akmal Shaikh in China. I am, have been, and will remain a passionate opponent of capital punishment and no amount of debate or argument will shift my position. I am against it viscerally and mentally. There is not enough space to go into it here, but one day maybe.
Today, three years ago, the dictator Saddam Hussein was hanged in a mockery of justice. This is in no way to condone his behaviour of over three decades in power, or the horrific crimes his regime perpetrated both on his own peoples and those in neighbouring countries, after all he did invade the land of birth Iran and fought a wasteful 8-year war to stalemate.
But there was something grotesque in the snatched mobile phone footage of him swinging stupidly as life left his body.
Twenty years back this week, the Ceauşescus, Nicolae and Elena, were summarily shot by a frightened firing squad after a hastily put together after a kangaroo court had found them guilty of crimes against the people.
Again it was a macabre scene of an old man and woman who suddenly realised that their end was imminent. It was horrible!What these state sanctioned murders (I refuse to call them executions, because it seeks to sanitise what is being done, they are pre-meditated murder pure and simple) do is to desensitise people to the value of human life and there is nothing more precious.
That is why the government is right to condemn the Chinese regime, not because they did not carry out the trial of Mr Shaikh properly and according to their penal code, but that that code still maintains the death penalty, and China kills more people officially than the rest of the world combined.
I can do no better than finish with some words of George Orwell's, telling the story of an execution that he witnessed whilst serving in the police in Burma in the 1920s.
"Until that moment I had never realised what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to avoid the puddle, I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide. This man... was alive just as we were alive..."
Have a look at http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty
Romain Rolland
Like many people, I was disgusted by the state murder of Akmal Shaikh in China. I am, have been, and will remain a passionate opponent of capital punishment and no amount of debate or argument will shift my position. I am against it viscerally and mentally. There is not enough space to go into it here, but one day maybe.
Today, three years ago, the dictator Saddam Hussein was hanged in a mockery of justice. This is in no way to condone his behaviour of over three decades in power, or the horrific crimes his regime perpetrated both on his own peoples and those in neighbouring countries, after all he did invade the land of birth Iran and fought a wasteful 8-year war to stalemate.
But there was something grotesque in the snatched mobile phone footage of him swinging stupidly as life left his body.
Twenty years back this week, the Ceauşescus, Nicolae and Elena, were summarily shot by a frightened firing squad after a hastily put together after a kangaroo court had found them guilty of crimes against the people.
Again it was a macabre scene of an old man and woman who suddenly realised that their end was imminent. It was horrible!What these state sanctioned murders (I refuse to call them executions, because it seeks to sanitise what is being done, they are pre-meditated murder pure and simple) do is to desensitise people to the value of human life and there is nothing more precious.
That is why the government is right to condemn the Chinese regime, not because they did not carry out the trial of Mr Shaikh properly and according to their penal code, but that that code still maintains the death penalty, and China kills more people officially than the rest of the world combined.
I can do no better than finish with some words of George Orwell's, telling the story of an execution that he witnessed whilst serving in the police in Burma in the 1920s.
"Until that moment I had never realised what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man. When I saw the prisoner step aside to avoid the puddle, I saw the mystery, the unspeakable wrongness, of cutting a life short when it is in full tide. This man... was alive just as we were alive..."
Have a look at http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Muhammad Iqbal
My fondness for the poetry of Muhammad Iqbal is well known, and today in Allahabad nigh on 80 years back he propounded his theory of the Two Nations which laid the eventual basis for the foundation of modern day Pakistan.
Here are a couple of lines in which he praises Persian (the language)
Garche Urdu dar uzūbat shakar ast
Lék Pārsī-am ze Hindi shīrīntar ast
(Even though in sweetness Urdu is sugar
nevertheless my Persian is sweeter than Hindi)
Here Urdu/Hindi are the same language albeit written in two different scripts.
Here are a couple of lines in which he praises Persian (the language)
Garche Urdu dar uzūbat shakar ast
Lék Pārsī-am ze Hindi shīrīntar ast
(Even though in sweetness Urdu is sugar
nevertheless my Persian is sweeter than Hindi)
Here Urdu/Hindi are the same language albeit written in two different scripts.
Sunday 27 December 2009
The nerve of the man...
"I don't think we should invent differences where none exist". DC
David Cameron, "Whether you're Labour, Conservative, or Liberal Democrat, you're motivated by... progressive aims... a country... where opportunity is more equal".
Progressive, the Tories?
* "Tory tax plans put child benefit at risk" The Independent
* "Raise the inheritance tax threshold from £700k to £1m" The Guardian
* "Scrapping vehicle excise duty on the least environmentally friendly cars" The Times
* "Tories reassure independent schools about their charitable status" The Independent
* "Tory marriage tax allowance would give the highest earners 13 times as much as those on lower incomes"
Oh yes and they want to bring back fox-hunting with dogs.
Of course that's what the country has been crying out for.
In the depths of the deepest recession in living memory, and top of the list of things the Tories want to do is have a free vote on fox hunting.
On the doorsteps throughout Keighley, Ilkley, Silsden, and elsewhere in the constituency, that's what people buttonhole me about. A free vote on fox hunting with dogs.
At the risk of sounding sarcastic, you've obviously got your finger on the political pulse of the nation, David.
The Tories are not progressive, never were and will never be.
Don't be fooled by the smooth(ish) banter.
David Cameron, "Whether you're Labour, Conservative, or Liberal Democrat, you're motivated by... progressive aims... a country... where opportunity is more equal".
Progressive, the Tories?
* "Tory tax plans put child benefit at risk" The Independent
* "Raise the inheritance tax threshold from £700k to £1m" The Guardian
* "Scrapping vehicle excise duty on the least environmentally friendly cars" The Times
* "Tories reassure independent schools about their charitable status" The Independent
* "Tory marriage tax allowance would give the highest earners 13 times as much as those on lower incomes"
Oh yes and they want to bring back fox-hunting with dogs.
Of course that's what the country has been crying out for.
In the depths of the deepest recession in living memory, and top of the list of things the Tories want to do is have a free vote on fox hunting.
On the doorsteps throughout Keighley, Ilkley, Silsden, and elsewhere in the constituency, that's what people buttonhole me about. A free vote on fox hunting with dogs.
At the risk of sounding sarcastic, you've obviously got your finger on the political pulse of the nation, David.
The Tories are not progressive, never were and will never be.
Don't be fooled by the smooth(ish) banter.
Saturday 26 December 2009
Joyous Kwanzaa to all my Black friends
How remiss of me, of course today is the first day of week-long Kwanzaa celebrations dedicated to Umoja or Unity, specifically of family and community.
I was reminded by my friend Lester, thanks for that and Happy Kwanzaa to you and your family.
I was reminded by my friend Lester, thanks for that and Happy Kwanzaa to you and your family.
Carols and more
Every Christmas Eve we have a Carol Service(ish) in St. George's Square here in Hebden Bridge. It's brilliant!
Hundreds, nay thousands, of people brave the wintry conditions though thankfully it was dry this year, but the snow did lie "deep and crisp, and even".
This year, I am sure that there were more people than ever for this incredibly popular event, spilling out into the roads at both ends of the square, and down into Bridgegate.
People of varying religious flavours, as well as agnostics and atheists were all stood singing carols to music supplied by the wonderful Hebden Bridge Junior Band.
Thanks everyone it was a great community event.
For photos have a look at http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk
Hundreds, nay thousands, of people brave the wintry conditions though thankfully it was dry this year, but the snow did lie "deep and crisp, and even".
This year, I am sure that there were more people than ever for this incredibly popular event, spilling out into the roads at both ends of the square, and down into Bridgegate.
People of varying religious flavours, as well as agnostics and atheists were all stood singing carols to music supplied by the wonderful Hebden Bridge Junior Band.
Thanks everyone it was a great community event.
For photos have a look at http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk
Thursday 24 December 2009
The Great War Christmas Truce
During the Great War of '14-'18 an unofficial truce took place near Ypres in Belgium.
On Christmas Eve 1914, German troops began decorating their trenches and singing carols, including Stille Nacht. The British in their trenches responded by singing English carols.
The two sides shouted Christmas greetings, and soon across "No man's land" gifts were exchanged, comrades buried, prayers said, and indeed a football match played.
In the 1970s Mike Harding wrote and sang a brilliant song called "Christmas 1914", well worth a listen to.
"Christmas Truce" by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton is a superb book covering the subject.
On Christmas Eve 1914, German troops began decorating their trenches and singing carols, including Stille Nacht. The British in their trenches responded by singing English carols.
The two sides shouted Christmas greetings, and soon across "No man's land" gifts were exchanged, comrades buried, prayers said, and indeed a football match played.
In the 1970s Mike Harding wrote and sang a brilliant song called "Christmas 1914", well worth a listen to.
"Christmas Truce" by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton is a superb book covering the subject.
Monday 21 December 2009
Happy Birthday the Rochdale Pioneers-1844
When I first moved to Britain in the late-1960s I remember being sent to the corner-shop to do the family groceries.
I remember it being the co-op and being reminded to make sure that I told them our ‘divi’ number and getting our tokens showing how much we’d spent in store.
Twice a year, on ‘Divi Day’, our tokens would then be exchanged and the dividend distributed, and we’d get 3d (I think) for each pound we’d spent.
From then on I’ve been a huge fan of the Co-operative Movement both industrial and commercial, and indeed political.In the 1970s when I moved to the North-West to go to university, one of the first things I did was to go to the Rochdale Pioneers' original store on Toad Lane which was at that time a museum.
Early on in the 20th century there were serious talks between the Co-operative Party and the Liberals to join together and form a People’s Party. Those talks went nowhere, and as we now know they went on to join with the Labour Party.
I actually think that co-op principles are far better presented within the modern day Lib Dems.
On that note, happy birthday to the Rochdale Pioneers and progressives everywhere.
I remember it being the co-op and being reminded to make sure that I told them our ‘divi’ number and getting our tokens showing how much we’d spent in store.
Twice a year, on ‘Divi Day’, our tokens would then be exchanged and the dividend distributed, and we’d get 3d (I think) for each pound we’d spent.
From then on I’ve been a huge fan of the Co-operative Movement both industrial and commercial, and indeed political.In the 1970s when I moved to the North-West to go to university, one of the first things I did was to go to the Rochdale Pioneers' original store on Toad Lane which was at that time a museum.
Early on in the 20th century there were serious talks between the Co-operative Party and the Liberals to join together and form a People’s Party. Those talks went nowhere, and as we now know they went on to join with the Labour Party.
I actually think that co-op principles are far better presented within the modern day Lib Dems.
On that note, happy birthday to the Rochdale Pioneers and progressives everywhere.
Sunday 20 December 2009
Civil Partnerships
One of the achievements of this government (wholly-supported by the Lib Dems), and what separates it philosophically from any would-be Tory government and their narrow definition of what makes a family, was the introduction of the first Civil Partnership Act in 2004.
Ironically, the first one should have taken place on 21 December, but due to a misinterpretation of the waiting period, the first in Scotland were actually held today four years back.
Ironically, the first one should have taken place on 21 December, but due to a misinterpretation of the waiting period, the first in Scotland were actually held today four years back.
Never in the field of Climate Chaos has so little been achieved by so many
From Hope-nhagen to Nope-nhagen in one short week.
What a shabby affair last week in Copenhagen has proved to be.
A once in a lifetime chance to grasp the opportunity of seriously tackling the problems in store for the whole planet has been let slip.
True, it did agree that we should work together to keep the global temperature from rising more than 2ºC above the levels before the industrial revolution, but who should do what, how this would be enforced, and what the timescale would be... er...!
It is hypocritical of the industrialised Western states to blame China, and to lesser extent India, after all much of what China produces is exported to the West and is in fact substitute production for the West.
We must continue to put pressure on our own government, as well as our European and Atlantic allies to take the problem seriously and get round the negotiating table as soon as possible.
What a shabby affair last week in Copenhagen has proved to be.
A once in a lifetime chance to grasp the opportunity of seriously tackling the problems in store for the whole planet has been let slip.
True, it did agree that we should work together to keep the global temperature from rising more than 2ºC above the levels before the industrial revolution, but who should do what, how this would be enforced, and what the timescale would be... er...!
It is hypocritical of the industrialised Western states to blame China, and to lesser extent India, after all much of what China produces is exported to the West and is in fact substitute production for the West.
We must continue to put pressure on our own government, as well as our European and Atlantic allies to take the problem seriously and get round the negotiating table as soon as possible.
Friday 18 December 2009
Expel Uganda from the Commonwealth
I was alerted to this story by an astonishing piece on the BBC World Service programme website for African listeners asking "Should homosexuals face execution?"
It refers to an Anti-Homosexuality Bill to be debated by the Ugandan Parliament later today.
It is abhorrent that the Ugandan Government, or anyone else for that matter, wish to ban homosexuality. Not only that, they are proposing the death penalty for people whose only crime is to love someone of the same sex.
If this repulsive measure is passed, then Britain should stand up for human rights and expel Uganda from the Commonwealth.
It refers to an Anti-Homosexuality Bill to be debated by the Ugandan Parliament later today.
It is abhorrent that the Ugandan Government, or anyone else for that matter, wish to ban homosexuality. Not only that, they are proposing the death penalty for people whose only crime is to love someone of the same sex.
If this repulsive measure is passed, then Britain should stand up for human rights and expel Uganda from the Commonwealth.
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Bonan Zamenhofan Tagon!
That's Happy Zamenhof Day to you.
Saluton.
At the risk of sounding like Arnold Rimmer in Red Dwarf, I have always been a fan of Esperanto ever since a teacher in my secondary school decided to have classes one lunchtime and a few of us attended. I got to be quite good after a few weeks but lost much of it after said teacher moved on later in the year and the class folded.
I liked the (relative) simplicity of Esperanto, but I suppose more so I was (am) attracted by the idealism and internationalism of both its creator Dr Ludovic Zamenhof and its speakers.
Bonan Zamenhofan tagon al vi!
Saluton.
At the risk of sounding like Arnold Rimmer in Red Dwarf, I have always been a fan of Esperanto ever since a teacher in my secondary school decided to have classes one lunchtime and a few of us attended. I got to be quite good after a few weeks but lost much of it after said teacher moved on later in the year and the class folded.
I liked the (relative) simplicity of Esperanto, but I suppose more so I was (am) attracted by the idealism and internationalism of both its creator Dr Ludovic Zamenhof and its speakers.
Bonan Zamenhofan tagon al vi!
Monday 14 December 2009
Tycho Brahe's nose
In one of my favourite all-time books Arthur Koestler's The Sleepwalkers, there is, amongst much else, the story of Tycho Brahe's nose. How whilst still a student, Brahe lost part of his nose in a duel. For the rest of his life, he was said to have worn a realistic replacement made of silver and gold, using a paste to keep it attached.
Brahe was important in the development of modern astronomy and our understanding of the heliocentric universe.
Brahe was important in the development of modern astronomy and our understanding of the heliocentric universe.
40,000 child alcohol crimes in five years
Shocking stats that nearly 40,000 children have been fined, cautioned, or taken to court for alcohol-related offences in the last five years.
That's nearly one every hour!
The number has increased by over a quarter in that period, according to research by the Lib Dems.
The key points are:
* 39,714 children aged under 18 were fined, cautioned or taken to court for alcohol related offences between 2003 and 2007
* This includes 124 children aged 10-12 and 6,111 aged 13-15
* The number of under-18s fined, cautioned or taken to court for alcohol related offences has increased by 28%, 8,686 in 2007
Lib Dem Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said that this is a "shocking picture of how many children are being dragged into the criminal justice system through alcohol abuse".
As I have said before on this blog, we must stop alcohol being sold at pocket-money prices and start educating our children about the dangers of drink or these figures will continue to worsen.
Unless we change our drinking culture, we will condemn many of these children and adolescents to serious long-term alcohol-related illnesses or a life of crime.
That's nearly one every hour!
The number has increased by over a quarter in that period, according to research by the Lib Dems.
The key points are:
* 39,714 children aged under 18 were fined, cautioned or taken to court for alcohol related offences between 2003 and 2007
* This includes 124 children aged 10-12 and 6,111 aged 13-15
* The number of under-18s fined, cautioned or taken to court for alcohol related offences has increased by 28%, 8,686 in 2007
Lib Dem Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said that this is a "shocking picture of how many children are being dragged into the criminal justice system through alcohol abuse".
As I have said before on this blog, we must stop alcohol being sold at pocket-money prices and start educating our children about the dangers of drink or these figures will continue to worsen.
Unless we change our drinking culture, we will condemn many of these children and adolescents to serious long-term alcohol-related illnesses or a life of crime.
Saturday 12 December 2009
Happy Chanukah to all my Jewish friends
Chanukah is the Jewish Festival of Lights, and tradition dictates that even the poorest person must light Chanukah lights. The concept of charity (tzedakah) requires folk to help the recipient in the most dignified manner possible, so the charming custom of giving "Chanukah Gelt" has arisen so that none may be without light.
So ah freilichin und lichtige Chanukah far alle.
So ah freilichin und lichtige Chanukah far alle.
Friday 11 December 2009
Tory claims on Islamic school thrown out
David Cameron's ludicrous and unfounded allegations that a school was linked to Islamic extremism has been dismissed out of hand today by authorities.
I am a child of the Enlightenment and great believer in the separation of church and state, and consequently do not think there should be faith schools within the public sector.
Indeed, I moved a motion at Lib Dem conference last Spring, calling for their eventual phasing out.
However, having said that I do think that while they exist, ALL faith schools should be treated equally.
I thought that it was a cheap political shot by the Tories and an example of their racist dog-whistle appeal to Islamophobic sentiments in sections of the downmarket press to link extremism to this school.
Haringey Council has found no evidence of "inappropriate content or influence" in the school. In fact the school tries to ensure that pupils learn about different cultures and traditions, including joint work with a local CofE school.
The Tories have now got enough egg on their face to make the biggest of omelettes, I just hope that they have enough humility to apologise.
I am a child of the Enlightenment and great believer in the separation of church and state, and consequently do not think there should be faith schools within the public sector.
Indeed, I moved a motion at Lib Dem conference last Spring, calling for their eventual phasing out.
However, having said that I do think that while they exist, ALL faith schools should be treated equally.
I thought that it was a cheap political shot by the Tories and an example of their racist dog-whistle appeal to Islamophobic sentiments in sections of the downmarket press to link extremism to this school.
Haringey Council has found no evidence of "inappropriate content or influence" in the school. In fact the school tries to ensure that pupils learn about different cultures and traditions, including joint work with a local CofE school.
The Tories have now got enough egg on their face to make the biggest of omelettes, I just hope that they have enough humility to apologise.
Class War? Now it's the Tories who dissemble
David "Dave" Cameron and other senior members of the shadow Cabinet are keeping quiet about their public school backgrounds on the official Conservative Party website.
Only three of the 17 Tory shadow ministers who went to private school disclose their educational backgrounds in their official biographies. Although you have to feel sorry for Andrew Mitchell who went to Rugby.
It puts me in mind of a passage in a Dorothy L. Sayers book where a there's a wonderful put-down about private schools, something like, "Rugby? No no, that's a railway junction!"
Douglas Hurd, famously refused to stand for the leadership of the Tory party when Mrs. Thatcher resigned because he felt that his Old Etonian background would not chime with voter sensibilities. How strange that a dozen years of a Labour government has made the electorate seemingly indifferent to unearned wealth and inherited privilege.
Curiously, 14 of the 15 shadow ministers who went to a comp or grammar school prominently boast of the fact.
Only three of the 17 Tory shadow ministers who went to private school disclose their educational backgrounds in their official biographies. Although you have to feel sorry for Andrew Mitchell who went to Rugby.
It puts me in mind of a passage in a Dorothy L. Sayers book where a there's a wonderful put-down about private schools, something like, "Rugby? No no, that's a railway junction!"
Douglas Hurd, famously refused to stand for the leadership of the Tory party when Mrs. Thatcher resigned because he felt that his Old Etonian background would not chime with voter sensibilities. How strange that a dozen years of a Labour government has made the electorate seemingly indifferent to unearned wealth and inherited privilege.
Curiously, 14 of the 15 shadow ministers who went to a comp or grammar school prominently boast of the fact.
Thursday 10 December 2009
Do you want this man as PM?
Revelations today show that multi-millionaire, David Cameron claimed:
* £1,200 for oil for the stove at his Witney home in leafy Oxfordshire on TOP of monthly utility bills averaging £180 a month.
* £1,000 a month in mortgage interest payments.
* Secured a 10% reduction in council tax on the property from his local council, though the value of the property meant he was still claiming back £196 a month.
All this at a time when he was calling for a radical reform of MPs' expenses and allowances.
* £1,200 for oil for the stove at his Witney home in leafy Oxfordshire on TOP of monthly utility bills averaging £180 a month.
* £1,000 a month in mortgage interest payments.
* Secured a 10% reduction in council tax on the property from his local council, though the value of the property meant he was still claiming back £196 a month.
All this at a time when he was calling for a radical reform of MPs' expenses and allowances.
Embrace Diversity, End Discrimination
Today is Human Rights Day, chosen to honour the UN's adoption, 51 years back, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global proclamation of human rights.
I can say no better than to quote the opening paragraph of the Declaration.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
I can say no better than to quote the opening paragraph of the Declaration.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Monday 7 December 2009
Israel recognised by the PLO
As we come up to Hannukah on Saturday, I think that it is fitting that we should remember that 21 years ago today, Chairman Yasser Arafat, then leader of the PLO, recognised the right of Israel to exist.
Yet, yesterday there was a story about a series of cases over the past two years in which patients from Gaza referred for hospital treatment in Israel have been held without charge and pressed to become Israeli collaborators.
This is a clear violation of human rights and the Israeli authorities must take steps to cease such abuses of power.
Yet, yesterday there was a story about a series of cases over the past two years in which patients from Gaza referred for hospital treatment in Israel have been held without charge and pressed to become Israeli collaborators.
This is a clear violation of human rights and the Israeli authorities must take steps to cease such abuses of power.
Wednesday 2 December 2009
Farewell Blanche...
Of the reasons I moved to study at Manchester aged 17 was its connections to the Industrial Revolution, its role in the growth of our nation's democracy, its role in the foundation of the Trades Union Congress, Friederich Engels, Dennis Law, and of course Coronation Street.
I loved it, it was funny, earthy, and "real".
Sad then to tell of the death of actress Maggie Jones who has died aged 75. She was best known for playing Weatherfield's Blanche Hunt, she had a wicked tongue on her and some withering put-downs.
Here are a few of Blanche's finest, courtesy of the BBC...
on Postman Pat
"Early in the morning, when the day is dawning..." Your real Postman Pat rolls up about noon wearing a pair of shorts and his breakfast... rifling through your birthday cards.
at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting
I've never heard such self-indulgent whinging in all my life. Is there some correlation between how boring you are and how much you drink?
to Deirdre Barlow
Good looks are a curse, Deirdre. You and Kenneth should count yourselves lucky.
on Colin Grimshaw
I'd cut off his whatnots wi' a pair of garden shears, me. The rustier the better.
on Liz McDonald
Skirt no bigger than a belt, too much eye-liner, and roots as dark as her soul.
on Roy Cropper
He looks like he should be crayoning summat.
RIP Maggie
I loved it, it was funny, earthy, and "real".
Sad then to tell of the death of actress Maggie Jones who has died aged 75. She was best known for playing Weatherfield's Blanche Hunt, she had a wicked tongue on her and some withering put-downs.
Here are a few of Blanche's finest, courtesy of the BBC...
on Postman Pat
"Early in the morning, when the day is dawning..." Your real Postman Pat rolls up about noon wearing a pair of shorts and his breakfast... rifling through your birthday cards.
at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting
I've never heard such self-indulgent whinging in all my life. Is there some correlation between how boring you are and how much you drink?
to Deirdre Barlow
Good looks are a curse, Deirdre. You and Kenneth should count yourselves lucky.
on Colin Grimshaw
I'd cut off his whatnots wi' a pair of garden shears, me. The rustier the better.
on Liz McDonald
Skirt no bigger than a belt, too much eye-liner, and roots as dark as her soul.
on Roy Cropper
He looks like he should be crayoning summat.
RIP Maggie
Tuesday 1 December 2009
World Aids Day: Universal Access and Human RightsTuesday
The theme for this year's World AIDS Day Universal Access and Human Rights.
Universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and care, is vital as is recognising these as fundamental human rights.
Although valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV/AIDS services, even greater commitment is needed.
Millions continue to be infected with HIV every year.
In low- and middle-income countries, less than half of those in need of anti-retroviral therapy are receiving it, and far too many don't have access to adequate care services.
World AIDS Day provides an opportunity for all of us, individuals, groups, and communities, to ensure that human rights are protected and global targets for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care are met.
Universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and care, is vital as is recognising these as fundamental human rights.
Although valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV/AIDS services, even greater commitment is needed.
Millions continue to be infected with HIV every year.
In low- and middle-income countries, less than half of those in need of anti-retroviral therapy are receiving it, and far too many don't have access to adequate care services.
World AIDS Day provides an opportunity for all of us, individuals, groups, and communities, to ensure that human rights are protected and global targets for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care are met.
Connie Markiewicz 1:2 Nancy Astor
Exactly ninety years ago, Nancy Lady Astor becomes first woman MP to take her seat in Parliament, although she had been elected in a by-election on 28 November.
She deserves her place in British political history, because Connie Markiewicz who was the first woman elected to the House of Commons did not take her seat but along with the other Sinn Féin TDs, formed the first Dáil Éireann.
Whereas Connie was a radical Nancy was rich, light, and fluffy and a Tory.
Oh dear, what does that tell you about the Tories' chances next year?
She deserves her place in British political history, because Connie Markiewicz who was the first woman elected to the House of Commons did not take her seat but along with the other Sinn Féin TDs, formed the first Dáil Éireann.
Whereas Connie was a radical Nancy was rich, light, and fluffy and a Tory.
Oh dear, what does that tell you about the Tories' chances next year?
Monday 30 November 2009
Happy St. Andrew's Day
A bit late I know, but I've had a really busy day and only got home half-an-hour back.
I was in the magistrates' court today, really busy with many interesting cases.
Then a meeting with council officers, and finally a Lib Dem Group meeting in preparation for Wednesday's Council meeting.
Finally, home, a cup of tea, and a glass of whisky before bed.
I know it's not Burns Night but I couldn't let the opportunity pass for a verse of A Man's A Man for A' That, from the Bard:
Is there for honest poverty
That hangs his head, an' a' that
The coward slave, we pass him by
We dare be poor for a' that
For a' that, an' a' that
Our toil's obscure and a' that
The rank is but the guinea's stamp
The man's the gowd for a' that
Slàinte Mhath
I was in the magistrates' court today, really busy with many interesting cases.
Then a meeting with council officers, and finally a Lib Dem Group meeting in preparation for Wednesday's Council meeting.
Finally, home, a cup of tea, and a glass of whisky before bed.
I know it's not Burns Night but I couldn't let the opportunity pass for a verse of A Man's A Man for A' That, from the Bard:
Is there for honest poverty
That hangs his head, an' a' that
The coward slave, we pass him by
We dare be poor for a' that
For a' that, an' a' that
Our toil's obscure and a' that
The rank is but the guinea's stamp
The man's the gowd for a' that
Slàinte Mhath
Saturday 28 November 2009
The rusty legacy of the Iron Lady
I was watching HIGNFY earlier tonight and there was an item about Mrs. T visiting No. 10 to unveil a new portrait of herself commissioned by the Prime Minister.
It struck me as a bizarre thing to do. Namely, to voluntarily, without pressure or coercion, of one's own free will to invite THAT WOMAN back to Downing Street, and to have a picture of her hanging in the study that Mr Brown uses for meetings with foreign dignitaries.
Curiouser, and curiouser.
It was on this day in 1990 that she finally ceased being Prime Minister, and Britain started on the long slow and arduous trek to recovery.
Her eleven years in power left Britain "more spiritually bereft, more restless, unhappier even". She ushered in a brutal, destructive, and selfish society. She brought more machismo, bravado, and braggadocio to politics and we still suffer the consequences.
She and her whole Tory government destroyed whole communities, especially in the North, Wales, and Scotland, communities that have not recovered to this day.
She was probably the only Marxist Prime Minister we have ever had, inasmuch as she understood clearly the class structure, and to her shame she used that knowledge to exploit and utterly subjugate the working classes.
She set suspicion and greed loose, it was every man for themselves and devil take the hindmost.
She encouraged xenophobia, prejudice, and paranoia, she saw fifth columnists and betrayal everywhere.
Even her supposed strength, namely that she was a conviction politician, was ultimately a weakness, because she refused or was unable to see when the game was up.
I'd like to raise a glass to her, well her having left the political stage. Unfortunately, like the bum penny or the ghost at the wedding she keeps coming back.
I really, genuinely, honestly do not believe in personalising politics, but for Mrs T, I'll make an exception.
It struck me as a bizarre thing to do. Namely, to voluntarily, without pressure or coercion, of one's own free will to invite THAT WOMAN back to Downing Street, and to have a picture of her hanging in the study that Mr Brown uses for meetings with foreign dignitaries.
Curiouser, and curiouser.
It was on this day in 1990 that she finally ceased being Prime Minister, and Britain started on the long slow and arduous trek to recovery.
Her eleven years in power left Britain "more spiritually bereft, more restless, unhappier even". She ushered in a brutal, destructive, and selfish society. She brought more machismo, bravado, and braggadocio to politics and we still suffer the consequences.
She and her whole Tory government destroyed whole communities, especially in the North, Wales, and Scotland, communities that have not recovered to this day.
She was probably the only Marxist Prime Minister we have ever had, inasmuch as she understood clearly the class structure, and to her shame she used that knowledge to exploit and utterly subjugate the working classes.
She set suspicion and greed loose, it was every man for themselves and devil take the hindmost.
She encouraged xenophobia, prejudice, and paranoia, she saw fifth columnists and betrayal everywhere.
Even her supposed strength, namely that she was a conviction politician, was ultimately a weakness, because she refused or was unable to see when the game was up.
I'd like to raise a glass to her, well her having left the political stage. Unfortunately, like the bum penny or the ghost at the wedding she keeps coming back.
I really, genuinely, honestly do not believe in personalising politics, but for Mrs T, I'll make an exception.
Friday 27 November 2009
The cost of Free Speech
Nick Griffin's disastrous appearance on Question Time landed taxpayers with a £143,000 security bill.
That's how much police spent dealing with protesters outside BBC Television Centre, closing roads, and using a helicopter to keep the nutty neo-Nazi numero uno safe.
I think that most sane people will be horrified to find out that so much public money has been spent giving the no-Nazi party their best-ever publicity.
However, on balance I think it was money well-spent to show everyone, what an odious little tic the man was and how his neo-Nazi party is really the heir to Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists.
"I'm not an extremist. I'm a national socialist".
"I read Mein Kampf... there are some really useful ideas there".
And my all-time favourite: "Yes, Adolf went a bit too far... It just creates a bad image".
That's how much police spent dealing with protesters outside BBC Television Centre, closing roads, and using a helicopter to keep the nutty neo-Nazi numero uno safe.
I think that most sane people will be horrified to find out that so much public money has been spent giving the no-Nazi party their best-ever publicity.
However, on balance I think it was money well-spent to show everyone, what an odious little tic the man was and how his neo-Nazi party is really the heir to Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists.
"I'm not an extremist. I'm a national socialist".
"I read Mein Kampf... there are some really useful ideas there".
And my all-time favourite: "Yes, Adolf went a bit too far... It just creates a bad image".
Wishing all Muslim readers Eid Mubarak
Today is Eid al-Adha or the "Festival of Sacrifice" which is a holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as an act of love for/obedience to God.
In Iran it is known as the Eid-e Ghorban and is celebrated with the sacrifice of an animal.
Those that can afford it, have open house and make a concerted effort to see that no poor person is left without food during the three days of the festival.
In Iran it is known as the Eid-e Ghorban and is celebrated with the sacrifice of an animal.
Those that can afford it, have open house and make a concerted effort to see that no poor person is left without food during the three days of the festival.
Tuesday 24 November 2009
Spastic Island (?!)
Just finished watching Cast Offs on Channel 4.
It's brilliant.
Well-written, superbly acted, funny as anything, and poignant without being sentimental.
I love Mat Fraser.
It's brilliant.
Well-written, superbly acted, funny as anything, and poignant without being sentimental.
I love Mat Fraser.
Monday 23 November 2009
In defence of the poor
I'd like to congratulate our Keighley MP for supporting a Lib Dem Early Day Motion opposing the Government’s proposed cuts for the poorest tenants.
The people who would lose out under this proposal are poorer than those who would have been hit by the 10p tax debacle, and will be hit harder.
Worse still, the Government will not actually save any money by clawing back these payments. All they will achieve is switching the money directly from tenants to their landlords.
These unfair changes were sneaked through in the last budget and the Government clearly hoped they would be swept under the carpet.
They now have a fight on their hands, with many MPs and campaign groups, including the housing charity Crisis, opposing the plans.
This week, the leader of the Lib Dems challenged Gordon Brown directly over the issue at Prime Minister’s Question Time.
I would like to assure you that the Lib Dems will continue to do all we can to oppose this latest Government assault on some of the very poorest families in the country.
The people who would lose out under this proposal are poorer than those who would have been hit by the 10p tax debacle, and will be hit harder.
Worse still, the Government will not actually save any money by clawing back these payments. All they will achieve is switching the money directly from tenants to their landlords.
These unfair changes were sneaked through in the last budget and the Government clearly hoped they would be swept under the carpet.
They now have a fight on their hands, with many MPs and campaign groups, including the housing charity Crisis, opposing the plans.
This week, the leader of the Lib Dems challenged Gordon Brown directly over the issue at Prime Minister’s Question Time.
I would like to assure you that the Lib Dems will continue to do all we can to oppose this latest Government assault on some of the very poorest families in the country.
Friday 20 November 2009
Eendracht maakt macht; L'union fait la force; Einigkeit macht stark
The above is the national motto of Belgium, and means "strength through unity".
A few years ago, the then Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt said, “Belgium is the laboratory of European unification”.
I have long had great respect for Belgium, and her contributon to the European Project. As a student of the history of the EU, I well know the hard work and vision of people like Paul-Henri Spaak, Jean Duvieusart, Victor Leemans, and Jean Rey amongst many others.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Belgium herself is an "artificial" construct, where the Francophone Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemings, have been living together in relative harmony for nigh on 180 years.
Her contributions to international peace is well-documented with Nobel Prize winners like Auguste Beernaert, Henri La Fontaine, and Georges Pire.
Belgium's artists have been very important, writers like Maurice Maeterlinck, and Georges Simenon, painters like René Magritte and James Ensor, architects like Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, musicians like Adolphe Sax and César Franck, and of course, my hero Jacques Brel.
I won't even mention sportsmen and sportswomen like Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, and of course the great Ivo Van Damme.
Whoops I just did.
I've never bought into the anonymous grey boring Belgian thing, the "Name Ten Famous Belgians", "Tin Tin, Plastic Bertrand, ... er that's it!"
The point I'm trying to make is that somehow it is meet that earlier last night, Herman van Rompuy was chosen to be the first full-time President of the European Council. He had unanimous backing from the 27 EU leaders, and is a consensus-builder who brought stability to Belgium after months of uncertainty.
The whole point of the European Project is to pool sovereignty, to move forward by debate, discussion, and negotiation.
Our traditions are different from the US model of presidential politics of seeking a Messiah, which is why (amongst many, many other reasons) Tony Blair was such a bad idea.
Bon chance/Veel geluk/Good luck to him. Van Rompuy, that is, not Blair!
I'm going to listen to Brel's live album, Olympia 1964, especially the first track, Amsterdam.
A few years ago, the then Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt said, “Belgium is the laboratory of European unification”.
I have long had great respect for Belgium, and her contributon to the European Project. As a student of the history of the EU, I well know the hard work and vision of people like Paul-Henri Spaak, Jean Duvieusart, Victor Leemans, and Jean Rey amongst many others.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Belgium herself is an "artificial" construct, where the Francophone Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemings, have been living together in relative harmony for nigh on 180 years.
Her contributions to international peace is well-documented with Nobel Prize winners like Auguste Beernaert, Henri La Fontaine, and Georges Pire.
Belgium's artists have been very important, writers like Maurice Maeterlinck, and Georges Simenon, painters like René Magritte and James Ensor, architects like Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde, musicians like Adolphe Sax and César Franck, and of course, my hero Jacques Brel.
I won't even mention sportsmen and sportswomen like Eddy Merckx and Jacky Ickx, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, and of course the great Ivo Van Damme.
Whoops I just did.
I've never bought into the anonymous grey boring Belgian thing, the "Name Ten Famous Belgians", "Tin Tin, Plastic Bertrand, ... er that's it!"
The point I'm trying to make is that somehow it is meet that earlier last night, Herman van Rompuy was chosen to be the first full-time President of the European Council. He had unanimous backing from the 27 EU leaders, and is a consensus-builder who brought stability to Belgium after months of uncertainty.
The whole point of the European Project is to pool sovereignty, to move forward by debate, discussion, and negotiation.
Our traditions are different from the US model of presidential politics of seeking a Messiah, which is why (amongst many, many other reasons) Tony Blair was such a bad idea.
Bon chance/Veel geluk/Good luck to him. Van Rompuy, that is, not Blair!
I'm going to listen to Brel's live album, Olympia 1964, especially the first track, Amsterdam.
Wednesday 18 November 2009
Mercenary Prat's Joke Log!
On the whole, I am an incurable optimist with boundless faith in the human condition.
Rarely does a news story upset me!
Anger me? Yes.
Fire me with passion? Yes.
Make me laugh? Yes!
Today, thanks to an FoI request we've found out that the Ministry of Defence spent the equivalent of thousands of hours taking part in stunts for the tv show Top Gear.
I find that astonishing.
I'm not a fan of lads' tv, not a fan of Top Gear, not a fan of Clarkson et al. He reminds me too much of the minor public school bully braying in the quad with a gaggle of equally witless side-kicks, think Molesworth's St Custard's, or Grayson (School Bully) at Graybridge in Ripping Yarns' Tomkinson's Schooldays.
He revels in his oafishness, under the pretext of being "anti-PC" (read red-neck reactionary). He's had a go at the PM's disability, found murdering women working as prostitutes side-splittingly funny, and he is a bigot and xenophobe whether towards Koreans or Germans.
To find that the MoD is wasting, frittering, squandering 141 days of military and 48 days of civilian personnel's time, pandering to this self-satisfied buffoon is beyond belief.
The stunts included a helicopter gunship trying to get a missile lock on a sports car driven by Clarkson, trying to avoid sniper fire while testing another car, and racing a car against an RAF Typhoon, the list goes on ad nauseam.
The MoD's response, that showcasing their people and equipment on tv "raises public awareness about the work of the armed forces" and encourages "support for our troops", is nonsense.
In fact, worse than that, by actively encouraging "Top Gun" fantasies of the armed forces, it actually helps delude youngsters as to the realities of war, and the sacrifices being made in Afghanistan amongst other places.
The title? It's an anagram!
Rarely does a news story upset me!
Anger me? Yes.
Fire me with passion? Yes.
Make me laugh? Yes!
Today, thanks to an FoI request we've found out that the Ministry of Defence spent the equivalent of thousands of hours taking part in stunts for the tv show Top Gear.
I find that astonishing.
I'm not a fan of lads' tv, not a fan of Top Gear, not a fan of Clarkson et al. He reminds me too much of the minor public school bully braying in the quad with a gaggle of equally witless side-kicks, think Molesworth's St Custard's, or Grayson (School Bully) at Graybridge in Ripping Yarns' Tomkinson's Schooldays.
He revels in his oafishness, under the pretext of being "anti-PC" (read red-neck reactionary). He's had a go at the PM's disability, found murdering women working as prostitutes side-splittingly funny, and he is a bigot and xenophobe whether towards Koreans or Germans.
To find that the MoD is wasting, frittering, squandering 141 days of military and 48 days of civilian personnel's time, pandering to this self-satisfied buffoon is beyond belief.
The stunts included a helicopter gunship trying to get a missile lock on a sports car driven by Clarkson, trying to avoid sniper fire while testing another car, and racing a car against an RAF Typhoon, the list goes on ad nauseam.
The MoD's response, that showcasing their people and equipment on tv "raises public awareness about the work of the armed forces" and encourages "support for our troops", is nonsense.
In fact, worse than that, by actively encouraging "Top Gun" fantasies of the armed forces, it actually helps delude youngsters as to the realities of war, and the sacrifices being made in Afghanistan amongst other places.
The title? It's an anagram!
We're on course for catastrophic 6° rise
An article in today's Independent about the catastrophic impact we humans are having on our beautiful blue planet.
A group of scientists, led by Prof. Le Quéré of UEA, say we are heading for catastrophe because the CO2 emissions from industry, transport, and deforestation have increased dramatically since 2002, and are now running at treble the rate of the 1990s.
Next month's Copenhagen conference is probably the last chance to stabilise climate levels in a smooth and organised way, however, if the agreement is too weak, or the commitments not respected, then we will get a 5C/6C temperature rise by the end of the century.
What the impact could be is best described by Mark Lynas's book "Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet".The most recent climatic comparison is the Cretaceous period (144m-65m years ago) which ended with the extinction of the dinosaurs. Before that, at the end of the Permian (251m years ago), similar conditions led to 95% of species being wiped out.
Of that period, Lynas says that:
On land, the only winners were fungi that flourished on dying trees and shrubs. At sea there were only losers. Warm water is a killer. Less oxygen can dissolve, so conditions become stagnant and anoxic. Oxygen-breathing water-dwellers face suffocation. Sea levels rose by 20 metres, and the resulting "super-hurricanes" hitting the coasts triggered flash floods that no living thing could have survived.
As the ice-caps melt, hundreds of millions will also be forced to move inland due to rapidly-rising seas. As world food supplies crash, the higher mid-latitude and sub-polar regions would become fiercely-contested refuges. The British Isles, indeed, might become one of the most desirable pieces of real estate on the planet. But, with a couple of billion people knocking on our door, things might quickly turn rather ugly.
The government, must be bold and take the initiative in Copenhagen, and lead by example.
A group of scientists, led by Prof. Le Quéré of UEA, say we are heading for catastrophe because the CO2 emissions from industry, transport, and deforestation have increased dramatically since 2002, and are now running at treble the rate of the 1990s.
Next month's Copenhagen conference is probably the last chance to stabilise climate levels in a smooth and organised way, however, if the agreement is too weak, or the commitments not respected, then we will get a 5C/6C temperature rise by the end of the century.
What the impact could be is best described by Mark Lynas's book "Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet".The most recent climatic comparison is the Cretaceous period (144m-65m years ago) which ended with the extinction of the dinosaurs. Before that, at the end of the Permian (251m years ago), similar conditions led to 95% of species being wiped out.
Of that period, Lynas says that:
On land, the only winners were fungi that flourished on dying trees and shrubs. At sea there were only losers. Warm water is a killer. Less oxygen can dissolve, so conditions become stagnant and anoxic. Oxygen-breathing water-dwellers face suffocation. Sea levels rose by 20 metres, and the resulting "super-hurricanes" hitting the coasts triggered flash floods that no living thing could have survived.
As the ice-caps melt, hundreds of millions will also be forced to move inland due to rapidly-rising seas. As world food supplies crash, the higher mid-latitude and sub-polar regions would become fiercely-contested refuges. The British Isles, indeed, might become one of the most desirable pieces of real estate on the planet. But, with a couple of billion people knocking on our door, things might quickly turn rather ugly.
The government, must be bold and take the initiative in Copenhagen, and lead by example.
Monday 16 November 2009
Interfaith week
Here we are at the start of "Interfaith Week’, a government-funded project that aims to strengthen good inter-faith relations, to increase awareness of the different and distinct faith communities in the UK, and to celebrate the contribution they make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society.
While on the surface these are all very laudable aims, I am nevertheless deeply concerned that the government is taking the wrong route to community cohesion by focussing almost exclusively on the ‘faith’ element of people’s identities.
My concern is that by supporting ‘faith groups’ over and above other groups in the voluntary and community sector, they are helping to promote the fallacy of distinctive ‘faith communities’ that somehow stand apart from wider civil society.
However, given that one of the aims of the week is to increase understanding between religious and non-religious people, I shall be attending one of the events later on in the week.
I look forward to a more inclusive approach next year!
While on the surface these are all very laudable aims, I am nevertheless deeply concerned that the government is taking the wrong route to community cohesion by focussing almost exclusively on the ‘faith’ element of people’s identities.
My concern is that by supporting ‘faith groups’ over and above other groups in the voluntary and community sector, they are helping to promote the fallacy of distinctive ‘faith communities’ that somehow stand apart from wider civil society.
However, given that one of the aims of the week is to increase understanding between religious and non-religious people, I shall be attending one of the events later on in the week.
I look forward to a more inclusive approach next year!
Sunday 15 November 2009
Let's hear it for Social Services
This afternoon, I had the huge honour and profound pleasure of attending a party for adopted children and their parents held by Calderdale Council.
It was an incredibly fun event, well put together and thoroughly satisfying.
It is important to remember that at a time when vilifying social workers has become a national pastime, spurred on by the red tops, that the overwhelming majority do a mighty fine job most of the time. It is only when things go wrong, as they sadly do at times, that they impinge on our consciousness, and then all hell breaks loose and we let slip the dogs of war.
People are mostly ignorant of their day-to-day travails, and seeing the dozens of smiling faces, parents and children, that today of all days (National Adoption Week) I wanted to thank them and their profession for ALL the good work they do.
THANK YOU!
p.s. as an example of how much fun I had, during a game of pass-the-parcel, one lad turned to me and said, "You're not my dad, but you're still embarassing".
It was an incredibly fun event, well put together and thoroughly satisfying.
It is important to remember that at a time when vilifying social workers has become a national pastime, spurred on by the red tops, that the overwhelming majority do a mighty fine job most of the time. It is only when things go wrong, as they sadly do at times, that they impinge on our consciousness, and then all hell breaks loose and we let slip the dogs of war.
People are mostly ignorant of their day-to-day travails, and seeing the dozens of smiling faces, parents and children, that today of all days (National Adoption Week) I wanted to thank them and their profession for ALL the good work they do.
THANK YOU!
p.s. as an example of how much fun I had, during a game of pass-the-parcel, one lad turned to me and said, "You're not my dad, but you're still embarassing".
Saturday 14 November 2009
White Ribbon Campaign Walk
In an hour or so, I'll be off into the town centre for an event called, These Heels Were Made For Walking Charity Walk.
I and about fifty other men will be slipping on pairs of high heels and strutting our stuff on the mean streets of Hebden Bridge.
The White Ribbon Campaign is the largest effort in the world of men working to end male violence against women.
This is part of a series of events in White Ribbon Week and the lead up to White Ribbon Day on the 25th of November.
Whilst Mayor of Hebden Royd last year, I managed to get the Town Council to sign up to become the first White Ribbon town in the UK, thanks to Chris Green and my fellow councillors.
I'll post after the walk, if I haven't twisted my ankle!
I and about fifty other men will be slipping on pairs of high heels and strutting our stuff on the mean streets of Hebden Bridge.
The White Ribbon Campaign is the largest effort in the world of men working to end male violence against women.
This is part of a series of events in White Ribbon Week and the lead up to White Ribbon Day on the 25th of November.
Whilst Mayor of Hebden Royd last year, I managed to get the Town Council to sign up to become the first White Ribbon town in the UK, thanks to Chris Green and my fellow councillors.
I'll post after the walk, if I haven't twisted my ankle!
Thursday 12 November 2009
Tories' amnesia over their dire record on poverty
David Cameron’s speech on Tory ideas to tackle poverty should make interesting reading!
When they were last in power they stood idly by as child poverty doubled. Why should anyone believe that they are now the right people to abolish it?
The reason unemployment has risen so rapidly in the UK is not because folk have suddenly become workshy, but because the jobs are not there.
Tory plans for benefit reform will not do anything to change that.
Blaming unemployed people for not finding work will be cold comfort to many facing Christmas on the breadline.
The priority must be to invest in creating new jobs that will bring lasting benefit to Britain and help the country out of recession.
When they were last in power they stood idly by as child poverty doubled. Why should anyone believe that they are now the right people to abolish it?
The reason unemployment has risen so rapidly in the UK is not because folk have suddenly become workshy, but because the jobs are not there.
Tory plans for benefit reform will not do anything to change that.
Blaming unemployed people for not finding work will be cold comfort to many facing Christmas on the breadline.
The priority must be to invest in creating new jobs that will bring lasting benefit to Britain and help the country out of recession.
Wednesday 11 November 2009
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month
This morning I shall be at the War Memorial in Keighley to pay my respects to all those killed in the two World Wars, and indeed all conflicts past and present.
I shall of course observe the two-minutes silence to commemorate Germany signing an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railway wagon outside Compiègne.
When I was a young lad, one of my friends had his granddad living with him, and this old feller had fought on the Western Front, but of course as a child that meant little to me. I was reading Biggles, and The Victor and Hornet comics, and so as you can imagine my impressions of the War, ANY war was a little warped to say the least.
Well anyway, one year round Remembrance Sunday, I must have been wittering more often than usual when this chap suddenly starts shouting telling me to be quiet, how I didn't know what I was talking about, and finally finishes off by saying how he had nothing but contempt for the leaders, both political and military at the time.
Eventually, he calmed down and said that his main grievance was that THEY must have decided on the ceasefire at least a few days before declaring it. In addition, even in the last few hours before 11 o'clock on that Monday many soldiers were still shot and killed. For that reason alone (if any others were needed) he had no respect for anyone who wanted to make a "grand gesture" at the cost of other people's lives.
"Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,"
This from Dulce et Decorum Est, the poem written by Wilfred Owen in 1917.
At the going down of the sun we shall remember them...
I shall of course observe the two-minutes silence to commemorate Germany signing an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railway wagon outside Compiègne.
When I was a young lad, one of my friends had his granddad living with him, and this old feller had fought on the Western Front, but of course as a child that meant little to me. I was reading Biggles, and The Victor and Hornet comics, and so as you can imagine my impressions of the War, ANY war was a little warped to say the least.
Well anyway, one year round Remembrance Sunday, I must have been wittering more often than usual when this chap suddenly starts shouting telling me to be quiet, how I didn't know what I was talking about, and finally finishes off by saying how he had nothing but contempt for the leaders, both political and military at the time.
Eventually, he calmed down and said that his main grievance was that THEY must have decided on the ceasefire at least a few days before declaring it. In addition, even in the last few hours before 11 o'clock on that Monday many soldiers were still shot and killed. For that reason alone (if any others were needed) he had no respect for anyone who wanted to make a "grand gesture" at the cost of other people's lives.
"Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,"
This from Dulce et Decorum Est, the poem written by Wilfred Owen in 1917.
At the going down of the sun we shall remember them...
Monday 9 November 2009
Just how low will Rupert Murdoch's loathsome organ droop?
Last night I was at Rossendale's Festival of Rememberance Concert at the Bacup Leisure Hall, featuring the Haslingden & Helmshore Band.
During the penultimate number, Elgar's Enigma Variation IX (Adagio) "Nimrod", a projector to the right of the hall started showing a slide show of the service personnel who had died since the last year's Remembrance Sunday.
It was incredibly poignant and utterly moving, and I don't mean that simply as a pacifist.
One of the photos was that of Grenadier Guardsman Jamie Janes, so it was absolutely disgusting that the Sun was using one mother's grief to mount a personal attack on Gordon Brown.
I cannot imagine how painful it must be to lose a child and the maelstrom of emotions one is engulfed in, but for the Sun to somehow pretend to be outraged at the PM's spelling is beneath contempt.
The Sun must be the only paper that aspires to CLIMB into the gutter, and once there, actually makes the sewage filthier.
As the new editor, Dominic Mohan must be pleased with himself, and David Cameron overjoyed to have the Sun batting for him!
Shame on you!
During the penultimate number, Elgar's Enigma Variation IX (Adagio) "Nimrod", a projector to the right of the hall started showing a slide show of the service personnel who had died since the last year's Remembrance Sunday.
It was incredibly poignant and utterly moving, and I don't mean that simply as a pacifist.
One of the photos was that of Grenadier Guardsman Jamie Janes, so it was absolutely disgusting that the Sun was using one mother's grief to mount a personal attack on Gordon Brown.
I cannot imagine how painful it must be to lose a child and the maelstrom of emotions one is engulfed in, but for the Sun to somehow pretend to be outraged at the PM's spelling is beneath contempt.
The Sun must be the only paper that aspires to CLIMB into the gutter, and once there, actually makes the sewage filthier.
As the new editor, Dominic Mohan must be pleased with himself, and David Cameron overjoyed to have the Sun batting for him!
Shame on you!
Freude, Frieden, Freiheit
Where were you twenty years ago?
I was in the Clarence in Manchester with a group of friends totally amazed, awed, and almost in tears at the euphoria about what was going on in Berlin.
Something that at that time I didn't think would happen in my lifetime. How eventually a ghastly symbol of the Cold War was eventually pulled down without a shot being fired.
Just goes to show how indomitable the human spirit is.
Going to put on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and sing along.
The words above?
Joy, Peace, Freedom.
I was in the Clarence in Manchester with a group of friends totally amazed, awed, and almost in tears at the euphoria about what was going on in Berlin.
Something that at that time I didn't think would happen in my lifetime. How eventually a ghastly symbol of the Cold War was eventually pulled down without a shot being fired.
Just goes to show how indomitable the human spirit is.
Going to put on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and sing along.
The words above?
Joy, Peace, Freedom.
Saturday 7 November 2009
Lib Dem Conference in York
Had a long and fun day at Lib Dem Regional conference in York today, elected Deputy Chair of the region, many thanks everyone who voted.
Very disappointed that Keighley Branch's motion on helping people with disabilities in the jobs market was defeated by ONE vote.
This evening was at St martin's Church in Brighouse for a wonderful gig by the Yorkshire Youth Choir. They were tremendous.
Should really comment on the fact that today is the anniversary of the glorious Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya (October Revolution). I'll come back to that at a later date, I really must go to bed.
Very disappointed that Keighley Branch's motion on helping people with disabilities in the jobs market was defeated by ONE vote.
This evening was at St martin's Church in Brighouse for a wonderful gig by the Yorkshire Youth Choir. They were tremendous.
Should really comment on the fact that today is the anniversary of the glorious Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya (October Revolution). I'll come back to that at a later date, I really must go to bed.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Dave's "cast-iron" guarantee turns to rust
So Cameron's zwischenzug on the Lisbon Treaty finally ran out of time, now that the Czechs have finally ratified.
It was always a hopeless ploy, promising a referendum when every other country in the EU had already ratified.
I'm fed up of the shenanigans of the Tories, and to a lesser extent the Labour Party, over Europe.
I am an internationalist, and believe that co-operation amongst states is the best way forward for everyone on this tiny blue planet of ours.
I am a huge fan of the United Nations with all its faults and shortcomings.
I am an even bigger fan of the "European Project".
Think about it, a continent that twice in the last century through terrible wars was brought to its knees, and also brought much of the rest of the world into ruin, is finally at peace.
The idea that we could ever go to war with Germany again or that we would witness the sight of German tanks at the Eiffel Tower is frankly ludicrous.
For that alone the EU and our contribution to it is worthwhile.
Not to mention the fact that it has stabilised militaristic and fascistic regimes in Greece, Spain, and Portugal.
And as we come to the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, democracy has spread and been firmly rooted in the former Eastern Bloc countries, thanks in large part to the European Union.
I am fed up of the "little Englander" mentality that automatically assumes that everything that comes out of the mainland is a threat rather than an opportunity.
I'm fed up with Tories wanting to "protect" us from Europe rather than "promoting" us in Europe.
I'm fed up of the right-wing media constantly distorting the truth about Europe, whilst all their editors, senior journalists, and multi-millionaire owners have property in the Dordogne, or Chiantishire.
We are in Europe, we are of Europe, and I want us to be leading Europe rather than sniping from the sidelines.
Maybe Nick Clegg's proposals for a wider referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU, is the way to go.
It was always a hopeless ploy, promising a referendum when every other country in the EU had already ratified.
I'm fed up of the shenanigans of the Tories, and to a lesser extent the Labour Party, over Europe.
I am an internationalist, and believe that co-operation amongst states is the best way forward for everyone on this tiny blue planet of ours.
I am a huge fan of the United Nations with all its faults and shortcomings.
I am an even bigger fan of the "European Project".
Think about it, a continent that twice in the last century through terrible wars was brought to its knees, and also brought much of the rest of the world into ruin, is finally at peace.
The idea that we could ever go to war with Germany again or that we would witness the sight of German tanks at the Eiffel Tower is frankly ludicrous.
For that alone the EU and our contribution to it is worthwhile.
Not to mention the fact that it has stabilised militaristic and fascistic regimes in Greece, Spain, and Portugal.
And as we come to the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, democracy has spread and been firmly rooted in the former Eastern Bloc countries, thanks in large part to the European Union.
I am fed up of the "little Englander" mentality that automatically assumes that everything that comes out of the mainland is a threat rather than an opportunity.
I'm fed up with Tories wanting to "protect" us from Europe rather than "promoting" us in Europe.
I'm fed up of the right-wing media constantly distorting the truth about Europe, whilst all their editors, senior journalists, and multi-millionaire owners have property in the Dordogne, or Chiantishire.
We are in Europe, we are of Europe, and I want us to be leading Europe rather than sniping from the sidelines.
Maybe Nick Clegg's proposals for a wider referendum on whether Britain should remain in the EU, is the way to go.
Sunday 1 November 2009
Tories' plan £5bn tax breaks for richest married couples
According to the Telegraph, Tory plans for tax breaks for married couples would cost nearly £5bn/year and benefit richer couples most.
The figures were obtained by us Lib Dems in a parliamentary written answer.
They show that THREE out of FIVE couples would NOT benefit at all from the Tory proposal because both husband and wife work.
Lord Oakeshott our Treasury spokesperson has quite rightly asked, “Why should mothers who go out to work and struggle to bring up a family pay more tax to support women who don’t?
The biggest tax break is going to the best off.
Cameron and Osborne are Robin Hood and his merry men in reverse, robbing the poor to pay the rich.
The figures were obtained by us Lib Dems in a parliamentary written answer.
They show that THREE out of FIVE couples would NOT benefit at all from the Tory proposal because both husband and wife work.
Lord Oakeshott our Treasury spokesperson has quite rightly asked, “Why should mothers who go out to work and struggle to bring up a family pay more tax to support women who don’t?
The biggest tax break is going to the best off.
Cameron and Osborne are Robin Hood and his merry men in reverse, robbing the poor to pay the rich.
Saturday 31 October 2009
Barry Cryer
A fabulous show!
Barry is a true giant of the comedy world a man with such a long and distinguished pedigree having written for so many greats that it was sheer joy to sit and listen to him, to top it all he even read out one of my questions.
My favourite bit? "Colin Sell said to me nothing rhymes with orange! [Pause] No it doesn't".
The man is a National Treasure.
Barry is a true giant of the comedy world a man with such a long and distinguished pedigree having written for so many greats that it was sheer joy to sit and listen to him, to top it all he even read out one of my questions.
My favourite bit? "Colin Sell said to me nothing rhymes with orange! [Pause] No it doesn't".
The man is a National Treasure.
Tuesday 27 October 2009
And death shall have no dominion
Today my white poppy arrived, and I shall be wearing it to remember all victims of war, and to promote pacifism in general.
The quote is from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas whose birthday it is today.
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one...
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
The quote is from the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas whose birthday it is today.
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one...
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
Monday 26 October 2009
I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.
The words above are the epitaph of Nikos Kazantzakis, who died on this day in 1967. His most famous books are Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ.
I have just been re-reading the latter which tells the life of Christ from his perspective.
The central theme of the book is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that we mortals face, including fear, doubt, lust, etc.
A truly fabulous book whether one is religious or not, as indeed I am not.
I have just been re-reading the latter which tells the life of Christ from his perspective.
The central theme of the book is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to every form of temptation that we mortals face, including fear, doubt, lust, etc.
A truly fabulous book whether one is religious or not, as indeed I am not.
Sunday 25 October 2009
A first for West Yorkshire
Today in my role as Deputy Mayor of Calderdale, I had the great honour of joining the Mayor and a host of other civic leaders to the Madni Mosque in Halifax to celebrate the first ever Civic Service by any Mayor in West Yorkshire, as far as we know, to take place in a Mosque.
It was a surprisingly moving affair especially when the Vicar of Halifax and a lady from the Interfaith Council, as well as the Imam, addressed the gathered throng.
A perfect counterfoil to those who would spread poison throughout our society by emphasising what unites us all as as human beings rather than what differentiates us.
It was a surprisingly moving affair especially when the Vicar of Halifax and a lady from the Interfaith Council, as well as the Imam, addressed the gathered throng.
A perfect counterfoil to those who would spread poison throughout our society by emphasising what unites us all as as human beings rather than what differentiates us.
Friday 23 October 2009
Griffin the muffin
Does that bigoted bouffanted buffoon, Nick Griffin have a sense of irony?
I only ask because after all that whingeing to get on QT, he was utterly weedily, rubbishly feeble.
When subjected to a mild grilling by an audience of a couple of hundred people in London, he wilted like a soggy chip in the rain.
Earlier today however, he had the nerve to compare these rather polite and mostly respectful people to a "lynch mob", whilst last night he made the stupidly mendacious comment that David Duke ex-Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan was the leader of a "non-violent" organisation.
Is the man wilfully stupid, or just plain ignorant of the history of the KKK and the Deep South of the USA?
From the 1860s onwards, thousands of black men were lynched usually on spurious or made-up reasons often with the KKK being implicated as instigators or executioners.
I recommend he listens to "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday.
Mind you I doubt it, a song about lynchings, written by a Jewish man, and sung by a black woman.
One can only hope.
I won't even comment on his odious comments about London being "ethnically cleansed", what a crassly insensitive excuse for a human being.
I only ask because after all that whingeing to get on QT, he was utterly weedily, rubbishly feeble.
When subjected to a mild grilling by an audience of a couple of hundred people in London, he wilted like a soggy chip in the rain.
Earlier today however, he had the nerve to compare these rather polite and mostly respectful people to a "lynch mob", whilst last night he made the stupidly mendacious comment that David Duke ex-Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan was the leader of a "non-violent" organisation.
Is the man wilfully stupid, or just plain ignorant of the history of the KKK and the Deep South of the USA?
From the 1860s onwards, thousands of black men were lynched usually on spurious or made-up reasons often with the KKK being implicated as instigators or executioners.
I recommend he listens to "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday.
Mind you I doubt it, a song about lynchings, written by a Jewish man, and sung by a black woman.
One can only hope.
I won't even comment on his odious comments about London being "ethnically cleansed", what a crassly insensitive excuse for a human being.
Wednesday 21 October 2009
When lying, lie BIG
Let me put it on the record I am a pacifist and have been and am against the war in Iraq.
However, when three former army chiefs and the commander of the Desert Rats in the first Gulf War, put their names to a letter, saying, "We call on all those who seek to hijack the good name of Britain's military for their own advantage to cease and desist", even I had to take notice.
As you might have guessed they were (probably) referring to the obnoxious and odious BNP using images of a Spitfire with the legend "Battle for Britain". How insulting and stupid can that party get?
The RAF Roll of Honour for the Battle of Britain recognises about 600 pilots from countries other than the UK, alongside more than 2,300 British pilots, that's about one-in-five of "The Few".
When I was at university in Manchester, I lived close to the Koło Polskie and made friends with an aviator who had flown with the 303 "Kosciuszko" Squadron. There was bravery and modesty all in one human package.
The antithesis of the bombastic blustering buffoon Griffin who will be preening his preposterous plumage on Question Time tomorrow.
I can only end with what the generals wrote namely that "the values of these extremists, many of whom are essentially racist, are fundamentally at odds with the values of the modern British military, such as tolerance and fairness".
However, when three former army chiefs and the commander of the Desert Rats in the first Gulf War, put their names to a letter, saying, "We call on all those who seek to hijack the good name of Britain's military for their own advantage to cease and desist", even I had to take notice.
As you might have guessed they were (probably) referring to the obnoxious and odious BNP using images of a Spitfire with the legend "Battle for Britain". How insulting and stupid can that party get?
The RAF Roll of Honour for the Battle of Britain recognises about 600 pilots from countries other than the UK, alongside more than 2,300 British pilots, that's about one-in-five of "The Few".
When I was at university in Manchester, I lived close to the Koło Polskie and made friends with an aviator who had flown with the 303 "Kosciuszko" Squadron. There was bravery and modesty all in one human package.
The antithesis of the bombastic blustering buffoon Griffin who will be preening his preposterous plumage on Question Time tomorrow.
I can only end with what the generals wrote namely that "the values of these extremists, many of whom are essentially racist, are fundamentally at odds with the values of the modern British military, such as tolerance and fairness".
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Cameron setting the agenda?
How depressing to read that once again David Cameron and his Tories attempting to seize the progressive agenda by promising to allow some "all-women shortlists to help us boost the number of Conservative women MPs".
I have long argued for all-women shortlists (which is not official Lib Dem party policy) on the grounds that, although illiberal in the short-term, they will encourage and be successful in increasing the number of women in Parliament, as has been shown by the Labour Party in the 1990s.
I would go one step further and argue for all-bme shortlists, where appropriate, this does not necessarily mean in constituencies with significant numbers of ethnic minorities, viz the success of Ashok Kumar's 1991 by-election win in Langbaurgh and now Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (white population, 98.6%).
Furthermore, the victorious experience of Adam Afriye and Sailesh Vara in primarily white rural constituencies in southern England shows that the "ethnic penalty" no longer exists.
It is time that the Lib Dems (who let us not forget returned the first non-white MP Dadabhai Naoroji in Finsbury Park in 1892) began to take the represetation of ethnic minorities and women far more seriously and to put in place far more radical measures in place to ensure that our party, and more importantly Parliament, much better reflects British society at large.
We shouldn't be palying catch-up with the Tories of all people.
I have long argued for all-women shortlists (which is not official Lib Dem party policy) on the grounds that, although illiberal in the short-term, they will encourage and be successful in increasing the number of women in Parliament, as has been shown by the Labour Party in the 1990s.
I would go one step further and argue for all-bme shortlists, where appropriate, this does not necessarily mean in constituencies with significant numbers of ethnic minorities, viz the success of Ashok Kumar's 1991 by-election win in Langbaurgh and now Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (white population, 98.6%).
Furthermore, the victorious experience of Adam Afriye and Sailesh Vara in primarily white rural constituencies in southern England shows that the "ethnic penalty" no longer exists.
It is time that the Lib Dems (who let us not forget returned the first non-white MP Dadabhai Naoroji in Finsbury Park in 1892) began to take the represetation of ethnic minorities and women far more seriously and to put in place far more radical measures in place to ensure that our party, and more importantly Parliament, much better reflects British society at large.
We shouldn't be palying catch-up with the Tories of all people.
Monday 19 October 2009
Pocket-money price of alcohol has devastating impact
Almost 10,000 people could die every year because of their drinking. Research from the University of the West of England shows that 90,800 people could die avoidable deaths from alcohol-related causes in the next decade if we continue to drink at the average rate of the past 15 years.
The research maps the whole population’s level of drinking with the number of deaths from alcohol-related causes.
The new findings also show there has been a TREBLING of deaths from 3,054 in 1984 to 8,999 in 2008, as consumption has increased over the past 25 years.
The numbers include diseases directly caused by alcohol and alcohol poisoning, and DO NOT INCLUDE DEATHS CAUSED INDIRECTLY BY ALCOHOL, such as those from drink-driving or cancers which have been caused in part by drinking.
Prof. Martin Plant has said that the UK has experienced "an epidemic of alcohol-related health and social problems" and he recommends "introducing a minimum unit price of 50p" which would cut alcohol-related hospital admissions, crimes, and absence days from work.
These chilling figures are a stark reminder of the shocking death toll caused by excess alcohol consumption.
The Government’s failure to invest in alcohol treatment services and their refusal to stop alcohol being sold at pocket-money prices is having a devastating impact on our health.
The high cost of cheap alcohol is becoming clearer every day.
The Government must heed the advice of its own experts and introduce a minimum price for alcohol, otherwise the death toll will continue to rise and the NHS will be forced to pick up the bill.
The research maps the whole population’s level of drinking with the number of deaths from alcohol-related causes.
The new findings also show there has been a TREBLING of deaths from 3,054 in 1984 to 8,999 in 2008, as consumption has increased over the past 25 years.
The numbers include diseases directly caused by alcohol and alcohol poisoning, and DO NOT INCLUDE DEATHS CAUSED INDIRECTLY BY ALCOHOL, such as those from drink-driving or cancers which have been caused in part by drinking.
Prof. Martin Plant has said that the UK has experienced "an epidemic of alcohol-related health and social problems" and he recommends "introducing a minimum unit price of 50p" which would cut alcohol-related hospital admissions, crimes, and absence days from work.
These chilling figures are a stark reminder of the shocking death toll caused by excess alcohol consumption.
The Government’s failure to invest in alcohol treatment services and their refusal to stop alcohol being sold at pocket-money prices is having a devastating impact on our health.
The high cost of cheap alcohol is becoming clearer every day.
The Government must heed the advice of its own experts and introduce a minimum price for alcohol, otherwise the death toll will continue to rise and the NHS will be forced to pick up the bill.
Sunday 18 October 2009
“Gracias a la Vida”
Just been listening to this song from the album Homenaje a Violeta Parra by Mercedes Sosa who died a fortnight back.
It is a beautiful and haunting melody with life affirming lyrics written by the Chilean Parra in the 1960s.
She was a symbol of resistance against the vile Argentinean junta of the 1970s, a truly beautiful woman.
If you've not heard the song or Mercedes go and buy it.
Gracias a la Vida que me ha dado tanto
me ha dado la risa y me ha dado el llanto,
asi yo distingo dicha de quebranto
los dos materiales que forman mi cantoy el canto
de ustedes que es el mismo canto
y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto.
Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me laughter and it gave me longing.
With them I distinguish happiness and pain
The two materials from which my songs are formed,
And your song, as well, which is the same song.
And everyone's song, which is my own song.
It is a beautiful and haunting melody with life affirming lyrics written by the Chilean Parra in the 1960s.
She was a symbol of resistance against the vile Argentinean junta of the 1970s, a truly beautiful woman.
If you've not heard the song or Mercedes go and buy it.
Gracias a la Vida que me ha dado tanto
me ha dado la risa y me ha dado el llanto,
asi yo distingo dicha de quebranto
los dos materiales que forman mi cantoy el canto
de ustedes que es el mismo canto
y el canto de todos que es mi propio canto.
Thanks to life, which has given me so much.
It gave me laughter and it gave me longing.
With them I distinguish happiness and pain
The two materials from which my songs are formed,
And your song, as well, which is the same song.
And everyone's song, which is my own song.
Saturday 17 October 2009
A bit of cheer - Happy Diwali
Happy Diwali to all my Sikh and Hindu friends.
As the nights draw in this time of year it's nice to celebrate a "festival of lights", celebrating the pure, infinite, and eternal.
I shall be out for some pista barfi and laddoo and a nice cup of tea at some friends later on today.
Don't worry, I'll take some sweets round as well.
As the nights draw in this time of year it's nice to celebrate a "festival of lights", celebrating the pure, infinite, and eternal.
I shall be out for some pista barfi and laddoo and a nice cup of tea at some friends later on today.
Don't worry, I'll take some sweets round as well.
A Double Dose of Depression
Just when you thought the US was "post-racial" having elected Obama, along comes Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace in Louisiana who has refused to marry a couple of different ethnicities.
What's even more shocking is that this is not his first refusal, but his FIFTH, and the authorities have done nothing about it.
Okay the man's an idiot and a racist, but he should not be allowed to be an idiot and a racist on the public purse. Instead, he should be sacked and the prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
When I taught a course on the American Civil Rights movement, I drew my students' attention to Loving v. Virginia (1967), where the Supreme Court unanimously declared the Commonwealth of Virginia's "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, so ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage.
However, I did have to laugh at his comment that he had, "piles of black friends [who] come to my home [and] use my bathroom". If I was him I'd check to see that they didn't take a dump anywhere else.
What's even more shocking is that this is not his first refusal, but his FIFTH, and the authorities have done nothing about it.
Okay the man's an idiot and a racist, but he should not be allowed to be an idiot and a racist on the public purse. Instead, he should be sacked and the prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
When I taught a course on the American Civil Rights movement, I drew my students' attention to Loving v. Virginia (1967), where the Supreme Court unanimously declared the Commonwealth of Virginia's "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, so ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage.
However, I did have to laugh at his comment that he had, "piles of black friends [who] come to my home [and] use my bathroom". If I was him I'd check to see that they didn't take a dump anywhere else.
Friday 16 October 2009
Start formal schooling at six
Just read the pre-pub for the Cambridge Primary Review, looking at primary education in England, thus far fascinating and something that I concur with whole-heartedly.
The report sets out an analysis of the problems and recommends:
* Delaying formal lessons until after a child turns six, to allow them to focus on play-based learning. The government currently plans to bring forward the school starting age from five to four.
* Scrapping Sats and league tables and replacing them with teacher assessments in a wider range of subjects than just the 3Rs, to encourage primaries to focus on the broader curriculum.
* Reviewing the system of general primary teachers to introduce more specialist teachers in history, music, and languages.
Funding should be increased to match that spent in secondaries on extra staffing.
Teachers should have two years post-graduate training, instead of one.
As a parent and school governor I think it's barmy that our children start school so young.
When I was working on mainland Europe children did not start formal learning until they were six, and not only did they not seem to visibly suffer in the overwhelming number of cases they flourished.
I hope that the government start to take the recommendations seriously and start a national debate on primary schooling.
Download the briefing document at http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/Downloads/Finalreport/CWE-briefing.pdf to read it yourself.
The report sets out an analysis of the problems and recommends:
* Delaying formal lessons until after a child turns six, to allow them to focus on play-based learning. The government currently plans to bring forward the school starting age from five to four.
* Scrapping Sats and league tables and replacing them with teacher assessments in a wider range of subjects than just the 3Rs, to encourage primaries to focus on the broader curriculum.
* Reviewing the system of general primary teachers to introduce more specialist teachers in history, music, and languages.
Funding should be increased to match that spent in secondaries on extra staffing.
Teachers should have two years post-graduate training, instead of one.
As a parent and school governor I think it's barmy that our children start school so young.
When I was working on mainland Europe children did not start formal learning until they were six, and not only did they not seem to visibly suffer in the overwhelming number of cases they flourished.
I hope that the government start to take the recommendations seriously and start a national debate on primary schooling.
Download the briefing document at http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/Downloads/Finalreport/CWE-briefing.pdf to read it yourself.
Friday 9 October 2009
Complete this set, Moses, Martin Luther King, and... David Cameron?
How presumptuous of David Cameron to compare himself to Dr Martin Luther King and Moses.
The latter went up Mount Sinai but never entered the Promised Land, and Dr King famously said, "And He[God]'s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!"
David Cameron: "There is a steep climb ahead... The view from the summit will be worth it".
On the fiftieth anniversary of Harold Macmillan's general election victory who famously said "that the class war is obsolete". For the Tories to try to be seen as the champions of the poor is equally delusional and really sticks in the craw.
The latter went up Mount Sinai but never entered the Promised Land, and Dr King famously said, "And He[God]'s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!"
David Cameron: "There is a steep climb ahead... The view from the summit will be worth it".
On the fiftieth anniversary of Harold Macmillan's general election victory who famously said "that the class war is obsolete". For the Tories to try to be seen as the champions of the poor is equally delusional and really sticks in the craw.
Thursday 8 October 2009
National Poetry Day
I couldn't let today go past without a mention of my favourite poem, Ozymandias by Shelley.
The final lines are:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
The final lines are:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Saturday 3 October 2009
Marek Edelman RIP
Sad to hear of the death of Marek Edelman leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
"The Ghetto Fights", his account of how in April 1943 a few hundred young Jews decided to take up arms against the occupying Nazis, choosing to fight rather than face death in the "Final Solution", is a truly remarkable story of courage against impossible odds.
Whenever, people ask the question "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" tell them to read this book.
The world has lost a truly remarkable man.
"The Ghetto Fights", his account of how in April 1943 a few hundred young Jews decided to take up arms against the occupying Nazis, choosing to fight rather than face death in the "Final Solution", is a truly remarkable story of courage against impossible odds.
Whenever, people ask the question "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" tell them to read this book.
The world has lost a truly remarkable man.
Friday 2 October 2009
Cameron's Tories: not liberal, not progressive, and not fit for government
Next week sees the Tory Party conference in Manchester, voters should not be fooled into thinking they have changed their spots since they were last in government.
They are not liberal, not progressive, and not fit for government.
They are not liberal, Cameron voted to retain Section 28, they would scrap the Human Rights Act, and ‘Liberal’ is still a term of abuse for the Tories, frontbencher Jeremy Hunt recently attacked the BBC for having a ‘liberal bias’.
They are not progressive, Cameron would cut taxes for millionaires, at a cost of £4.4bn, while doing nothing to help low earners. 40% of children in poverty live in one-parent households, yet the Tories’ tax credit reform proposals will only help couples while doing nothing for single parents.
They are not fit for government, economically illiterate, Cameron and Osborne would cut before, not after an economic recovery, risking plunging UK back into recession. They are fiscally incompetent, six unfunded pledges leave a black hole of £53bn in Tory plans according to Treasury estimates; by contrast, Cameron’s recent ‘salad’ speech on cutting costs set out just £120m of savings.
Cameron’s foreign policy would leave the UK isolated on the lunatic fringe of Europe, less safe from terrorism, and international crime.
Cameron’s claim that he would fix broken politics rings hollow in the light of his refusal to punish George Osborne for ‘flipping’ his second home, a move by which the Shadow Chancellor made himself £55,000.
We Liberal Democrats believe in social justice, we believe in a fairer, freer, kinder, gentler society. We do not believe that Britain is broken, and would not use that as an excuse to attack the weakest and those most in need in our society.
They are not liberal, not progressive, and not fit for government.
They are not liberal, Cameron voted to retain Section 28, they would scrap the Human Rights Act, and ‘Liberal’ is still a term of abuse for the Tories, frontbencher Jeremy Hunt recently attacked the BBC for having a ‘liberal bias’.
They are not progressive, Cameron would cut taxes for millionaires, at a cost of £4.4bn, while doing nothing to help low earners. 40% of children in poverty live in one-parent households, yet the Tories’ tax credit reform proposals will only help couples while doing nothing for single parents.
They are not fit for government, economically illiterate, Cameron and Osborne would cut before, not after an economic recovery, risking plunging UK back into recession. They are fiscally incompetent, six unfunded pledges leave a black hole of £53bn in Tory plans according to Treasury estimates; by contrast, Cameron’s recent ‘salad’ speech on cutting costs set out just £120m of savings.
Cameron’s foreign policy would leave the UK isolated on the lunatic fringe of Europe, less safe from terrorism, and international crime.
Cameron’s claim that he would fix broken politics rings hollow in the light of his refusal to punish George Osborne for ‘flipping’ his second home, a move by which the Shadow Chancellor made himself £55,000.
We Liberal Democrats believe in social justice, we believe in a fairer, freer, kinder, gentler society. We do not believe that Britain is broken, and would not use that as an excuse to attack the weakest and those most in need in our society.
Thursday 1 October 2009
Happy Birthday China
Following the Chinese Civil War and the victory of Communist forces under Mao Zedong's over the Guomindang forces of General Jiang Jieshi, who fled to Taiwan, Mao declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Wednesday 30 September 2009
It's the Sun wot dun* it
What an astonishingly arrogant and pompous front page by the "Currant Bun" today.
"After 12 long years in power, this government has lost its way. Now it's lost the Sun's support too", it thundered.
Who the hell does the Sun think it is?
A tawdry rag purveying second rate filth, and third rate political analysis.
Trevor Kavanagh (its politics editor) let the cat out of the bag when he owned up to the fact that both Murdoch pere and fils were fully aware and behind the decision to change political horses.
Murdoch has form on that front, forget Britain in the 1990s, back in the 1970s he threw his weight and media empire behind the Australian Labor Party under Gough Whitlam and duly saw it elected. As the Whitlam government began to lose public support, Murdoch turned against him and supported his dismissal by the Governor-General.
This is the Murdoch who during the 1980s and early 1990s, was supportive of Mrs Thatcher and her Tory government.
This is the Murdoch who sacked 6,000 workers who had the temerity to strike upon being told that their jobs were being moved to Wapping. Many suspected then and still do that there was collusion with the highest level of Tory government in order to further damage the trade union movement.
This is the Murdoch who in the dying days of the Major government switched to Labour and Tony Blair. The closeness of their relationship, their secret trysts to discuss national policies was scandalous then and is still today.
This is Murdoch the patriot who became a US citizen simply to satisfy laws that only American citizens could own US TV stations, and yet also managed to have himself defined as an Australian citizen to retain his ownership of Australian media outlets.
This is the Murdoch who owns nigh on 200 newspapers worldwide, ALL of which editorialised in favour of the war on Iraq.
This is the Murdoch, whose Fox News portrayed Obama whilst running for President "as suspicious, foreign, fearsome, just short of a terrorist".
Should a man like this and his media empire (think Darth Vader, though not as cuddly) tell the British electorate how to vote and for whom.
The paper then goes on to say, "The Sun believes - and prays (to whom Mammon?)- that the Conservative leadership can put the great back into Great Britain".
You have been warned, if you sup with the devil, use a long spoon.
*dun (verb) to make repeated and insistent demands upon, esp. for the payment of a debt.
"After 12 long years in power, this government has lost its way. Now it's lost the Sun's support too", it thundered.
Who the hell does the Sun think it is?
A tawdry rag purveying second rate filth, and third rate political analysis.
Trevor Kavanagh (its politics editor) let the cat out of the bag when he owned up to the fact that both Murdoch pere and fils were fully aware and behind the decision to change political horses.
Murdoch has form on that front, forget Britain in the 1990s, back in the 1970s he threw his weight and media empire behind the Australian Labor Party under Gough Whitlam and duly saw it elected. As the Whitlam government began to lose public support, Murdoch turned against him and supported his dismissal by the Governor-General.
This is the Murdoch who during the 1980s and early 1990s, was supportive of Mrs Thatcher and her Tory government.
This is the Murdoch who sacked 6,000 workers who had the temerity to strike upon being told that their jobs were being moved to Wapping. Many suspected then and still do that there was collusion with the highest level of Tory government in order to further damage the trade union movement.
This is the Murdoch who in the dying days of the Major government switched to Labour and Tony Blair. The closeness of their relationship, their secret trysts to discuss national policies was scandalous then and is still today.
This is Murdoch the patriot who became a US citizen simply to satisfy laws that only American citizens could own US TV stations, and yet also managed to have himself defined as an Australian citizen to retain his ownership of Australian media outlets.
This is the Murdoch who owns nigh on 200 newspapers worldwide, ALL of which editorialised in favour of the war on Iraq.
This is the Murdoch, whose Fox News portrayed Obama whilst running for President "as suspicious, foreign, fearsome, just short of a terrorist".
Should a man like this and his media empire (think Darth Vader, though not as cuddly) tell the British electorate how to vote and for whom.
The paper then goes on to say, "The Sun believes - and prays (to whom Mammon?)- that the Conservative leadership can put the great back into Great Britain".
You have been warned, if you sup with the devil, use a long spoon.
*dun (verb) to make repeated and insistent demands upon, esp. for the payment of a debt.
"coy, kittenish, camp, and crazed"
What a fab description of Lord Mandelson by Simon Hoggart in today's Guardian.
I've always thought Mandelson to be one of the most gifted political operators of his generation. That is not to say that I admire his politics, nor yet his rather common parvenu fascination with wealth and the uber rich, nor even his near-corrupt relations with Geoffrey Robinson, or the Hinduja Brothers.
I thought that Gordon Brown bringing him back into the Cabinet was a stroke of genius, the only thing that could have topped that would've been to bring Tony Blair back.
My point is that Mandelson has managed to inject some vim and vigour into an otherwise moribund Labour Party.
And if the Tories are to be stopped from ruining Britain for the second time in a generation, then we need not only the Lib Dems but also Labour to be on top of their game.
I've always thought Mandelson to be one of the most gifted political operators of his generation. That is not to say that I admire his politics, nor yet his rather common parvenu fascination with wealth and the uber rich, nor even his near-corrupt relations with Geoffrey Robinson, or the Hinduja Brothers.
I thought that Gordon Brown bringing him back into the Cabinet was a stroke of genius, the only thing that could have topped that would've been to bring Tony Blair back.
My point is that Mandelson has managed to inject some vim and vigour into an otherwise moribund Labour Party.
And if the Tories are to be stopped from ruining Britain for the second time in a generation, then we need not only the Lib Dems but also Labour to be on top of their game.
Sunday 20 September 2009
Can Lib Dems lead the left?
Saturday 19 September 2009
O Captain! my Captain!
Just read a piece in today's Guardian about an interview with Nick Clegg where he is quoted as saying, "We will be quite bold or even savage on current spending, precisely to be able to retain spending where... the economy is weak in infrastructure".
The first part sent a chill, the second part soothed... a little!
I just wish he'd said "t'other way round" emphasise the need to invest in the public realm especially in the infrastructure.
Invest and re-animate the Building Schools for the Future programme which seems to have stalled over the past few years. So that, we can have not just hundreds, but thousands of new schools built and fit for purpose in the 21st century.
A massive house-building/home-improvement programme to ensure that we have green energy efficient homes for life.
A bold and imaginative investment in public transport, especially the railways so that we can catch up with the rest of Europe in high-speed trains, and encourage freight off the roads and on to the track.
There are so many other areas of investment needed that ONLY the state is capable of marshalling resources, remember Roosevelt's America of the 1930s?
I'm afraid that the debate about public spending is being hi-jacked by the Tories who wish to cut on ideological grounds, and Labour who are following meekly like the proverbial lambs to the slaughter.
We Lib Dems must show the way, rather than follow some mad Thatcherite agenda and try to out-macho on cuts the likes of Osborne and Darling.
The quote is from Walt Whitman and the second verse goes:
O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
The country is hungry for change, and only we Lib Dems can provide the vision, the values, and the vigour to lead the charge.
The first part sent a chill, the second part soothed... a little!
I just wish he'd said "t'other way round" emphasise the need to invest in the public realm especially in the infrastructure.
Invest and re-animate the Building Schools for the Future programme which seems to have stalled over the past few years. So that, we can have not just hundreds, but thousands of new schools built and fit for purpose in the 21st century.
A massive house-building/home-improvement programme to ensure that we have green energy efficient homes for life.
A bold and imaginative investment in public transport, especially the railways so that we can catch up with the rest of Europe in high-speed trains, and encourage freight off the roads and on to the track.
There are so many other areas of investment needed that ONLY the state is capable of marshalling resources, remember Roosevelt's America of the 1930s?
I'm afraid that the debate about public spending is being hi-jacked by the Tories who wish to cut on ideological grounds, and Labour who are following meekly like the proverbial lambs to the slaughter.
We Lib Dems must show the way, rather than follow some mad Thatcherite agenda and try to out-macho on cuts the likes of Osborne and Darling.
The quote is from Walt Whitman and the second verse goes:
O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
The country is hungry for change, and only we Lib Dems can provide the vision, the values, and the vigour to lead the charge.
Friday 18 September 2009
Scrap Trident Now!
A Greenpeace investigation into the full costs of replacing Trident reveals that successive Tory and Labour governments have consistently under-estimated the final bill.
The government’s figures for replacing Trident in the 2006 Defence White Paper, is £15bn–£20bn at 2006–07 prices (roughly £16bn–£21bn today). However, a report by Greenpeace says that key factors the government has left out of the calculation will push the final cost up to £97bn over the system's 30-year life.
As Vince Cable said the report provided powerful evidence that MoD plans are totally unrealistic in the light of Britain's serious budgetary constraints.
So as well as the moral and military argument there is now the monetary argumet against Trident.
Time to get rid!
Look at the full rport at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/pdfs/peace/ITFL_trident_report.pdf
The government’s figures for replacing Trident in the 2006 Defence White Paper, is £15bn–£20bn at 2006–07 prices (roughly £16bn–£21bn today). However, a report by Greenpeace says that key factors the government has left out of the calculation will push the final cost up to £97bn over the system's 30-year life.
As Vince Cable said the report provided powerful evidence that MoD plans are totally unrealistic in the light of Britain's serious budgetary constraints.
So as well as the moral and military argument there is now the monetary argumet against Trident.
Time to get rid!
Look at the full rport at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/files/pdfs/peace/ITFL_trident_report.pdf
Wednesday 16 September 2009
Tory Millionaires
Last night I posted about how smug George Osborne looked telling the country that public spending would have to be cut.
Whilst I appreciate that Vince Cable has said that we have got to look at the future cost of public pensions, public sector pay, the welfare system, these are the big detail items that politicians are going to have to debate, it’s going to be painful but we’re going to have to discuss them.
I cannot abide a Tory Party that, if I remember correctly, has 19 millionaires out of a frontbench team of 23, wringing their hands in glee at the prospect of slash and burn being wrought on our public services.
These public services, whatever their faults, and there are many, are ultimately responsible and responsive to the democratic voice of the people. Whereas private organisations are ultimately only responsible to their shareholders and the bottom line, namely the profits and dividends they can pay out.
Let us not forget that whenever these mega-businesses begin to stumble and falter they are only to willing to ask, nay demand that the state that is you and me the ordinary tax-payer, bail them out, as we did with the banks earlier this year.
However, whenever the weakest need our help, the Tories treat them like lepers, calling them scroungers and demonising them to the nth degree and wanting to cut them off at the knees.
If only for that reason, I can never bring myself to support the Tories, and I concur wholheartedly with Nye Bevan in averring that "No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin".
Whilst I appreciate that Vince Cable has said that we have got to look at the future cost of public pensions, public sector pay, the welfare system, these are the big detail items that politicians are going to have to debate, it’s going to be painful but we’re going to have to discuss them.
I cannot abide a Tory Party that, if I remember correctly, has 19 millionaires out of a frontbench team of 23, wringing their hands in glee at the prospect of slash and burn being wrought on our public services.
These public services, whatever their faults, and there are many, are ultimately responsible and responsive to the democratic voice of the people. Whereas private organisations are ultimately only responsible to their shareholders and the bottom line, namely the profits and dividends they can pay out.
Let us not forget that whenever these mega-businesses begin to stumble and falter they are only to willing to ask, nay demand that the state that is you and me the ordinary tax-payer, bail them out, as we did with the banks earlier this year.
However, whenever the weakest need our help, the Tories treat them like lepers, calling them scroungers and demonising them to the nth degree and wanting to cut them off at the knees.
If only for that reason, I can never bring myself to support the Tories, and I concur wholheartedly with Nye Bevan in averring that "No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin".
Monday 14 September 2009
Wise Spending?
I listened to Peter Mandelson's speech on the news and I'd like to see the government actually follow this up by commitments to scrap Trident, the ID cards, etc.
Where I do agree with him on is his analysis of the Tories' "thinly disguised zeal" for cuts.
I certainly don't want to go back to the 1980s and the "lost generation" of unemployed and the social and economic consequences that flowed therefrom.
Where I do agree with him on is his analysis of the Tories' "thinly disguised zeal" for cuts.
I certainly don't want to go back to the 1980s and the "lost generation" of unemployed and the social and economic consequences that flowed therefrom.
Friday 11 September 2009
9/11
Out of respect to the nearly 3,000 people from more than 90 countries who died in the attacks on this day eight years ago, I shall not be blogging today.
Wednesday 9 September 2009
The Case for Electoral Reform
Half of Westminster seats have not changed hands since 1970.
That's right HALF of all the seats at the Mother of Parliaments have not changed hands for 40 years.
So if you first voted on your eighteenth birthday in June 1970, the chances are that as you approach retirement by the time of the next general election your voice has only ever had a fifty-fifty chance of getting heard.
One of the cornerstones of politics is the ability for the electorate to dismiss their representatives. However, if the seats do not change their political colour then you might as well be whistling in the wind.
To make you more depressed if you go back to 1945 that figure is still almost a third (29%).
Clearly this is an unhealthy state of affairs, and the sooner we get electoral reform the better.
My preferred option is STV (single transferable vote) in multi-member constituencies, as they have in Ireland. I have never understood the argument that this would remove the link between the MP and their constituency, this doesn't happen at local government level where you invariably have three councillors representing a ward, no-one says that the link between councillors and their wards is non-existent.
I am as much a councillor for West End ward on the Town council, and for Calder ward on the borough council.
Electoral Reform, you know it makes sense!
That's right HALF of all the seats at the Mother of Parliaments have not changed hands for 40 years.
So if you first voted on your eighteenth birthday in June 1970, the chances are that as you approach retirement by the time of the next general election your voice has only ever had a fifty-fifty chance of getting heard.
One of the cornerstones of politics is the ability for the electorate to dismiss their representatives. However, if the seats do not change their political colour then you might as well be whistling in the wind.
To make you more depressed if you go back to 1945 that figure is still almost a third (29%).
Clearly this is an unhealthy state of affairs, and the sooner we get electoral reform the better.
My preferred option is STV (single transferable vote) in multi-member constituencies, as they have in Ireland. I have never understood the argument that this would remove the link between the MP and their constituency, this doesn't happen at local government level where you invariably have three councillors representing a ward, no-one says that the link between councillors and their wards is non-existent.
I am as much a councillor for West End ward on the Town council, and for Calder ward on the borough council.
Electoral Reform, you know it makes sense!
Friday 4 September 2009
Democratic Deficits
One of the failings of the modern day politics, is the lack of ethnic minority representation in Parliament. There are only fifteen MPs of colour, whereas proportionately, there should be four times as many.
I bring this up because today is the birthday of Dadabhai Naoroji, who became the first Asian to be elected an MP in 1892, as a Liberal naturally. He was quite a remarkable man who was a co-founder of the Indian National Congress.
However, bar a couple of other notable exceptions, it was not until the 1980s that the first cohort of Black MPs was to be elected.
To achieve a Parliament that truly represents ALL the people we still have a long way to go.
And don't get me started on the lack of women...
I bring this up because today is the birthday of Dadabhai Naoroji, who became the first Asian to be elected an MP in 1892, as a Liberal naturally. He was quite a remarkable man who was a co-founder of the Indian National Congress.
However, bar a couple of other notable exceptions, it was not until the 1980s that the first cohort of Black MPs was to be elected.
To achieve a Parliament that truly represents ALL the people we still have a long way to go.
And don't get me started on the lack of women...
Thursday 3 September 2009
"... consequently this country is at war with Germany"
Probably the most chilling words heard on the radio. It is exactly seventy years ago that they were spoken on the BBC by then Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain.
What was to follow, were the most incredible six years in modern history. A world plunged into chaos and carnage, and a continent torn asunder. Not to mention the unleashing of the most fearsome weapon of destruction, namely the atom bomb.
And for what?
A perverse ideology that held not only that there were distinct races, but that one was superior to the rest, leading to the virtual annihilation of European Jewry, as well as its Roma population. Not forgetting an overall total of more than 50,000,000 dead, more than half of whom were civilians.
That's more than the population of England, folks!
The bravery and heroism, the dogged determination and stoicism that helped this country pull through in its darkest hour should not be forgotten. Nor indeed the aid and succour we received from the Commonwealth and US soldiers, the Polish and Czechoslovak aviators, Dutch and Norwegian sailors, and others too numerous to mention.
One of my heroes, Dr. Jacob Bronowski (who wrote the Ascent of Man, and whose family perished in the Death Camps of Auschwitz) was asked what he would say to the perpetrators if he could have had the chance, and he replied with a quotation from Oliver Cromwell, "I beseech you in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken".
So the next time you read some nauseating lie in the "Daily Hate Mail", or "The Daily Excess", or even "The Pun", having a go at a made up story having a go at Europe, remember that we shall never in our lifetime, nor our children's, nor even our grandchildren's will we ever have to hear those chilling words of, "consequently this country is at war with Germany".
What was to follow, were the most incredible six years in modern history. A world plunged into chaos and carnage, and a continent torn asunder. Not to mention the unleashing of the most fearsome weapon of destruction, namely the atom bomb.
And for what?
A perverse ideology that held not only that there were distinct races, but that one was superior to the rest, leading to the virtual annihilation of European Jewry, as well as its Roma population. Not forgetting an overall total of more than 50,000,000 dead, more than half of whom were civilians.
That's more than the population of England, folks!
The bravery and heroism, the dogged determination and stoicism that helped this country pull through in its darkest hour should not be forgotten. Nor indeed the aid and succour we received from the Commonwealth and US soldiers, the Polish and Czechoslovak aviators, Dutch and Norwegian sailors, and others too numerous to mention.
One of my heroes, Dr. Jacob Bronowski (who wrote the Ascent of Man, and whose family perished in the Death Camps of Auschwitz) was asked what he would say to the perpetrators if he could have had the chance, and he replied with a quotation from Oliver Cromwell, "I beseech you in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken".
So the next time you read some nauseating lie in the "Daily Hate Mail", or "The Daily Excess", or even "The Pun", having a go at a made up story having a go at Europe, remember that we shall never in our lifetime, nor our children's, nor even our grandchildren's will we ever have to hear those chilling words of, "consequently this country is at war with Germany".
Wednesday 2 September 2009
The Muslim Tommies
Just watching a fantastic programme on the Beeb called The Muslim Tommies about the contribution of Muslim soldiers in the British Armed forces.
Much has been made of the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists to the security of Britain. But what is often forgotten is that Muslims have fought on behalf of Britain for hundreds of years; tens of thousands have lost their lives in the process.
I found the fact that the Indian Army held about a third of the Western Front at the beginning of the Great War, particularly fascinating.
There were heart-breaking details about their hopes and fears, their bravery and heroism under fire.
Khudadad Khan's becoming the first Indian to win the Victoria Cross.
Truly awesome.
Much has been made of the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalists to the security of Britain. But what is often forgotten is that Muslims have fought on behalf of Britain for hundreds of years; tens of thousands have lost their lives in the process.
I found the fact that the Indian Army held about a third of the Western Front at the beginning of the Great War, particularly fascinating.
There were heart-breaking details about their hopes and fears, their bravery and heroism under fire.
Khudadad Khan's becoming the first Indian to win the Victoria Cross.
Truly awesome.
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Hats off to Sir Nicholas Winton
How wonderful to see Sir Nicholas on the news today looking as fit as a fiddle although he's a hundred years old.
Seventy years ago he saved 669 children by organising their transfer from the then Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to Britain. Before all that, he had to arrange official permits for their departure, secure their reception by British families, and to deposit bail. All this as a thirty-year-old, when asked why he did it he replied, "because no-one else was".
I first came across his story at the cinema in Olomouc a decade back when I went to see the film "Vsichni moji blízcí" with Rupert Graves playing him.
One of the things the film touched on was the treatment of Gypsies by the Nazis and ultimately how they suffered at the hands of the Nazis in much the same way as the Jews, what the Roma people call the Porajmos, literally, the Devouring.
A truly remarkable man who reminds us that whenever people ask "why do people do such terrible things?" we should never forget that there are always people who do amazing things. Good, honest, decent people like Sir Nicholas.
Seventy years ago he saved 669 children by organising their transfer from the then Nazi Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to Britain. Before all that, he had to arrange official permits for their departure, secure their reception by British families, and to deposit bail. All this as a thirty-year-old, when asked why he did it he replied, "because no-one else was".
I first came across his story at the cinema in Olomouc a decade back when I went to see the film "Vsichni moji blízcí" with Rupert Graves playing him.
One of the things the film touched on was the treatment of Gypsies by the Nazis and ultimately how they suffered at the hands of the Nazis in much the same way as the Jews, what the Roma people call the Porajmos, literally, the Devouring.
A truly remarkable man who reminds us that whenever people ask "why do people do such terrible things?" we should never forget that there are always people who do amazing things. Good, honest, decent people like Sir Nicholas.
Saturday 15 August 2009
Jai Hind
I mentioned Pakistan's formation yesterday, and of course today is the day that modern India came into being.
As I quoted the Pakistani National Poet Muhammad Iqbal yesterday, I suppose I can only match it by some of the finest and most stirring words ever written in English.
Jawaharlal Nehru leader of the Indian National Congress and the first Prime Minister of India gave a speech on the eve of independence which beautifully captures the exultation of the end of the century-long struggle against the Raj in India.
With your indulgence, I'd like to quote the first paragraph:
"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity".
It was Nehru's passion for democracy, secularism, and liberalism that made him a champion for the poor and underprivileged not only in India, but across the Third World.
As I quoted the Pakistani National Poet Muhammad Iqbal yesterday, I suppose I can only match it by some of the finest and most stirring words ever written in English.
Jawaharlal Nehru leader of the Indian National Congress and the first Prime Minister of India gave a speech on the eve of independence which beautifully captures the exultation of the end of the century-long struggle against the Raj in India.
With your indulgence, I'd like to quote the first paragraph:
"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity".
It was Nehru's passion for democracy, secularism, and liberalism that made him a champion for the poor and underprivileged not only in India, but across the Third World.
Friday 14 August 2009
Happy Birthday Pakistan
Today as many of you will know is the date in 1947 when Pakistan gained independence from the British Indian Empire and joined the Commonwealth.
I know many Pakistani-born and Pakistani-heritage friends in Keighley and beyond will be celebrating later today.
My best to you all on this Yom-e-Istiqlal.
A line of Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal's poetry comes to mind however, "mazhab nahin sikhata apas men bair rakhna" "religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves".
Pakistan zinda-baad.
I know many Pakistani-born and Pakistani-heritage friends in Keighley and beyond will be celebrating later today.
My best to you all on this Yom-e-Istiqlal.
A line of Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal's poetry comes to mind however, "mazhab nahin sikhata apas men bair rakhna" "religion does not teach us to bear ill-will among ourselves".
Pakistan zinda-baad.
Tuesday 11 August 2009
Britain has more CCTV cameras than China
A recent report shows the absolutely mind-bogglingly frightening statistic that Britain has "half as many more CCTV cameras again as the whole of China".
We have a population of 60 million and theirs is twenty times that.
We have more than 4.2 million cameras. That works out as 1 camera for every 14 people, or two for each infant school class.
Whereas China has the equivalent of one camera for the whole of Bradford.
This shows New Labour's worrying obsession with surveillance, and we have created the model "Big Brother" state that the Chinese government, or any 21st century non-democratic regime, would love to have.
Although I am convinced of the argument that CCTV has a role to play in the fight against crime, it is still unclear how well it does this.
An argument against is that it merely moves criminal behaviour from one area that has CCTV to another area that doesn’t.
However, I believe that the money spent on cameras could be better spent on police to solve crimes and patrol the streets.
We have a population of 60 million and theirs is twenty times that.
We have more than 4.2 million cameras. That works out as 1 camera for every 14 people, or two for each infant school class.
Whereas China has the equivalent of one camera for the whole of Bradford.
This shows New Labour's worrying obsession with surveillance, and we have created the model "Big Brother" state that the Chinese government, or any 21st century non-democratic regime, would love to have.
Although I am convinced of the argument that CCTV has a role to play in the fight against crime, it is still unclear how well it does this.
An argument against is that it merely moves criminal behaviour from one area that has CCTV to another area that doesn’t.
However, I believe that the money spent on cameras could be better spent on police to solve crimes and patrol the streets.
Thursday 6 August 2009
"NO MORE HIROSHIMAS" 2
I forgot to say, probably the best piece of work on Hiroshima is a magazine article written by John Hersey that appeared in The New Yorker magazine in August 1946.
The article was soon made into a book, and I read it as teenager. It described how the bombing affected the lives of six individuals, a doctor, a Methodist minister, a widow, etc. and it's as powerful piece of reportage as you'll ever read.
The article was soon made into a book, and I read it as teenager. It described how the bombing affected the lives of six individuals, a doctor, a Methodist minister, a widow, etc. and it's as powerful piece of reportage as you'll ever read.
"NO MORE HIROSHIMAS"
Today, 64 years back, the city of Hiroshima was devastated by an atomic explosions killing more than 140,000 people. The horror continued with tens of thousands more injured and thousands more birth defects for years to come.
Whilst mayor of Hebden Royd I signed the Cities Appeal in Support of Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. This is a practical plan by which governments can achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world by the year 2020 given that the economic and technical means of ridding the world of nuclear weapons before 2020 already exist.
Tonight at 7:30, I'll be giving a talk on Lib Dem Defence Policy at the White Lion in Hebden Bridge, and publicising our total opposition to Trident.
On this fateful anniversary, we should all be determined that the scourge of nuclear weapons is never visited on our planet again.
Whilst mayor of Hebden Royd I signed the Cities Appeal in Support of Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. This is a practical plan by which governments can achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world by the year 2020 given that the economic and technical means of ridding the world of nuclear weapons before 2020 already exist.
Tonight at 7:30, I'll be giving a talk on Lib Dem Defence Policy at the White Lion in Hebden Bridge, and publicising our total opposition to Trident.
On this fateful anniversary, we should all be determined that the scourge of nuclear weapons is never visited on our planet again.
Saturday 1 August 2009
White Rabbits
Does anyone say that anymore? White rabbits on the first of the month?
I love August there are so many anniversaries to remember and commemorate, one in particular is that in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella drove the Jews out of Spain, which I would argue was to be disastrous in the long-term for Spain, but enriched the rest of Europe by providing an educated and cosmopolitan group of people to help the spread of the Renaissance and eventually the Enlightenment.
I love August there are so many anniversaries to remember and commemorate, one in particular is that in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella drove the Jews out of Spain, which I would argue was to be disastrous in the long-term for Spain, but enriched the rest of Europe by providing an educated and cosmopolitan group of people to help the spread of the Renaissance and eventually the Enlightenment.
Friday 31 July 2009
We are causing Earth's 'sixth great extinction event'
A review, published in the journal Conservation Biology, shows that human activity in one way shape or form is driving species to extinction in the Southern Hemisphere.
Richard Kingsford, at the University of New South Wales says, "Much of it [natural environment] is being destroyed before our eyes. Species are being threatened by habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, climate change, over-exploitation, pollution, and wildlife disease".
Proof if any were needed that we need to urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, as well as limiting land clearing, logging, and mining; restricting deliberate introduction of invasive species; and limiting fisheries.
It is demand in the Northern Hemisphere, and in particular the industrialised countries that drives these destructive activities.
We must counter all the naysayers and climate "sceptics" soon otherwise there will not be much of a planet left for our grandchildren to inherit.
Richard Kingsford, at the University of New South Wales says, "Much of it [natural environment] is being destroyed before our eyes. Species are being threatened by habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, climate change, over-exploitation, pollution, and wildlife disease".
Proof if any were needed that we need to urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, as well as limiting land clearing, logging, and mining; restricting deliberate introduction of invasive species; and limiting fisheries.
It is demand in the Northern Hemisphere, and in particular the industrialised countries that drives these destructive activities.
We must counter all the naysayers and climate "sceptics" soon otherwise there will not be much of a planet left for our grandchildren to inherit.
Monday 27 July 2009
Curriculum tsar vows to make school more 'business friendly'
Those words in today's Independent sent a chill down my spine. Education is not supposed to provide foot-soldiers for business.
I believe that the job of schools and education in general, is best expounded by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in "Emile", namely that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults.
I really can't take the words of Andrew Hall, the new head of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency that seriously, given that he apparently rejected a teaching career for accountancy.
What you need is MORE people in education who love, respect, and cherish children rather than be worried about double entry book-keeping.
Maybe I should send him a copy of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed?
I believe that the job of schools and education in general, is best expounded by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in "Emile", namely that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults.
I really can't take the words of Andrew Hall, the new head of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency that seriously, given that he apparently rejected a teaching career for accountancy.
What you need is MORE people in education who love, respect, and cherish children rather than be worried about double entry book-keeping.
Maybe I should send him a copy of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed?
Saturday 25 July 2009
Why is Jeremy Clarkson such an obnoxious little oik?
For once I actually don't have an answer, I genuinely, truly, madly, deeply want to know.
He (Jeremy Clarkson) epitomises ALL that is wrong with modern Britain, the incivility, the bullying, the thuggery, the total idiocy masquerading as blunt-speaking.
Whatever, one thinks of Gordon Brown, and I certainly am not a fan, to call him the c-word in public, is an insult too far.
Please Auntie starve this gobby sub-golf club wiseacre of the oxygen of publicity, however much money he brings in in overseas sales.
He (Jeremy Clarkson) epitomises ALL that is wrong with modern Britain, the incivility, the bullying, the thuggery, the total idiocy masquerading as blunt-speaking.
Whatever, one thinks of Gordon Brown, and I certainly am not a fan, to call him the c-word in public, is an insult too far.
Please Auntie starve this gobby sub-golf club wiseacre of the oxygen of publicity, however much money he brings in in overseas sales.
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Privit Edukashen - III
A report by Alan Milburn (Unleashing Aspiration) released today says that top professions like medicine and law are increasingly being closed off to all but the most AFFLUENT families.
Note, the most affluent, not the brightest and the best, but the wealthiest.
We must work to close the gap between talent and privilege, we need a far fairer society where everyone gets an opportunity to contribute to the best of their abilities and is not excluded because of an accident of birth.
The full report is available from the Cabinet Office website as a PDF file (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/227102/fair-access.pdf), well worth the reading.
Note, the most affluent, not the brightest and the best, but the wealthiest.
We must work to close the gap between talent and privilege, we need a far fairer society where everyone gets an opportunity to contribute to the best of their abilities and is not excluded because of an accident of birth.
The full report is available from the Cabinet Office website as a PDF file (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/227102/fair-access.pdf), well worth the reading.
Monday 20 July 2009
'never had it so good'?
Fifty years back Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told us we'd never had it so good, and in crude economic terms the trend has continued.
However, one question still remains, "why does health within a population get progressively worse further down the socio-economic scale?"A cracking book by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (The Spirit Level), not only tries to answer this question, but comes up with even more profound findings, namely that in countries where there is a big gap between the incomes of rich and poor, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, obesity, and teenage pregnancy are more common, the homicide rate is higher, life expectancy is shorter, and children's educational performance and literacy scores are worse.
Where incomes are relatively equal, there are high levels of trust, people feel secure, and see others as co-operative. In unequal societies, the rich suffer from fear of the poor, while the poor look upon the rich with bitterness and on themselves with shame.
Sadly, over the past dozen years the Labour government has only maintained inequality at the level at which it inherited it.
Credit where credit is due, there have been some moves for the better at the bottom income levels for pensioners and young families, but the problem is at the other end. Remember Mandy saying, "We're relaxed about people getting filthy rich"?
We Lib Dems believe in freedom, fairness, and trust.
However, one question still remains, "why does health within a population get progressively worse further down the socio-economic scale?"A cracking book by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (The Spirit Level), not only tries to answer this question, but comes up with even more profound findings, namely that in countries where there is a big gap between the incomes of rich and poor, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, obesity, and teenage pregnancy are more common, the homicide rate is higher, life expectancy is shorter, and children's educational performance and literacy scores are worse.
Where incomes are relatively equal, there are high levels of trust, people feel secure, and see others as co-operative. In unequal societies, the rich suffer from fear of the poor, while the poor look upon the rich with bitterness and on themselves with shame.
Sadly, over the past dozen years the Labour government has only maintained inequality at the level at which it inherited it.
Credit where credit is due, there have been some moves for the better at the bottom income levels for pensioners and young families, but the problem is at the other end. Remember Mandy saying, "We're relaxed about people getting filthy rich"?
We Lib Dems believe in freedom, fairness, and trust.
Sunday 19 July 2009
Privit edukashen - II
I appreciate that some of you reading the previous post may have seen it as a bit of a rant, and for that I apologise.
I really shouldn't post late at night, however the central premise I still hold, namely that private education seeks merely to entrench and widen privilege based on class and wealth.
Now I readily admit that there are some benefits to those who go through, but at what price and at what cost to whom?
Indeed, some of my best friends have had a private education, and don't seem the worse for it, as indeed has my party leader.
I re-iterate I want the BEST education for ALL of our children.
The figures speak for themselves, just 7% of the population are educated at a private school, they then go on to provide half of the intake at Oxford and Cambridge universities.
From there it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to the heart of the establishment.
Nearly three quarters of judges, about a third of FTSE 100 chief executives, half of all senior journalists, and a third of MPs are privately schooled.
Of course ALL of us want the best for our children, in education, in health, and in life in general, but NEVER at the expense of another child's life chances.
Only when the state education system is so good that the accepted wisdom is: "You were educated privately? What a shame. State schools are SO much better!" can we be satisfied.
I really shouldn't post late at night, however the central premise I still hold, namely that private education seeks merely to entrench and widen privilege based on class and wealth.
Now I readily admit that there are some benefits to those who go through, but at what price and at what cost to whom?
Indeed, some of my best friends have had a private education, and don't seem the worse for it, as indeed has my party leader.
I re-iterate I want the BEST education for ALL of our children.
The figures speak for themselves, just 7% of the population are educated at a private school, they then go on to provide half of the intake at Oxford and Cambridge universities.
From there it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to the heart of the establishment.
Nearly three quarters of judges, about a third of FTSE 100 chief executives, half of all senior journalists, and a third of MPs are privately schooled.
Of course ALL of us want the best for our children, in education, in health, and in life in general, but NEVER at the expense of another child's life chances.
Only when the state education system is so good that the accepted wisdom is: "You were educated privately? What a shame. State schools are SO much better!" can we be satisfied.
Privit edukashen, a waist of munny?
Private schools cheat the taxpayer out of millions of pounds under the guise of being charities, though what good they do society at large has forever escaped me.
The Tory front-bench is famously full of privately-educated bods, as is Boris Johnson the Mayor of London, though it is sometimes difficult to see what good it's done them apart from providing with a social cachet and the ability to spot each other at fifty paces.
Look at the sentence below from the Mayor's warning on business rates. Boris says: "Watching the hoards stream over London Bridge..."Oh dear! Oh dear! Johnson see the beak after class for substandard work.
A hoard is a hidden or secret supply or fund, and in archaeology a cache of valuable objects or artefacts; as in treasure trove. A horde, however, is a wandering tribe of nomadic people (originally Tatars as in the Golden Horde) migrating for the sake of plunder. Generally nowadays used to mean a large number of people.
I suppose we should be grateful he didn't use another homophone, whored.
If I was Boris's dad, I'd ask Eton to return his tuition fees.
There is something fundamentally un-British about private education something grubby where daddy's ill-gotten wealth is used to push junior to the front of the queue.
It's just not cricket!
I am passionate about the best education for ALL our children, not educational apartheid and division based on wealth, faith, or perceived academic ability at age 11.
The Tory front-bench is famously full of privately-educated bods, as is Boris Johnson the Mayor of London, though it is sometimes difficult to see what good it's done them apart from providing with a social cachet and the ability to spot each other at fifty paces.
Look at the sentence below from the Mayor's warning on business rates. Boris says: "Watching the hoards stream over London Bridge..."Oh dear! Oh dear! Johnson see the beak after class for substandard work.
A hoard is a hidden or secret supply or fund, and in archaeology a cache of valuable objects or artefacts; as in treasure trove. A horde, however, is a wandering tribe of nomadic people (originally Tatars as in the Golden Horde) migrating for the sake of plunder. Generally nowadays used to mean a large number of people.
I suppose we should be grateful he didn't use another homophone, whored.
If I was Boris's dad, I'd ask Eton to return his tuition fees.
There is something fundamentally un-British about private education something grubby where daddy's ill-gotten wealth is used to push junior to the front of the queue.
It's just not cricket!
I am passionate about the best education for ALL our children, not educational apartheid and division based on wealth, faith, or perceived academic ability at age 11.
Saturday 18 July 2009
Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela!
Today is Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday and also Mandela Day.
Nelson Mandela has fought for social justice for 67 years, and so the campaign is asking people to start with 67 minutes.
Today should bring together people around the world to fight poverty and promote peace and reconciliation.
Well I'll be on a stall in Todmorden doing my bit, not much I know, but every little helps.
Nelson Mandela has fought for social justice for 67 years, and so the campaign is asking people to start with 67 minutes.
Today should bring together people around the world to fight poverty and promote peace and reconciliation.
Well I'll be on a stall in Todmorden doing my bit, not much I know, but every little helps.
Wednesday 15 July 2009
BoJo - Some chicken some neck
Keep repeating to yourself "Tories aren't Toffs, Tories aren't Toffs".
Lovable (?) buffoon, Classicist, adulterer, Old Etonian, former Tory Shadow Front-bencher (twice), ex-MP for Henley, Boris "Boom Boom" Johnson, has revealed that £140,000 for running our nation's capital as its Mayor is not enough.
I know we're all having to tighten our belts in these straitened times, and some people have to hold down more than one job to make ends meet, but this is ridiculous.
He allegedly gets paid £250,000 for a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph.
That's right, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, sterling.
I'll do some maths for you that's fifty columns, so about £5,000 a piece, at about a 1,000 words that works out to £5 a word, or a pound a letter.
I repeat a pound a letter.
Now, I'm not a fan of Johnson's, nor the Daily Telegraph, nor yet its tax exile billionaire owners, the Barclay Twins, and what they do with their money is their business.
But what really galls, what sticks in my craw, is Johnson's asinine comment that the fee he receives as a lickspittle wordsmith is... "chickenfeed".
* Ten times the national average wage, is "chicken feed".
* Enough to house, clothe, and feed TEN ordinary hard working British families, is "chickenfeed".
* The Old Age Pension is £95.25, Johnson gets paid, for one column mind, what a pensioner gets for a YEAR. That's "chickenfeed".
* The minimum wage is £5.73 an hour, Johnson gets paid the national minimum wage for writing one letter. ONE LETTER. And that's "chickenfeed".
* A small infant school costs around £250,000 a year to run, that's what Johnson gets, "chickenfeed".
Remember that, next time you think what a nice bloke that Dave Cameron is, and that you'll give him a chance, and trust him with your vote.
Remember the Tories, and their backwardness, their arrogance, their smug self-righteous superiority, their lack of knowledge of and feeling for ordinary folk.
Lovable (?) buffoon, Classicist, adulterer, Old Etonian, former Tory Shadow Front-bencher (twice), ex-MP for Henley, Boris "Boom Boom" Johnson, has revealed that £140,000 for running our nation's capital as its Mayor is not enough.
I know we're all having to tighten our belts in these straitened times, and some people have to hold down more than one job to make ends meet, but this is ridiculous.
He allegedly gets paid £250,000 for a weekly column in the Daily Telegraph.
That's right, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, sterling.
I'll do some maths for you that's fifty columns, so about £5,000 a piece, at about a 1,000 words that works out to £5 a word, or a pound a letter.
I repeat a pound a letter.
Now, I'm not a fan of Johnson's, nor the Daily Telegraph, nor yet its tax exile billionaire owners, the Barclay Twins, and what they do with their money is their business.
But what really galls, what sticks in my craw, is Johnson's asinine comment that the fee he receives as a lickspittle wordsmith is... "chickenfeed".
* Ten times the national average wage, is "chicken feed".
* Enough to house, clothe, and feed TEN ordinary hard working British families, is "chickenfeed".
* The Old Age Pension is £95.25, Johnson gets paid, for one column mind, what a pensioner gets for a YEAR. That's "chickenfeed".
* The minimum wage is £5.73 an hour, Johnson gets paid the national minimum wage for writing one letter. ONE LETTER. And that's "chickenfeed".
* A small infant school costs around £250,000 a year to run, that's what Johnson gets, "chickenfeed".
Remember that, next time you think what a nice bloke that Dave Cameron is, and that you'll give him a chance, and trust him with your vote.
Remember the Tories, and their backwardness, their arrogance, their smug self-righteous superiority, their lack of knowledge of and feeling for ordinary folk.
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Bastille Day - pleasant exercise of hope and joy
Today is Bastille Day, and I am celebrating as ever.
I've just bought a croissant and the coffee pot is on the boil, I've even treated myself to a copy of Libé, well a couple of pages off the Libération webpage.
Anyway I digress.
I love "le quatorze juillet", I love the republican feel, I love its symbolism as an act of rebellion, I love the fact that a few weeks later feudalism was abolished, and a couple of weeks after that, the Declaration of the Rights of Man was proclaimed.
I shall make a nice cassoulet for my wife and boys for tea tonight. I know it's really a winter dish, but the weather is pretty overcast today.
When we've put the boys to bed, I think we'll watch Casablanca. I just love the bit when everyone in Rick's Cafe, of all colours and nationalities join in with singing the Marseillaise, and drown out Nazis.
It still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I've just bought a croissant and the coffee pot is on the boil, I've even treated myself to a copy of Libé, well a couple of pages off the Libération webpage.
Anyway I digress.
I love "le quatorze juillet", I love the republican feel, I love its symbolism as an act of rebellion, I love the fact that a few weeks later feudalism was abolished, and a couple of weeks after that, the Declaration of the Rights of Man was proclaimed.
I shall make a nice cassoulet for my wife and boys for tea tonight. I know it's really a winter dish, but the weather is pretty overcast today.
When we've put the boys to bed, I think we'll watch Casablanca. I just love the bit when everyone in Rick's Cafe, of all colours and nationalities join in with singing the Marseillaise, and drown out Nazis.
It still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Saturday 11 July 2009
Srebrenica - "People are not little stones"
Today is the anniversary of the most horrific atrocity on European soil in my lifetime, namely the genocide at Srebrenica in the former Yugoslavia.
In July 1995 more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed, and 25,000-30,000 refugees were "ethnically cleansed" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of General Ratko Mladić.
The presiding judge at the Hague said, "The Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica... They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity".
The Srebrenica massacre is the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II. It was and remains a shameful stain on the conscience of Europe.
We must never allow such barbarity to occur again, and by strengthening the European Union and embedding democracy across Europe, we will go a long way to achieving this goal.
In July 1995 more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed, and 25,000-30,000 refugees were "ethnically cleansed" in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of General Ratko Mladić.
The presiding judge at the Hague said, "The Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica... They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity".
The Srebrenica massacre is the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II. It was and remains a shameful stain on the conscience of Europe.
We must never allow such barbarity to occur again, and by strengthening the European Union and embedding democracy across Europe, we will go a long way to achieving this goal.
Thursday 9 July 2009
Nick Griffin-what an arse!
Honestly, how crap do you have to be when even European fascists don't want to sit with you? Oh yes, when you are the BNP!
News comes that having been elected to the European Parliament, he cannot find enough European MEPs to sit with him and Andrew Brons.
Instead the Italian neo-fascists, the Greek far-right, the Slovak xenophobes, and various anti-Semites, feel that the BNP is beyond the pale and would rather sit with UKIP (whose members are old-fashioned "golf club" bigots).
This is UKIP, who in the last European Parliament lost two of its members because of fraud!
The Italian Lega Nord leader Umberto Bossi described African immigrants as "bingo-bongos".
The leader of the Greeks in this group challenged the Israeli ambassador in Greece to come and discuss the "Auschwitz and Dachau myth", and claimed that "the Pope and the Jews are conspiring against Greece" and suggested that "the Jews" were responsible for the September 11 attacks.
The Slovaks in this motley crew are the SNS who are a "political party which incites or attempts to stir up racial or ethnic prejudices and racial hatred".
Their leader Ján Slota once said the best policy for dealing with the Roma was "a long whip in a small yard". He is quoted as saying "we will sit in our tanks and destroy Budapest" and that "The Hungarians are a cancer in the body of the Slovak nation".
Let me remind you that this lot REFUSED to sit with the ridiculous "Laurel and Hardy" of the Fascist world.
Griffin, "would be Fuhrer of the BNP", has been a Tory, a revolutionary nationalist, a radical National Socialist, a Third Positionist, a friend of the boot boys and the skinhead scene, and a man committed to respectable politics.
He has however, kept his links with the far right in Europe and America, where he has spoken on platforms with white supremacists, anti-Semites, Islamophobes, and Holocaust-deniers. He is obsessed with a coming race war and has called for adults to keep "in their homes a standard-issue military assault rifle and ammunition".
Well this week he outdid himself when talking about African immigration to Europe, when he said "The only measure, sooner or later, which is going to stop immigration... is to get very tough with those coming over... Frankly, they need to sink several of those boats".
How Christian of him, the jumped up little oik!
News comes that having been elected to the European Parliament, he cannot find enough European MEPs to sit with him and Andrew Brons.
Instead the Italian neo-fascists, the Greek far-right, the Slovak xenophobes, and various anti-Semites, feel that the BNP is beyond the pale and would rather sit with UKIP (whose members are old-fashioned "golf club" bigots).
This is UKIP, who in the last European Parliament lost two of its members because of fraud!
The Italian Lega Nord leader Umberto Bossi described African immigrants as "bingo-bongos".
The leader of the Greeks in this group challenged the Israeli ambassador in Greece to come and discuss the "Auschwitz and Dachau myth", and claimed that "the Pope and the Jews are conspiring against Greece" and suggested that "the Jews" were responsible for the September 11 attacks.
The Slovaks in this motley crew are the SNS who are a "political party which incites or attempts to stir up racial or ethnic prejudices and racial hatred".
Their leader Ján Slota once said the best policy for dealing with the Roma was "a long whip in a small yard". He is quoted as saying "we will sit in our tanks and destroy Budapest" and that "The Hungarians are a cancer in the body of the Slovak nation".
Let me remind you that this lot REFUSED to sit with the ridiculous "Laurel and Hardy" of the Fascist world.
Griffin, "would be Fuhrer of the BNP", has been a Tory, a revolutionary nationalist, a radical National Socialist, a Third Positionist, a friend of the boot boys and the skinhead scene, and a man committed to respectable politics.
He has however, kept his links with the far right in Europe and America, where he has spoken on platforms with white supremacists, anti-Semites, Islamophobes, and Holocaust-deniers. He is obsessed with a coming race war and has called for adults to keep "in their homes a standard-issue military assault rifle and ammunition".
Well this week he outdid himself when talking about African immigration to Europe, when he said "The only measure, sooner or later, which is going to stop immigration... is to get very tough with those coming over... Frankly, they need to sink several of those boats".
How Christian of him, the jumped up little oik!
Friday 3 July 2009
The current state of Britain...
Labour have now been in government for more than a dozen years.
This government started with so much hope, (do you remember "Things can only get better"? I do) but now we are left with so much disappointment.
Labour has wasted its opportunities and wasted your money.
They've invested in health and education but lacked the courage that would have allowed them to spend it effectively.
They've failed to build a fairer society and instead inequality has increased and social mobility fallen.
They're the party of redistribution but in the wrong direction.
Above all they will be remembered for going to war in Iraq. It was an illegal war waged on false claims. Labour may have taken the decision to go to war but the Tories voted it through.
Even before the current Economic Crisis, the gap between rich and poor is now wider than at any time than under Mrs T.
Shame!
This government started with so much hope, (do you remember "Things can only get better"? I do) but now we are left with so much disappointment.
Labour has wasted its opportunities and wasted your money.
They've invested in health and education but lacked the courage that would have allowed them to spend it effectively.
They've failed to build a fairer society and instead inequality has increased and social mobility fallen.
They're the party of redistribution but in the wrong direction.
Above all they will be remembered for going to war in Iraq. It was an illegal war waged on false claims. Labour may have taken the decision to go to war but the Tories voted it through.
Even before the current Economic Crisis, the gap between rich and poor is now wider than at any time than under Mrs T.
Shame!
Wednesday 1 July 2009
A dozen years of a Labour Government and the inequality gap is still widening
We all know that the Tories are for the well-off, viz Tory MPs' moats, duck houses, caviar-stuffed foie gras (okay, I made that last one up), but one thing we all knew (sic) was that Labour was for cutting the gap between the rich and the poor.
In fact the last time that happened was under the Wilson/Callaghan government of the 1970s.
However, thanks to a fellow councillor and statistics supplied by the Left Economics Advisory Panel:
* 13.2m people live in poverty, including 2.1m pensioners and 3.9m children.
* Over 20% are officially income poor, in 1979 it was 13%. However, 58% of British Asian and 40% of Black British people are income poor.
* The poorest 20% of the population pay nearly 40% of their total income in taxes, compared to 34.8% for the richest 20%.
* At 17% of average earnings, the UK state pension is the lowest in Europe (the EU average is 57%!)
* The gender pay gap is 17% for full-time work and 38% for part-time work.
* If unemployment benefit had kept pace with earnings, Job Seeker’s Allowance would be over £100/week today. Instead, it is £64.30 or £50.95 for under-25s.
* Executive pay has risen at 7 times the rate of the average worker.
* Tax havens cost the Exchequer at least £18bn annually.
A total and shambolic failure of Social Justice policies by Labour. Oh and what do the Tories recommend? Removing Inheritance Tax for millionaires.
In fact the last time that happened was under the Wilson/Callaghan government of the 1970s.
However, thanks to a fellow councillor and statistics supplied by the Left Economics Advisory Panel:
* 13.2m people live in poverty, including 2.1m pensioners and 3.9m children.
* Over 20% are officially income poor, in 1979 it was 13%. However, 58% of British Asian and 40% of Black British people are income poor.
* The poorest 20% of the population pay nearly 40% of their total income in taxes, compared to 34.8% for the richest 20%.
* At 17% of average earnings, the UK state pension is the lowest in Europe (the EU average is 57%!)
* The gender pay gap is 17% for full-time work and 38% for part-time work.
* If unemployment benefit had kept pace with earnings, Job Seeker’s Allowance would be over £100/week today. Instead, it is £64.30 or £50.95 for under-25s.
* Executive pay has risen at 7 times the rate of the average worker.
* Tax havens cost the Exchequer at least £18bn annually.
A total and shambolic failure of Social Justice policies by Labour. Oh and what do the Tories recommend? Removing Inheritance Tax for millionaires.
Sunday 28 June 2009
The "Shot heard 'round the world"
Today, as we all know, is the anniversary of the assassination Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo by the young Bosnian nationalist Gavrilo Princip.
This became the justification for events that led to the Great War of 1914-1918.
This was the single most catastrophic event to befall Europe, since the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century.
Strangely enough, there were huge ramifications, an end to empires, the greater emancipation of women, and of course the rise of the Labour Party.
It also puts me in mind of Henry Allingham who celebrated his 113th birthday a few weeks back. Mr Allingham is the oldest ever surviving member of any of the British Armed Forces and the oldest surviving veteran of the Great War.
And on the occasion of the first ever Armed Forces Day, our thoughts go to him and all those who served the nation.
This became the justification for events that led to the Great War of 1914-1918.
This was the single most catastrophic event to befall Europe, since the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century.
Strangely enough, there were huge ramifications, an end to empires, the greater emancipation of women, and of course the rise of the Labour Party.
It also puts me in mind of Henry Allingham who celebrated his 113th birthday a few weeks back. Mr Allingham is the oldest ever surviving member of any of the British Armed Forces and the oldest surviving veteran of the Great War.
And on the occasion of the first ever Armed Forces Day, our thoughts go to him and all those who served the nation.
Saturday 27 June 2009
Ich bin ein Berliner!
I forgot to say that yesterday was the anniverasry of Jack Kennedy's famous speech from the balcony of Rathaus Schöneberg in Berlin, when he said,
"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner'... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'"
Who would have thought that a quarter of a century later, The Wall would have fallen, and that we'd have the privilege of living in a United Europe, where never the spectre of war will haunt us?
I echo JFK's words in saying, "Civis Europaeus sum".
"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner'... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'"
Who would have thought that a quarter of a century later, The Wall would have fallen, and that we'd have the privilege of living in a United Europe, where never the spectre of war will haunt us?
I echo JFK's words in saying, "Civis Europaeus sum".
The Stonewall Riots-40 years on
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that took place in Greenwich Village in New York.
This event marked the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement.
Last week-end I had the huge honour of opening Calderdale's first Pride event, at the Piece Hall, the sun shone, there were hundreds of people, dozens of stalls and loads of cabaret acts.
It was brilliant.
I believe that there has been a revolution in attitudes towards gays and lesbians, and that a majority of the public want them to share identical rights to everyone else.
According to a Times poll, 61% of the public want gay couples to be able to marry just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships.
Half believe that gay couples should have equal adoption rights.
But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that more than half of the public want children to be taught in school that gay relationships are of equal value to marriage.
Overall, nearly 70% of the public back "full equal rights" for gay men and lesbians.
I couldn't agree more.
This event marked the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement.
Last week-end I had the huge honour of opening Calderdale's first Pride event, at the Piece Hall, the sun shone, there were hundreds of people, dozens of stalls and loads of cabaret acts.
It was brilliant.
I believe that there has been a revolution in attitudes towards gays and lesbians, and that a majority of the public want them to share identical rights to everyone else.
According to a Times poll, 61% of the public want gay couples to be able to marry just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships.
Half believe that gay couples should have equal adoption rights.
But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that more than half of the public want children to be taught in school that gay relationships are of equal value to marriage.
Overall, nearly 70% of the public back "full equal rights" for gay men and lesbians.
I couldn't agree more.
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Anna Akhmatova
Today is the 120th anniversary of the poet Anna Akhmatova's birth, and a quatrain from her beautiful work "Requiem" come to mind, as I think of what's going on in Iran.
No foreign sky protected me,
no stranger's wing shielded my face.
I stand as witness to the common lot,
survivor of that time, that place.
No foreign sky protected me,
no stranger's wing shielded my face.
I stand as witness to the common lot,
survivor of that time, that place.
Monday 22 June 2009
Iran's Election Fraud
Interesting paper by Chatham House and the University of St Andrews analysing the voting figures in this month's Iranian Presidential Elections.
Comparing this and the previous elections of 2005, the team come up with some fascinating observations:
* In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of more than 100% was recorded.
* If Ahmadinejad’s victory was primarily caused by the increase in voter turnout, one would expect the data to show that the provinces where there was the greatest 'swing' in support towards Ahmadinejad would also be the provinces with the greatest increase in voter turnout. This is not the case.
* In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, all former centrist voters, and all new voters, but up to 44% of former reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two groups.
* In 2005, as in 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates, and Ahmadinejad in particular, were markedly unpopular in rural areas.
That the countryside always votes conservative is a myth. The claim that this year Ahmadinejad swept the board in provinces that are more rural flies in the face of these trends.
So whichever way you play it the election was STOLEN!
The complete paper can be downloaded from:http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/14234_iranelection0609.pdf
Comparing this and the previous elections of 2005, the team come up with some fascinating observations:
* In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of more than 100% was recorded.
* If Ahmadinejad’s victory was primarily caused by the increase in voter turnout, one would expect the data to show that the provinces where there was the greatest 'swing' in support towards Ahmadinejad would also be the provinces with the greatest increase in voter turnout. This is not the case.
* In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, all former centrist voters, and all new voters, but up to 44% of former reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two groups.
* In 2005, as in 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates, and Ahmadinejad in particular, were markedly unpopular in rural areas.
That the countryside always votes conservative is a myth. The claim that this year Ahmadinejad swept the board in provinces that are more rural flies in the face of these trends.
So whichever way you play it the election was STOLEN!
The complete paper can be downloaded from:http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/14234_iranelection0609.pdf
Tories... Modest as ever!
Oh dear, David (call me Dave) Cameron, presses his front bench to give up as many of their extra-Parliamentary activities and interests as possible, or at least to declare how much they get paid for them, just to show that the Tories are no longer the "Nasty Party".
They're not all posh nobs you know. Yes, some of them have the moats of their second homes cleaned at the public's expense. Yes, some of them spent £1,645 on a floating duck house in their garden pond. Yes, half the front-bench went to private schools.
Yes, some of them had jolly japes up at Oxford, a few were members of the Bullingdon Club (think Bertie Wooster, but without the wit, charm, likeability, and certainly not Jeeves).
But apart from that, honest, they're just like you and me.
Along comes the MP for Windsor, or at least his chief of staff, who fires off an e-mail to a magazine for having the temerity to paint his boss as some sort of a pauper, according to the Independent.
"Would you mind taking on board one correction?" wrote Russell Walters. "You say he is worth £13m but this is a significant understatement. Earlier this decade he sold one company... of which his share was £13m, but... his actual worth is somewhere between £50m and £100m".
I'm glad that's cleared up then.
Ah, plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.
They're not all posh nobs you know. Yes, some of them have the moats of their second homes cleaned at the public's expense. Yes, some of them spent £1,645 on a floating duck house in their garden pond. Yes, half the front-bench went to private schools.
Yes, some of them had jolly japes up at Oxford, a few were members of the Bullingdon Club (think Bertie Wooster, but without the wit, charm, likeability, and certainly not Jeeves).
But apart from that, honest, they're just like you and me.
Along comes the MP for Windsor, or at least his chief of staff, who fires off an e-mail to a magazine for having the temerity to paint his boss as some sort of a pauper, according to the Independent.
"Would you mind taking on board one correction?" wrote Russell Walters. "You say he is worth £13m but this is a significant understatement. Earlier this decade he sold one company... of which his share was £13m, but... his actual worth is somewhere between £50m and £100m".
I'm glad that's cleared up then.
Ah, plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.
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