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It's a revelation. That moment when you find the party you want to run for might be a tad racist
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* Stephen Bates
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o Stephen Bates
o The Guardian, Thursday 29 April 2010
o Article history
Diary illustration
• In what may count as the quickest conversion since Saint Paul, the Kenyan-born pastor James Gitau (pictured), who less than three weeks ago was campaigning for the BNP, is now standing instead for the Christian party, after making the surprising discovery that the BNP is a bit racist. It seems like only yesterday – it was, in fact, April 10 – that Gitau was strolling round Barking with Nick Griffin, but within the week he'd seen the light. It may be that the BNP's refusal to appoint him as its candidate in Croydon had something to do with it, but that's where he's standing now, under his new colours. He told the Croydon Guardian that he had joined the BNP because it was the only party that boldly speaks against sodomy in public, but he was at pains to add: "I don't hate homosexuals. I love them. They are my friends ... we're all sinners." Hallelujah, but he's still keeping his hotline to Griffin: "I am giving him advice that racism is not the way forward."
• Let's hope Nick gets the message. It seems doubtful that some of his supporters will. Here's one Claire Khaw – whose background, interestingly, is Malaysian Chinese, and who is acting as cheerleader for Jeffrey Marshall, the party's candidate in London's Bethnal Green and Bow – engaging in some recent banter on Facebook: "I see no harm in introducing a form of slavery with those who don't have the right papers and aren't British citizens. After five years they are free to go. They can re-enslave themselves for a further five years and thereafter become British citizens. It would solve the Labour shortage ... Then everyone would be happy." Mark you, Marshall sounds lovely, too: on record as saying, the day after David Cameron's son died, that it would be a kindness to kill children with disabilities. Wonder where he got that idea?
• And, while we're on the subject, mystery surrounds the identity of Peter Strudwick, last seen making a speech at a BNP meeting in Essex that was gushingly reported by the Brentwood Gazette, which claimed he was a former leader of Westminster council. The council says it has no record of anyone of that name ever being a councillor, let alone leader. Searchlight, the anti-fascist magazine, thinks Strudwick might actually be a chap called Sam Swerling, who was a Tory Westminster councillor for four years 30 years ago, and was at that time chairman of the rightwing Monday Club. In an article online Strudwick claims he was a councillor for "many years", which seems strange. In the unlikely event he's a Guardian reader, perhaps one, either or both of them might like to get in touch to clear the matter up.
• That's enough nasty rightwingers for one day. Kelvin MacKenzie, star columnist at the Sun, is £94 lighter in the wallet after accusing Trevor Phillips, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, of splashing out public money to that amount on a bottle of wine while entertaining someone to lunch. "Couldn't it simply have been the house red ... he thought: 'The taxpayer's coughing for this.' Makes you throw up, doesn't it." Not half as much as MacKenzie himself, since being told Phillips bought the bottle with his own money. He's written him a cheque andpromised to set the record straight in his column but hasn't got round to it yet, so remember where you read it first.
• Hats off to author Dominic Shelmerdine, who says he saved Mark Thatcher from death in Chelsea yesterday lunchtime. "I said to him if he'd been successful with that coup in Equatorial Guinea he'd have been lauded as a hero in the press and he said, yes, probably. Then he nearly walked in front of a car." I think we can all agree Shelmerdine's done the nation a favour.
• And from the too much information department: Lou Reed, interviewed by Record Collector magazine: "OK – you have one more question. I have to be someplace. I'm having a testicle removed, so I'm a little nervous."
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Special meeting for new MPs
Regardlesosf r,vhetheorr not MPse ver
follow the views of their constituents
rather than the party whips, all MPs play
an impor tanrto lei n t rouble-shoot ing
lvithint heir constituencya nd representing
the interestos f constituentfsa cing
problemse itherw ithin the constituencyo r
abroad
follow the views of their constituents
rather than the party whips, all MPs play
an impor tanrto lei n t rouble-shoot ing
lvithint heir constituencya nd representing
the interestos f constituentfsa cing
problemse itherw ithin the constituencyo r
abroad
Small is beautiful
Small is beautiful
Small is beautiful was a famous theme of the Family Planning Association at one time. Virtues of a small family were so much that several creative ways of describing a small family were introduced by politicians and others. One such description was that a family should be small enough for all its members to travel comfortably in a three-wheeler.
Currently the same adage, 'Small is beautiful', is used in a different context. Just as big families were out of vogue then, today big Cabinets are out of fashion. Perhaps it may be too small to limit the Cabinet to fit to a three-wheeler. People expect it to be reduced to about one third of what it was till the dissolution of Parliament.
The President should be congratulated for downsizing the Cabinet. Even big countries such as India and China have Cabinets much smaller than that of Sri Lanka. This requires rational distribution of responsibilities so as to get the most productive results. Where a single decision making authority is required partitioning and proliferating ministries gives way to anarchy and inaction.
What should be given priority is the needs of economic development. Key Ministries should be allocated to reliable and enthusiastic persons who would go all out to do a good job. They should be supported by a set of able assistants as Deputy Ministers.
The country could ill-afford a large Cabinet. Government should not only be made more accessible but also made cheaper. Now that the security situation has improved there is no need for large security contingents for Ministers. The visit of the President to Galle Face green suddenly last Thursday evening showed how much the security situation has improved.
Some politicians would find it difficult to mingle freely with the people in the way the President did as they had developed a culture of showing off their importance. Not only were they addicted to an ostentatious lifestyle but also were used to lord over the ordinary folk as a habit. The people have given some such persons a fitting answer at the last General Election.
This reminds one of the moves by various representatives of the people and even by those that got defeated at the elections to bring pressure on the Head of State in various devious ways to promote themselves as possible candidates for various offices. As for any post in the public service canvassing in any form should be considered a disqualification.
UPFA with long experience in governance and politics has a surfeit of personnel from whom the President could choose from in forming a strong and action-oriented Cabinet. He as the Leader is also aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each and every person that is qualified to take office. That is why the people look down with disdain upon the naive and hilarious attempts by some aspirants to influence the President to accommodate them.
The President has also firmly decided not to accommodate those that were rejected by the people. It not only sets a bad example but also amounts to an affront on the sovereignty of the people. A politician may be clever or cunning or smart but if he or she has no empathy for the people and has no sense of public service he or she would be unsuitable for high office.
What is at stake is the country's future, the future of its children. Only the best should be selected for high office.
Small is beautiful was a famous theme of the Family Planning Association at one time. Virtues of a small family were so much that several creative ways of describing a small family were introduced by politicians and others. One such description was that a family should be small enough for all its members to travel comfortably in a three-wheeler.
Currently the same adage, 'Small is beautiful', is used in a different context. Just as big families were out of vogue then, today big Cabinets are out of fashion. Perhaps it may be too small to limit the Cabinet to fit to a three-wheeler. People expect it to be reduced to about one third of what it was till the dissolution of Parliament.
The President should be congratulated for downsizing the Cabinet. Even big countries such as India and China have Cabinets much smaller than that of Sri Lanka. This requires rational distribution of responsibilities so as to get the most productive results. Where a single decision making authority is required partitioning and proliferating ministries gives way to anarchy and inaction.
What should be given priority is the needs of economic development. Key Ministries should be allocated to reliable and enthusiastic persons who would go all out to do a good job. They should be supported by a set of able assistants as Deputy Ministers.
The country could ill-afford a large Cabinet. Government should not only be made more accessible but also made cheaper. Now that the security situation has improved there is no need for large security contingents for Ministers. The visit of the President to Galle Face green suddenly last Thursday evening showed how much the security situation has improved.
Some politicians would find it difficult to mingle freely with the people in the way the President did as they had developed a culture of showing off their importance. Not only were they addicted to an ostentatious lifestyle but also were used to lord over the ordinary folk as a habit. The people have given some such persons a fitting answer at the last General Election.
This reminds one of the moves by various representatives of the people and even by those that got defeated at the elections to bring pressure on the Head of State in various devious ways to promote themselves as possible candidates for various offices. As for any post in the public service canvassing in any form should be considered a disqualification.
UPFA with long experience in governance and politics has a surfeit of personnel from whom the President could choose from in forming a strong and action-oriented Cabinet. He as the Leader is also aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each and every person that is qualified to take office. That is why the people look down with disdain upon the naive and hilarious attempts by some aspirants to influence the President to accommodate them.
The President has also firmly decided not to accommodate those that were rejected by the people. It not only sets a bad example but also amounts to an affront on the sovereignty of the people. A politician may be clever or cunning or smart but if he or she has no empathy for the people and has no sense of public service he or she would be unsuitable for high office.
What is at stake is the country's future, the future of its children. Only the best should be selected for high office.
Moving Beyond Representation: Participatory Democracy and Communal & PROVINCIAL COUNCILS in Sri Lanka
Moving Beyond Representation: Participatory Democracy and Communal & PROVINCIAL COUNCILS in Sri Lanka
I believe that it is time that we must explore the possible opportunities and new approach to Participatory democracy in Sri Lanka. Its main concern is the division of competences - Who does what? - And the control of resources. No amount of ceremony can disguise these realities. Therefore we needs to Move beyond Representation: Participatory Democracy and Communal Councils will be a one model. The community needs to learn to organize at the grassroots level. At both Presidential and the national levels something more is therefore needed: namely, democracy must become more inter-active with citizen participation in the current debates, seeking other ways of influencing our elected parliaments and governments. Simply going out to vote every few years is not sufficient. In this respect the role of the civil society is vital. Only organised citizens' groups can afford to acquire the expertise needed if they are to influence national governments or the GOSL in each specialised field. Many National radical libertarian groups are highly skilled at this job, particularly those representing business interests. As a step towards greater and more effective participation the His Excellency has promised greater openness. Ministers, must agreed to meet in public session when legislating within the cooperation procedure; SL still conducts most of its business behind closed doors. The Swiss approach to ensuring participation is to allow every citizen to vote in a referendum on issues that specifically affect them. This can work well where the issue is specific and easily understood, though it did lead to Switzerland becoming the very last country in EU to give women the right to vote. A different example demonstrates how this method might have unexpected consequences. it is not sufficient that the Parliament should promise to produce MP’s who speaks in more popular language, which in any case can only be achieved by using native speakers. The question involves far more than language. To be truly democratic, and to help people identify with the Sri Lanka project, not only interest groups but also the citizens themselves should be encouraged to participate in genuine debates before final decisions are taken, although this is primarily a task for civil society organisations and political parties rather than officialdom. If a Deliberative Polling exercise could be held simultaneously in every SL Provinces the impact on public opinion could be considerable. Techniques of this kind not only help to shape public attitudes. The arguments put forward within the group can also help SL government institutions towards a better understanding of the public's concerns. Such an exercise would be a useful tool to supplement both the proposed Parliamentary Forums and important stage in the growth of participatory democracy in SL. Yet, valuable as such projects may be, so long as the SL is structured in its present form it seems unlikely that citizens will ever become as thoroughly engaged in the debates at the SL level as they are in the political issues in their own countries. With national Tamil speaking political leaders still treating the SL as an alliance rather than as a one unite Sri Lanka, it is not surprising that citizens do not feel fully engaged with the SL Political process. It is the SL's intergovernmental character which hinders the development of a fully active citizenship. Not until we have an elected federal government financed by some form of direct taxation will citizens feel that they have an absolute need to participate at the SL as well as national levels and to exert a genuine influence over the policies which affect them in their daily lives. Our next message will be a call to the community. The elections were there and time for an amendment to the constitution. We need to analyze democracy, taking it apart, reflect on the differences between an active, participatory democracy and a representative one. We need to be arguing and urging people to vote, still new for people in the villages, but then saying voting wasn't enough. It was a call to the community to take action, not just to wear red shirts and spit socialist propaganda, but to take an active role in building the community, building a new society based on the collective, based on justice. This is essentially what communal councils do, what democracy should be.
What Next for Dave?
What Next for Dave?
So what next for Dave? Answers on a postcard, please, to Tory Towers in London. He'll need to learn how to answer the question, this early jibe setting the tone for a lacklustre performance by the frontrunner to be the Prime Minister. Curiously unconfident, devoid of humour, Cameron went into the debate with most to lose and lost the most.
One problem for Tory Towers is home affairs, the theme of last night's first of three, was the equivalent of home turf for the Cons not least because crime and immigration are traditional strong cards for the Right-wing. Next Thursday in the South West and international affairs, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg will beat up Cameron for jumping into bed with Europe's racist, homophobic nutters. In the third and final bout on the economy, despite the recession, remains Chancellor-turned-PM Brown's specialist subject.
Politicalbetting asks if Clegg's strong showing makes a Hung Parliament less likely. The answer's No. Great site but anyone following its advice would've lost a fortune by betting on a March election never mind being surprised to see Brown in last night's debate after his toppling was repeatedly predicted last year. In fairness a lot of pundits called that badly wrong. Yet I'm sure Lib Dem MPs such as Susan Kramer in Richmond Park and North Kingston, where I live, will be cheering Clegg today and the likes of her challenger Zac Goldsmith will be worried they've wasted their money. I mustn't get carried away. Much can happen over the next three weeks. Labour may lose a few votes to the Lib Dems. Yet if Clegg remains flavour of the moment I reckon his rise will hit the Cons hardest. Labour's down to a core-plus bedrock and doesn't expect to poll higher than low to mid 30s(Blair scored only 36% in 2005). Clegg fracturing the "change" vote may deny Cameron a breakthrough. My feeling is a Hung Parliament's more likely though I don't gamble on politics to avoid charges of insider dealing since what I write in the Mirror or say on TV and Radio may sway a few voters.*
This was my instant, unspin assessment last night for today's Daily Mirror. I see on TV in my Manchester hotel room the Sky poll has Brown marginally ahead of Cameron and both behind Clegg. I'm off to a Lancashire Labour-Tory marginal to discover what, if any, impression the debate made on the ground.
* The one exception is a friendly bet of lunch in London's Gay Hussar restaurant with my old Guardian colleague Martin Kettle. Back in September I said Brown would(and he said Brown wouldn't) top Michael Foot's 27.8% in 1983
One problem for Tory Towers is home affairs, the theme of last night's first of three, was the equivalent of home turf for the Cons not least because crime and immigration are traditional strong cards for the Right-wing. Next Thursday in the South West and international affairs, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg will beat up Cameron for jumping into bed with Europe's racist, homophobic nutters. In the third and final bout on the economy, despite the recession, remains Chancellor-turned-PM Brown's specialist subject.
Politicalbetting asks if Clegg's strong showing makes a Hung Parliament less likely. The answer's No. Great site but anyone following its advice would've lost a fortune by betting on a March election never mind being surprised to see Brown in last night's debate after his toppling was repeatedly predicted last year. In fairness a lot of pundits called that badly wrong. Yet I'm sure Lib Dem MPs such as Susan Kramer in Richmond Park and North Kingston, where I live, will be cheering Clegg today and the likes of her challenger Zac Goldsmith will be worried they've wasted their money. I mustn't get carried away. Much can happen over the next three weeks. Labour may lose a few votes to the Lib Dems. Yet if Clegg remains flavour of the moment I reckon his rise will hit the Cons hardest. Labour's down to a core-plus bedrock and doesn't expect to poll higher than low to mid 30s(Blair scored only 36% in 2005). Clegg fracturing the "change" vote may deny Cameron a breakthrough. My feeling is a Hung Parliament's more likely though I don't gamble on politics to avoid charges of insider dealing since what I write in the Mirror or say on TV and Radio may sway a few voters.*
This was my instant, unspin assessment last night for today's Daily Mirror. I see on TV in my Manchester hotel room the Sky poll has Brown marginally ahead of Cameron and both behind Clegg. I'm off to a Lancashire Labour-Tory marginal to discover what, if any, impression the debate made on the ground.
* The one exception is a friendly bet of lunch in London's Gay Hussar restaurant with my old Guardian colleague Martin Kettle. Back in September I said Brown would(and he said Brown wouldn't) top Michael Foot's 27.8% in 1983
Thursday, 15 April 2010
The Leaders' Debate: Well Done Chaps
The Leaders' Debate: Well Done Chaps
Friday, 16th April 2010
There is absolutely no doubt that Nick Clegg won this. He faltered from time to time, but was the only one confident enough to take thoughtful (if sometimes stagey) pauses.
I thought Gordon Brown also did surprisingly well. He kept his cool and showed that he is an accomplished debater. His jokes were over-prepared and characteristically dreadful, but he warmed up through the 90 minutes and challenged Cameron very effectively on several occasions, especially over police spending.
Cameron was disappointing, but people forget that he was not entirely convincing against David Davis in the Tory leadership debates.
Gordon Brown should be worried precisely because he did relatively well in the debate. For some reason this doesn't appear to have made any impact on the way people thought about him.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Sri Lanka Tamil party ready for discussions with the government
Sri Lanka Tamil party ready for discussions with the government
Apr 13, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has said that it is not opposed to supporting an acceptable proposal on finding a lasting solution to the ethnic issue.
TNA MP-elect from the Jaffna District, Suresh Premachandran has told the BBC Tamil Service that the party was open for discussion with the government.
Premachandran has said there is some truth in recent media reports that the governing UPFA which is few seats shy of a two-thirds majority in parliament at the recent general elections may seek their support to consolidate such a majority.
According to him, the TNA does not have any idea at present as to what types of constitutional amendments were likely to be brought forward.
He has however added that if President Mahinda Rajapaksa comes forward with constitutional reforms aimed at finding solutions to the ethnic problems the TNA would definitely discuss such proposals with him.
"If those changes are made with a view to finding a lasting political solution to the ethnic issue, then the TNA will consider it in a positive way," he has told BBC.
The TNA has already made public its view on what steps should be taken regarding the issue in its election manifesto.
The TNA parliamentarian-elect has told the BBC that whether the President is willing to discuss the issues based on them, or whether he brings in different proposals, the party was prepared to discuss such proposals.
Premachandran has added that the Tamils have rejected the call for a 'unitary state' and have voted for a 'united Sri Lanka' and hence the TNA was prepared to speak to the government within a 'united Sri Lanka' framework.
<!-- --- End News Item --->
Apr 13, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has said that it is not opposed to supporting an acceptable proposal on finding a lasting solution to the ethnic issue.
TNA MP-elect from the Jaffna District, Suresh Premachandran has told the BBC Tamil Service that the party was open for discussion with the government.
Premachandran has said there is some truth in recent media reports that the governing UPFA which is few seats shy of a two-thirds majority in parliament at the recent general elections may seek their support to consolidate such a majority.
According to him, the TNA does not have any idea at present as to what types of constitutional amendments were likely to be brought forward.
He has however added that if President Mahinda Rajapaksa comes forward with constitutional reforms aimed at finding solutions to the ethnic problems the TNA would definitely discuss such proposals with him.
"If those changes are made with a view to finding a lasting political solution to the ethnic issue, then the TNA will consider it in a positive way," he has told BBC.
The TNA has already made public its view on what steps should be taken regarding the issue in its election manifesto.
The TNA parliamentarian-elect has told the BBC that whether the President is willing to discuss the issues based on them, or whether he brings in different proposals, the party was prepared to discuss such proposals.
Premachandran has added that the Tamils have rejected the call for a 'unitary state' and have voted for a 'united Sri Lanka' and hence the TNA was prepared to speak to the government within a 'united Sri Lanka' framework.
<!-- --- End News Item --->
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