Few noted the irony when in making his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, US President Barack Obama defended the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
The speech came the day after the UK government allocated funding in the pre-budget report to a number of green initiatives aimed at helping tackle, global warming, the most severe threat facing the future of the planet.
Among the measures announced was an extra £200 million to people to make their homes more energy efficient. There was £50 million invested in wind turbines development and an exemption for electric cars for five years from company car tax.
Sounded good, that was until £2.5 billion was announced for the war in Afghanistan bringing the total annual budget for the conflicts in that country and Iraq to £4.4 billion. This revealed the true priorities.
The world faces the biggest threat to its future in the form of global warming, yet instead of seriously addressing this with the sort of investment needed to tackle the problems a derisory amount is thrown in that direction. In comparison there is no limit to what can be spent on war and armaments.
This approach of allowing arms spending and war to trump all other needs is something that has been evidenced for more than a century.
In the first decade of the 20th century, a reforming Liberal Government under the Premiership of Herbert Asquith and Chancellorship of David Lloyd George sort to bring in welfare support, including the state pension. This was to be largely funded by national insurance. But as the decade wore on the demands of the military for the funds being used for the welfare reforms grew ever louder. The military wanted armaments in the build up to the First World War. The welfare budget was swallowed up.
Move forward 35 years to the post war Labour Government. This administration further built on welfare reform and put in place the National Health Service. But it was not long before the world of conflict came knocking again with the arrival of the Korean War. Much of the funding needed for the NHS and other welfare reforms was siphoned off to pay for this war.
Military spending has remained high ever since that time. Sceptics argue that the whole Cold War was largely a façade created to support the arms industry. The over hyped threat and the falsified missile gaps.
The premiership of Margaret Thatcher represented an important period of development for what has become known as the military industrial complex. This amounts to a cabal of interests from government, finance, the intelligence world and the arms trade coming together to promote weapons sales. As the Arms to Iraq inquiry demonstrated there were large commissions to be had out of arms dealing. The Thatcher premiership was marked by a series of major arms deals the biggest of which was the Al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia. The client in this multi-billion deal was BAE Systems. The terms of the deal are highly secret and set alarm bells ringing whenever raised.
Arms spending generally took a bit of a dip in the 1990s following the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, the hypnotic power of the arms industry to capture domestic budgets was evidenced by the limpet like attachment of the British Government to the Trident nuclear deterrent. The country maybe in the depths of recession but the government will hit the low paid and other suffering groups long before it would consider getting rid of this long outdated system.
The latest bonanza for the military industrial complex came with the attacks on America of 11 September 2001. Arms spending orbited in America and Britain to meet the needs of the war. The arms industry was delighted doing good business and with live theatres of war to show off its wares. The Americans and British it should not be forgotten are among the biggest sellers of arms in the world.
The grip that the military industrial complex holds was best summed up by another American President, Dwight Eisenhower. Speaking in the 1950s he said: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children...”This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”
Surely it is time to come down from that iron cross and start devoting the mass of resources to development and countering global warming. It is time to start serving the real needs of the people rather than the vested interests of the military industrial complex.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Friday, 11 December 2009
Time to free the world from war and counter global warming
As US President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize justifying the war in Afghanistan and the UK government allocated billions to that conflict in the same week as world leaders discussed the threat of global warming in Copenhagen, the question arises as to why war always triumphs over development.
It is surely time to recall the words of a former US President President Dwight Eisenhower who declared that “every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children...This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” When will humanity come down from this cross and start dedicating resources to development and countering the real threats that face our planet like global warming?
It is surely time to recall the words of a former US President President Dwight Eisenhower who declared that “every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children...This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” When will humanity come down from this cross and start dedicating resources to development and countering the real threats that face our planet like global warming?
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Time to stop bailing out the bankers
The bankers it would seem continue to make merry with in the words of London Mayor Boris Johnson the “great stonking bonuses” while the rest of us pay the price for their appalling recklessness.
Two events over the past week underline the failure to bring any accountability to the sector. First came Sir David Walker’s report, conducted for the government by a banker into bankers. Not surprising perhaps then that the most dramatic recommendation that Sir David could come up with was for all of those earning £1 million plus to have their salaries published – well that will make us all feel a whole lot better.
Next came a Supreme Court decision allowing the banks to go on helping themselves to customers money in the form of overdraft charges. The Office of Fair Trading had been seeking redress in this area. The ruling resulted in one commentator questioning whether the state had taken over the banks or the other way around.
Let’s not forget that in the UK the government owns Royal Bank of Scotland, Northern Rock and most of Lloyds/HBOS, while in Ireland the state took over Anglo Irish bank. There seems little doubt that the mass of tax payers in Britain and Ireland are continuing to pay the price for restoring bank balance sheets and funding the continuation of the bonus culture.
While interest rates have been cut, the banks have failed to pass this on with cuts in mortgage rates. Nor have they lent out money to get businesses going again. On the other side they have passed on the interest cuts to savers, forcing some pensioners in particular toward poverty.
Somewhat ironically there seems to have been far more public opprobrium poured on the MPs for their relatively minor expenses misdemeanours compared to the incredible rip off undertaken by the bankers.
There have though been some initiatives coming up from different groups seeking to redress some of the balance between bankers and tax payers.
One such move comes from the community based London Citizens. It comprises promoting the living wage, a cap on interest rates of 20 per cent for lending, a responsible lending charter, investment into local and mutual banking and a programme for financial literacy.
The present living wage level set in London by Mayor Boris Johnson is of £7.60 an hour has helped many individuals and families get above the poverty line. The level of the living wage is set to enable individuals and families to live above the poverty line in a defined area. So it could be lower in other parts of the country. However, in most cases it will be above the minimum wage which is £5.80 an hour.
In tough times unscrupulous lenders prosper. Many people get themselves in trouble going to loan sharks for credit. A report from the New Economics Foundation titled Doorstep Robbery: why the UK needs a new lending law points out that nine million people in the UK don’t have access to bank credit, so their only choice is to turn to “rip-off lenders.” Three million don’t have bank accounts. The idea of a 20 per cent cap on loans is aimed at addressing some of the injustice if this situation.
The London Citizen’s programme also wants some funds transferred via a levy to local and mutual banking so getting things going in the poorer communities.
The three political parties gave qualified backing to most of the proposals with the Conservative Treasury spokesman Greg Hands saying they would enact the lending rate cap while Liberal Democrat Vince Cable said they would implement the living wage but go further by taking anyone on minimum wage earnings out of income tax.
At the other end of the spectrum comes the suggestion from the left of centre think tank Compass that there should be a High Pay Commission. This would highlight and regulate high levels of pay in a similar fashion to that now done by the Low Pay Commission that sets the minimum wage.
Another major step forward would be to create a Postbank based at the 11,500 post office branches across the country. The network could be extended by say adding the state owned Northern Rock and National Savings and Investments (NSI) to the Postbank. This would be a state owned and run bank. It would be guaranteed by the state and offer credit at reasonable rates to customers. These could be individuals or small businesses. Such a bank could be run on social as well as economic criteria, so there could be a push to get those who do not have bank accounts into the system. The Postbank would be run on a not for profit basis.
A coaliton of groups including the Communication Workers Union, Federation of Small Businesses, National Pensioners Convention, New Economics Foundation, Public Interest Research Council, Unite the union, the Federation of Sub-postmasters and the Coutryside Alliance are campaigning for the creation of a Postbank. The government has put the idea out to consultation.
It is this type of initiative that is needed from government. . The approach of simply sitting on the side lines waiting for market forces to sort out the problems is not an answer. It is a denial of responsibility. It is high time that those in government started acting for the mass and not the few. People expect government to take responsibility. It can do so with initiatives like the Postbank and by making some real moves to regulate the financial sector. Failure to do so will ensure that the burden for the present economic debacle is paid by the poorest in our society. It will also help ensure that the same problem recur again in the not too distant future.
Two events over the past week underline the failure to bring any accountability to the sector. First came Sir David Walker’s report, conducted for the government by a banker into bankers. Not surprising perhaps then that the most dramatic recommendation that Sir David could come up with was for all of those earning £1 million plus to have their salaries published – well that will make us all feel a whole lot better.
Next came a Supreme Court decision allowing the banks to go on helping themselves to customers money in the form of overdraft charges. The Office of Fair Trading had been seeking redress in this area. The ruling resulted in one commentator questioning whether the state had taken over the banks or the other way around.
Let’s not forget that in the UK the government owns Royal Bank of Scotland, Northern Rock and most of Lloyds/HBOS, while in Ireland the state took over Anglo Irish bank. There seems little doubt that the mass of tax payers in Britain and Ireland are continuing to pay the price for restoring bank balance sheets and funding the continuation of the bonus culture.
While interest rates have been cut, the banks have failed to pass this on with cuts in mortgage rates. Nor have they lent out money to get businesses going again. On the other side they have passed on the interest cuts to savers, forcing some pensioners in particular toward poverty.
Somewhat ironically there seems to have been far more public opprobrium poured on the MPs for their relatively minor expenses misdemeanours compared to the incredible rip off undertaken by the bankers.
There have though been some initiatives coming up from different groups seeking to redress some of the balance between bankers and tax payers.
One such move comes from the community based London Citizens. It comprises promoting the living wage, a cap on interest rates of 20 per cent for lending, a responsible lending charter, investment into local and mutual banking and a programme for financial literacy.
The present living wage level set in London by Mayor Boris Johnson is of £7.60 an hour has helped many individuals and families get above the poverty line. The level of the living wage is set to enable individuals and families to live above the poverty line in a defined area. So it could be lower in other parts of the country. However, in most cases it will be above the minimum wage which is £5.80 an hour.
In tough times unscrupulous lenders prosper. Many people get themselves in trouble going to loan sharks for credit. A report from the New Economics Foundation titled Doorstep Robbery: why the UK needs a new lending law points out that nine million people in the UK don’t have access to bank credit, so their only choice is to turn to “rip-off lenders.” Three million don’t have bank accounts. The idea of a 20 per cent cap on loans is aimed at addressing some of the injustice if this situation.
The London Citizen’s programme also wants some funds transferred via a levy to local and mutual banking so getting things going in the poorer communities.
The three political parties gave qualified backing to most of the proposals with the Conservative Treasury spokesman Greg Hands saying they would enact the lending rate cap while Liberal Democrat Vince Cable said they would implement the living wage but go further by taking anyone on minimum wage earnings out of income tax.
At the other end of the spectrum comes the suggestion from the left of centre think tank Compass that there should be a High Pay Commission. This would highlight and regulate high levels of pay in a similar fashion to that now done by the Low Pay Commission that sets the minimum wage.
Another major step forward would be to create a Postbank based at the 11,500 post office branches across the country. The network could be extended by say adding the state owned Northern Rock and National Savings and Investments (NSI) to the Postbank. This would be a state owned and run bank. It would be guaranteed by the state and offer credit at reasonable rates to customers. These could be individuals or small businesses. Such a bank could be run on social as well as economic criteria, so there could be a push to get those who do not have bank accounts into the system. The Postbank would be run on a not for profit basis.
A coaliton of groups including the Communication Workers Union, Federation of Small Businesses, National Pensioners Convention, New Economics Foundation, Public Interest Research Council, Unite the union, the Federation of Sub-postmasters and the Coutryside Alliance are campaigning for the creation of a Postbank. The government has put the idea out to consultation.
It is this type of initiative that is needed from government. . The approach of simply sitting on the side lines waiting for market forces to sort out the problems is not an answer. It is a denial of responsibility. It is high time that those in government started acting for the mass and not the few. People expect government to take responsibility. It can do so with initiatives like the Postbank and by making some real moves to regulate the financial sector. Failure to do so will ensure that the burden for the present economic debacle is paid by the poorest in our society. It will also help ensure that the same problem recur again in the not too distant future.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Leaders must act to save planet in Copenhagen
The devastation caused to parts of Britain and Ireland by the recent floods came just weeks before international leaders gather in Copenhagen to discuss how best to combat climate change.
The floods devastated Cockermouth inCumbria and more than a dozen towns and villages in Ireland, including the centre of Cork. The River Suck burst its banks in County Leitrim, flooding the town of Ballinasloe and cutting off major roads to the northwest. About 40 families had to be evacuated by boat
The British and Irish army were deployed in their respective countries to save people from the worsening weather conditions. A policeman, Bill Barker, lost his life in Cumbria when a bridge he was standing on collapsed.
Britain’s Environment Secretary Hilary Benn claimed the flood was a one in a 1,000 year occurrence, compared to the one in 100 year ferocity which the Cumbria area had fortified to withstand. This was no doubt very reassuring to all those who lost their homes. There were some recriminations over whether adequate provision is being made for these types of natural occurrences in both countries.
Whether these were freak storms or not it would seem such occurrences are getting more commonplace. Floods have hit Ireland in each of the last three years. Two years ago in the UK it was the Midlands that was hit with floods in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Previous to that Cornwall was flooded.
There can be little doubt that these climatic changes are due to the effects in some way of global warming. Water levels are rising and the weather conditions are changing.
Another sign of rapid change comes with the news that the Thames Barrier has been raised 64 times in the last 10 years up to 2007. This compares to 10 times in the first decade of its existence. Interestingly, it would take a one in a 1000-year occurrence to overwhelm the barrier – not very reassuring given the same ratio applied in Cumbria.
All of this devastation and statistical evidence ought to be enough to focus minds at the Copenhagen summit. Yet there seems to be little urgency from world leaders. US President Barack Obama will show up briefly.
The British Government to its credit does seem to recognise the need to take international action to combat climate change. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will attend Copenhagen and has warned of the consequences of failure to act decisively. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband has also been actively lobbying in European capitals to ensure some coming together on a united agenda.
The inconsistency with the British Government comes when matching words and actions. There are moves to combat global warming but comparing say the £800 million put into flood defences with the billions pumped into the disastrous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan gives some idea of policy priority. Indeed, David King, the former chief scientific advisor to the government warned that climate change was a far bigger threat to the future of the nation than terrorism.
If world leaders are to seriously address climate change they need to recognise that the devastation being caused is intricately linked to the current economic model. If things continue as at present there is no doubt that the world will be devastated by ever-greater catastrophes. Whether these are dismissed in piecemeal style as one in a 100, one in a 1000 or one in 10,000 occurrences it will get a lot worse.
Damage done to the environment must be reflected in economic indicators. So for example, air travel should come to reflect the damage it does to the environment. Similarly, train travel would get cheaper because it is sustainable.
Take the journey to Copenhagen by way of example. Travelling by train costs £320. Taking a plane costs £72. If environmental factors were taken into account, the train would cost £70, the plane £600.
Other moves can be made to promote sustainable living. Why not take all tax off electric cars and offer incentives to businesses that operate fleets of company cars to go electric? There is an argument for making environmentally friendly forms of travel like rail free. No new house should be built in the UK or Ireland that is not carbon neutral.
Why not invest heavily in green technology? This is a new area that the UK and Ireland could major in, creating the new products and exporting to the rest of the world. There has been some investment but nothing like that undertaken in say Germany.
Britain and Ireland are uniquely placed to take advantage of energy devolved from the wind and waves.
There also need to be technological transfers to growing economies like India and China in order that they can develop sustainably.
The third area in need of addressing is people’s own lifestyles. It is not good enough to simply recycle a bit more and use the car a bit less. This crisis is such that it does genuinely mean a return to a more basic, less damaging style of living. The consumer lifestyle developed over the past few decades has brought the world to the brink of destruction. For everyone to live like the US and Europe do at present would require five planets. We have just one, so the maths says that lifestyles will have to change dramatically.
It is not too late but time is running out. To really address climate change requires sustained action at a number of levels – individual, community and government. Let’s hope world leaders recognise the very real dangers and act accordingly at Copenhagen.
The floods devastated Cockermouth inCumbria and more than a dozen towns and villages in Ireland, including the centre of Cork. The River Suck burst its banks in County Leitrim, flooding the town of Ballinasloe and cutting off major roads to the northwest. About 40 families had to be evacuated by boat
The British and Irish army were deployed in their respective countries to save people from the worsening weather conditions. A policeman, Bill Barker, lost his life in Cumbria when a bridge he was standing on collapsed.
Britain’s Environment Secretary Hilary Benn claimed the flood was a one in a 1,000 year occurrence, compared to the one in 100 year ferocity which the Cumbria area had fortified to withstand. This was no doubt very reassuring to all those who lost their homes. There were some recriminations over whether adequate provision is being made for these types of natural occurrences in both countries.
Whether these were freak storms or not it would seem such occurrences are getting more commonplace. Floods have hit Ireland in each of the last three years. Two years ago in the UK it was the Midlands that was hit with floods in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. Previous to that Cornwall was flooded.
There can be little doubt that these climatic changes are due to the effects in some way of global warming. Water levels are rising and the weather conditions are changing.
Another sign of rapid change comes with the news that the Thames Barrier has been raised 64 times in the last 10 years up to 2007. This compares to 10 times in the first decade of its existence. Interestingly, it would take a one in a 1000-year occurrence to overwhelm the barrier – not very reassuring given the same ratio applied in Cumbria.
All of this devastation and statistical evidence ought to be enough to focus minds at the Copenhagen summit. Yet there seems to be little urgency from world leaders. US President Barack Obama will show up briefly.
The British Government to its credit does seem to recognise the need to take international action to combat climate change. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will attend Copenhagen and has warned of the consequences of failure to act decisively. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband has also been actively lobbying in European capitals to ensure some coming together on a united agenda.
The inconsistency with the British Government comes when matching words and actions. There are moves to combat global warming but comparing say the £800 million put into flood defences with the billions pumped into the disastrous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan gives some idea of policy priority. Indeed, David King, the former chief scientific advisor to the government warned that climate change was a far bigger threat to the future of the nation than terrorism.
If world leaders are to seriously address climate change they need to recognise that the devastation being caused is intricately linked to the current economic model. If things continue as at present there is no doubt that the world will be devastated by ever-greater catastrophes. Whether these are dismissed in piecemeal style as one in a 100, one in a 1000 or one in 10,000 occurrences it will get a lot worse.
Damage done to the environment must be reflected in economic indicators. So for example, air travel should come to reflect the damage it does to the environment. Similarly, train travel would get cheaper because it is sustainable.
Take the journey to Copenhagen by way of example. Travelling by train costs £320. Taking a plane costs £72. If environmental factors were taken into account, the train would cost £70, the plane £600.
Other moves can be made to promote sustainable living. Why not take all tax off electric cars and offer incentives to businesses that operate fleets of company cars to go electric? There is an argument for making environmentally friendly forms of travel like rail free. No new house should be built in the UK or Ireland that is not carbon neutral.
Why not invest heavily in green technology? This is a new area that the UK and Ireland could major in, creating the new products and exporting to the rest of the world. There has been some investment but nothing like that undertaken in say Germany.
Britain and Ireland are uniquely placed to take advantage of energy devolved from the wind and waves.
There also need to be technological transfers to growing economies like India and China in order that they can develop sustainably.
The third area in need of addressing is people’s own lifestyles. It is not good enough to simply recycle a bit more and use the car a bit less. This crisis is such that it does genuinely mean a return to a more basic, less damaging style of living. The consumer lifestyle developed over the past few decades has brought the world to the brink of destruction. For everyone to live like the US and Europe do at present would require five planets. We have just one, so the maths says that lifestyles will have to change dramatically.
It is not too late but time is running out. To really address climate change requires sustained action at a number of levels – individual, community and government. Let’s hope world leaders recognise the very real dangers and act accordingly at Copenhagen.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Dementia sufferers deserve better treatment
The abuse of those suffering with dementia has come under the spotlight recently with first the revelation of the over subscribing of anti-psychotic drugs to elderly people and then that those with dementia are not receiving the treatment they deserve when in hospital.
A report from the Alzheimers Society has found half of all dementia patients leave hospital in a worse state than when they arrive and that they stay in far longer than others coming in with similar conditions. The Alzheimer's Society blames longer stays on a lack of communication, which can exacerbate problems associated with dementia, such as incontinence. The main reasons for a hospital stay were falls, broken hips or hip replacements, urine infections, chest infections and strokes.
Meanwhile, an independent review for the government found that 180,000 people with dementia are being prescribed a powerful cocktail of sedative drugs of which more than three quarters - 144,000 – are being prescribed inappropriately.
The drugs are estimated to cause 1,800 deaths and 1,620 strokes a year but despite warnings about the risks prescribing has continued. There are 700,000 people in Britain with dementia, of which half suffer with symptoms of agitation, aggression wandering shouting and other difficult behaviours.
As the son of a father who suffered with Alzheimer’s disease I have had first hand experience of how staff in care homes seek to control patients. When my father became unmanageable for my mother at home he went into a residential home. This home was unsuited to deal with dementia, so after a period in hospital he went on to a home that was more specialized in dealing with dementia patients. As things declined, he then moved a third and final home. The second home felt it was unable to cope with his increasingly agitated behaviour.
There was a perceivable change in Dad after the third home. He went from being alert to very drowsy. This was all the more perplexing, given that the manager of the home had sold the move on the basis of being able to stimulate and get better responses out of Dad. I became increasingly suspicious that Dad was being drugged and raised the issue with the manager. He acknowledged my concerns and said he would review the drug dosage.
This experience and others also underlined the importance for dementia sufferers of having an advocate to stand up for their interests. In many cases, dementia sufferers can be as vulnerable as babies. They are open to abuse at almost every turn so there is a need for someone to stand up for their rights as well as proper stringent regulation. For those without advocates, the abuse endured can no doubt be truly horrendous.
The other side of this story was that Dad could get quite aggressive. Despite being a shadow of his former self he retained a lot of upper body strength and when he started throwing his weight around the care assistants struggled to cope. On one occasion, a care assistant touched him on the head and he jumped up but my brother was present and managed to restrain him. Just prior to his death, I was in the room as care assistants edged round him, one declaring, and “I don’t want to get hit.”
Care homes that house dementia patients are not always nice places. There are no inhibitions with patients often screaming out or suddenly launching off towards a complete stranger. The occasional one will come and confine they think their own family is robbing them, sometimes. So given the circumstances it is possible to have some sympathy for those in the homes who resort to drugs by way of restraint. However, as the review points out it is not acceptable practice.
The government is now moving to impose long overdue regulation on the sector. There is to be investment in specialist dementia training with a new national director of dementia overseeing a reduction in the use of the anti-psychotic drugs. While this may reduce the use of the drugs it does not address the fundamental problem of how dementia is dealt with in the UK.
The problem is that dementia sufferers are farmed out to privately run homes, whose primary motivation for existence is profit. This means that most of the staff are on the minimum wage, many are migrant workers who are more easily exploited. In the worse case scenarios, these homes are warehouses of death, simply storing elderly dementia sufferers, while making money at their expense until death strikes.
Each dementia sufferer is no doubt viewed as a profit centre. This was underlined with in own father’s case as the extras beyond the £700 a week we were already paying for care began to roll in. One of the more amusing exchanges was over the exorbitant monthly charges for haircuts. My own plea was that Dad was having more haircuts then than at any other point in his life. “He’s having more hair cuts that I am and he only has about 100 hairs,” I said.
It is the precedence of profit over care that really needs to be addressed if dementia sufferers are to start receiving the care they deserve in a civilized society. The use of the “chemical cosh” is to a large degree symptomatic of the make a profit out of suffering culture that exists when it comes to the treatment of old people.
The whole attitude needs to change. There needs to be a more holistic approach taken to dementia sufferers, seeking to stimulate the senses rather than simply dull them. The new regulations are welcome but can only be a start. As the number of dementia sufferers continues to grow over one million in the next decade this is a problem that needs addressing now. The present approach is in many cases inhumane and a sad reflection on our society that seems to put a very low value on sanctity of life.
Other articles by Paul on dementia -http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=81949
www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/08/dementia-case-loved-dad-family
www.thetablet.co.uk/goprev.php?issue=1000107
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Racist jokes target the weakest in our society
The publication of three irish jokes by prison newspaper Inside Times caused much offence recently among other prisoners and support groups.
The Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas reported receiving complaints from a number of prisoners. “There is no debate about this – anti-Irish jokes are racist and totally unacceptable. They should never be printed,” said Conor McGinn of the ICPO.
The paper responded to one prisoner’s complaints, quoting Dave Allen making jokes about the Irish, claiming “you might as well laugh at yourself once in a while – everyone else does.”
There is no doubt that there are Irish comedians around, like Patrick Kielty, who do make jokes at the expense of their own nationality. But there is somehow a line that says it is ok to joke at yourself but when others of the opposing dominant nationality in the society take the same approach it has a different context.
Jennie McShannon, chief executive of the Federation of Irish Societies, does not think that irish jokes are any longer meant to offend and ridicule. “They do however by their nature carry on such a tradition which is now outdated and irrelevant. Why would successful people such as Bono, Bob Geldof, Dermott O’Leary, the Cusacks, Michael O’Leary, Tony O’Reilly and those of Irish decent including parliamentarians such as such as Stephen O’Brien,…., etc find such jokes either relevant to them or funny?” said Ms McShannon. “And who do they target but the more vulnerable Irish people in our society, those who perhaps did not benefit from education or economic success but who still contributed greatly to British life.”
The question of racist jokes surfaced recently in the context of the Strictly Come Dancing show where one of the dancers Anton Du Beck said his partner looked like a paki. There was much furore resulting in the dancer apologising. Then show host Bruce Forsyth chipped in questioning the whole context of political correctness. "We used to have a sense of humour about this. You go back 25, 30, 40 years and there has always been a bit of humour about the whole thing,” said Forsyth, who also later apologised.
Go back 35 years, though, and there was Alf Garnett on Till Death us do part ranting on about black people. The ITV opposition saw Love thy neighbour starring Rudolph Walker, now or Eastenders fame, in another attack on black and ethnic minority peoples. These programmes disappeared with the passing of the Race Relations Act in 1976. So to a large degree did the No blacks, irish or dogs notices in boarding house front windows.
It is significant that the ethnic jokes are always made at the expense of a weaker minority that is not in a position to defend itself against attack. How often do you hear jokes about the stupid Brit or English person?
This tendency to pick on the weakest is no better illustrated than in the case of Irish Travellers, who over recent years have often been the butt of this type of humour. Comedian Jimmy Carr was recently forced to apologise for comments he made on the BBC programme Loose Ends. Maybe it is in the anti-traveller joke that can be seen the real agenda running behind such humour.
The Travellers are among the most vilified of groups in British society, under constant attack particularly in the tabloid press. Derogatory comments are made about them without any concern. This is due in part because Travellers lack advocates to stand up for them – though this has improved in recent years. It is felt ok to attack Travellers in the mainstream so they are seen as fair game for the joke world.
The Irish community has been voluble in its denounciation of slurs aimed at their nationality. A few years ago columnist Julie Burchill made derogatory comments about the Irish. A complaint was made to the police under the Race Relations Act and an investigation followed. The matter was taken no further but the bad publicity that followed, no doubt made an impact on the liberal Guardian for whom the column was written.
It has been as a result of the culture that has developed in the wake of legislation brought in to outlaw overt racism that has largely seen the death of the ethnic joke.
Jennie McShannon refutes the claim that political correctness has gone mad, that people have lost their sense of humour, and that British culture is now under threat. “This is the kind of rhetoric which undermines all the very positive work done here to create a more cohesive, accepting and egalitarian society and which has supported so many from different minorities to engage positively and contribute to a thriving British society,” said Ms McShannon, who welcomes the forthcoming Equalities Bill as providing further legislative impetus for the inclusive agenda.
Ruling out offensive racism whether in joke form or normal conversation has helped cut down discrimination. The world is not a worse place for the absence of jokes aimed at ethnic minorities. This is not to say ofcourse that racism has disappeared as a result of these developments. In many ways racism has tended to become more covert. Moves are made to exclude ethnic minorities in far more subtle ways from work and other arenas. Public attacks are launched under other guises. Immigrants and refugees can be catch all phrases symptomatic of attacks on the other.So there is still plenty of discrimination around against ethnic minority groups. Fortunately much of the overt racism has disappeared from popular discourse as a result of legislation and the growing confidence of the minorities under attack. As a result the gutter humour reflecting an “acceptable racism” has largely disappeared in most areas of life. This is something to be welcomed but will only remain so if the minorities under attack continue to volubly complain when someone seeks to get a cheap laugh at their expense.
The Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas reported receiving complaints from a number of prisoners. “There is no debate about this – anti-Irish jokes are racist and totally unacceptable. They should never be printed,” said Conor McGinn of the ICPO.
The paper responded to one prisoner’s complaints, quoting Dave Allen making jokes about the Irish, claiming “you might as well laugh at yourself once in a while – everyone else does.”
There is no doubt that there are Irish comedians around, like Patrick Kielty, who do make jokes at the expense of their own nationality. But there is somehow a line that says it is ok to joke at yourself but when others of the opposing dominant nationality in the society take the same approach it has a different context.
Jennie McShannon, chief executive of the Federation of Irish Societies, does not think that irish jokes are any longer meant to offend and ridicule. “They do however by their nature carry on such a tradition which is now outdated and irrelevant. Why would successful people such as Bono, Bob Geldof, Dermott O’Leary, the Cusacks, Michael O’Leary, Tony O’Reilly and those of Irish decent including parliamentarians such as such as Stephen O’Brien,…., etc find such jokes either relevant to them or funny?” said Ms McShannon. “And who do they target but the more vulnerable Irish people in our society, those who perhaps did not benefit from education or economic success but who still contributed greatly to British life.”
The question of racist jokes surfaced recently in the context of the Strictly Come Dancing show where one of the dancers Anton Du Beck said his partner looked like a paki. There was much furore resulting in the dancer apologising. Then show host Bruce Forsyth chipped in questioning the whole context of political correctness. "We used to have a sense of humour about this. You go back 25, 30, 40 years and there has always been a bit of humour about the whole thing,” said Forsyth, who also later apologised.
Go back 35 years, though, and there was Alf Garnett on Till Death us do part ranting on about black people. The ITV opposition saw Love thy neighbour starring Rudolph Walker, now or Eastenders fame, in another attack on black and ethnic minority peoples. These programmes disappeared with the passing of the Race Relations Act in 1976. So to a large degree did the No blacks, irish or dogs notices in boarding house front windows.
It is significant that the ethnic jokes are always made at the expense of a weaker minority that is not in a position to defend itself against attack. How often do you hear jokes about the stupid Brit or English person?
This tendency to pick on the weakest is no better illustrated than in the case of Irish Travellers, who over recent years have often been the butt of this type of humour. Comedian Jimmy Carr was recently forced to apologise for comments he made on the BBC programme Loose Ends. Maybe it is in the anti-traveller joke that can be seen the real agenda running behind such humour.
The Travellers are among the most vilified of groups in British society, under constant attack particularly in the tabloid press. Derogatory comments are made about them without any concern. This is due in part because Travellers lack advocates to stand up for them – though this has improved in recent years. It is felt ok to attack Travellers in the mainstream so they are seen as fair game for the joke world.
The Irish community has been voluble in its denounciation of slurs aimed at their nationality. A few years ago columnist Julie Burchill made derogatory comments about the Irish. A complaint was made to the police under the Race Relations Act and an investigation followed. The matter was taken no further but the bad publicity that followed, no doubt made an impact on the liberal Guardian for whom the column was written.
It has been as a result of the culture that has developed in the wake of legislation brought in to outlaw overt racism that has largely seen the death of the ethnic joke.
Jennie McShannon refutes the claim that political correctness has gone mad, that people have lost their sense of humour, and that British culture is now under threat. “This is the kind of rhetoric which undermines all the very positive work done here to create a more cohesive, accepting and egalitarian society and which has supported so many from different minorities to engage positively and contribute to a thriving British society,” said Ms McShannon, who welcomes the forthcoming Equalities Bill as providing further legislative impetus for the inclusive agenda.
Ruling out offensive racism whether in joke form or normal conversation has helped cut down discrimination. The world is not a worse place for the absence of jokes aimed at ethnic minorities. This is not to say ofcourse that racism has disappeared as a result of these developments. In many ways racism has tended to become more covert. Moves are made to exclude ethnic minorities in far more subtle ways from work and other arenas. Public attacks are launched under other guises. Immigrants and refugees can be catch all phrases symptomatic of attacks on the other.So there is still plenty of discrimination around against ethnic minority groups. Fortunately much of the overt racism has disappeared from popular discourse as a result of legislation and the growing confidence of the minorities under attack. As a result the gutter humour reflecting an “acceptable racism” has largely disappeared in most areas of life. This is something to be welcomed but will only remain so if the minorities under attack continue to volubly complain when someone seeks to get a cheap laugh at their expense.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Activists opposing detention without trial
A group of human rights activists have been at the forefront of opposing efforts by the government over the past eight years to impose detention without trial.
Most well known of this group is Bruce Kent, who has for the past four years been visiting an Algerian man called Mustafa Taleb. Mr Kent has visited Taleb in prison and under control order. Today after six years in detention, Mr Kent travels regularly to meet up with him, detained as he now is under house arrest style deportation bail.
Taleb was originally arrested back in 2003 in what was to become known as the "ricin" trial where no ricin was actually found. He and seven others were finally acquitted in April 2005.
A free man, he then tried to pick up the pieces of his life, having fled Algeria for fear of his life in the early 1990s and gained refugee status in Britain. Freedom, though, was not to last for long.
Following the London bombings in 2005, he together with a number of other individuals, were picked up under immigration law and taken to prison. They were served with deportation orders on the grounds of being a risk to national security.
After another period in prison, the judges at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) finally granted Taleb deportation bail to live under house arrest conditions, unable to go outside a prescribed area, tagged and only able to meet people like Mr Kent who had been vetted by the Home Office. Throughout this period of detention neither Mr Taleb or his lawyers have been told what he is accused of doing. He has become a victim of secret evidence. At the SIAC hearings only the judges and appointed special advocates are allowed to see the material upon which detention is being sought. Neither the men or their lawyers get to see this material.
For Mr Taleb, the only route out of the nightmare is to agree to return to Algeria – a place where he has already been sentenced to death in absentia.
Mr Kent recalled that on one occasion he was accused of breaking bail conditions on a control order when living in a flat. “He was never told what he was supposed to have done but returned to Long Larten prison for another 18 months nonetheless,” said Mr Kent. “This whole process has been about forcing a number of individuals to return to their countries of origin. Life has been made so difficult that it is hoped they will give up and go home. That is regardless of what might await them there such as torture or ultimately death.”
“No one should be detained unless they have been before a jury or panel of judges in a fully accredited court of law. Everyone has the right to be dealt with under the law,” he added.
The whole process that has ensnared Mr Taleb and a number of other individuals began following the attacks on America of 11 September 2001, when the British government rushed through the Anti-Terror Crime and Security Act (ATCSA), which allowed foreign nationals to be detained without trial indefinitely.
In 2004, the Law Lords ruled that it was unlawful under the Human Rights Act. It was as a result of this ruling that control orders were devised under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.
This meant effectively being detained under house arrest. There were short periods when the individual could go outside into a proscribed area. They were also required to wear a tag and ring up the tagging company a number of times a day.
East London justice and peace activists Desiree Howells, MBE, and Olive Flynn became involved in the detention cases through the group Peace and Justice in east London. This began following 9/11 and in the early years was in the main a peace protest group. However, following a number of public meetings at Our Lady of Lourdes Pastoral Centre, the group members found out about the individuals concerned being detained without trial.
Desiree and Olive monitored on an almost daily basis the trial that was to clear Taleb and the others accused of the ricin plot. They are also regular visitors at SIAC monitoring those proceedings. They are vetted to visit a number of the men being held on deportation bail. Both appear in the award winning film Taking Liberties and are appalled at what they have witnessed over the years. “I did not think it possible in Britain,” said Mrs Howells. “It has dragged British justice through the dirt and destroyed its reputation internationally.”
She has been particularly effected by the way in which this form of detention has ruined so many lives. “These young men’s lives have been destroyed completely. The single ones have been unable to develop meaningful relationships, “said Mrs Howells. “For those with families there has been a collective suffering. The children are growing up with a fear of when the police are going to come calling.”
One of those first detained under the ATCSA in December 2001 was an Algerian man known only as G. He was imprisoned, then released on house arrest style bail conditions then re-arrested after the London bombings, and served with a deportation notice. While in prison he tried to kill himself using wire. Today, G continues to live with his wife and two young children under house arrest conditions on deportation bail. “No one here has ever told me what I am accused of. I have no rights here it seems. In Britain animals have rights. I have less rights than an animal,” he said.
A regular vetted visitor to the family is Adrienne Burrows of Peace and Justice in east London. “There is incredible stress that builds up from so many years of being detained without knowing what you are supposed to have done. This is made worse by seemingly indefinite nature of the detention,” said Ms Burrows. “Restrictions that can seem minor come to put an intangible strain on family life with particularly bad effects on the children.”
There are though some encouraging signs of progress in the effort to roll back the operation of this secretive system of injustice.
In July, the Law Lords ruled that control orders breached the Human Rights Act in that the reliance on secret evidence denied the appellants a fair trial. There are 15 individuals still on control orders but these are expected to be overturned during the next few months in accordance with the ruling. The Home Secretary Alan Johnson has set up a review of control orders under Lord Carlile.
This breach of the secret evidence type system though has not yet effected those like Mr Taleb and G being held in similar style conditions, pending possible deportation from the country, though the principles are similar. Their cases at present look set to go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg.
The Coalition Against Secret Evidence (CASE) was established back in March and some 91 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for an end to the use of secret evidence. CASE have organised an open letter to the Home Secretary that will soon be published in national newspapers demanding an end to the use of secret evidence. So there are signs that the tide is turning against secret evidence and not before time. Few would have thought that individuals could be held for year after year, denied a fair trial on the basis of secret evidence. Only now is it becoming clear just how much damage has been done to the British justice system as a result of the decision to take part in the war on terror, begun by US President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2001. There are many casualties and they are not all to be found on the battlefield.
* To sign Downng Street petiton on detention see: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/secret-evidence/
Most well known of this group is Bruce Kent, who has for the past four years been visiting an Algerian man called Mustafa Taleb. Mr Kent has visited Taleb in prison and under control order. Today after six years in detention, Mr Kent travels regularly to meet up with him, detained as he now is under house arrest style deportation bail.
Taleb was originally arrested back in 2003 in what was to become known as the "ricin" trial where no ricin was actually found. He and seven others were finally acquitted in April 2005.
A free man, he then tried to pick up the pieces of his life, having fled Algeria for fear of his life in the early 1990s and gained refugee status in Britain. Freedom, though, was not to last for long.
Following the London bombings in 2005, he together with a number of other individuals, were picked up under immigration law and taken to prison. They were served with deportation orders on the grounds of being a risk to national security.
After another period in prison, the judges at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) finally granted Taleb deportation bail to live under house arrest conditions, unable to go outside a prescribed area, tagged and only able to meet people like Mr Kent who had been vetted by the Home Office. Throughout this period of detention neither Mr Taleb or his lawyers have been told what he is accused of doing. He has become a victim of secret evidence. At the SIAC hearings only the judges and appointed special advocates are allowed to see the material upon which detention is being sought. Neither the men or their lawyers get to see this material.
For Mr Taleb, the only route out of the nightmare is to agree to return to Algeria – a place where he has already been sentenced to death in absentia.
Mr Kent recalled that on one occasion he was accused of breaking bail conditions on a control order when living in a flat. “He was never told what he was supposed to have done but returned to Long Larten prison for another 18 months nonetheless,” said Mr Kent. “This whole process has been about forcing a number of individuals to return to their countries of origin. Life has been made so difficult that it is hoped they will give up and go home. That is regardless of what might await them there such as torture or ultimately death.”
“No one should be detained unless they have been before a jury or panel of judges in a fully accredited court of law. Everyone has the right to be dealt with under the law,” he added.
The whole process that has ensnared Mr Taleb and a number of other individuals began following the attacks on America of 11 September 2001, when the British government rushed through the Anti-Terror Crime and Security Act (ATCSA), which allowed foreign nationals to be detained without trial indefinitely.
In 2004, the Law Lords ruled that it was unlawful under the Human Rights Act. It was as a result of this ruling that control orders were devised under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.
This meant effectively being detained under house arrest. There were short periods when the individual could go outside into a proscribed area. They were also required to wear a tag and ring up the tagging company a number of times a day.
East London justice and peace activists Desiree Howells, MBE, and Olive Flynn became involved in the detention cases through the group Peace and Justice in east London. This began following 9/11 and in the early years was in the main a peace protest group. However, following a number of public meetings at Our Lady of Lourdes Pastoral Centre, the group members found out about the individuals concerned being detained without trial.
Desiree and Olive monitored on an almost daily basis the trial that was to clear Taleb and the others accused of the ricin plot. They are also regular visitors at SIAC monitoring those proceedings. They are vetted to visit a number of the men being held on deportation bail. Both appear in the award winning film Taking Liberties and are appalled at what they have witnessed over the years. “I did not think it possible in Britain,” said Mrs Howells. “It has dragged British justice through the dirt and destroyed its reputation internationally.”
She has been particularly effected by the way in which this form of detention has ruined so many lives. “These young men’s lives have been destroyed completely. The single ones have been unable to develop meaningful relationships, “said Mrs Howells. “For those with families there has been a collective suffering. The children are growing up with a fear of when the police are going to come calling.”
One of those first detained under the ATCSA in December 2001 was an Algerian man known only as G. He was imprisoned, then released on house arrest style bail conditions then re-arrested after the London bombings, and served with a deportation notice. While in prison he tried to kill himself using wire. Today, G continues to live with his wife and two young children under house arrest conditions on deportation bail. “No one here has ever told me what I am accused of. I have no rights here it seems. In Britain animals have rights. I have less rights than an animal,” he said.
A regular vetted visitor to the family is Adrienne Burrows of Peace and Justice in east London. “There is incredible stress that builds up from so many years of being detained without knowing what you are supposed to have done. This is made worse by seemingly indefinite nature of the detention,” said Ms Burrows. “Restrictions that can seem minor come to put an intangible strain on family life with particularly bad effects on the children.”
There are though some encouraging signs of progress in the effort to roll back the operation of this secretive system of injustice.
In July, the Law Lords ruled that control orders breached the Human Rights Act in that the reliance on secret evidence denied the appellants a fair trial. There are 15 individuals still on control orders but these are expected to be overturned during the next few months in accordance with the ruling. The Home Secretary Alan Johnson has set up a review of control orders under Lord Carlile.
This breach of the secret evidence type system though has not yet effected those like Mr Taleb and G being held in similar style conditions, pending possible deportation from the country, though the principles are similar. Their cases at present look set to go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg.
The Coalition Against Secret Evidence (CASE) was established back in March and some 91 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for an end to the use of secret evidence. CASE have organised an open letter to the Home Secretary that will soon be published in national newspapers demanding an end to the use of secret evidence. So there are signs that the tide is turning against secret evidence and not before time. Few would have thought that individuals could be held for year after year, denied a fair trial on the basis of secret evidence. Only now is it becoming clear just how much damage has been done to the British justice system as a result of the decision to take part in the war on terror, begun by US President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2001. There are many casualties and they are not all to be found on the battlefield.
* To sign Downng Street petiton on detention see: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/secret-evidence/
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