UCL head hits back at uni radicalisation claims
Malcolm Grant, president and provost at University College London, has hit back at claims that UCL was in some way responsible for the Christmas Eve attempted bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
He wrote in the Times Educational Supplement:
Mr Abdulmutallab studied at UCL, therefore he must have been “radicalised” at UCL; after all, according to The Daily Telegraph, “[e]ven though Abdulmutallab is not even a British citizen, he was still allowed to be elected president of the Islamic Society at [UCL]”. And more: “It is easy to imagine that the authorities at UCL took quiet pride in the fact that they had a radical Nigerian Muslim running their Islamic Society. You can’t get more politically correct than that. They would therefore have had little interest in monitoring whether he was using a British university campus as a recruiting ground for al-Qaida terrorists such as himself.”
This is quite spectacular insinuation. And without so much as a shred of evidence in substantiation. The Telegraph blog that follows the publication of this piece displays quite disturbing Islamophobia, anti-immigration rants and even postings calling for the bombing of UCL itself.
Other UK newspaper comment accuses us at UCL of being “complicit” in the radicalisation of Muslim students; and, again, of “failing grotesquely” to prevent extremists from giving lectures on campus. Mr Abdulmutallab’s presidency of the UCL student Islamic Society is further condemned for having provoked debate about the war against terror. It is a delicious irony that a theme that has sold so many national newspapers should now be declared by them to be unacceptable for student debate.
He said the insinuations were an attack on academic freedom:
Nor will we accept restrictions on freedom of speech within the law. There is no question but that we will continue to allow our students to form clubs and societies for all legitimate pursuits, and encourage the vigorous debate, disputation and criticism that is central to the very concept of a university.
Unite union to campaign against Boris fare rises
Unite the Union is planning an unprecedented leafleting campaign to raise awareness of who is to blame for London Transport fare rises from 4th January.
Above is the leaflet that Unite will be giving out at bus stops and tube stations on 2nd and 4th January.
A quarter of a million are being printed and distributed.
If you can help email info@progressivelondon.org.uk. More info here.
‘Boris The Scrooge’ leaflet published first at Socialist Unity
2009 in statistics and popular blog posts
2009 year was a tremendous year for LibCon – well, our second year since launching in Nov 2007. Our visitor figures doubled and we hosted a tremendous range of debate on the blog, and attracted comment across other blogs.
The most notable trend is perhaps how social media is becoming an increasingly important space where people post links and have debates.
continue reading… »
Tory dodgy stats on Inheritance Tax laid bare
Fabian Research Director Tim Horton’s proposal that the inheritance tax thresholds should be frozen was adopted by the government in November’s pre-budget report.
He has letters in The Guardian and (why only preach to the converted) The Telegraph pointing to just one of the glaringly obvious flaws in Phillip Hammond’s rather back of the envelope claim that 4 million people will now be liable for inheritance tax, put out by the shadow Treasury Secretary during the holiday period.
Here’s The Telegraph letter.
SIR – The Conservatives’ claim that four million face inheritance tax (report, December 29) is wrong.
continue reading… »
Why do we need to wish them well?
One story I didn’t get a chance to add my tuppenceworth to, over the vacation, was the news that Iris Robinson MP is to step down from her parliamentary position as a result of, “an ongoing battle with severe depression” (BBC). Robinson is a DUP member, wife of the current leader of that party, and is probably most famous in British politics for her hateful remarks about homosexuality.
What interested me about this story was the outpouring of well-wishes from Iris Robinson’s colleagues at Stormont and Westminster. Danny Kennedy, David Ford, Shaun Woodward, Nigel Dodds and others have held forth on their wishes for a speedy recovery and/or admiration for Robinson as a “dedicated” parliamentarian. I’m curious as to how honest they are each being.
It is rather expected that, when someone from the opposition is ill or suffers a bereavement, you wish them well. But how many of these wishes are genuine? I certainly don’t wish Iris Robinson well; I’d happily see the entire DUP dropkicked into the Atlantic Ocean. Indeed were she gay, and not such a vigorous gay-basher, there’d probably be some obscure Free Presbyterian Minister claiming her ill-health was vengeance sent by God.
continue reading… »
Boris hits poor with huge transport fares jump
From January 4th, millions of Londoners will return to work to find they have been hit by Mayor Boris Johnson’s huge fare increases:
- A single bus journey by Oyster up 20% to £1.20
- A weekly oyster bus pass up 20% to £16.60
- Six-zone peak single Tube fare by Oyster up 10.5% to £4.20
- A five-zone off-peak single Tube fare (outside zone 1) up 18.2% to £1.30
- Most Oyster pay-as-you-go Tube fares up by 20p per trip.
Overall tube fares will rise 3.9% and overall bus fares up by 12.7%.
The fares will disproportionately hit poor people across London at a time Boris has continually praised rich London bankers and argued against taxing them higher.
Last year Boris Johnson increased London transport fares by six% overall, but with some fares rising more steeply: including an 11% increase in a single bus fare on Oyster.
He has committed to more such annual above-inflation fare increases.
Theoretically, increasing fares should decrease income for London Transport as people are put off from travelling. And yet fares keep rising despite the recession.
But London’s occasional Mayor takes a different view when taxes are raised on the rich: arguing against them on the basis they will not raise any extra income.
In other words, if a policy hits London’s poor: implement it. If it hits the richest, argue against it.
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