Liam Fox slapped down for ‘racist’ comments
Defence Secretary Liam Fox was today ‘slapped down’ by Foreign Secretary William Hague again and forced to track-back on comments he made about Afghanistan.
The row started when Fox told the Times on Saturday:
We are not in Afghanistan for the sake of the education policy in a broken 13th-century country. We are there so the people of Britain and our global interests are not threatened.
Today the Times reports that Afghanis, rather surprisingly, did not take too well to being called a ’13th century country’, accusing him of ‘racism and disrespect’.
A senior Afghan government source said: “His view appears to be that Afghanistan has not changed since the 13th century and it implies that Afghanistan is a tribal and medieval society.
“Despite the sacrifices of British soldiers and the massive support of the British Government we do not feel that there is a mutual respect. His remarks show a lack of trust.”
The source added: “We see Britain as still a colonial, orientalist and racist country that they should have this view. Dr Fox really believes what he said, and he is not alone. London and Kabul must move on or things will be more difficult.”
According to the Daily Mail today, that comment prompted a humiliating dressing-down from Mr Hague on Saturday.
Fox was also slapped down over suggestions that Britain would try and withdraw from the country as soon as possible.
Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, told the newspaper: “It’s a good thing to see a more focused approach coming from the Government, but it’s a bad thing if mixed messages come out.”
More at the New Statesman blog: Liam Fox wages “war amongst the people” (…his people)
How can we keep climate change an important issue?
contribution by Climate Sock
However we measure it, climate change has become a less prominent issue in the UK lately. With a new government that looks unexpectedly stable, climate campaigners can no longer count on another election coming along soon to shake things up.
Instead, they need to find ways of working with the current media and political set-up.
There are significant risks in not addressing the way climate change is currently talked about and acted on.
continue reading… »
Why cutting the Future Jobs Fund is a travesty
The government’s list of £6.2 bn of ‘savings’ includes one item that breaks my heart: the abolition of the Future Jobs Fund. This has been the most positive and progressive jobs programme for a quarter of a century, creating temporary but real jobs for young unemployed people around the country.
For a generation employment schemes have been let down by the attempt to run them on the cheap. The history of work experience programmes is that, unless they are crafted to address specific problems faced by individuals in getting back into work, they are not much use.
continue reading… »
Exclusive: David Lammy to nominate Diane Abbott
David Lammy MP will today become the most high-profile Labour MP to endorse Diane Abbott for the party’s leadership.
In a statement to Liberal Conspiracy he said:
Ever since I was first elected to parliament I have called for a more diverse and representative political class. It would go against all that not to help Diane Abbott get on to the ballot paper now. To have a leadership election without a single woman involved would send a terrible signal.
I would say to colleagues that lending someone your nomination is not the same as voting for a candidate in the final ballot. The question at this stage is whether we can have a more diverse field and an open discussion over the next few months. I think we should.
David Lammy is the MP for Tottenham and former Minister for Higher Education.
Earlier today Diane Abbott told Sky News that David Miliband’s nominations were squeezing out smaller candidates.
Sorry right-wingers but there will be no Labour ‘civil war’
Paul Flynn’s reluctance to endorse either John McDonnell or Diane Abbott, despite being part of the Socialist Campaign Group, does not bode well for socialists within Labour.
Having contacted several MPs last week in a drive to get a left candidate nominated, I’m getting the impression that both will find it very difficult to get the required 33. This is a shame because I think the party needs a broader debate than the one it’s having right now. And the campaign to get either on the ticket will carry on.
But this reluctance to endorse socialists, even among socialists, is not surprising.
continue reading… »
The leadership debate should show new talent not replay old rows
Most of the candidates for the Labour Leadership are splendid answers to the wrong questions.
The correct questions is who will best revive our party in the next five years and present the most persuasive case in the television debates in 2015?
Many good friends and comrades have contacted me urging that I repeat the nomination I gave to John McDonnell when he tried to stand against Gordon Brown.
continue reading… »
21 new bills in Queen’s speech today
The leaked details of the Queen’s speech, a major breach of protocol in itself, offers us a sneak preview of what we can expect today.
Here’s a neat little graphic for you, courtesy of the Daily Mail. Thoughts?
Tory MPs less confident in Cameron now than in John Major then
“This is the most poisonous atmosphere I have known since Maastricht”, one Tory MP texted to colleagues last week, according to a Sunday Telegraph report that the Tory 1922 Committee is thinking about rejecting the rule changes proposed by David Cameron last week.
Charles Moore has an important column warning about the scale of dissent about what he calls Cameron’s “coup”. (As James Forsyth points out, Moore is a party Establishment figure who is very supportive of Cameron).
continue reading… »
Brown was ready to ditch Trident for coalition govt
There’s a key paragraph in yesterday’s Telegraph interview with Ed Balls that shows how thin on the ground support for Trident is within Labour leadership:
So desperate was Mr Brown to do a deal that, as Mr Balls confirms for the first time, he offered to bargain on Trident, agreeing it should be part of a defence review. “Gordon was comfortable about doing that.”
So much for accusing Clegg of endangering the nation for wanting to ditch Trident; turns out Brown was happy to do that himself.
Neil Kinnock endorses Ed Miliband
He tells the Observer today:
Ed [Miliband], I think, is very bright, including politically bright. He is hugely energetic. He is fluent. He has got the capacity to inspire people, which we need. And that marks him out as a special kind of young potential leader.
I am certain that he is a modern democratic socialist because he has got strong values and he is very practical. His attitude is that it is no good wandering around with convictions unless you want to put them into practice, and that really is his motivation. And vitally, absolutely vitally, he is comfortable among people of every kind, young and old, men and women, inside and outside the movement. We really do need a leader who can reach out for the rebuilding of the Labour party, but particularly to give coherence to our thinking.
So has the former energy secretary, got qualities to inspire and communicate that his brother lacks? “Yeah,” says Kinnock. “I rate David Miliband very highly and he is also a good guy. I like him very much. I argued for him to be the head of the policy unit at No 10 when Tony [Blair] was prevaricating. But in addition to his high intelligence I think the party needs leadership qualities, and Ed’s got more of them.”
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