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Renewing participatory democracy Multiple Differential Uncertainty |
Week
5 Sunday
There will be
Short of Bush's impeachment, there will be no official inquiry into the generation of the Iraq War, in either the US or the UK. That is because the only credible casus belli (legal justification for war) was the "imminent threat" posed by Iraq to these countries. If that rationale were threatened, the very legality of the war would be put in question. Nobody takes seriously the hapless Attorney-General's Opinion (albeit still espoused by Jack Straw) that the true casus belli was a UN Resolution of twelve years ago, still unexpired. And if the US/UK aggression were ever held to be illegal, just imagine the consequences: the damages payable to individuals, the reparations payable to Iraq - they would impoverish the United States and bankrupt the UK.
Understanding “Risk” 
I am concerned. I am worried that, as an educated and informed citizen, I simply do not understand the language of “risk”, which now peppers our public affairs. If it means nothing to me, how can it carry significance in our broader public discourse? Is it bluff? Is it a cover for something more sinister, more oppressive? Campaigning Cancelled 
My union, the GMB, has undergone a facelift, an image makeover. Sensitive to criticism of the “politicisation” of unions, it has re-labelled itself “Experts in the world of work”. That goes too far, becomes too neutral, too like a mainstream personnel consultancy. I can understand a move to dissociate the union from the distinctive “socialist” position of the retired John Edmonds (although that is what drew me to the GMB..) After all, unions are “selling” their services to millions of workers who are not Labour supporters and such associations may not be an advantage. But the GMB is wrong to have abandoned its claim to a moral mission. Trade unions should remain awkward, campaigning organisations, challenging the myriad wrongs which workers suffer at the hands of bad employers the world over.
How to 
My starting-point is that it is normal, and understandable, that people should tend to be apprehensive, if not fearful and antagonistic towards, "outsiders" who are obviously different from themselves. I understand why the immigration debate is a tense one, and fraught with risks of disorder and division for all communities. And I admire the work of Trevor Phillips, at the Commission for Racial Equality. But openness, and a sense of welcome, can be learnt. Indeed, they are pivotal values of contemporary civilisation. All my important lessons were learnt at my Quaker school, Leighton Park in Reading. Some societies and some groups are particularly good at learning these values, and at teaching them. And a MORI poll this week gives a warming account of London, as our great capital city. "79% of those canvassed enjoyed the cultural diversity of London". And while 39% still preferred to live in a neighbourhood with others from the same ethnic background, 61% welcomed the diversity of settlement as well.
These are the excellent special stamps
issued to commemorate England's World Cup win. They are very scarce,
I understand, in London - but we have plenty
left in Wales!This man is a fool 
I confess I do not rate Charles Kennedy. But I was nevertheless surprised by his total lack of judgement in sacking Dr Jenny Tonge from the LibDem "Front Bench" for her perceptive comments on the plight of the Palestinians. It was an act of unmitigated political cowardice and spinelessness on his part, for which he will not be easily forgiven.
This month the Royal Mail stamps have
been hi-jacked yet again, to dismal effect, by its resident railway
fetishist...
No Laughing Matter 
This is an appeal for your help. The collapse of public toilet provision in the UK is a serious matter. Half of the nation's public loos have been closed down by local councils, within the last ten years. This scandal, and the consequential public health risks, are highlighted this week in The Guardian. Your help is needed. I have registered a new public hygiene charity - Hygeia, Reg No 1,097,294 - check it out - which will be able to provide self-funding 24-hour public toilet facilities. We are seeking the support of both private owners (shopping centres, malls) and local authorities. And we need local eyes-and-ears throughout the UK, to identify the most urgent requirements. We also need charity volunteers who take the issue seriously and are prepared to spend time and energy to help us solve the problem. We do not need your money. But we do need your intelligence, your concern, and your time. If you know of local circumstances where provision needs to be made, or where local authority provision is threatened, we want to hear from you. Surfing my Diary 
For the first time in the two-year history of this Weblog, my diary was 100% up to date, at Christmas! 'Twas a big effort, over the break, but you can now browse back over the entire 24-month period just click through ..or rather - click here. Special Footnote 
I love the online newspapers, which are my access to the world - share them with me - click through to their here - I have added the English-language China Daily ... and I now offer you the leading English-language Indian paper The Hindu.
 Having discovered this remarkable NASA website,
linked with the Hubble Telescope and the NASA Mars exploration vehicles, with its current
photographs from outer space, I am reluctant to let it go.
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Hutton missed the point
He was in my view right to exonerate the Government. And the BBC were certainly not to blame for Kelly's death, whatever their other shortcomings may have been - although Hutton does not get to the bottom of "the BBC Problem", either. Nor was the MoD responsible, whatever the modalities of the public "exposure" - which David Kelly knew would happen, and which evidently did not unduly disturb him. Nor was the frightful spat between Downing Street and the BBC even a contributing factor to his death. The truth is that David Kelly died at his own hand because he could not live with what he had himself done, instigated. With the Gilligan interview, he had clearly breached his own conditions of employment, in the most dramatic manner, and not for the first time. Lord Hutton proposes no explanation of that. Kelly was clearly an anguished and worried man - and a number of personal, family and possibly religious reasons have been assigned for this. I suspect that a thorough study of those reasons would not have made happy reading for his family. Lord Hutton was asked to investigate "the circumstances of Dr Kelly's death". In one sense, Lord Hutton went much further than he need have done (e.g. in "clearing" John Scarlett). And he was unduly harsh on the BBC, who had nothing whatever to do with Dr Kelly's death. And yet he threw very little light on what really drove this distinguished scientist to take his own life. Indeed, in several respects, I find his perceptions of Kelly shallow and inadequate.
The BBC Problem 
Yesterday, I said we still had a problem, with the BBC. I welcome the resignation of Greg Dyke - but has he gone for the right reasons? For the real problem has not even been the subject of debate, let alone any finding by Hutton. The problem is that, some three years ago, the Corporation embarked upon a new editorial "news strategy". The BBC decided to mix it with the tabloids, to go for "scoops", to seek "exclusives". Listening to Radio Four every morning as I do, I remember when it all happened. I remember wincing at the new language - "This Programme can reveal..." - "Evidence available to this Programme clearly indicates..." - "Documents in the possession of this Programme prove..." This was a misconceived editorial strategy. The credibility of the BBC as the world's preeminent news broadcaster was jeopardised by that reckless editorial decision - and we must be grateful that the disease never infected the BBC World Service. I have always believed that this change was inspired by Greg Dyke. Andrew Gilligan was a freelance journalist retained by the BBC simply "to get scoops" - that was his stock-in-trade, as a free-lancer. And his sloppiness and over-enthusiasm lie at the core of this tragic saga.
But the root cause was the careless populism of Greg Dyke. He dragged the BBC into the tabloid arena, hazarding its great reputation as an objective commentator of record. That, in my book, was why he had to go. I can only hope that his successors realise what the real problem was...
Raging Illogicality... The inconsequential changes in drugs law (reclassification of cannabis from B to C), and the ridiculous inconsistencies which it generates should alert us to the parlous state of the underlying law. They demonstrate that our underlying logic is flawed. We are stepping up our medical, harm reduction programmes - while at the same time maintaining that the whole activity is illegal. In the case of tobacco and alcohol, public educational drives are making headway, because the whole subject is out in the open, and consumption is openly legal. Nobody is placed at risk by coming forward for treatment. But in the case of "illegal drugs", the only rational course is for the addict to stay in the shadows and avoid all contact with "the Authorities". Dr Jenny Tonge, the sacked Liberal Democrat frontbencher, was the only LibDem MP with the courage openly to favour decriminalisation. Check out her signature, at the Angel Declaration. We, the responsible adults of this society, and in particular our legislators, have ceded control to the criminal fraternity, encouraging criminality on a massive scale, and ruining hundreds of thousands of young lives unnecessarily. 
Martin Johnson's
"retirement" will spur sales of these excellent Royal Mail celebration
stamps. I can imagine a new line in autographed postage stamps - who
will be first to collect the whole team, with original signatures?
Reminder of the Manchester Commonwealth GamesMy letter to the Editor... 
... of The Independent. Which, I am delighted to say, was duly published. I am hopping mad with all the current proposals to strengthen the tax-collection functions of local authorities. Paradoxically, that is precisely the wrong way to go. 
Left Activists' Corner I have three moderately-left political projects to engage your interest, in 2004 - nothing too revolutionary, you understand... Company Reform Coalition targeting a major Easter pow-wow in London; (b) Public Advocates - the birth of a new profession, group also to hold its first London meeting in March;(c) Labour Links, seeking to unlock the resources of the Labour Party - and I seek the opportunity to speak to Party groups about Party reform
One year ago
Flood Tax? Morrisons v Safeway Can consumerism counter war? Power Recent topics "Equality?" An electoral non-starter >>> My Mum was an Asylum Seeker >>> Individualism is here to stay >>> Will political parties survive? >>> Territorial State v Membership State >>> Negotiating migration management >>> Extending the Welfare State >>>Blair did not lie >>> Corporate Social Responsibility >>>
And read my Big Theory itself, at Multiple Differential Uncertainty... Or try my snappier and more practical analysis of the Corporations and the Left Coming to Terms
0155 Make sure you have not missed Week
5 Sunday |
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New
These findings are enormously important.
I am sceptical about the more assertive ways of "combating racism", on the
streets and by specific lobbying - I favour slow, positive methods, the patient
building of new "welcoming" institutions. And while London is distinctively open and liberal, it points the
direction in which other cities and smaller communities can develop. Take
a look at -
Never miss