Farewell

This blog has run its course. I will probably comment elsewhere, under my real name, after a short break.

Goodbye!

Bloody Sunday

The broad conclusions of Saville’s inquiry are not in doubt. There was no justification for the killing of 14 people in Londonderry on that dreadful day, and the order to deploy the support company soldiers was in contradiction to superior orders. This event tore apart any prospect of restraint and caused many more deaths in subsequent years in addition to the grievous losses of bereaved families. There should have been court martials at the time to restore the reputation of the British Army, which is supposed to uphold the laws and values that terrorists unfailingly flout.

However…

There was a tactical threat to soldiers in the area at the time, and the presence of nail bombs on one of the dead and the coincidence of an armed Martin McGuinness both serve to underline that threat. It does not justify the loss of life, but provides some rationale other than simply bloodthirsty soldiers, and the Army has subsequently changed radically its doctrine for counter-insurgency and military support to the civil power operations.

The Widgery inquiry at the time was quite happy with the testimony of the soldiers. The Saville inquiry was instigated following the review of the original inquiry statements by an academic (Professor Dermot Walsh) in 1996 and calls from the Irish government in 1997. Saville does not appear to have considered the inadequacy of the Widgery inquiry, which was plainly a whitewash. The blame has been dumped upon the soldiers, for providing misleading accounts which were apparently taken at face value (and not shown to counsel for the families at the time). This is a clear case of ‘the establishment’ covering its own exposed backside, even some thirty years later…no wonder we have whitewash after whitewash in this country….

This may also prove uncomfortable for Mr McGuinness, in the context of the current peace settlement. Why it was released at this time, a couple of weeks before the marching season and peak time of confrontation, is beyond me. It should have been released earlier or sat upon until the autumn. There is ammunition for all in this highly sensitive report and too many will take advantage of it.

And the cost and timescale is simply ridiculous. It was clear to anyone at the time that the killings were unjustified and the inadequacies of the Widgery inquiry were plain enough to see following release of the documents in 1996.

Lessons seem to have been learned at face value, but have they really? What difference lies between the events of January 1972 and the shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes? Will it take another inquiry to overturn the findings of that inquiry? If someone had a nail bomb in a pocket in London today, would they be a legitimate target for police marksmen? Will the inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa in Army custody conveniently ignore the deceit of ministers such as Adam Ingram, who claimed ignorance of hooding, and simply blame the soldiers? The UK also supported US forces in Fallujah, where 17 civilians were killed under very similar circumstances.

I hope this inquiry provides comfort for those who lost loved ones in wholly unjustified circumstances and aids reconciliation. I also hope we can learn lessons rather than analysing events of 40 years ago at the same time as ignoring more recent failings.

Adam Ingram - A Liar Complicit in War Crimes

The loathesome Adam Ingram has given evidence to the inquiry into the death of Iraqi Baha Mousa. And he has been exposed as a liar.

From the start, the intention of the-then Government and the Ministry of Defence was to make the soldiers take the blame for this terrible death. It is clear that the chain of command was complicit in the 'tactical questioning' (TQ) of detainees, which was supposed to be prohibited following an outcry over its use in Northern Ireland. The impetus to use this technique probably came from the United States military, and responsibility for its authorisation rests with Hoon and Ingram, then the Armed Forces Minister. Ingram had no answer under questioning today, as to why he misled a Parliamentary committtee and why he avoided answering questions from Amnesty International and the Red Cross with regard to interrogation techniques.

The use of TQ blurred the lines between prisoner interrogation and abuse, as in Abu Ghraib, and probably contributed to the death of Mousa, at a time when British troops in the QLR had suffered a number of deaths and when morale and discipline would have been low. The line between TQ and torture is a very thin line, and there is possibly some justification for trying to frighten tactical intelligence of short-term and local value out of prisoners immediately after capture. However, this is also illegal, a breach of human rights and a breach of the Hague and Geneva Conventions, for which responsibility lies with ministers.

It's uncertain what direction this inquiry will take. If criminal charges are to be brought against the chain of command (inclding the-then commanding officer) then Ingram must also face criminal charges relating to this illegal treatment and anby wider conspiracy of concealment. Hoon is before the Inquiry later this month.....we know how much of a stranger he is to the truth....

Guardian...

BBC....

David Laws: Should He Stay Or Should He Go

This scandal has blown up, some 2 weeks or so into the government's period of office.

I think he should stay.

The government is still shiny and new, his breach pre-dates his ministerial appointment, and there are understandable reasons of privacy behind it....I'm reminded of Lord Browne of BP. Laws has owned up and has explained. Besides, the Commons is a glass house and not many will want to throw stones.

Some of the worst offenders from the expenses scandal are still in the House of Commons and Brown has kicked some sleazy and downright disgusting characters upstairs into the Lords. The loathesome idiot Prescott, screwing his secretary, a breach which would have been a sacking offence in any normal walk of life. What about those Labour ministers resurrected following scandals, such as the odious Mandelson, who has deceit written through him like a stick of rock?

The key test is public opinion, of Laws and of MPs in general. I think the public will want to give him a chance as a new minister in a new government. There's an instinctive streak of fair play that runs through public opinion. This may also give added impetus to the momentum behind reform.

So Cameron and Clegg should support Laws, keep him in post. Any further breaches and he's toast.

Of course, Laws could always stand down and force a by-election to test public confidence, returning to ministerial office if re-elected....just an idea....it would test the recall proposal.

After a cup of coffee, I reckon Laws should stand down and fight his seat again, testing his reputation with the public. This would be in line with the spirit of reform and would gain much credibility.

Crooked Mouth Campbell

Minor amusement last night as 'Crooked Mouth Campbell' barged his way onto Question Time in the Labour chair. The government quite rightly refused to put up a minister, and objected to Crooked Mouth's twisted backside in that particular chair.

Not much more they could have done, really. Other than put up an Elvis impersonator.

Putting up a minister would have demeaned their office and the political debate. The unelected and unappointed Crooked Mouth has no status to speak for anyone and his only interest is in plugging the diaries, which have lined his pockets with advances but not much in the way of royalties: sales are piss-poor. He will be buried by Chilcot shortly, and this inquiry is reporting to the best possible government to open and upend the Iraq can of worms rather than quietly shelf it. There will be lots of slimy loathesome creatures will be wriggling towards dark places in a few months....

When will Labour wake up and smell the fair trade coffee? They've been thrashed into third place in Thirsk, and they are still drooling over apparachiks like the Milibands for leader and letting Crooked Mouth loose on the media. The party will quickly become a student union irrelevance with no money...if Balls loses out, then Unite will go the same way as Unison with the political fund and tighten the purse-strings, and the government is going to make sure that Scotland and Wales don't return disproportionate numbers of red-rosette monkeys next time around.

The only credible candidate is Diane Abbott, and it would be somewhat surprising if she does not get through to the shortlist, given Labour's advocacy of equal opportunities and all-women shortlists (except for Mr Harman of course). But, as long as the likes of Crooked Mouth are casting their long shadows over Labour, the party is doomed.

Caimbeul, an Early Modern Irish or Gaelic by name meaning wry mouth, crooked mouth or twisted mouth, which refers to "the man whose mouth inclined a little on one side" or a dishonest person...from Wikipedia.

The Bling Tax

ConLib will have to increase taxes somehow.

They need to make sure tax rises are fair, proportionate and do not impact on the vulnerable, on the recovery or on essential elements of the economy,

So, how about a 'bling tax'?

Slap 30% VAT on the sort of rubbish that is shipped from China one week and landfilled the next week. The stuff that is bought by the idiots that always seem to have money to waste on drink, cigarettes and flashy trash, even if they are out of work.

For good measure, I'd also throw in a 'sustainability tax' applied to packaged products. Ditch the layers of plastic and bring back brown paper bags. The Lib Dems would surely approve.

It goes without saying that items such as food, books, childrens clothes should be safeguarded.

Three things Labour got right

OK, that didn't last long. Maybe I'll just blog less.

Three things Labour got right:

Same-sex equality. Civil partnerships and lifting the ridiculous ban on gay people joining the Armed Forces.

The national minimum wage.

The Freedom of Information Act (and I bet they wish they hadn't bothered)

Shame about the rest though...sinister authoritarianism, illegal wars, shameless spin, sheer incompetence and merciless self-interest....