Condemnation, but no action

Burma

Today, Foreign Office Minister Ian McCartney issued a press release, in which he condemned "in the strongest terms the the Burmese government's decision to order the closure of the field offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Burma and to halt most of its activities."

This is typical of the British government of today, all talk and no action. We've seen it all over the world: whenever someone breaches human rights, the most they have to fear from the West is an official condemnation in the strongest terms.

Burma (I will not call it Myanmar, I take the FCO's line that the unelected military junta hasn't got the right to change its name) is ruled by dictators, Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democratic opposition, has been placed under house arrest since 2000 (after a short release), the people of Burma are oppressed and now the Red Cross, universally deemed a good thing, has been effectively shut down.

And yet, what does Britain do? Nothing. What does the USA do? Nothing. The west sits around while the people of Burma, and a myriad other nations of the world suffer. The UK/US alliance has made much of human rights and democracy, and yet when it comes to direct action, they are inert.

I'm sure that none of them got into politics wanting to equivocate and do nothing. If an official condemnation is the most that they can do, they have become like the League of Nations in the 20s and 30s, a toothless organisation, ignored by the people of the world, fit only for making a show of doing something. Words will never be a satisfactory substitute for actions.

Slavery and Scottish Independence

No, the two aren't linked, but I wanted to talk about two separate things in the saem post:

Slavery

Tony Blair has apologised for Slavery. Well, sort of. What he did was express "deep sorrow", but stopped short of the apology that many wanted. I don't see where the problem is. I agree, slavery was an abomination, a terrible, terrible crime against humanity.

However, what people need to understand is that Tony Blair, and indeed nobody alive now, was responsible for the slave trade. Today, it is treated with the disgust it deserves, but Blair, and indeed the British people, have nothing to apologise for. The only reason that one should apologise is if you have done something wrong, and as nobody who is alive now was involved in the slave trade, why should we apologise?

Scotland

Today, the Home Secretary John Reid dismissed the Scottish National Party as "not fit for purpose" (which now seems to be Reid's all-purpose phrase for things he doesn't like). This continues the trend at the Scottish Labour Party Conference for bashing the SNP, off the back of a Sunday Telegraph poll saying that 52% of Scots supported independence from the United Kingdom. Coupled with massive predicted gains in the Scottish local elections for the SNP, a party that wants Scottish indpenedence, Labour is rather worried. And so should the Scots be.

Scotland relies on England, the Scottish economy needs the rest of the UK for support. Every nation in the United Kingdom relies on each other, and Scottish independence will cripple Scotland. A border between England and Scotland will solve nothing, and will only add to the problems the UK is facing.

The SNP's ludicrous campaign is based on a lie: the belief that England somehow oppresses Scotland. This is simply not the case, and hasn't been since the Middle Ages. Scottish MPs give the Government its majority in the Commons, passing laws that will have absolutely no effect on their Scottish constituents. English students are saddled with ever increasing debt thanks to top-up fees (passed on the Scottish vote), while Scottish university students are subsidised by English taxpayers (while the SNP claim that Labour have forced debt upon Scottish students).

So, while the Northern Ireland independence ordeal is coming to a close, the SNP look set to start a ridiculous attempt for Scottish independence, which is not only predicated on a falsehood, but will cripple Scotland. Not fit for purpose? They are, Mr. Reid, but their purpose is a terrible one. Scotland will not survive on its own, hopefully the Scottish people will realise this, and that England is not the enemy.

Climate Change Rally

Today, I participated in my first protest rally. At about 11 o'clock I turned up at Grosvener Square outisde the (hideous) US Embassy where there was a huge crowd of people carrying placards and banners etc. and distributing leaflets. There were many speeches by MPs and the like before we moved off at about 1 o'clock to Trafalgar Square, where there was an even bigger crowd, as well as more speeches and some music. It has been reported that 30,000 people attended the rally.

That's the brief account, now here's the article:

Climate Change is real, so say scientists, Government advisors, even politicians (with the notable exception of Bush et al.). Climate Change is also incredibly dangerous, it will turn places like Spain into barren deserts, it will destroy Africa even more than it already is, it will see places like London and New York underwater and the world as we know it will be irrepairably damaged.

Clearly, something needs to be done. The sad truth is we cannot go back, we cannot reverse climate change, but we do not have to go forward. It will be hard, and we will have to make many sacrifices. It will also be unpopular and, horror of horrors, bad for business.

However, it is our future, it is the people of my generation that will have to live with the consequences of today's actions. It is time to listen to the evidence, it is time to accept the facts and it is time to stop putting profit before children.