Time To Go…on a demo

It’s been a while since I went on a demo, so I plan to go along on Saturday to the Time To Go bash in central Manchester (and my other half can go shoe shopping).

I'll be there strictly as an observer, because I don’t support the thing at all. 

It’s a hopeless mixture of too many single issues.  Troops Out of Iraq.  Don’t Attack Iran.  Hands of Lebanon.  No Trident Replacement.  Freedom For Palestine.  Take your pick. 

What if you don’t agree with all of these?  Only stay for part of the demo?  The Countryside Alliance demos of a couple of years ago suffered in impact terms because there were too many issues being pushed by too many groups.  This demo is likely to go the same way.  But I guess political activists – me included – always feel better if we’ve had a walk and a shout together, even if it changes nothing.

Anyway, two particular reasons to go.  The first is that I wanted to try out liveblogging, so check out the site on Saturday around 1pm.  

The second is the chance to see the great Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Tashkent and self-publicist campaigner for freedom.  I know of Murray from my time in Whitehall.   The phrase ‘colourful character’ springs to mind, and his diligence in cultivating good relations with locals while abroad is legendary among his former colleagues.  Jibes aside, I think he has some very useful things to say about the muckiness of foreign policy post-9/11.
20.9.06 20:58


Conference is coming

With Manchester just down the road, I simply have to make the most of the Labour Conference being on my doorstep.  Plans so far include:

  • See a couple of the IPPR's debates, which look really interesting.  In particular, Richard Dawkins on Faith in the State looks like a cracker
Will also try to use a few contacts to blag my way into other events, security permitting.
20.9.06 20:29


Coup hits the internet

Surprise, surprise.  The official Thai website is curiously out of bounds, so we can't all read Thaksin Shinawatra's speech on democracy in Asia (see previous post).

20.9.06 20:21


Coup in Thailand

UPDATE - another good source: 2Bangkok.com.  Have now dispensed with the quotation marks around the word Coup in the title of this entry.

UPDATE - Bangkok Pundit is a good blog to follow on this one. Suggestions that pro- and anti-coup soldiers are facing each other off in the centre of Bangkok.

The internet is a tremendous tool when events are unfolding on the other side of the world. I've taken a look at a number of Thai blogs and forums, which have been tracking the events minute by minute. The Wikipedia entry for Thailand has already been updated.

You can seize a television station, but that is no longer enough if you want to control the sources of information.

The Thai Government website is currently showing a speech made by the Thai PM yesterday. Ironically (or presciently), it is entitled "The Future of Democracy in Asia". Take a look, before it vanishes.

Some quotes:

"All people desire the freedom to choose their own government. Fundamentally, democracy is a government of, by and for the people. "

"The basic problem today for societies in Asia as elsewhere is that anti-democratic forces are regrouping."
19.9.06 18:10


Save (insert name of local hospital here)

Closing a hospital is like drowning a kitten – it’s just not something that the public are ever going to thank you for.  But is it sufficient reason alone to stand for Parliament?  Is it a helpful way of rallying support for a worthy cause, or does it distort the ‘market’ in favour of those who are most eloquent and well-organised enough to run a campaign?  And is this sort of single issue politics good for the political health of the nation?

For the Party and Government, it is very difficult to compete against such a campaign.  The mere threat of closure (or ‘reconfiguration’, as the Department puts it) is sufficient to rally support, and tricky to counter.  Intervention by the Government in advance of the normal decision-making timetable (and before an election) would draw complaints of preferential treatment or election-rigging.  And opposition parties can easily jump on the bandwagon (witness the LibDems in Bedford).

Such campaigns also get the support of important pressure groups.  Patients and local people will always back their hospital, even one they’ve been complaining about for years.  Restructuring of healthcare delivery is always going to be more difficult to explain than ‘you’re going to lose your hospital’.  Hospital workers can be rallied if they are led to believe that their jobs are at risk.  And the local press will throw their weight behind the campaign because they know a good story when they see one.  Even if the closure of a hospital is guaranteed to improve the provision of healthcare services, I doubt that it would ever get the support of its workforce or the local community.

Single issue candidates certainly inject life into otherwise dull election campaigns.  They can also be successful at engaging people who wouldn’t otherwise participate.  But there are limits to their usefulness.  What if someone stands to ‘save’ a hospital, and another stands to ‘save’ a school?  Which one do I vote for?  And is any single community service more important than the wider collective needs of a constituency?  Sure, we all like to see political parties get a bloody nose now and again - even those of us who are party members – but is this that enough, and what does it say about the responsiveness of political parties if people are so willing to inflict such pain on us?

I realise that I have raised many more questions than I have answered.  In short, there are two key issues to consider.  The first is how to conduct a debate about ongoing NHS reform when the subject is very complicated and highly emotive.  The second is how, as a party, we tackle single issue politics at a constituency level.  I don’t think we’ve got either one right yet.

Also posted on LabourHome  
19.9.06 09:13


Fingerprint Frenzy!

I have not forgotten the issue of Derbyshire schools and ID cards.  I have been trying for over two weeks to get the County Council to give me their procedures for allowing parents informed written consent before their children are fingerprinted.  This suggests to me that no such procedures exist.

While I wait (and begin to compose a letter to the local rag) I notice - irony of ironies - that Derbyshire Constabulary's website has a new game for kids to play - Fingerprint Frenzy! - I quote:

"See if you can catch the burglar by looking for fingerprints with your magnifying glass. When you've found one, brush it and check it with the one you need. Don't get it wrong! He might get away!"

 
18.9.06 20:57


9/11

How to commemorate such an anniversary? I think that the WTC Outline Project is highly innovative and appropriately low key.

This week has also introduced me to the crazy world of 9/11 conspiracies. Utter bonkers. I am trying to save at least one soul, a fellow 20sixer. You can read our ongoing debate here.

Hat tip: The Wooster Collective

 
15.9.06 17:42


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