Leaves abandon trees.
Late evening's now nighttime.
The park gates are locked.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Seeing Human
Today's generation of news-following children will have seen Saddam Hussein led to the scaffold, heard shot-by-shot accounts of Osama bin Laden’s assassination and watched a bleeding, battered and terrified Muammar Gaddafi in the moments before his death.
The Libyan leader was a bona fide villain on the international stage but I was chilled by the images because they were so reminiscent of an event that shook Northern Ireland when I was aged 11. The so-called “corporal killings” were captured by TV crews in Belfast in 1988.
Two non-uniformed soldiers drove, reportedly by accident, into the funeral procession of an IRA volunteer. Initially, the crowd thought they could be under attack by Loyalists - as had happened at a previous funeral - and one of the two corporals brandished a handgun as their car was surrounded and the windows smashed.
The savagery of what followed horrified, sickened and terrified Ireland. It revealed the toxicity of the hatred which had poisoned the province.
Any danger the men posed had been eliminated but, as a helicopter hovered above, they were taken away, stripped to their underwear and socks, thrown over a wall, beaten viciously and repeatedly shot.
There was no room for pity, no space for compassion, no hint of justice, and no suggestion of shared humanity.
The phone-footage of Gaddafi’s last moments captured the same jostle of the mob and an expression of helpless bewilderment and terror in the face of the condemned man.
Yes, he was a war criminal himself, but here was a human treated like a wheezing bull awaiting the matador’s sword.
When the Berlin Wall tumbled down, the democratic revolutions were remarkable for the absence of lynchings. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed after a brisk trial but such treatment was the exception.
The desire for vengeance was outweighed by the thrill of freedom; people power shattered Soviet repression but the mob did not become a monster.
Today’s children are growing up in a West reacquainted with violence. Politicians openly talk about killing terrorists and interrogation tactics that look like torture are defended glibly.
Aerial strikes by pilotless drones are a key tool in the War on Terror and if it is true hundreds of civilians have died in areas such as the borderlands of Pakistan their deaths will be of historic significance.
Ireland is still living with the consequences of 1972’s Bloody Sunday when 13 people died from gunshots. In the Middle East the tales of people who perished as “collateral damage” will be passed down the generations.
It is a mark of civilisation to perceive and honour the humanity of a foe. If we lose this bond we unleash barbarism.
A Thursday Column
The Libyan leader was a bona fide villain on the international stage but I was chilled by the images because they were so reminiscent of an event that shook Northern Ireland when I was aged 11. The so-called “corporal killings” were captured by TV crews in Belfast in 1988.
Two non-uniformed soldiers drove, reportedly by accident, into the funeral procession of an IRA volunteer. Initially, the crowd thought they could be under attack by Loyalists - as had happened at a previous funeral - and one of the two corporals brandished a handgun as their car was surrounded and the windows smashed.
The savagery of what followed horrified, sickened and terrified Ireland. It revealed the toxicity of the hatred which had poisoned the province.
Any danger the men posed had been eliminated but, as a helicopter hovered above, they were taken away, stripped to their underwear and socks, thrown over a wall, beaten viciously and repeatedly shot.
There was no room for pity, no space for compassion, no hint of justice, and no suggestion of shared humanity.
The phone-footage of Gaddafi’s last moments captured the same jostle of the mob and an expression of helpless bewilderment and terror in the face of the condemned man.
Yes, he was a war criminal himself, but here was a human treated like a wheezing bull awaiting the matador’s sword.
When the Berlin Wall tumbled down, the democratic revolutions were remarkable for the absence of lynchings. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed after a brisk trial but such treatment was the exception.
The desire for vengeance was outweighed by the thrill of freedom; people power shattered Soviet repression but the mob did not become a monster.
Today’s children are growing up in a West reacquainted with violence. Politicians openly talk about killing terrorists and interrogation tactics that look like torture are defended glibly.
Aerial strikes by pilotless drones are a key tool in the War on Terror and if it is true hundreds of civilians have died in areas such as the borderlands of Pakistan their deaths will be of historic significance.
Ireland is still living with the consequences of 1972’s Bloody Sunday when 13 people died from gunshots. In the Middle East the tales of people who perished as “collateral damage” will be passed down the generations.
It is a mark of civilisation to perceive and honour the humanity of a foe. If we lose this bond we unleash barbarism.
A Thursday Column
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Where's the Conservative Eurovision?
There is an irony it’s a German word that describes the glee of eurosceptic MPs at the crisis in the single currency.
Never mind the fact that the apparent immolation of the Greek economy threatens to wipe out our own chances of recovery, Westminster is dripping in schadenfreude.
Sterling-defenders who were derided as empire-loving Little Englanders at the start of the last decade now take credit for keeping Britain out of the currency.
A debate on whether Britain should pull out of the EU is due this day next week, and Home Secretary Theresa May’s assault on the Human Rights Act has ensured euroscepticism now glows at the core of modern Conservatism.
It is a further irony that the MPs who are most ambitious for Britain to play a leading role on the world stage are often those most hostile to the concept of a integrated EU with international clout.
Erstwhile Defence Secretary Liam Fox was adamant that the EU should not challenge the military primacy of Nato.
However, the US has avidly promoted European integration, called for Turkey to be brought into membership, and expressed frustration that the EU is happy for America to defend the continent but reluctant to invest in a world-class military of its own.
Why have pro-US politicians on the right not emerged who are also ambitious for the UK to be the leading force in an activist EU foreign policy? The Libyan intervention showed that David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy were an impressive tag-team capable of getting jets into the sky in defence of liberty. Their commitment gave backbone to the US.
Yes, the Euro as a currency is in a horrible gangrene-ridden state and it is a scandal that this toxic scandal was allowed to develop.
But the development of post-World War II democratic Europe is a US-sponsored project and remains a crowning achievement in the story of not just the continent but humanity. The financial crisis has deepened a sense that Europe is destined to decline as new economies rise but look at the vitality of this 502 million-person union with a GDP of $15 trillion (the same as the US) and raise a glass to its nations’ diversity and commitment to democracy.
The political establishment is clear it does not want a United States of Europe and sceptics were right to warn that the Euro was a ticket to calamity. But we also need people who to put forward positive and exciting vision for how the countries of Europe can work together in the 21st century to shape this world so that prosperity spreads and freedom rules.
A Thursday Column
Never mind the fact that the apparent immolation of the Greek economy threatens to wipe out our own chances of recovery, Westminster is dripping in schadenfreude.
Sterling-defenders who were derided as empire-loving Little Englanders at the start of the last decade now take credit for keeping Britain out of the currency.
A debate on whether Britain should pull out of the EU is due this day next week, and Home Secretary Theresa May’s assault on the Human Rights Act has ensured euroscepticism now glows at the core of modern Conservatism.
It is a further irony that the MPs who are most ambitious for Britain to play a leading role on the world stage are often those most hostile to the concept of a integrated EU with international clout.
Erstwhile Defence Secretary Liam Fox was adamant that the EU should not challenge the military primacy of Nato.
However, the US has avidly promoted European integration, called for Turkey to be brought into membership, and expressed frustration that the EU is happy for America to defend the continent but reluctant to invest in a world-class military of its own.
Why have pro-US politicians on the right not emerged who are also ambitious for the UK to be the leading force in an activist EU foreign policy? The Libyan intervention showed that David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy were an impressive tag-team capable of getting jets into the sky in defence of liberty. Their commitment gave backbone to the US.
Yes, the Euro as a currency is in a horrible gangrene-ridden state and it is a scandal that this toxic scandal was allowed to develop.
But the development of post-World War II democratic Europe is a US-sponsored project and remains a crowning achievement in the story of not just the continent but humanity. The financial crisis has deepened a sense that Europe is destined to decline as new economies rise but look at the vitality of this 502 million-person union with a GDP of $15 trillion (the same as the US) and raise a glass to its nations’ diversity and commitment to democracy.
The political establishment is clear it does not want a United States of Europe and sceptics were right to warn that the Euro was a ticket to calamity. But we also need people who to put forward positive and exciting vision for how the countries of Europe can work together in the 21st century to shape this world so that prosperity spreads and freedom rules.
A Thursday Column
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Colours of Eden
One of the best things that can be said about the Eden Project in Cornwall is that even though its giant domes make it look like a Martian colony, the most amazing sights are not works of architecture but nature.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Wandering from the Centre
Just as hikers on a wet day in the Brecon Beacons might fantasise about having a pair of giant springs for legs so they could jump to the summit of Pen-y-fan, the prospect of a magic majority has excited imaginations at the Conservative party conference.
On April 9, Tories may toast John Major and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the last time they won a majority in the House of Commons. But is an outright victory still possible or is Britain is destined for generations of coalitions?
Tories and swathes of Labour supporters successfully killed off electoral reform earlier this year at the time of the AV referendum because they did not want all future elections to climax with a battle for the affections of the Lib Dems.
A Britain in which Nick Clegg’s party always had a role in government was disparagingly referred to as “chips with everything”.
But the Conservatives failed to win a majority against an unpopular third-term Labour Government last year. There is no guarantee that in 2015 voters will thank them for years of tough economic medicine by granting the party a ballot box bonanza.
There was a tangible excitement about the coalition when it was launched in the Downing Street rose garden and an historic centre-right realignment of UK politics seemed possible but such optimism is hard to find today. Instead, it is presented as the brave compromise needed to rescue the economy.
Tory cabinet members may loathe the Human Rights Act but there is no prospect of tearing it up while Mr Clegg and his colleagues sit at the same table. Diehard supporters of capital punishment and withdrawal from the EU know that without a thumping majority there is no way they can translate their convictions into policy; even the scrapping of the 50p tax seems impossible in a yellow-tinged universe.
But supporters of a positive, modern conservatism need to reignite enthusiasm for the coalition, the opportunities of government and the idea of alliances or another realignment will take place and they will discover in 2015 that their party has become a fossil, located way beyond the centre-ground where elections are won.
Left-leaning Lib Dems waved giant olive branches at Labour last month at their Birmingham conference. And Labour-supporters in Liverpool talked of these Lib Dems not as betrayers of the progressive cause but as if describing a fundamentally decent sibling temporarily stuck with a lousy boyfriend.
Ultimately, it is the electorate that has the magical ability to dispense power – and even a majority. The challenge is to move heaven and earth to address their hopes and fears.
A Thursday Column
On April 9, Tories may toast John Major and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the last time they won a majority in the House of Commons. But is an outright victory still possible or is Britain is destined for generations of coalitions?
Tories and swathes of Labour supporters successfully killed off electoral reform earlier this year at the time of the AV referendum because they did not want all future elections to climax with a battle for the affections of the Lib Dems.
A Britain in which Nick Clegg’s party always had a role in government was disparagingly referred to as “chips with everything”.
But the Conservatives failed to win a majority against an unpopular third-term Labour Government last year. There is no guarantee that in 2015 voters will thank them for years of tough economic medicine by granting the party a ballot box bonanza.
There was a tangible excitement about the coalition when it was launched in the Downing Street rose garden and an historic centre-right realignment of UK politics seemed possible but such optimism is hard to find today. Instead, it is presented as the brave compromise needed to rescue the economy.
Tory cabinet members may loathe the Human Rights Act but there is no prospect of tearing it up while Mr Clegg and his colleagues sit at the same table. Diehard supporters of capital punishment and withdrawal from the EU know that without a thumping majority there is no way they can translate their convictions into policy; even the scrapping of the 50p tax seems impossible in a yellow-tinged universe.
But supporters of a positive, modern conservatism need to reignite enthusiasm for the coalition, the opportunities of government and the idea of alliances or another realignment will take place and they will discover in 2015 that their party has become a fossil, located way beyond the centre-ground where elections are won.
Left-leaning Lib Dems waved giant olive branches at Labour last month at their Birmingham conference. And Labour-supporters in Liverpool talked of these Lib Dems not as betrayers of the progressive cause but as if describing a fundamentally decent sibling temporarily stuck with a lousy boyfriend.
Ultimately, it is the electorate that has the magical ability to dispense power – and even a majority. The challenge is to move heaven and earth to address their hopes and fears.
A Thursday Column
The Pursuit is Happiness
Hacks, lobbyists and random conference-goers have turned to each other at Liberal Democrat and Labour gatherings to say: “Doesn’t everyone seem chipper?”
Repeated polls show the Lib Dems are about as popular as algebra and Labour is a party locked out of power in Westminster.
But power-dressing young men and women gallop around conference centres aglow with enthusiasm and even older MPs and peers are as gleeful as Ken Dodd.
Nobody is selling sackcloth and ashes. Instead, there is a freshers’ week atmosphere and a day that starts with an earnest breakfast debate about mildew on traffic cones can climax with competitive yodelling in a karaoke bar.
We might expect politicos to be gloomy when their party is down in the polls and their leader is lampooned but this misses an essential fact about modern democracy.
The men and women who have climbed the swivelling ladder which leads to elected office are cockahoop to be there.
This life of punishing hours and economy class travel is one they have longed for and fought for.
They might prefer it if their party was as popular as Justin Bieber’s cat but it is still a thrill to be able to earn a living as an AM or MP.
An actor might long to play Hamlet or Lear but even a walk-on role in an RSC production is better than the desperate tedium of sitting on a sofa waiting for your agent to call. Similarly, a full-time footballer in a sub-premier league team is thankful he gets to kick a ball for a job instead of filleting fish.
Just as a screenwriter works in comparative darkness to craft a blockbuster that a future director will turn into Hollywood glory, the strategists who today plot their party’s comeback are performing a labour of love.
Even when a politician is in a crisis and under the glare of the Fleet Street spotlight there is sometimes a hint that they are enjoying life at the centre of a drama.
The presence of photographers on the doorstep is proof that they are truly public figures who live on the national stage.
Boxers expect to take hard knocks as they pursue their champion dreams, and a party that is on the ropes is still packed with people who watch Yes, Minister and the West Wing and revel in a life in the thick of it.
Some of them believe they have a chance to change the world and while pundits pontificate, academics theorise and protestors holler these adrenalin-filled adventurers are happy to live and work in the political midfield.
A Thursday Column
Repeated polls show the Lib Dems are about as popular as algebra and Labour is a party locked out of power in Westminster.
But power-dressing young men and women gallop around conference centres aglow with enthusiasm and even older MPs and peers are as gleeful as Ken Dodd.
Nobody is selling sackcloth and ashes. Instead, there is a freshers’ week atmosphere and a day that starts with an earnest breakfast debate about mildew on traffic cones can climax with competitive yodelling in a karaoke bar.
We might expect politicos to be gloomy when their party is down in the polls and their leader is lampooned but this misses an essential fact about modern democracy.
The men and women who have climbed the swivelling ladder which leads to elected office are cockahoop to be there.
This life of punishing hours and economy class travel is one they have longed for and fought for.
They might prefer it if their party was as popular as Justin Bieber’s cat but it is still a thrill to be able to earn a living as an AM or MP.
An actor might long to play Hamlet or Lear but even a walk-on role in an RSC production is better than the desperate tedium of sitting on a sofa waiting for your agent to call. Similarly, a full-time footballer in a sub-premier league team is thankful he gets to kick a ball for a job instead of filleting fish.
Just as a screenwriter works in comparative darkness to craft a blockbuster that a future director will turn into Hollywood glory, the strategists who today plot their party’s comeback are performing a labour of love.
Even when a politician is in a crisis and under the glare of the Fleet Street spotlight there is sometimes a hint that they are enjoying life at the centre of a drama.
The presence of photographers on the doorstep is proof that they are truly public figures who live on the national stage.
Boxers expect to take hard knocks as they pursue their champion dreams, and a party that is on the ropes is still packed with people who watch Yes, Minister and the West Wing and revel in a life in the thick of it.
Some of them believe they have a chance to change the world and while pundits pontificate, academics theorise and protestors holler these adrenalin-filled adventurers are happy to live and work in the political midfield.
A Thursday Column
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