19th November 2012
The Church of England is voting on woman bishops this week. The Gang story, in my view, is now sufficiently out for that to be pure politics. No more hidden schemes by middle aged men locked away in protected rooms. Those against the ladies have sent a booklet to all 468 members of the Synod arguing their case. And although I am sure she did not mean it that way, the Reverend Janet Appleby’s ammendment using the word respect, could not have been bettered politically by the Prime Minister himself. It sets out the principle under which it is hoped woman bishops will operate without articulating any means of control for opponents to naturally focus on and become upset by. If the measure is passed the accompanying rules can be written later, hopefully in a considerate and Christian way. May the best side win.
I think the acting director general of the BBC will have been extremely grateful to have heard the prime minister say this morning that he wishes to get a grip on time wasting legal challenges pulling down legitimate government policy. It is Mr Cameron’s way, in my view, to give support in such a manner. The government hope to do that by increasing the cost of judicial review applications and generally tighting up the rules for those submissions.
At the same CBI conference as David Cameron, Ed Miliband told his audience that Britain is sleepwalking into leaving the EU. Such an event would make our economy voiceless and powerless.
You begin to scent a, quite proper in my view, political slant to Lord McAlpine’s actions since the truth about him has been established. A large number of Twitter users, who I am sure thought they had done nothing wrong, have been put on notice that actually they have. And it is reported this morning that his solicitor wiil be seeking larger damages against ITV than the BBC for the particularly silly game they allowed their staff to play. I have heard it said that the production of his list on air was not Philip Schofield’s idea.
Mr Cameron said at the CBI today that 70 years ago we were at war against Hitler. Today we are in the equivalent of an economic war and therefore should have the same spirit. That is not what I would have said in his position but I count myself extremely lucky I am not in his position. I would be concerned about worrying people unnecessarily. Things are difficult for some of us but we are in a very small minority in comparison with the population as a whole. If people wish to read my book that is fine. It is also fine if they do not wish to read it. The same applies to our website. In my personal experience, gained from getting it wrong and seeing the consequences of that, you have to go along with what an individual wants. If you pick up signals that the Gang story is not a subject they wish to think about then you should respect that thought process. Should you express worrying concepts to a person, and they are under pressure anyway, you just seem to destabilise them more. Having said that of course the reaction of a group of people, especially if the group is talking amongst itself, might be different to an isolated single soul. We will see how it goes.
There appeared a very thoughtful article by John Gapper in last Monday’s FT on the BBC crisis. He makes the point that the director general is in charge of 23,000 people in comparison with a Fleet Steet editor who has a few hundred in his newsroom. Yet the DG must be both top jouranalist and executive in chief. Somewhat of an impossible task and in that light hardly surprising Mr Entwhistle did not know the nitty gritty of eveything his reporters were up to. To change the top management structure of the BBC could be a good move for the future.
David Cameron spoke to Mr Netanyahu on the phone on Saturday night and, presumably in that call, urged him to do everything possible to end the Gaza crisis. William Hague warned Israel it risks losing international sympathy if it launches a ground invasion.
One of those word perfect speeches in the BBC webpage this morning by Barack Obama during his Burma trip. Freedom is not an abstract thing, he says, it is how we aspire to live our daily lives. And yet; he looked an extremely unhappy man.
Ann Barnes has made a big point this morning of saying she wants to be out and about speaking to people. She aims to be the most accessible police and crime commissioner in the UK. She is a magistrate from East Kent.
Last Monday’s FT informs me that tensions started increasing between Israel and Gaza the Saturday before. On that day militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military vehicle injuring four soldiers. Israel warned that it was ready to intensify it’s response if such attacks continued. My books were delivered on the following Monday.
I also learn from that paper about the defection in the previous seven days of 26 military officers, including two generals, from the Syrian regime.
It seems at the beginning of last week it was not only Israel and Gaza who were squaring up to each other. Tuesday’s FT reports that Sryia itself was raising tensions. For two consecutive days Syrian and Israeli forces had been exchanging fire over their border. Then Syria was also riling Turkey by attacking an area with a fighter jet, close to their border. That led Turkey’s president to tell the paper he was worried Syria might use chemical weapons against his country.
The FT thinks that America’s policy of extensively using military drones against it’s opponents in foreign lands, is misguided. I suspect that is as much because it fears such murky activity could be manipulated by others against America’s best interests as anthing else. As the editorial in that paper states therefore it is not unhappy the person who reportedly ordered a big expansion of the programme earlier this year, General Patraeus, is no longer in post.
Last Wednesay’s FT tells me that the BBC Trust are in favour of choosing the next Director General from outside the corporation and are informally using the services of a headhunter friend of David Cameron in finding suitable candidates. I also noted recently that the current head of the Crown Nominations Commission was appointed by No 10 Downing Street in April 2012.
That FT also relates how, due to some secret journalistic filming, it is known an adviser to the Foreign Secretary is concerned that 80% of our liquefied natural gas supplies now come from Qatar, shipped here by boat. He thinks that is too high a dependency on one source.
Last Tuesday France was the first western country to recognise the newly formed formed Syrian opposition grouping, the National Coalition.
Questions were being asked in America last week why the FBI, under their standing order protocols, did not notify the White House or Congress about their investigation into Colonel Patraeus. The jury is still out on the answer. Some are connecting that investigation with the possibly CIA involvement when the American US ammbassor to Libya was killed in Benghazi in September.
Having watched Newsnight tonight I think they feel a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas might be in the offing. The Israeli cabinet have been in session this evening. I sincerely hope the programme might be right.
After reading last Thursday’s FT I see that right from their first strike the day before, Israel saw their action as the start of a widespread campaign against militants in the Gaza Strip.
Probably not a consensus view but the editorial in that paper suggests that EU enlargement has been it’s most successful policy, promoting prosperity and democracy to once authoritarian states. It would like to see Turkey recommence serious discussions with the bloc on membership. Just talking about the possiblity it feels would be a stabilising factor for the country that straddles East and West.
20th November 2012
I am very much feeling my way at the moment with my diary notes. My motives are entirely selfish, I assure you. I want a better life for myself and my family. I would like our difficult story to be related by others one day but other than that I think in the long term I will wish to live in privacy. Something which is on my mind at the moment though is that, in spite of everything, I fear many people will still not believe what I have written in my book and in my ongoing dairy notes on the website. I wish therefore to carry on in the same vein for the time being and record the item below. One day I hope I will not have to.
One of the most popular pages on the BBC website at the moment is entitled ‘The Book which Shook the Soviet Union’. It is about Alexander Soizhenitsyn’s novel from 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. It told the story of a typical prisoner in one of Joseph Stalin’s Gulags, or forced labour camps, for those who did not go along with his regime’s way of thinking. Mr Khrushchev allowed publication of the book nearly ten year’s after Stalin’s death.
Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet last night that he was pausing his ground invasion plans to allow diplomacy a chance. So far 110 Palestians have died in the conflict and three Israelis. The Turkish Foreign Minister and other Arabic ministers are due in Gaza today to offer their support. Mrs Clinton is travelling to Israel and I don’t feel she would be doing that if she thought she might end up with egg on her face. The Egyptian president says he expects Israeli air strikes to cease later today.
We are told that discussions between the warring parties have been through the intermediary of an Egyptian intelligence agency. That means in my view that both sides already held a considerable degree of trust in that shadowy organisation before last Wednesday. And I expect the word trust is the key. I recall that Sir John Sawyers visited Israel on behalf of the British government towards the end of August and I have every confidence he conducted himself whilst there with a completely straight bat. I also wrote in Chapter 6 of my book that when the Libyan foreign minister defected in March 2011 he chose to come to Britain under the protection of MI6. Again I do not believe he would have done that unless he thought he would be properly treated here. Finally I am aware our intelligence agancies have close links with those in America and other English speaking nations. I can see no reason why that fellowship should not extend to other countries as well.
It is amazing how we all are continually looking at the next step in any story, even before the last chapter has ended. I heard a discussion on Today this morning that it would seem sensible in due couse for the Gaza Strip to become part of Egypt with which it shares a border. No more difficulties of a two-state solution. That indeed I feel would be a very neat outcome.
The UK has announced today, following France’s lead, that we too now recognise the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced today that he wishes to have a mentor, to help especially with housing and training opportunities, outside every prison gate to meet an inmate as they leave on the last day of their sentence. His plan will be coordinated by private and voluntary sector groups who will be paid if re-offending is reduced.
Last Friday’s FT says it had been told by a Hamas spokeman that the day before the Israeli attack last week Egypt had negotiated a truce between Hamas and Israel. I personally feel that is unlikely.
Philip Stephen’s view in that edition is that Mrs Merkel now accepts the eurozone will have to write off some of Greece’s debt. However before she allows that she wants be be 110% sure they have no wriggle room for any future juvenile behaviour.
I see that sexual harrassment has been an issue in US forces in recent times and that adultery is against their military law. I don’t think anyone is accusing General Allen of either of those, just that email correspondence he had with a lady unconnected with the military except as a volunteer, was inappropriate. I myself would have preferred it if Mr Allen were accused of breaking some specific rules but in any event last Friday’s FT reports that the Pentagon are now reviewing the behaviour of all senior military officers. Spokesmen say the investigation has got nothing to do with Mr Patraeus’ tribulations. A likely story. Nevertheless as I suggest in Chapter 8 of my book I believe sex is important to most of us. The Gang realise that, We should too.
Monday’s FT reports that David Cameron has appointed the Australian Lynton Crosby to advise him on his strategy to win the next General Election. That apparently is against the recommendation of some within Mr Cameron’s inner circle.
The same paper says that Mr Obama gave Mr Boehner a $125 bottle of wine last week as an early birthday present, no doubt to build up a personal rapport between them in advance of the difficult financial negotiations to come. Quite open and quite bipartisan. He is a smart man.
That paper reports a new political business-backed movement was created in Italy at the weekend for the purpose of securing continuation for Mario Monti as prime minister in elections due early next year.
I think you must see Barack Obama’s beeline for the Asia-Pacific region so soon after his re-election as quite symbolic. For me he is saying that is where he wants America’s future strategic interests to lie.
Today’s FT reports that the Farc have unilaterally declared a two month ceasefire against the Columbian state in order to facilitate peace talks which are just starting in Havana.
This evening’s House of Laity vote was six short of approving women bishops, in order to obtain the necessary two thirds majority. That is a shame in my view. It will happen but not yet. An opportunity has been lost. We are at quite a crucial stage in our culture I feel and if the church could have connected with the rest of society, saying look we are just the same as you, they would have been in a much better position to provide the guidance and support many would perhaps otherwise have been glad to turn to them for. I fear they will now just appear irrelevant in dealing with the problems of our world.
21st November 2012
There was a very insightful report this morning in the 8.10am Today slot on the grooming of children by organised gangs. I would recommend you all to listen to it on the Radio 4 website. As you might have expected if you have read the cover of my book it touches on my own story. Nothing sexual but in terms of boxes as I mention in Chapter 8. Those details however, as I know you will appreciate, are personal matters which I shall not be commenting on further.
The broadcast derived from the Office of Children’s Commissioner report published today which says there were 16,500 children in our country in 2010/2011 who were at high risk of exploitation.
Mrs Clinton arrived in Israel last night and has started an exercise of shuttle diplomacy bewteen Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Cairo. Nice to have that out in the open and not in smoke filled rooms using people we do not know. There is no agreement yet so it seems clear the Egytian government and Hamas were trying to bounce Israel into a quick settlement yesterday. I have sympathy with Mr Netanyahu there. I have a thing about being pushed where I do not want to go. It is something I have received a lot of critiscism for at times. As I mention in my book there have been stages in my life where I have found it difficult to say I love. I think that was because I looked upon it as putting myself in a position where I could be controlled by others. The rumour is that both sides which to produce a long lasting accord that will move them forward in their mutual difficulties. Let’s hope that is right.
It is common knowledge in the press that Mrs Clinton will be leaving her post as American Secretary of State. However I have not yet seen any explanation for her decision in my jounalistic sources. I feel that is unsatisfactory. Is it for a reason we can’t be told?
It seems plain to me that last night’s decision by the Church of England was discriminatory towards women. I have heard it reported this morning that some MPs are suggesing our laws should be changed so that the Church is subject to the same rules of civilised behaviour as the rest of us.
The government’s chief medical officer has been telling us this morning that we need to do better on liver disease. We are one of a few places in europe where the problem is getting worse, for us incidence is up 20% in under 65’s over the last 10 years. The causes apparently are increases in the liver infection hepatitis, obesity and excessive drinking. The first can be sorted by more rigorous clinical procedures and the other two by us have better regard for our bodies, something I touch on Chapter 8 of my book.
Typical winter weather patterns I have always experienced in England during my life have been low pressure systems sweeping westwards over the country from the Atlantic. That is not the way today’s heavy rain is moving however. When I look at the periodic radar report on the Met Office website it just shows the downpour sitting in the same place hour after hour.
22nd November 2012
This story has the Gang written all over it. Autonomy is a software enterprise company founded in Cambridge in 1996. It was taken over by Hewlett-Packard in October 2011. Full due dilligence was carried out by independent auditors. However Hewlett Packard have just had to write down $8.8 billion of their $11 billion investment and are hinting they were fraudulently mislead by Automony in some way. The personal story is that Automony’s founder, Mike Lych, with his team were incorporated into HP but did not fit in. Mr Lynch was fired in May. Mr Lynch was on Channel 4 News last night and said all the problems arose after the acquisition date. He hinted that HP’s present grumblings have more to do with their poor financial results being announced this week and they needed to muddy the waters somewhat. The fact that Mr Lynch also sits on the Executive Board of the BBC might also have something to do with it.
Yesterday evening at about 6 o’clock a Gaza ceasefire was announced.
At the risk of sounding boring everything is down to confidence, on both sides of the fence. That is why, in my view, there was a bomb attack on a bus in Tel Aviv yesterday morning, the first for six and a half years. It was to say to the militants on the Palestinian side, there maybe a setback coming up withn a ceasefire but that need not stop you. With our help you can continue producing as much terror as you want.
The radio news this morning reported that interestingly Mr Netanyahu had said many of his voters wanted him to continue with forceful military action but he thought it was time to give the ceasefire a chance. Then Mark Regev was interviewed on Today. Again he was focused on his responsibility to protect Israeli citizens. He was also keen that Hamas militants should not be allowed to rearm.
The first likely casualty following appointment of our new Police and Crime Commissions could be the chief constable of Avon and Somerset Constabulary. Colin Port’s fixed term contract ends on 26th January 2013. The new Independent PCC Sue Mountstevens wishes to have an appointment process at that time and Mr Port has said in those circumstances he does not wish to apply for his job.
Yesterday’s FT reports that up to £10 billion of potential tax revenue has been hidden by contrived avoidance schemes sold to tens of thousands of individuals and small businesses over the past 10 years. Margaret Hodge, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, calls that staggering.
That paper also tells me Jordan has been subject to various economic shocks in recent times giving itself a ballooning budget deficeit. Efforts to reduce it’s size by the government are causing social unrest. Gulf states are now indicating to the kingdom that they will provide financial assistance to stop things getting out of control.
Part of yesterday’s editorial there, about Autonomy, obviously thinks it has found a significant issue which needs investigating. Apparently more than 10% of revenues on takeover were stated to be down to high margin software activity when in fact they were much less profitable hardware sales. There is no way that should have been missed by the regulators. It all looks a bit like the West Coast Main line to me.
The BBC Trust have today appointed Tony Hall as it’s new director general from next March, at the same salary as George Entwhistle. Lord Hall has worked for the BBC as a director of BBC News and set up Radio 5 Live and the BBC News Channel. I think he left the corporation in 2001 and since then has been chief executive of the Royal Opera House where his activities have been much praised.
The M23 rebels comprise deserters from the Democratic Republic of Congo army who rebelled in April 2012. Since then their marauding in the DRC has displaced 500,000 people. This week they captured the Congolese eastern city of Goma, population 1 million, coincidentally no doubt at the same time as a UN report accused them of being supported by Rwanda and Uganda. William Hague has said that their action threatens regional stability.
From Today this morning I understand sexual violence by gangs in France is as much a problem, if not more, than it is here. It is the familiar story that people know it goes on but are too afraid to do anything about it.
The BBC Kent website reports today that Kent police have just made 14 drug and stolen property arrests on the execution of 12 search warrants. The words intelligence-led and undercover officers have again been used and there is a quote from Ian Learmonth. As I have said in the book it is quite possible to do these things because the Gang have to keep themselves hidden at all times.
No doubt with the confidence gained from the Gaza ceasefire President Mursi has issued a declaration today banning judicial challenges to his decrees, laws and pronoucements. Whether that is a positive development I do not feel qualified to say.
I have just heard on PM on Radio 4 that Ash only comprise 13% of our woodland trees, not 30% as previously reported. The misreporting apparently has been down to human error.
In the monkey incident the FA, like the police, have decided the referee has no case to answer. Mark Clattenburg has said it was truly frightening to think his career might have been over. One of the players involved has now been charged with misconduct.
Lord McAlpine’s solicitor has been speaking to Becky Milligan of the BBC again today about his client’s settlement with ITV of £125,000, £60,000 less than that with the BBC. Mr Reid has soken of commercially available software to monitor social media from which I gather that all Twitter and Facebook postings to friends are in the public domain. I am pleased I use neither, although I am fully aware that anything that is posted on our website is fully accountable.
Looking at today’s FT I see even emails can be libelous. And re-tweeting a defamatory message is legally as serious as the original statement. It seems 1000 original libelous tweets have been identified about Lord McAlpine and 9000 re-tweets.
Turkey is a member of Nato and as such the same paper says it’s request for Patriot missiles to be positioned on it’s border to protect it from airborne Syrian attack, will be readily granted.
An article in today’s FT suggests that, with the ceasefire in place, Hamas needs to be challenged to change it ways. To realise that force of argument is ultimately stonger than force of arms. It happened in Nothern Ireland in the 1990’s with the IRA and there is no reason why it should not happen in the Middle East today.
23rd November 2012
Today have been very strong this morning on the President Mursi story. Like everything I feel it comes down to motive. If Mr Mursi’s intention is good, when he has the power he feels he needs, he will give back the rights to those who do not support him which he has currently taken away. As with us all he is doing what is important to him in the area where he lives.
I think you can also put a mirror on his situation in Cairo to what is currently happening on the other side of the North Sinai. The Israeli-Hamas ceasefire is holding. But everyone is saying it is not a question of, if the fighting starts again but when it does. The sides have an opportunity to start talking to each other. No one else can help them sort out their difficulties, the Iranians, the Sryians, the Egytpians, the Americans or the Europeans. They have to do it on their own, neighbour to neighbour. They should not lose sight of the bigger picture. It is time to settle their differences. I will be thinking of them.
A few hours after writing that I want to also say I shall be watching them. And commenting as I feel appropriate.
Yesterday a 20 year old man from Walmer was charged with computer attacks against the websites of Oxford and Cambridge universities and Kent Police. That followed investigations by Kent Police’s Special Branch Investigations Team and and their Digital Forensic Unit.
There is the most stupid Gang story going the rounds this morning. When a chap in Surrey was cleaning his chimney out a few weeks ago he found a dead pigeon there with a Word War II message canister attached to it’s leg. GCHQ have not been able to decypher the coded message inside. However they want us all to know what has happened. Some clever Dick is guessing the message starts Dear Santa.
There was a 100 vehicle pile up on an interstate highway in Texas yesterday. Two people died and eight critically injured. The reports talk of it being foggy but the pictures I have seen do not show any.
One of those quirky facts is that Mexico is officially The United States of Mexico. That happened in 1824 apparently to emulate it’s northern neighbour. The Mexican congress will soon be changing it back to the much simpler Mexico.
A heard on the radio this morning that the Navajo Indians have a poverb that everything easy is evil, everything difficult is good. Nice.
Last Saturday’s FT reported that our use of mobile data has more than doubled in the last year. A hardcore of 10% of consumers account for 50% of our consumption. Even with 4G on the horizon a crunch could be coming sooner than we think.
We consumers are generally being encouraged to become more assertive and the same paper says the government is hoping to bring it’s midata scheme into law whereby large companies have to pass on your personal data use history to you on request. With that information it will be much easier for you to work out which providers would give you personally a better deal.
A front page report in that issue, a duplicate from earlier in the week, relates to 67 year old John McAfee of antivirus software fame, who now lives in Belize. He is hiding from the police who want to question him about the murder of a neighbour. He fears for his life. He obviously feels he has been set up and would not get fair treatment should he cooperate with the authorities. The article indicates he has been a frightened man for several years now.
Inside the paper is a long article on the David Petraeus story. From that I see that socialite Jill Kelley, to whom Mr Patraeus sent his emails, has a twin sister called Natalie Khawam. Although I have read nothing definite about her connection with Mr Patraeus she has hired an expensive attorney to represent her and I have seen a social picture of the twins with Mr and Mrs Patraeus and Ms Kelley’s husband.
Mrs Merkel was in Moscow last week. The picture I saw showed the body language between her and Mr Putin to be extremely poor. However they cannot fall out too badly, annual trade between the two countries is worth $83.5 billion.
Thanks to an informant I do not want to name I understand the New York Times has reported President Obama had several phone conversations last week with President Mursi during discussions about a possible Hamas-Israeli ceasefire. Taking into account that several of those must have taken place whilst Mr Obama was in Asia, with many other things on his plate, I feel that was extremely good of him.
24th November 2012
A welcome piece of realism this morning, in my view, about the storm currently approaching our shores. The BBC website says forecasters are not sure which areas of the country will be most badly affected.
Yesterday’s Daily Telegraph ran a story relating how a middle aged foster couple had spoken to them about three EU immigrant children who had been in their care under the oversight of Rotherham metropolitan borough council. After eight weeks with the children they were visited in their home by the council social worker and an official from their fostering agency. They were told that the children’s safeguarding team had received an anonymous tip-off that they were members of the UK Independence Party and the children were being taken away from them. The inference was plain. The social worker apparently said to them that Ukip does not like Europeans and wants them sent home. The couple were naturally extremely upset. And from the way that conversation was handled an entirely predictable heated political storm has arisen today. It is just coincidence, I am sure, that there is a by-election in the constituency on Thursday.
Nigel Farage, the leader of Ukip, has called the council’s decision a bloody outrage. Mr Farage is not a member of the government. Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has today called it arbitary, ideological and indefensible. Whatever you think about those words they increase the temperature no end. I heard the council team leader, Joyce Thacker, say on Today this morning that her professional decision was finely balanced, based on the individual circumstances of the case and took into account the cultural and ethical needs of the children concerned. The council have instigated an inquiry into the matter. I hope our politicians will leave it there.
I well remember the death of baby Peter Connelly in August 2007 and how the lady decision maker concerned, the head of Haringey children’s services, lost her job over the case. And how she subsequently won a Court of Appeal judgement that her employer had treated her unfairly and unlawfully. I also recall how the daughter of that lady eventually appeared on national media to ask eveyone to have some consideration for her mother whose life had been devasted by her experiences following the death of Baby P.
The Irish Daily Star is owned jointly by Ireland based Independent News and Media and Richard Desmond’s Northern and Shell group. The paper’s editor, Michael O’Kane, was suspended in September when he published topless French photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge. At the time Mr Desmond wondered whether the paper should be shut down. Independent News and Media said Mr O’Kane had followed all editorial practices and guidelines. During the day the editor has resigned. On Thursday the Leveson report will be published. My hunch is that the two are connected.
In my letter to Mr Cameron’s office of 6th September 2010 (appendix 10/6 in my book) I refer to the rule of law sometimes being imperfect. I suspect that is certainly the case in Egpyt at the moment. The BBC report today that the equivalent of the judges’ union there have called for a nationwide strike in protest at Mr Mursi’s recent decree. Possibly one positive unintended consequence of the high emotion presently being shown in Egypt is that it takes the spotlight off the Gaza-Israeli border.
Yassar Arafat died in Paris in 2004. The death certificate said the cause was a stoke arising from a blood disorder. However a BBC website informs me today that in August 2012 Swiss experts found radioactive polonium-210 on Mr Arafat’s personal effects, resulting in the French opening a murder inquiry. Mr Arafat’s body is going to be exhumed for a few hours on Tuesday at it’s resting place in Ramallah and samples taken to France, Switzerland and Russia where they will be independently examined.
One of those strange things that sometimes happen to me. Yesterday I typed the word Sinai. I have never used it before in my writings. I am just about to type it again.
There was a horrible report on Today this morning transmitting a telephone interview with Philemon Semere. He is an Eritrean refugee trying to make his way to Israel. He has been kidnapped by human traffickers in the Sinai region of Egypt, which adjoins Israel, who say they will kill him within a few days unless his family pay £25,000 ransom. Philemon says there is no way his family can do that. Agencies researching into the problem reckon that over the last four years there have been 10,000 kidnappings in the area. During the call one of his kidnappers took the phone and confidently repeated the promise of Philemon’s death to the BBC if no money is received. That he knew he could do as there is is no risk of him being apprehended. As far as the Gang are concerned they also know that once successful refugees get to Israel they will be able to control their actions completely.
I had never heard of it before but from this morning’s Today I know that yesterday the 307 members of the UK Youth Parliament, aged between 12 and 18, has their fourth meeting in the House of Commons chamber presided over by Mr Bercow. They were lively, engaged, sensible and polite. And I do have to say acting in a much more responsible way than their seniors usually sitting on those benches.
This Gang story is really moving on. Yesterday David Cameron came back from Brussels in a very different position that normal. Instead of being out on a limb, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden all wanted reductions in the proposed EU future budget. The bloc’s second main player, France, wanted an increase in subsidy for it’s farmers. Apparently it was all very polite. Everyone agreed to disagree like adults. They had the confidence to do that. I suspect it was a deliberate strategy by the EU president, Mr Van Rompuy, to allow that stalemate to arise and be apparent to all. Participants will now have to ponder how much they value the EU and go back for another try in January.
Thanks to a short piece on Today this morning I know, That Was The Week That Was, ran for a year from 1962. I associate it with eating takeaway fish and chips which my Mum and Dad would bring back after their regular Saturday night out at the cricket club. Apparantly it was the first political satire show and caused a real storm amongst politicians and public alike. One of those seismic moments of cultural change. The prime minister, Harold Macmillan, accused the programme of interfering with the political process. Thankfully things have progressed since then.
Earlier in the week Jim Naughtie of Today was on a quick trip to India. His conclusion was that the country has much potential but is riddled with corruption which will completely gum it up unless the problem is dealt with.
25th November 2012
Just time for a quick note before I go away for a couple of days. Stalking of course is a form of terrorism for the targeted individual, invariably a woman. Today it becomes a specific criminal offence in England and Wales as it has been in Scotland since 2010. Parliament thinks about 120,000 victims are stalked every year. However less than half of those have been recorded as crimes by the police and only 2% of those have led to custodial sentences.