Big Tent Politics ...
.... has become No Tent Politics. Well almost no tent. The canvas studios that always seem to appear from nowhere on College Green on big days at Westminster are now being de-rigged..... the caravan has moved on to follow Gordon Brown around the South East this morning. I won't be with them, I'm back on cocktail cabinet duties because of Ed's Big Appointment this evening. And getting ready for 6 or so weeks of campaigning. Are you up for it?
On a serious note, I don't know if any of you were listening to Mike Thomson's report this morning on the Today programme from the Democratic Republic of Congo .He spoke to a young mother who was recently abducted, along with scores of people from her village, by a group of rebel soldiers. She says her captives, Hutu militia from Rwanda known as the Interahamwe, then bayoneted fifty of them before forcing her to hang her own baby. It's such a horrifying story that maybe it's not the right subject for this blog, but I was so moved by it, and it's been on my mind all morning, I can't really think about anything else at the moment. We need to be constantly reminded, don't we, of what's going on there.
Sorry to be sombre.
sequin
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Sequin -
I have missed all the Congo reports (I'm wondering if a one off programme may be in order?) but gather that they have been quite traumatic, moving and shocking.
It is truly important to be reminded of these things and puts the Big Tent palaver in to context; there is plenty more going on in the world to be concerned, angry and upset about.
Golly, Sequin, you'd have to be a monster NOT to be affected by a story like that.
I applaud the professionalism that enables you to work on despite that.
But do watch out, as you say Yes to all these odd shifts and covering for others: you know what they say about those who burn the candle at both ends....!
Fifi
Hi Sequin - great reporting and comment yesterday; looking forward to hearing tonight's programme.
I turned the radio off this morning as the Congo report started, because I was having breakfast with the kids and it just wasn't what they needed to hear. I am gong to listen again, however, because it's important not to shy away from really horrific reports like this. Even listening to the introduction was moving, so I'll need to prepare myself for the full report, I think.
Sequin - I heard the same thing. I was struck by the courage of the mother in telling her story.
Unbelievable that such cruelty can exist in this world.
Sequin. Sombre is fine.
I heard the entire report and it was harrowing indeed. No wonder Conrad wrote 'The Heart of Darkness' about the Congo with those immortal final words of Kurtz "The horror! The horror!". Those two words wum up the gist of Mike Thomson's excellent report very succinctly. And demonstrate that nothing has really changed in that area.
Good to see you around again, I take it that we have the pleasure of your company next week also while Eddie is touring the nation keeping up with Tony Bennett?
Si.
Good morning Carolyn.
Thank you for alerting me to the story. I've just listened and now, like you feel totally stunned.
Are these people really human beings?
It's all just too horrific for words
Now what's the betting that Eddie pops up and takes over the blog on the train to Manchester? and Sequin forgets the Glassbox ;-)
------------------------------------------
Eddie Mair chairs this week's Any Questions?, which comes from the University of Manchester.
The panel will include:
CLARE SHORT, former Labour cabinet member and now independent MP
VERA BAIRD QC MP, parliamentary under-secretary in newly formed Ministry of Justice
ALAN DUNCAN, Shadow Trade and Industry and Energy Secretary
SIMON HUGHES, Liberal Democrat President.
Morning Sequin, morning froggers.
Didn't catch the obviously horrifying report this morning so will listen again later. But I heard yesterday's. It is just unbelievably awful. What on earth is to be done? How can humans behave to one another like that?
On a different tack, did my ears deceive me whilst listening to Today this morning? Did someone actually say George Bush was the elected president of Britain? It was during the interview with Jack Straw, I think, and apparently a Gordon Brown quote. Can't believe G Brown would make such a gaffe (but it's quite feasible the other GB did!)
If it's true, then what is to become of us?
I'm off to hide behind a sand dune.
I'll try to catch it when I get home tonight. Does anyone have the timecode I should look for?
I must admit, I think Africa is still under-reported on bulletins on all networks (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ & commercial). There's so much that's happening there, but we don't hear about it generally. Think back to the Virginia shootings of recent times, and contrast the coverage that this got with the amount of coverage generally on the Congo story, Darfur, the current state of Zimbabwe, etc. I realise it's probably not possible to give the same level on reporting due to a number of reasons (Zimbabwe's stifling of the press, the Sudanese Government's stand against outside influence/reporting, etc.) but if these things are not regularly reported on, then they will slip from people's minds...
FFred
Carolyn, I'm afraid I listened to the introduction & then knew I wasn't brave enough to hear the rest, so switched off. Even the intro was enough. I can't bear to think there are people so cruel and evil in the world. It is a horribly sobering thought as we get all het up about Tony Blair & the media/ political circus of the next few weeks, that there are such things going on outside our fairly comfortable western democracy. We complain about so much, but in comparison to that woman's experiences...
Like you, Sequin, the story has been haunting me all morning. I feel like writing to TB, or GB (Brown, not Bush) - Oh, I don't know, it's so so dreadful and somebody should be trying to intervene to stop these atrocities. Of course, it really needs to be local action - but we know how complex Africa is.
I thought there were supposed to be some links on the Today programme page relating to this issue, but I can't see them. I'd really like to find out what, if anything, I could do in my own small way. Is there a safe place for the poor victims of these terrible atrocities?
Sequin:-
Sombre is fine by me, its reality.
MT's reporting from the Congo should be compulsive listening for every member of the UN just to remind them to get off the ineffective backsides and sort it out.
This morning I had to sit in the car and wait for the tears to subside. Tears of anger, tears of sadness and tears of frustration.
Fearless Fred (8)
Re reporting on Africa in general..Hear, Hear
FFred (9) If you go to the Today web-page and click on the Listen Again button on the left hand side you will find the piece at the start of the 7:30 slot. If you start listening at the begining of the slot you will get part of an advert about cricket, followed by a brief news bulletin and then the article itself. If you have fast download speeds you will be able to move to the start which is introduced at 02:30 of the file. I strongly recommend that you listen to the introduction before deciding if you want to hear the whole thing.
H.
FFred, just after the 07:30 news headlines. Fourth part out of four. Broadcast Tues - Fri this week, all at the same time. All tough listening, but todays especially.
Jonnie;
A-ha! Vera Baird QC. The woman responsible for imposing fixed-price Legal Aid on the law profession, no matter the complexity or duration of the case. Who will therefore oversee the end of solicitors wiling to take on cases involving Legal Aid. Who will thereby deny justice to all but those who can afford to pay for themselves.
You'd expect lawyers to bleat about this sort of thing, but when you see how little they have set the tariffs at you might even feel some sympathy for them and their erstwhile clientele. All to cut the cost of Legal Aid. Money again, just like the Special Educational Needs topics which PM has been covering over the last two days. Her argument is that the cases will be picked up by those who are willing to do the work at those rates. Again, if you see the pitifully low fees on offer you instinctively know that it ain't going to happen.
When will the message get through that cut-price justice isn't justice at all. Just as cut-price SEN education seems to mean no SEN education at all for those who most need it. Mean, nasty, penny-pinching politics from a party supposed to be the guardian of the weak and underprivileged.
I hope that the audience know who she is and what she is doing, so that they can give her a hard time. I'll be back in Manchester by 19:30. Wonder if there is a ticket going spare?
Sad, sad, sad.
Si.
FFred: It was at 0732. Make sure you're sitting down, it's extremely difficult listening.
Fearless Fred - it must have been on about 7.40, as I was in the car listening to it and did wonder whether I could bear to keep the radio on. What really makes me blanche is the news that what we heard this morning were just the edited version, without some of the even less palatable (as if any of them could be) events that were too harrowing for the lady to describe in person.
DI Wyman - to be fair, it is not just UN staff that have to listen to this stuff. They follow the priorities of the member governments, who follow the priorities of the electorate/media. So, it's us that have to listen to it and us that have to make sure our governments understand that protecting people from such barbarism is one of our priorities.
So Sequin and Radio 4, thank you for bringing the true horror of the Congo to our attention and making sure that however horrible it is to listen to that we don't forget it is happening and don't let our governments off the hook of doing something about it via the UN.
Sequin, thank you for raising the subject. There is no need to aplogise. In my opinion, this story is worth repeating over and over again. It puts this country's political wranglings into true perspective.
Yes I am with Annasee on that - I did tune in at the end when they were rounding up e-mails but really am not brave enough (or emotionally strong enough) to listen again, I am sorry for my weakness, but I really find it so distressing. I agree totally with FFred (9), the balance of coverage is not right - there are so many atrocities still happening in Africa - I just wish to God there was something we could do to put an end to it all now.
You're right Sequin, I haven't been able to get it out of my head either. My first thought was if that had happened in a Western democracy, it wouldn't have been out of the news for weeks. The challenge is, how do we tackle issues like these 8000 or so scumbags without putting troops on the ground? Anyone in authority care to suggest that one? I suppose we all care about it, but the caring stops just short of the point where we do something about it. After all, its happening in a 'far away country of which we know little' Sound familiar?
I couldn't get to the radio in time to turn it off. I stood there transfixed with horror. All I feel now is hopeless and powerless. That is reason to be sombre.
Thank you for the Congo reference. I will pluck up the courage to listen.
I wonder, changing the subject, whether we'll get exciting photos from the train for Laird Mair again?
Simon @14 and Jonnie
Before she was minster, she appeantly was earning a very good income (or all too good, depending on your viewpoint) on legal aid cases. She also opposed this measure in parliament.
Talk about poacher turned gamekeeper.
speaking of photos I'm disturbed by the way Sequin's photo is gradually slipping down the screen, looks like she's going to drop off the page altogether. If that happens there'll be a froggers revolt, seeing her sunny visage gives me a little lift of a morning. So much nicer than that dour Scots bloke who occasionally does the programme.
Jo @ (16)
Fair comment, you are quite correct.
I should have taken a few more deep breaths before sounding off, but I am so utterly frustrated and angry at the non action that I felt I had to post something.
I missed that report and almost certainly will not dare to go and listen online. On an entirely different note, I tuned into 4 this morning in time to listen to The Reunion. I thought that was one of the most interesting and powerful bits of radio I've heard in ages. In the words of the website: "Sue MacGregor reunites both perpetrators and victims of the IRA bomb which exploded in Brighton's Grand Hotel during the Conservative Party Conference on 12 October 1984." Surely lessons for our time?
Work for peace all over the world, people. All war is disgusting and a fair bit is done "in our name", and we can do something about that. XX
Re: Di Wyman (12) yes representatives of every UN member state and every smooth talking politician should have their cuffs nailed to the counter to hear this report in full, perhaps just after they've been dragged through every war cemetary in Belgium and France. Maybe an updated version of 'beating the bounds' is called for..
John H: There was a lot of discussion about The Reunion earlier in the week following its initial broadcast on Sunday. I think you'll find a lot of other froggers, myself included, were also moved by the programme.
Nice to see you, btw, and hope all well with you.
Gordon Brown's comments today, concerning the New Deal are arrant nonsense. More damned lies and statistics. I am attempting to have the National Audit Office investigate. WorkDirections, an Australian quango, consists of vastly overpaid so-called "advisors", with a starting salary of 27K, who merely help to construct a cv and compose an application letter. The taxpayer is being robbed and the unemployed are not being adequately trained. But the situation was even worse under the previous Government. The so called Employment Training Scheme, which produced big profits for another quango. The huge amount of money, which we are told is being spent, does not seem apparent to me. I have been on New Deal and observed the polite farce which is being enacted, in order to herd people onto nondescript training schemes. Thus producing innaccurate statistics. The managers at WorkDirections, although courteous, disdain any constructive criticism. So the situation does not improve. I challenge Gordon Brown or David Cameron to train me for a "proper job". The money wasted on WorkDirections would be better served funding a course.
P.S. I also need a decent place to live.
The options for the second stage of New Deal consist of extremely basic training. An appalling college in Hammersmith is used for non-training in computers. Instant Muscle is a charity, from which "clients" can send out job applications. One can also train to be a white van driver, (if a current driving licence is being held), a shop assistant, a basic social worker or barstaff.
How are we possibly going to compete with Brazil, Russia, India and China in the future, when we have an expensively, ill-educated and inadequately trained workforce.