‘Allo, guv, wanna by a missile or two….
David Cameron’s efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East by becoming the first foreign leader to visit Cairo were overshadowed as it emerged that he will spend the next three days touring undemocratic Gulf states with eight of Britain’s leading defence manufacturers.
After a hastily convened stopover in Egypt, where he spoke of being “inspired” by protesters, the PM began a long-scheduled trade mission by landing in Kuwait, a key military ally. Britain has approved 1,155 arms export licences for Kuwait since 2003, worth a total of £102.3m, according the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.
Protesters Are Good For Business.
Wasn’t it David Cameron who said in the Commons that the idea of prisoners votes made him physically ill? So democracy at home is a bad thing, but democracy abroad is a good thing. I think that the analogy of Cameron and the Greek Dictatorship are fitting.
Not only does “Blessed are the peacemakers” come from scripture but so to does the vision of “swords being tuned into ploughshares.” Cameron’s desire to sell weaponms to this volatile area puts him at odds with the Christian tradition and indeed every other worthwhile tradition.
His so called encouragement for democracy is based upon cheering when the end is near whilst gaily bolstering authroitarian regimes. And meanwhile we arm the likes of Gaddafi.
Sadly Labour’s hands are not clean but this jumping on a bandwagons has a touch of hyoocrisy about it. I hope the Libyan regime falls and a few others including Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. I wonder which will defend themselves with the weapoons Cameron is keen to seel.
I’ve missed all this mate. No papers very little telly did see the Albion Wolves and of course a bit of cricket but other than that I didnt realise the world was on the edge and Cammeron is doing his best to push it over. Anyway back soon see you at Labour Group if not before. Move the beach brolly and pass another Kingfisher. Cheers
Poor old Mick, He certainly is cut off from everything down there in Moat Road!
Labour policy as proclaimed by ‘Bruvver’ Piper:
So all you Comrades who work for BAE can just piss off and go on the dole.
Thanks, Bob, that should work, er, in a socialist sort of way!
As the people of North Africa and the Middle East rise up against their despotic leaders, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has flown into Abu Dhabi where the Index 2011 arms fair is taking place, to perform his salesman act on behalf of British arms and ‘security’ businesses. Aerospace Defence Security (ADS) the body that promotes UK arms companies calculates that this market is worth £7.2 billion a year to the British economy, half of which goes to the Middle East.
More http://haringeygreens.blogspot.com/2011/02/oil-arms-blood-and-hypocrisy.html
Hi Bob,
going to make you very happy (or not )
http://pheasey.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/possible-new-boundary-for-pheasey-and-the-west-midland-part-2/
On another forum there are very serious people predicting the new boundaries and one has your ward heading to Edgbaston
another guy keeps you in a West Brom seat
http://pheasey.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/possible-new-boundary-for-pheasey-and-the-west-midlands/
Of course watching the slime ball Blair shaking hand with Gaddifi was OK, it was for BP makes a big difference Oil and guns, hold on who did BAE pay out billions in hand outs and Blair refused to have an inquiry because it would be bad for business.
Ah, the old… “he did it first, miss” playground argument. Grow up Robert.
So what Bob? Political allegiances and alliances shift like dunes in the desert. And if BAe or Royal Ordnance was a major employer in your area, I don’t think you’d be saddling up your sarcastic high horse so glibly. Or maybe you would if you hankered after an inadvertent, electorally-induced career change.
The world is awash with arms; and the single weapons system that has killed more people in more countries than any other since 1945 is the Russian AK-47 and its Chinese and Czech derivatives. Something the UK neither manufactures nor sells. So maybe first save your pious, self-loathing left wing outrage for the communists that armed nearly the entire third world with the comradely assault rifle. Or the Germans and Italians who sold dual-purpose mustard gas, phosgene and sarin nerve agent technology to Saddam Hussein. Or the Russians who sold him the aircraft that delivered them at Hallabja. Or the French who sold him the Ozirak nuclear reactor that would have put a bucket of instant sunshine in the hands of a butcher but for Israeli intervention.
There are far more mercenary exponents of this unpleasant but unavoidable industry than us.
I’m not sure you should ascribe your own shallow values to others Jules. Your right-wing nonsense is an argument that could equally be used to defend the slave trade, in fact, it was. I also find it difficult to comprehend how objecting to the sale of weapons to tin pot dictators to enable them to deny basic freedoms and human rights to their people or to attack neighbouring countries qualifies as self-loathing.
And on the subject of piety, whilst identifying the Russians, French, Germans and Italian support for Saddam, you appear to have forgotten Mrs Thatcher’s contribution. Just for your pleasure… http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/feb/28/iraq.politics1.
And if you want to check out the Major government’s support for ‘arms to Saddam’, try googling Matrix Churchill.
Great for the economy, flogging arms to dictators. Not so clever for the soldiers sent to clean up the mess afterwards.
Never said our hands were clean. Which they aren’t. However they are less bloody than many others. However you choose to demonise Britain ahead of other, worse offenders. That is your self-loathing; a bizarre and uniquely leftist trait.
Lend me your brain Bob; I’m building an idiot.
I can certainly see why you need to borrow a brain, for whatever activity you are involved in because your current one clearly doesn’t work very well.
So, you’ve conceded my entire point. That our hands are not clean when it comes to selling weapons to unstable dictatorships to enable them to supress their people. If you can point me to where I have ranked Britain either above or below other countries, I will concede your point. Take your time now….
The reason I was critical of my Prime Minister for his
sales trip on behalf of arms manufacturerspeace tour of the Middle Eastern despots, as opposed to being critical of the Russian, French, German and Italian Premiers was simply because they don’t do it in my name. It’s called ‘expressing my view in a democracy’ although I fully recognise you would probably prefer those views to be supersede like your mates with the big guns do.Oh dear Bob. There was never a point to concede on my part; I clearly said that we weren’t blameless; merely that other countries were more so and indeed, often approach arms sales with a greater degree of abandon than is practiced here. Your one dimensional sniping at Britain’s domestic record on the supply of arms ignores the international perspective, the wider picture and our place in it. And there is a much wider picture to consider.
That suggests to me that you are simply making predictable, tribal comments on a subject whose topography and complexity you do not – or will not – comprehend. And you rise to the bait so easily.
So. The offer still stands; I’ll even pay for postage & packing. I leave the last word to you; I doubt you’ll be able to resist.
Julie, you’re obviously confusing me with someone who gives a flying f*ck what you think .
I accuse Cameron of whoring his arse around tin pot middle east dictators, you think he isn’t blameless. No car crash here, move on you silly boy.
But which tin-pot dictators has Cameron been whoring around Bob? Mubarak was gone before Cameron arrived, naturally, and elections are planned for September. Kuwait is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Qatar is an Emirate. Oman is a Sultanate that introduced universal suffrage for those over 21 in 2003. None are exactly Libya or Syria – where there definitely are tin-pot dictators – but Cameron didn’t visit the latter two.
I’m not sure you know the difference between playing the man (in this case a Tory hence your Pavlovian response), and playing the ball (the ethics and acceptability of arms sales). It’s clouding your perception.
Silly boy. Now it’s Friday. Off you pop; go be boorish in the pub.
Julie, you’re an idiot. You really should do your homework before you start spouting such nonsense.
Personally, I don’t care if it is Cameron baring his arse to an Emir (not a dictator, just a man who seized power from his old man who was swanning around in Switzerland) or a Sultan (with errm, Universal Suffrage. which entitles them to vote in a totally meaningless election to an advisory panel, which advises the Cabinet appointed by an absolute monarch). Nor do I have anything other than contempt for Blair kow-towing to the toe-rag Gadaffi whilst flogging him weapons (in Libya good God) in exchange for BP contracts. Or Thatcher, Major and the other front men for the arms industry selling armaments to Saddam (or the Iranians, can’t accuse these boys of discriminating) or any despot other prepared to cough up the blood money.
I notice you gave up looking for where I had apparently ranked Britain in some sort of imaginary league table of arms sales baddies in my self-loathing (laughs out loud). I’ll call that 2-0 to me then.
You may want to be associated with these right-wing muppets, but then, I suspect you can easily identify with them, so I’ll leave the bar-room nonsense to you, you appear suitably qualified. Me, I’m off for a rather nice chilled Sancerre at a damn fine Tapas bar.
Jesus Bob, at last! All I wanted to do was flush out whether underneath your tribal bluster and snippy socialist claptrap you could find the criticism for your own kind on a point of principle. It took a lot of goading but you actually are an equal opportunities malcontent after all: I can happily buy that. A lot of us are.
Love the Harrier picture by the way … enjoy your Sancerre; I’m more of a Cloudy Bay guy myself.
Perhaps you are just a bit slow Julie because i have had no hesitation in criticising the Labour leadership here. As I constantly point out to people, I didn’t join the Labour leadership, but the Labour Party.
A decent glass of Cloudy Bay goes down well, although they are starting to price themselves out of the market,(although Wineaux do a 2010 for £15 a bottle which isn’t bad). Anyway, we should all support our European friends.