King Hell
According to the Foreign Office minister Kim Howells, the relationship between Britain and Saudi Arabia is based on ‘shared values‘.
Now, I’m not a patriot, but why isn’t Howell’s languishing in the Tower of London after that? What did he do for an encore, take a big steaming dump on the Union Flag? Flog the Queen for showing her legs in public? Declare that the British Government could learn a lot from Peter Sutcliffe?
King Abdullah had a ‘meeting of minds‘ with Gordon Brown while on his state visit according to a spokesman. Which is a terrifying thought that a British Prime Minister would share any thought processes with the leader of an abattoir state like Saudi Arabia. Although there are parallels in that both fight shy of electoral accountability, have a demonstrable contempt for their citizens and put cold hard cash above all other considerations.
Needless to say, Gordon didn’t do anything as distasteful as raise human rights concerns with his guest. No, despite him telling us only weeks ago in his party conference speech that ‘human rights are universal‘, it was too much too expect any consistency from him on this occasion. You might as well wait for diamonds to drop out of your dog’s backside.
If truth be told, the government do seem to be betraying a hint of embarrassment at the lavish treatment of the blood-soaked old tyrant. Abdullah’s visit merits only this parsimonious entry on the Number 10 website:
The UK and Saudi Arabia have pledged to boost cooperation on issues such as technology and taxation.
Following talks in Downing Street between the Prime Minister and King Abdullah, representatives from the two countries signed a number of bilateral agreements, including a technical and vocational memorandum and an accord on double taxation. Chancellor Alistair Darling was among the signatories present before the two leaders.
The Prime Minister and King Abdullah’s talks focused on the issues of counter-terrorism and the Middle East.
And that was it. Not a lot to show for all that taxpayer’s money - Gordon spent it, at least he could have had the courtesy to tell us what we were getting for our dollar. How many gold commodes, how many tins of black boot polish for the king’s beard, and all that.
Now, I’m mature enough to know that in uncertain times we need to form alliances with less than savoury characters - that seems to be the line to take in tolerating torture, beheadings and fundamentalism (except when al Qaeda are doing it). Actually, to be honest, I’m not mature enough. Modern political pragmatism is responsible for more death and misery than just about anything else on the planet. It’s a disease from which very few recover.
I spit on pragmatists. Round our way, being pragmatic is a vice akin to fiddling with children, just better regarded in the wider world, obviously. Ruin a woman’s life at 12 by abusing her and you’re a monster. Give her 90 lashes for being gang-raped and you get tea with the Queen. But like I said, immature, that’s me.
Posted on November 1st, 2007 at 12:35 pm
| See also • Monsters Inc • Martin Bright: What did the Saudis know about 7/7? • The Guardian: UK accused of complicity in torture |
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Filed under Human rights, UK politics |
That is a brilliant post which every Labour MP should be forced to publicly read to his/her constituents.
Every word in this post is a Gem Justin. With a cowed BBC and a Sky that nuances news, and then news flashes Madeline’s dad going back to work, I wonder where the revolution will come from. Libdems are like the blogosphere, listened to only by the people who want to listen.
I watched the Sky News carnage today of dolphins, we are truely fucked as a species.
The only defense of pragmatism that I can think of is (the obvious one) that the consequences of non-pragmatism (otherwise known as principled behavior) may somehow be worse - more death and misery - and so pragmatism may be the lesser of two evils.
But in this case I cannot immediately think of what those ‘worse’ consequences may be. I fear the reasons behind the HM Govt’s behavior has more to do with export earnings than it does with what you & I might consider potentially bad consequences (of the death and misery variety) of breaking off friendly relations with the house of Saud.
What (non-economic) bad things would happen if we started treating Saudi Arabia like it deserves?
And, while I’m asking idle questions, I wonder if the economic consequences of telling Saudi Arabia where to get off, would actually be bad enough to lose the govt that does it the next election?
What are these shared values?
I thought government ministers were plannig to go around the country in a public consultation exercise trying to determine from their adoring public what British values are?
Are you telling us that the great British values have already been decided and that this public consultation exercise is a sham?
I can’t get my breath!
What we need is a combined CY/bloggerheads campaign for something that would encapsulate not only the values of a modern Britain facing the challanges of the 21st century but also a simple slogan.
I’ll kick off the suggestion box (pun intended):
There can be fewer, if any, more appropriate options, that would encapsulate both the prevalent values of Britain and a motto in a single easily recognisible symbol, then a simple tick in a box.
No words. No room for ambiguity. A cogent sign of the simplistic dumbing down of our culture and civilisation that fits neatly into the branding culture of “modern” PR, advertising, political spin, corporate symbolism and the substitution of sloganeering for quality discussion and thinking.
A tick in a box says everything that needs to be said about this country, the pseudo-culture it has embraced or had foisted on it, those who lead it, those who aspire to lead it, those who manage it, and the lives of those who have to live and suffer by what it represents in every aspect of our lives.
The tick in a box campaign as a symbol of our unique modern British values needs to be spread not only through the bloggersphere but throughout the land.
It needs to be the graffiti of choice of every graffiti artist. It needs to be drawn or posted on every wall, every advertising hording - particularly the political ones - every computer screen, every window.
Go for it Justin. You know it makes sense.