[A bit of dissent from within the British ruling party
but no resignation - as yet?... Bill]
[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]
[Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ]
.
.
----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 9:09 AM
Subject: Britain: Anti-War MPs Resent Gag Order [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---------------------------
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/0323000g.htm
[For full transcript of exchange between MP Marsden
and Hilary Armstrong see appended feature from The
Times below.]
The Hindu
October 23, 2001
Anti-war MPs in Labour resent gag order
By Hasan Suroor
LONDON, OCT. 22. The row in the Labour Party over the
continued bombing in Afghanistan has escalated with
the anti-war MPs refusing to tone down their criticism
despite a gag order which one MP called a
``McCarthyite witchhunt''. They have protested at
being treated like ``circus dogs'' with the party
whips trying to put them on leash in a bid to prevent
them from publicly airing their views on the military
action.
The row comes amid report that the British Government
is on the verge of committing its ground troops in
Afghanistan. One MP, Mr. Paul Marsden, has embarrassed
the leadership by briefing a tabloid on his
conversation with the party chief whip, Ms. Hilary
Armstrong, during which she sharply told him to fall
in line with the government policy. ``I want a
guarantee that you will not speak to the media unless
you speak to me first,'' she reportedly told him and
when he insisted that he had a right to air his views,
she retorted: ``It was people like you who appeased
Hitler in 1938.''
The Sunday Telegraph quoted Ms. Armstrong as saying
that Mr. Marsden had ``got problems'' but he would
``sort them out eventually''. He is among the most
outspoken critics of the Blair Government's all-out
support for the war in Afghanistan and is backed by
two senior MPs, Mr. Tam Dalyell and Mr. George
Galloway besides a host of younger backbenchers.
Already known as ``rebels'' on the issue, they are
reported to be busy mobilising support for a pressure
group called ``Labour Against the Bombing'' and,
according to The Guardian, they hope to attract upto
30 MPs in addition to the moral support of non-Labour
critics of the war. They plan to step up their demand
for a pause in the bombing so that sufficient food and
other relief material can be reached to the people
before the onset of winter.
Last week, they joined an American anti-war
campaigner, Mr. David Pickering's petition to Downing
Street opposing the ``instruments of war'' to deal
with the crisis following the September 11 outrage.
Mr. Pickering's website is said to have received
messages of support from over 50,000 Britons. As
reports point to a worsening humanitarian situation,
pressure for a halt in hostilities is mounting and,
according to a report in The Observer, the United
Nations is ``set'' to issue an appeal for a ceasefire
to facilitate relief work. It quoted a U.N. source as
saying that unless the bombing stopped there would be
a ``huge number of deaths'' due to starvation and
malnutrition.
The reported U.N. move, dismissed in some circles as
speculation, follows appeal by several international
aid agencies in the region for a pause in air strikes.
They have criticised Britain's Secretary for
International Development, Ms. Clare Short, for
claiming that the bombing was not coming in the way of
providing relief - a line strongly articulated by the
Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, who told Parliament
that it was the Taliban who were proving to be a
hurdle.
The British aid agency, Christian Aid, has term Ms.
Short's statement ``misleading'' alleging that the
Government's ``spin doctors'' were showing ``callous
disregard'' for people's suffering. Observers pointed
out that while the Government was right in accusing
the Taliban of creating problems it was also true that
because of the relentless bombing it was not possible
to get food to the people. A spokesman of the World
Food Programme, Mr. Michael Huggins, has said that
food distribution has been severely disrupted as truck
drivers refuse to go into areas where bombs are
falling.
_______________________________________________________
THE TIMES (London)
TUESDAY OCTOBER 23 2001
'It was people like you who appeased Hitler in 1938'
Hilary Armstrong: Paul, we are all comrades together
in the Labour Party and we are all supposed to be on
the same side. I want to improve your communications
skills.
Paul Marsden: What do you mean?
HA: I want you to join the mainstream of the party.
PM: What do you mean by the mainstream?
HA: Come on Paul, you know what I mean.
PM: No, I dont. Explain it to me.
HA: Look, Paul, let me put it another way, those that
arent with us are against us.
PM: Name names.
HA: We dont really know each other, do we? We havent
had a chance to speak properly in the last four years.
PM: But we have, Hilary. When you were Environment
Minister I came to lobby you about a regeneration
project in Shrewsbury and you gave us 1.4 million. I
brought a delegation to see you about getting more
money for education and social services in Shropshire,
and I also came to see you about local government
reform.
HA: Oh yes, I do remember now.
(She picked up an inch-thick brown file and waved it
in his face, opening it to reveal articles written by
Marsden for his local Shropshire Star newspaper;
speeches he had made; transcripts of radio interviews
he had given.)
HA: I want a guarantee that you will not talk to the
media unless you speak to me first.
PM: I wont do that. I believe it is my right to speak
to whoever I choose.
HA: I have been looking at your file you are clearly
very inexperienced and your attendance record is poor.
(In Marsdens first two years as an MP, between 1997
and 1999, he had spent a lot of time away from the
Commons. His wife Shelly was seriously ill and at the
same time had given birth to their second child,
Richard, now three. The former Chief Whip Nick Brown
gave him compassionate leave.)
PM: I take great offence at that. I am not
inexperienced and my attendance record is certainly
not poor. My wife was being cut open in the operating
theatre and Nick Brown kindly allowed me extra time at
home to carry out family responsibilities. You must
know all that. What the hell has it got to do with all
this?
HA: Your attendance record was not good last year
either. You missed more votes than most others.
PM: That is not true. We were fighting a general
election and you lot told us to go home and campaign
to win it.
HA: You made a complete fool of yourself the other day
when you got up in the Commons.
(Armstrong was referring to Marsdens question to
Blair in the October 8 emergency Commons debate on the
Afghan crisis, when the MP said that the decision to
go to war should be approved by a vote of all MPs, not
by the Prime Minister alone. Blair brushed it aside.)
HA: You just dont understand the rules here, youre
too inexperienced.
PM: Theres no need to insult me. I know the rules, I
consulted the Speakers clerk about voting procedures.
HA: In fact we may well hold a vote.
PM: Great.
HA: But, if we do, it will be whipped.
PM: That is outrageous. You wont even give us a free
vote on whether we go to war it is an issue which
should be a matter of conscience.
HA: War is not a matter of conscience! Abortion and
embryo research, they are matters of conscience, but
not wars.
PM: Are you seriously saying that blowing people up
and killing people is not a moral issue?
HA: It is government policy that we are at war! You
astound me. We cant have a trusting relationship if
you keep talking to the media without permission.
PM: It would help if your deputy didnt send me snotty
letters disciplining me.
HA: I did leave a message at your office on Monday
night saying to call me.
PM: Are you sure?
HA: Yes. Why?
PM: You couldnt have phoned the Shrewsbury office
because you didnt leave a message on the answer
machine. You cant have left a message in London,
either, because I was in the office and there was no
voicemail left there.
HA: But I spoke to someone and left a message with
them.
PM: You didnt. I checked the telephone log and there
are no messages left.
HA: Er, perhaps I got the wrong number.
PM: Lets get this straight. You did not call me.
HA: Anyway, you must stop using the media.
PM: Thats a bit rich coming from people like you and
Downing Street, when Stephen Byers spin-doctor, Jo
Moore, says September 11 is a good day to bury bad
news.
HA: Jo Moore didnt say that.
PM: That is exactly what she said in her e-mail.
HA: We dont have spin-doctors in No 10 or anywhere
else!
PM (laughing): You arent seriously telling me that
you dont have spin-doctors and they dont exist. You
are losing it, Hilary.
HA (shouting): You wait until I really do lose it. I
am not going to have a dialogue with you about that.
It was people like you who appeased Hitler in 1938!
PM: Dont you dare call me an appeaser! I am not in
favour of appeasing bin Laden or anyone. I simply
disagree with the way the Government is going about
stopping him. Thats the official line now, is it? We
are all appeasers if we dont agree with everything
you say?
HA: Well, what would you do about bin Laden, then?
PM: I think we should indict him on criminal charges.
It could be done very quickly and then the UN should
take charge of the military action, not the USA. It
would be much more effective. By all means send in the
SAS, but lets get the UN on side first.
HA: The trouble with people like you is that you are
so clever with words that us up North cant argue
back.
PM: Do you mind? Im a Northerner myself. I was born
in Cheshire. I spent four years at Teesside
Polytechnic near where you come from.
HA: You do realise that everything that is said in
here is private and confidential, dont you? You
cannot go out and tell the media.
PM: I havent got the media outside and I wont go to
them. But if they come to me I will talk to them: I
represent the people of Shrewsbury and Atcham and I
will continue to speak out on their behalf when I feel
it is appropriate. Armstrong stood up, touched Marsden
on the elbow and guided him out.
Simon Walters, The Mail on Sunday
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals.
http://personals.yahoo.com
==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9NCEt
Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================
