Dale farm and the Abuse of Human Rights

Like many people, I have a great deal of admiration for Amnesty International and the work they do for human rights around the world. Their constant campaigning against the unfair treatment of marginalised groups and victimised individuals has done much to draw attention to the injustices that continue to exist throughout the world. A few days ago, however, my respect for Amnesty International was severely dented when I discovered they were running a petition in support of the travellers who are fighting eviction from Dale Farm.

For those who haven’t been following this story, the long-running dispute goes back to 1996 when an Irish Travelling Family purchased the Dale Farm site. By 2001, many families had moved on to the site and had begun building on it without planning permission and ignoring the fact that the land is greenbelt and therefore cannot be built on by law. Since 2005, Basildon Council has been taking action to try and evict the travellers from their land but the travellers have refused to leave and have fought a long court battle saying the eviction affects their human rights. Their claims were eventually rejected and earlier this year Basildon Council voted to go ahead with the eviction. As the bailiff’s were preparing to move in, however, the travellers were granted a High Court injunction saying that their rights had not been given enough consideration and the dispute continues.

The travellers have found support from a wide range of people including Vanessa Redgrave, the United Nations and now, sadly, from Amnesty International who portray the residents of Dale Farm as the victims of a great injustice. I, however, feel that the real victims of injustice are the law-abiding taxpayers of this country who have had to watch while those who have broken the law are treated like victims. People may argue that the council has a duty to provide these people with homes and land but the unavoidable fact is that the travellers’ site is illegal. It goes against the planning permission and greenbelt laws of this country. By saying that the travellers should be allowed to remain at Dale Farm, aren’t organisations like Amnesty International saying that the law of this country should simply be disregarded?

Those speaking in support of the travellers do not seem to acknowledge that many of the travellers do have accommodation in Ireland. They have even been offered alternative accommodation by Basildon Council. They have legal homes but are refusing to leave their illegal ones. The traveller’s supporters preaching about human rights also fails to acknowledge the rights of the local residents whose lives have been made hell by the traveller’s camp. They have not only seen the values of their homes fall considerably but have had to suffer the traveller’s rubbish as well as their verbal and violent abuse. It seems that the United Nations has no concern at all for the rights of these people.

The Dale Farm story is one that is, unfortunately, becoming all too common today because of the disastrous European Act of European Rights that was signed into law by the last Labour government. Barely a week goes by without the government being told they cannot deport a foreign criminal because of their human rights. One man fought off deportation because of his right to a family life despite the fact his family consisted solely of his pet cat. We have also seen the release this week of a dangerous terrorist who poses a real threat to this country’s security but who cannot be deported because his rights may not be respected if he is returned to his home country.

It makes me livid that this Act allows unelected European judges to override the power of our elected parliament and dictate to us about home affairs. I can not state clearly enough how much I believe in the importance of human rights. As I stated earlier, I have always admired how much organisations like Amnesty International have done to uphold human rights. I was also sickened by the revelations that Former US President George W. Bush had authorized the torturing of terrorist suspects via waterboarding. Such an abuse of human rights from the country that is supposed to symbolise liberty and freedom is nothing short of scandalous. Cases like Dale Farm, however, show that the European Act of Human Rights is having an incredibly detrimental effect. It is being abused by criminals who have given absolutely no thought to the rights of others.

It was because of cases like these that I whole-heartedly supported David Cameron’s pledge in opposition to scrap this Act and replace it with a British Bill of Human Rights. This would uphold the importance of rights while emphasising the responsibilities that come with them and prevent unelected EU judges from overriding the UK’s sovereignty. Sadly though for the nearly eleven million people who voted Tory at the last election, such a bill is as far off as ever. The Liberal Democrats remain wholly committed to the Human Rights Act and refused to allow the Tories to scrap it. As a result, people like the residents of Dale farm are able to continue to make a mockery of the British justice system. It is just another example of how detached from the view of the people that the Liberal Democrats have become.

We are certain to hear much about this at the Tory Party Conference this week but the people of this country are fast running out of patience with empty words on this issue. They want action now. This is why I think the Tories should take steps to amend the act even if it means angering their coalition partners. If the Liberal Democrats do prevent this reform, the people of this country will see very clearly who is holding them back and will surely punish the Liberal Democrats at the ballot box. In the meantime I can only hope that the law is upheld at Dale Farm and that the travellers are evicted peacefully and allowed to live in their lawful homes. I have a terrible feeling, however, that as long as the European Act of Human Rights exists this hope will never be realised.

The X Factor and Celebrity Culture

As autumn approaches and the nights begin to draw in , several million people once again sit down to watch a show which has become as much of a fixture in Britain as the seasons. Now in its eighth series, The X Factor clearly has a strong hold on the minds of the British public I must admit, however, that though I can still find it mildly entertaining to watch the large number of deluded hopefuls attempting to sing for the judges, The X Factor no longer interests me as much as it used to in the early series. The format has simply been done too many times and has become increasingly repetitive in both form and content. It often has an air of predictability about it as the eventual winner is the one that becomes the focus of the media’s attention from an early stage. The fact that the show also serves only to line the pockets of Simon Cowell also lies behind its lack of continuing appeal for me.

There is one thing, however, that troubles me most about The X Factor and is one of the main reasons why I have stopped watching it. This is the issue of the celebrity culture that it promotes. I may find myself laughing at some of the more hopeless contestants but beneath this humour I feel a genuine concern for what these people represent about British society. Their claims that they desire to be rich, famous and recognised throughout the world show how much Britain has come to idolise the celebrity lifestyle. Many people no longer desire to simply find a good job, buy a house, go travelling, make friends and start a family. They are fixated instead on the idea of being able to do something they enjoy, which requires little effort, which earns them astonishingly good money and allows them to access whatever they want in life.

I know that many people will say that I am being incredibly cynical and that the majority of the people who audition know that this dream will never come true. I should make it clear that I am far from being against the idea of dreams. Everyone has them in some form and they provide us with a vital source of ambition and pleasure. The problem with shows like The X Factor is that they give people unrealistic expectations of what to expect from life. They give young people the impression that they do not have to work hard and can be successful simply by having a lucky break. My fear is that many young people lack a realistic ambition as they are fixated on one that is likely to be unachievable for them.

I cannot help feeling that singing should not be a career but merely a hobby or a second job. Singers shouldn’t be able to become ridiculously rich but should merely take pleasure in the happiness that they bring to others. I know that they generate a lot of money for the economy by selling albums and tickets. I am also aware that this view is incredibly unrealistic in the 21^st century where the celebrity lifestyle has become ingrained in British culture and where people like Simon Cowell will always be willing to pay singers an extortionate amount but surely this money could be better spent in other ways.

I have no doubt that many more figures will this year find themselves inducted into the celebrity lifestyle through The X Factor and endowed with the prospect of fame and fortune. I hope there will be some who will emphasise that this lifestyle is just a dream and that people must work hard to succeed in life but I am not holding my breath.

Quiz shows and the value of knowledge

If you are one of those unfortunate people who have to work until 6:00pm every weekday then you will probably never have watched, or even heard of, ITV’s hit quiz show The Chase. Soon to return for its fourth series, The Chase is hosted by Bradley Walsh and pits a group of four total strangers against one of three quizzing geniuses known as the Chasers as they attempt to win thousands of pounds. Contestants have to secure money by individually answering general knowledge questions and must then outrun the Chaser by answering more questions in order to bring it back to the prize pot. Any contestant who is caught by the Chaser loses their money and is eliminated from the game. All the contestants who succeed in outrunning the Chaser, however, must then work as a team in The Final Chase by answering quick-fire questions to prevent themselves from being caught by the Chaser and to win an equal share of the total prize fund.

The chances of defeating the Chasers are slim but that has not stopped many from having a go. I have become one of the latest people to put myself forward by filling out the lengthy online application form. I know that I am unlikely to even receive an audition let alone make it on to the show but the prospect of winning money by pitting myself against one of Britain’s finest quiz brains is incredibly attractive. My support may always lie with the contestants when I watch the show but I have a great amount of admiration for the extensive knowledge of the Chasers. Their ability to quickly rattle off answers to a wide range of questions must have taken years of studying and considerable brainpower to achieve. I doubt my knowledge would be any match for theirs but it would still be fun to try.

After submitting my application, I found myself thinking back to a few years ago where a quiz show contestant made headlines for all the right but also all the wrong reasons. Gail Trimble was the captain of the Corpus Christi team for the 2008-2009 series of University Challenge and demonstrated amazing knowledge by scoring 125 points in the last four minutes of the show. Her achievement was not met with admiration, however, as she became the victim of a vilified hate campaign for being a know-it-all and too intelligent. It seems she would have found a greater reception from the public if she knew nothing at all. This certainly seems to be the impression given by much of today’s TV. The cast of reality shows The Only Way is Essex are idolized when many of them display a lack of basic intelligence. The show may have an entertaining appeal for some but I feel it demonstrates just how much our society has come to disregard the value of knowledge.

I can not help feeling disheartened at the way our society has come to shun knowledge for the truth is that no knowledge is bad knowledge. Every single little scrap of knowledge can be useful in some way. BBC 1’s quiz show Pointless where contestants win by giving obscure answers to questions is clear proof of this. I always allow myself to feel the smallest amount of smugness when I am able to answer a question which nobody else in my quiz team can. Nobody likes a boaster of course but I really don’t think there is any shame in taking pride in what you know. It’s what got the Chaser’s where they are today and which may allow me to get past them if I am given the chance and am very lucky.

Broken Britain

This week, Britain has witnessed a disgraceful spectacle which has appalled the majority of the population and caused considerable damage to our international reputation. What began as a reaction to the police’s shooting of Mark Duggan escalated into a full-scale assault against the very structure of society. The countless images of hooded thugs assaulting innocent bystanders, burning people’s houses and businesses to the ground and looting whatever they can is truly sickening. It is clear that such actions go far beyond anger at the death of an alleged drug dealer.

The riots raise many questions about the police’s judgement and their ability to deal with such outbreaks of violence. The most disturbing questions, however, revolve around why so many people were inspired to commit such acts of criminality. Why has a society that was a few decades ago one of the most ordered in the world descended to such a low level? The answers lie in the fact that Britain has undergone a continual decline in moral and social values. For many years I have argued that Britain had become a broken society. I received scornful retorts and was told that I was simply talking down society by clinging to dated and irrelevant views. I draw absolutely no comfort or satisfaction from being proved right this week.

In the last few decades increasing emphasis has been placed on adopting more liberal policies in Britain. While the thought behind such policies may have been well intentioned, the truth is that they have had the adverse effect of breaking down the very foundations upon which society is built. The previous government continually undermined marriage as an institution with the result that many children have grown up without a strong family base or a figure of authority to instil them with respect and guide them in their early years. The emphasis placed on criminal rights has also led to our justice system becoming a laughing stock. The increasing number of short sentences and community orders handed out to lawbreakers has left many feeling that they can escape being truly punished for their wrongdoings. The situation is summed up perfectly by the remarks of one fifteen year old rioter: ‘They can’t touch me, I’m still a kid […] What is the worst they can do?’ Give me a caution or a curfew I won’t obey’.

The scale of the violence we have witnessed seems to have finally awoken many to how bad the moral decline of British society has become. Ed Miliband has accepted that Labour bears a large amount of responsibility for undermining the ethics in today’s society. This long overdue admission has given me slightly more respect for the Labour leader as it suggests that he, at the very least, has come to realize that urgent action is needed to combat this problem.

The riots have also served as a wake-up call to David Cameron about the need to mend Britain’s broken society. In Opposition he made several fine promises which would have been important steps towards addressing the situation. To his great shame, however, the majority of these were dropped in the creation of the coalition and society has continued to descend into a moral black hole. He should recall his pledge to support marriage as an institution by ending the married couple’s penalty in the tax system as this would send out a clear message that the government values families as an essential part of a stable society. He should also bring in stronger punishments for criminals to make it clear that law-breaking of any kind will not be tolerated. Most of all, he should continue to emphasise the importance of the Big Society and the opportunity it offers to restore the moral and social standing of British society. It is only through making people realize that we can end the culture of individuality which has led many to feel that their own well-being is all that matters.

Cameron will undoubtedly find himself facing fierce opposition from the Liberal Democrats as well as many other groups if he does pursue such action. If he stays strong, however, Cameron has a unique opportunity to change society for the better and restore his sense of purpose and authority that has been considerably damaged in recent months. If he fails to do so, however, then I fear these riots may not be the last.

Downing Street E-Petiton's Website

It appears that despite the turmoil and bad news concerning Libya and the global economy this week, the public’s attention is more focussed on the resurrected e-petition system on the Downing Street website. First brought in by the previous government, but dropped before the 2010 General Election, it was recently revived by the coalition as a means of addressing voters’ increasing disillusionment with politics. The system allows members of the public to submit and sign petitions on issues that they believe should be considered by parliament. Any petition that attracts at least 100,000 signatures will be passed to the cross-party commons backbench committee who will decide if it is worthy of a parliamentary debate.

It is not altogether surprising that such a site has attracted considerable public attention. There are, of course, those who have treated the site as a joke by posting ridiculous suggestions such as making cannabis legal and making bodybuilding compulsory to improve the nation’s health. One petition in 2009, which attracted nearly 10,000 signatures, called for Jeremy Clarkson to be made Prime Minister (though let’s face it, he couldn’t have been much worse than Gordon Brown).

The majority, however, seem to have taken the site seriously by using it to promote issues that they genuinely believe in. The popularity of petitions calling for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union and a withdrawal from the European Human Rights Act  reflects how frustrated many Britain’s have become with the continual interference of the EU in the way that their country is governed. The fact that the most popular petitions of all support the reinstatement of capital punishment also shows how many feel that our current system is not doing enough to punish criminals and prevent them from committing more crimes. In effect, what the site is really allowing people to do is to highlight issues which politicians are refusing to confront.

The growing divide between politicians and the people who elect them in this country is a cause for serious concern. The problem, which I hoped would get better with the election of a new Parliament, has unfortunately continued to get worse over the last few years. This is mainly due to the coalition’s worryingly consistent record on breaking promises on issues like tuition fees, Europe and criminal justice. The electorate has been increasingly left feeling that they are being completely ignored by politicians. Many of them have lost faith in the political system to such an extent that they have simply stopped voting in the belief that politicians use them purely as a means of securing power so they can pursue their own agenda.

The Downing Street website may be gimmicky but it offers an opportunity for politicians to begin earning back the voters faith. Leader of the Commons Sir George Young has said that MP’s cannot simply ignore the voters when they express their views in this way which highlights the key strength of the site. Politicians will at last be forced to confront the issues that they often shy away from. Issues like immigration and the Human Rights Act will no longer be presented as mattering only to so-called right wing zealots but the legitimate concerns of standard voters. At the very least, politicians will be obliged to provide reasons for why they are ignoring issues which are of key importance to voters. They must seize this website as the first step down the long road of reengaging people with politics and restoring their faith in the political system. Failure may result in consequences more severe than any of us could imagine.  

Two-Tier Europe

The frenzy about the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed both Westminster and the media has resulted in remarkably little coverage of the continuing crisis in the European Union. As Greece moves ever closer towards defaulting on its massive debts and other economies including Ireland and Portugal look set to follow, the terrifying prospect of the Euro collasping becomes great. Make no mistake, just because we are not involved with the single currency does not mean that we are unaffected by its troubles. As our main trading partnerships exist within the EU, the collapse of its currency would have a very severe impact on our own economic recovery.

European Leaders met this week to thrash out a bailout package that they hope will save Greece's debt-drowning economy. My fear, however, is that such action merely provides a temporary solution and doesn't go far enough to deal with the intrinsic flaws with the Euro itself.

In the midst of this chaos, George Osborne has proposed transforming the EU into a 'two-tier' system. What this effectively boils down to is the more prosperous nations such as Britain should be set apart from the weaker ones to allow them to manage their economy and debts more effectively. Such a view is a rapid departure from the UK's long-standing convention regarding the EU. It will no doubt face huge oppostion from the Europhile Liberal Democrats and Labour who, for reasons best known to themselves, believe that Britain's best interests lie in handing more power and control to Brussels. By supporting such a system however, George Osborne and David Cameron not only have a chance to rescue the European Economy but to restore the Tories credibility regarding Europe.

One of the central reasons that I, along with nearly 11 million others voted Conservative at the last election was because the Tories promised to stand up to Europe and protect what was left of our sovereignty. Labour's acceptance of the Lisbon Treaty was in my opinion one of the greatest betrayals of any government in history. How dare they sign away the sovereignty we have held since the beginning of our democracy and which milllions have died to defend. The Conservatives have made some progress since coming into government but have failed to truly stand up to the ever-increasing grasp of the EU as expected. A two-tier union would provide an excellent opportunity by renegotiating our role in Europe and reclaiming some of our soverignty.

This is not to say that I favour a complete withdrawal from Europe as proposed by gropus such as UKIP. The trading partnerships within the EU are far too vital to our economy for us to withdraw completely. We must, however, stand up to the beast that the EU has become. That is why I urge David Cameron to stand up to any oppostion to a two-tier Europe and use it to fight for our right to make our own laws and manage our own economy.