Littlebitofpolitics
I love the fact that the government has just revoked export licences for arms to Bahrain, because they're worried that any weapons sold might end up being used for slightly unsavoury purposes, like, oh I don't know, the gunning down of anti-government protesters perhaps. I'm sure up until now all munitions purchased by the Bahrainis (Bahrainers? Baha Men?) from ourselves have been put to nice, friendly uses.
The revolutionary events taking place in the Arab world have been quite an eye-opener really. Before this year I didn't really have a clue as to the political situation in these countries. Having read a lot more about Mr Mubarak and his ilk lately, it's easy to see why the Western powers had been quite happy for folk to remain in the dark. Egypt, for example, was regarded as a tourist hot spot who were nice to our friends the Israelis - not like those nasty other Arab types in Lebanon, Iran and suchlike.
Now we know that it was a repressive dictatorship all along, but hey, they co-operated with us so what's the suffering of a few million Arabs between friends? The reaction of the US government to the protests, as they attempted to distance themselves from Mubarak and his cronies while simultaneously attempting to pretend they were never that close in the first place, was excruciating to watch.
Hypocrisy has been in plentiful supply, it has to be said.
Not quite as weighty a matter, certainly not one of life and death, but still no less fascinating is the upcoming AV referendum. It's clear that the Alternative Vote system gives voters more of a say as to who ends up in power, and it's clear that we are one of the tiny minority of modern democracies who don't use any form of PR for our national elections.
Sadly, it's also clear that most Labour and Tory politicians are quite happy with the current system, thank you very much, as it makes sure that the two big parties remain as top dogs. And it seems that most of the population is likely to agree with them - witness the general bemusement after last year's election about what a coalition would be like, and then try telling people that having that kerfuffle every time would be better than a straightforward, decisive victory for one party.
Then factor in that heading the Yes campaign will be Nick Clegg, who would struggle to win a popularity contest against Richard "do me a favour love" Keys at this point, and all the signs point to a crushing disappointment for us progressive leftie types on May 6th. (Ignoring the bit where the Lib Dems actually wouldn't have got many more seats under AV in the last election anyway.)
Still, referendums are pretty rare and therefore quite exciting. To me, anyway. I suspect lots of folk won't be bothered either way, and now that a 40% turnout won't be required for the result to be valid, apathy may end up being the best chance for the Yes supporters. We shall see.
The revolutionary events taking place in the Arab world have been quite an eye-opener really. Before this year I didn't really have a clue as to the political situation in these countries. Having read a lot more about Mr Mubarak and his ilk lately, it's easy to see why the Western powers had been quite happy for folk to remain in the dark. Egypt, for example, was regarded as a tourist hot spot who were nice to our friends the Israelis - not like those nasty other Arab types in Lebanon, Iran and suchlike.
Now we know that it was a repressive dictatorship all along, but hey, they co-operated with us so what's the suffering of a few million Arabs between friends? The reaction of the US government to the protests, as they attempted to distance themselves from Mubarak and his cronies while simultaneously attempting to pretend they were never that close in the first place, was excruciating to watch.
Hypocrisy has been in plentiful supply, it has to be said.
Not quite as weighty a matter, certainly not one of life and death, but still no less fascinating is the upcoming AV referendum. It's clear that the Alternative Vote system gives voters more of a say as to who ends up in power, and it's clear that we are one of the tiny minority of modern democracies who don't use any form of PR for our national elections.
Sadly, it's also clear that most Labour and Tory politicians are quite happy with the current system, thank you very much, as it makes sure that the two big parties remain as top dogs. And it seems that most of the population is likely to agree with them - witness the general bemusement after last year's election about what a coalition would be like, and then try telling people that having that kerfuffle every time would be better than a straightforward, decisive victory for one party.
Then factor in that heading the Yes campaign will be Nick Clegg, who would struggle to win a popularity contest against Richard "do me a favour love" Keys at this point, and all the signs point to a crushing disappointment for us progressive leftie types on May 6th. (Ignoring the bit where the Lib Dems actually wouldn't have got many more seats under AV in the last election anyway.)
Still, referendums are pretty rare and therefore quite exciting. To me, anyway. I suspect lots of folk won't be bothered either way, and now that a 40% turnout won't be required for the result to be valid, apathy may end up being the best chance for the Yes supporters. We shall see.
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