Five members of an Islamic terror gang who planned a bombing campaign in Britain have been handed out life sentences at the Old Bailey today. The views of the gang are chilling, and will make disturbing reading for those who still believe hard-line Islamic views can be accommodated in a society which respects equality of the sexes.
Some gang members favoured bombing the Ministry of Sound nightclub in south London. One of the plotters, Jawad Akbar, was heard to reason: "No one can ever turn around and say: 'Oh they were innocent, those slags dancing around. '"
Can't they, Mr Akbar? Perhaps it's the old contrarian in me, but I think I will 'turn around' and say that 'slags dancing around', as you put it, are not deserving of being blown to kingdom come. Anyone who agrees with Mr Akbar on this issue should, I respectfully suggest, take the next flight out of the country.
Monday, April 30, 2007
In praise of 'Bobby'
With the huge amount of dross that passes for entertainment these days, it's a delight to watch a well-made, intelligent new film. 'Bobby', written and directed by Emilio Estevez, tells the story of the last 24 hours in the life of the radical politician Robert F Kennedy, who lost his life to the assassin's bullet at the Ambassador's Hotel, L.A. in June 1968. The film focuses on the lives of assorted characters who were in the Ambassador's Hotel that fateful evening, with numerous clips of Kennedy himself. It's a masterly work, which captures perfectly the enthusiasm engendered by Kennedy's candidature. (Oh for a politician of his calibre in America today!). The film ends with Kennedy's speech on the blight of violence in American society, which he gave on the occasion of the death of Dr Martin Luther King, just a few weeks earlier. It's one of the greatest political speeches of all time and can be read in full here. Kennedy's words are thought-provoking at any time, but are particularly poignant in the light of last week's tragic events in Virginia.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Profits of War
Another day in Iraq, another bloodbath. But hey, don't be despondent. Halliburton has announced increased profits for the first quarter. Who said there was nothing good to come out of the Iraq war?
Monday, April 23, 2007
A Box of Delights
Never visited Brussels? You've got a real treat in store.
Here's my article on the many delights of the Belgian capital from this week's Spectator.
How would you like to celebrate your fortieth birthday?, my wife asked me one morning at breakfast. How about going to our favourite city in Europe, I replied. So we did. We bought two return tickets on Eurostar and went to Brussels.
What is it that makes the Belgian capital so irresistible?
Firstly, the people. Brussels, along with Belgrade and Sofia is in the Premier league of European Friendliness. It’s not just Bron Waugh’s legendary ticket inspectors who seem to have a masters degree from the University of Charm: service everywhere is courteous, strangers are unfailingly helpful, the locals approachable and kind.
Secondly, there’s the highly un-globalised look to most of the main streets and squares. Although Brussels is the base for the EU and NATO, it has somehow avoided the mind-numbing uniformity that locking one’s country into ’Euro-Atlantic structures’ usually entails. It has the lowest per capita number of McDonalds of any Western European capital city; Pizza Express, Pret a Manger, Starbucks and other ubiquitous British high street names are conspicuous by their absence. Arriving in Brussels from clone town UK plc never fails to lift the spirits: one is reminded just how boringly standardised one’s own country has become.
Thirdly, linked to two, there is the wonderful variety of bars and cafes.
Jazz bars, themed bars, Parisian style pavement cafes, smoky neighbourhood dens; bars that simply define bohemian. Among my favourites are L’Archiduc, a fabulous Art Deco establishment close to place St Gery, where live jazz can be heard every Saturday afternoon for free; Le Greenwich, just round the corner in Rue Des Chartreux, where you can watch the regulars play chess and backgammon until the early hours; the sublimely decadent Goupil Le Foul, with its sink-in sofas and dimmed red lights and walls covered with the memorabilia of legendary chansonierres and the simple but enchanting ‘bruin café’ Au Daringman in Rue De Flandre, where the ever-cheerful owner/proprietor Martine serves, five nights a week, from behind the bar.
What makes the night life in Brussels such a pleasure is not only the extensive range of beers (over 400), and the sensible smoking policy (smoking is still allowed in pubs and cafes which don't serve food), but that people live in the city centre and as a result you can still, especially in the Ste Catherine district, find bars filled with locals. ‘We live in a village’ our arts teacher friend in Au Daringman told us: the clientele that night included a ten year old boy with his parents, an incredibly sweet pensioner called Carmen who lived just across the road, a teacher of Russian called Veerle and her student friend Ine, a disc jockey- cum-market seller called Philip and a former film producer who used to be on the committee for deciding which Belgium film was nominated for the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars. Compare that with the usual bunch you meet in your local Yates’ wine lodge.
Fourthly, again linked to point two: there is the incredible selection of specialist, individually owned shops. The cosy network of streets between La Bourse and Le Grand Place are a particular delight: choc-a-bloc with outlets selling second hand records, lace, chocolates, stamps, comic books, costume jewellery, waffles and much more beside.
Fifthly, there are Brussels’ museums. One of my favourite areas of the city is the Parc De Cinquintaire: walk through the gigantic triumphal arch commissioned by King Leopold to mark Belgium’s golden jubilee in 1880- and you will find not just one, but three of Europe’s most fascinating collections- the enormous Musees Royaux d’Art and Histoire (with its superb selection of tapestries) the Musee Royal De L’Armee et d’Histoire militaire (which traces the history of the Belgian Army from its independence in 1839 to the present day) and Autoworld, a collection of over one hundred automobiles housed in one vast aircraft-hangar style building. Don’t miss too the largest collection of musical instruments in the world in La Musee des Instruments de Musique, housed in the stunning Old England building (the view from the top floor is worth the admission fee alone).
The sixth wonder of Brussels is the food. Whether you’re snacking on pommes frites avec mayonnaise bought from a Turkish vendor outside La Bourse or going for the full works in rue Des Bouchers, quality- and good service- is guaranteed. For £10 you can eat as well in Brussels as you can for £100 in London, something which probably explains the hostility of Clement ’I never could see the point of Belgium’ Freud. You can’t go wrong anywhere in Brussels; but three of our favourite eateries are ‘Le Mouton D’Or’ on rue Des Bouchers, Plattesteen, a traditional café/restaurant near La Bourse which offers superb three course lunch-time menus for just 12 Euros; and the incomparable ’Fin De Siecle’ on rue Des Chatrueux (next door to Le Greenwich), with its long wooden tables, blackboard menu, enormous portions (the filets de volaille and lapin a la kriek come highly recommended) and an ironwork spiral staircase which is challenging when sober and potentially lethal after your fifth glass of Leffe Brune.
Last but not least, there is the architecture. The Grand Platz is rightly regarded by as the most beautiful square in Europe, but if its Gothic magnificence is not enough, the city also has a marvellous collection of art nouveau buildings. One of the best is architect Victor Horta’s own house and studio at rue Americaine, now fully open to the public as a museum.
In short, Brussels is a treasure trove, which even after several visits still throws up new delights. Now, thanks to the wonders of modern engineering you can be there in less than two and half hours by train from London for less than the return fare to Manchester. What on earth are you waiting for?
Here's my article on the many delights of the Belgian capital from this week's Spectator.
How would you like to celebrate your fortieth birthday?, my wife asked me one morning at breakfast. How about going to our favourite city in Europe, I replied. So we did. We bought two return tickets on Eurostar and went to Brussels.
What is it that makes the Belgian capital so irresistible?
Firstly, the people. Brussels, along with Belgrade and Sofia is in the Premier league of European Friendliness. It’s not just Bron Waugh’s legendary ticket inspectors who seem to have a masters degree from the University of Charm: service everywhere is courteous, strangers are unfailingly helpful, the locals approachable and kind.
Secondly, there’s the highly un-globalised look to most of the main streets and squares. Although Brussels is the base for the EU and NATO, it has somehow avoided the mind-numbing uniformity that locking one’s country into ’Euro-Atlantic structures’ usually entails. It has the lowest per capita number of McDonalds of any Western European capital city; Pizza Express, Pret a Manger, Starbucks and other ubiquitous British high street names are conspicuous by their absence. Arriving in Brussels from clone town UK plc never fails to lift the spirits: one is reminded just how boringly standardised one’s own country has become.
Thirdly, linked to two, there is the wonderful variety of bars and cafes.
Jazz bars, themed bars, Parisian style pavement cafes, smoky neighbourhood dens; bars that simply define bohemian. Among my favourites are L’Archiduc, a fabulous Art Deco establishment close to place St Gery, where live jazz can be heard every Saturday afternoon for free; Le Greenwich, just round the corner in Rue Des Chartreux, where you can watch the regulars play chess and backgammon until the early hours; the sublimely decadent Goupil Le Foul, with its sink-in sofas and dimmed red lights and walls covered with the memorabilia of legendary chansonierres and the simple but enchanting ‘bruin café’ Au Daringman in Rue De Flandre, where the ever-cheerful owner/proprietor Martine serves, five nights a week, from behind the bar.
What makes the night life in Brussels such a pleasure is not only the extensive range of beers (over 400), and the sensible smoking policy (smoking is still allowed in pubs and cafes which don't serve food), but that people live in the city centre and as a result you can still, especially in the Ste Catherine district, find bars filled with locals. ‘We live in a village’ our arts teacher friend in Au Daringman told us: the clientele that night included a ten year old boy with his parents, an incredibly sweet pensioner called Carmen who lived just across the road, a teacher of Russian called Veerle and her student friend Ine, a disc jockey- cum-market seller called Philip and a former film producer who used to be on the committee for deciding which Belgium film was nominated for the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars. Compare that with the usual bunch you meet in your local Yates’ wine lodge.
Fourthly, again linked to point two: there is the incredible selection of specialist, individually owned shops. The cosy network of streets between La Bourse and Le Grand Place are a particular delight: choc-a-bloc with outlets selling second hand records, lace, chocolates, stamps, comic books, costume jewellery, waffles and much more beside.
Fifthly, there are Brussels’ museums. One of my favourite areas of the city is the Parc De Cinquintaire: walk through the gigantic triumphal arch commissioned by King Leopold to mark Belgium’s golden jubilee in 1880- and you will find not just one, but three of Europe’s most fascinating collections- the enormous Musees Royaux d’Art and Histoire (with its superb selection of tapestries) the Musee Royal De L’Armee et d’Histoire militaire (which traces the history of the Belgian Army from its independence in 1839 to the present day) and Autoworld, a collection of over one hundred automobiles housed in one vast aircraft-hangar style building. Don’t miss too the largest collection of musical instruments in the world in La Musee des Instruments de Musique, housed in the stunning Old England building (the view from the top floor is worth the admission fee alone).
The sixth wonder of Brussels is the food. Whether you’re snacking on pommes frites avec mayonnaise bought from a Turkish vendor outside La Bourse or going for the full works in rue Des Bouchers, quality- and good service- is guaranteed. For £10 you can eat as well in Brussels as you can for £100 in London, something which probably explains the hostility of Clement ’I never could see the point of Belgium’ Freud. You can’t go wrong anywhere in Brussels; but three of our favourite eateries are ‘Le Mouton D’Or’ on rue Des Bouchers, Plattesteen, a traditional café/restaurant near La Bourse which offers superb three course lunch-time menus for just 12 Euros; and the incomparable ’Fin De Siecle’ on rue Des Chatrueux (next door to Le Greenwich), with its long wooden tables, blackboard menu, enormous portions (the filets de volaille and lapin a la kriek come highly recommended) and an ironwork spiral staircase which is challenging when sober and potentially lethal after your fifth glass of Leffe Brune.
Last but not least, there is the architecture. The Grand Platz is rightly regarded by as the most beautiful square in Europe, but if its Gothic magnificence is not enough, the city also has a marvellous collection of art nouveau buildings. One of the best is architect Victor Horta’s own house and studio at rue Americaine, now fully open to the public as a museum.
In short, Brussels is a treasure trove, which even after several visits still throws up new delights. Now, thanks to the wonders of modern engineering you can be there in less than two and half hours by train from London for less than the return fare to Manchester. What on earth are you waiting for?
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A Culture of Violence
What do you get if you allow your television and film screens to be bombared with violence, make it easy for people to obtain guns and run an economic system which encourages competition but not solidarity? The answer is this.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Faster, Cheaper, Greener, Sexier... and state-owned
Why are some people still reluctant to concede that publicly-owned railways work better than privately-owned ones? This letter of mine appears in this week's edition of The Spectator.
Dear Sir,
In his eulogy to the wonderful French railway system, Neil Collins "French trains: faster, cheaper, greener, sexier", Spectator 7th April 2007, fails to mention one important difference between French railways and their British counterparts: SNCF is owned by the French government, whereas British train companies are owned by private shareholders. For an awful long time we have been brainwashed by free market fundamentalists into believing that anything owned by the state is always going to be more inefficient than anything privately owned: the continued success of France's railways and the expensive post-privatisation chaos which exists in Britain and which is experenced by millions of commuters on a daily basis, proves that it simply isn't true.
Yours faithfully,
Neil Clark,
Dear Sir,
In his eulogy to the wonderful French railway system, Neil Collins "French trains: faster, cheaper, greener, sexier", Spectator 7th April 2007, fails to mention one important difference between French railways and their British counterparts: SNCF is owned by the French government, whereas British train companies are owned by private shareholders. For an awful long time we have been brainwashed by free market fundamentalists into believing that anything owned by the state is always going to be more inefficient than anything privately owned: the continued success of France's railways and the expensive post-privatisation chaos which exists in Britain and which is experenced by millions of commuters on a daily basis, proves that it simply isn't true.
Yours faithfully,
Neil Clark,
Monday, April 16, 2007
So, you want to live in a democracy?
This piece of mine appeared in Saturday's Morning Star.
After an absence of thirty years, America’s finest detective finally returned to British television screens last summer. The decision of the BBC to re-screen several episodes of the classic 1970s whodunit series Ellery Queen, with Jim Hutton as the deceptively absent minded sleuth was a cause for unmitigated celebration.
Ellery Queen was a great programme not just on account of its ingenious plots and fine acting, or for its glorious recreation of late 1940s New York, but for the revolutionary way the audience was kept fully involved in proceedings. Ten minutes from the end of each episode, Hutton would turn to the camera and ask us, the viewers, if we had worked out "whodunnit". More often than not we hadn’t. Ellery Queen mysteries were always hard to solve, even if all the clues had been up there on the screen before our very eyes, but the point was that we were consulted.
Unlike much of television today, Ellery Queen was a programme which didn't treat us like idiots, but as reasoned, intelligent human beings.
How different to our political masters in the so called "democratic world".
Rather than consulting us, the people, and acting in our interests as ought to happen in a democracy, our politicians treat us with contempt and pander only to the interests of global capital. One opinion poll after another shows majority public support for the renationalisation of the railways, yet neither of our two main political parties went into the last election promising any change in the status quo. A clear majority also want to see British troops withdrawn from Iraq, yet again, both of our leading parties continue to support the occupation. The reintroduction of a new top rate of income tax, caps on executive pay and the end to the creeping privatisation of the NHS are other popular policies which Britain's political elite won't even countenance. There are many others.
The type of democracy which the political elite in Britain, the US and Brussels favour is not the dictionary definition of 'rule of the people', but a much more restricted form which can only be described as 'Henry Ford democracy'. The famous American automobile manufacturer said his customers could have any colour car they liked so long as it was black: Henry Ford democrats tell us we can elect any government we like, so long as it's neo-liberal and supports the New World Order.
Woe betide the people if they vote for parties Fordian democrats deem to be "off limits". For having the temerity to elect Hamas, Palestinians were punished with suspension of aid. Fordian democracy was again illustrated in the peevish US and EU reaction to January's elections in Serbia. Despite European and US exhortations, the Serbs voted "the wrong way" by making the anti-Nato, EU-sceptic Radicals the largest party in the new parliament. Straight away, Serbs were told that 'the international community' would not accept a government in which the country's most popular party played a role. Just how democratic is that?
Instead of allowing the disciples of Henry Ford to set the agenda, the left ought to be going on the offensive. Socialists have nothing to fear about the move to a more direct, consultative democracy: it's the sham Fordian democrats who should be worried. The first step in building a genuine democracy, as opposed to the current mutation, is root and branch economic reform, a process which Hugo Chavez is currently undertaking in Venezuela. Whoever holds economic power holds political power, so an extension of public ownership and measures to redistribute wealth are essential prerequisites.
Neo-liberalism is inconsistent with democracy as it leads to political power being transferred from the ballot box to the wallet, which is why Henry Ford democrats insist on countries running "market economies". Only when an unelected chairman of a multinational company has no greater influence in the political process than you or I, can we even begin to label our country "democratic".
Of course, democratising Britain doesn't mean that we, the people, will always get decisions right in the same way that we don't always work out who the murderer is in Ellery Queen. But the main thing is that in a country which calls itself a democracy, it's the majority and not a tiny unrepresentative, warmongering elite who should be making the calls.
Adolf Hitler was against democracy because he thought it would inevitably lead to socialism. He was right. It's time for some Ellery Queen politics.
After an absence of thirty years, America’s finest detective finally returned to British television screens last summer. The decision of the BBC to re-screen several episodes of the classic 1970s whodunit series Ellery Queen, with Jim Hutton as the deceptively absent minded sleuth was a cause for unmitigated celebration.
Ellery Queen was a great programme not just on account of its ingenious plots and fine acting, or for its glorious recreation of late 1940s New York, but for the revolutionary way the audience was kept fully involved in proceedings. Ten minutes from the end of each episode, Hutton would turn to the camera and ask us, the viewers, if we had worked out "whodunnit". More often than not we hadn’t. Ellery Queen mysteries were always hard to solve, even if all the clues had been up there on the screen before our very eyes, but the point was that we were consulted.
Unlike much of television today, Ellery Queen was a programme which didn't treat us like idiots, but as reasoned, intelligent human beings.
How different to our political masters in the so called "democratic world".
Rather than consulting us, the people, and acting in our interests as ought to happen in a democracy, our politicians treat us with contempt and pander only to the interests of global capital. One opinion poll after another shows majority public support for the renationalisation of the railways, yet neither of our two main political parties went into the last election promising any change in the status quo. A clear majority also want to see British troops withdrawn from Iraq, yet again, both of our leading parties continue to support the occupation. The reintroduction of a new top rate of income tax, caps on executive pay and the end to the creeping privatisation of the NHS are other popular policies which Britain's political elite won't even countenance. There are many others.
The type of democracy which the political elite in Britain, the US and Brussels favour is not the dictionary definition of 'rule of the people', but a much more restricted form which can only be described as 'Henry Ford democracy'. The famous American automobile manufacturer said his customers could have any colour car they liked so long as it was black: Henry Ford democrats tell us we can elect any government we like, so long as it's neo-liberal and supports the New World Order.
Woe betide the people if they vote for parties Fordian democrats deem to be "off limits". For having the temerity to elect Hamas, Palestinians were punished with suspension of aid. Fordian democracy was again illustrated in the peevish US and EU reaction to January's elections in Serbia. Despite European and US exhortations, the Serbs voted "the wrong way" by making the anti-Nato, EU-sceptic Radicals the largest party in the new parliament. Straight away, Serbs were told that 'the international community' would not accept a government in which the country's most popular party played a role. Just how democratic is that?
Instead of allowing the disciples of Henry Ford to set the agenda, the left ought to be going on the offensive. Socialists have nothing to fear about the move to a more direct, consultative democracy: it's the sham Fordian democrats who should be worried. The first step in building a genuine democracy, as opposed to the current mutation, is root and branch economic reform, a process which Hugo Chavez is currently undertaking in Venezuela. Whoever holds economic power holds political power, so an extension of public ownership and measures to redistribute wealth are essential prerequisites.
Neo-liberalism is inconsistent with democracy as it leads to political power being transferred from the ballot box to the wallet, which is why Henry Ford democrats insist on countries running "market economies". Only when an unelected chairman of a multinational company has no greater influence in the political process than you or I, can we even begin to label our country "democratic".
Of course, democratising Britain doesn't mean that we, the people, will always get decisions right in the same way that we don't always work out who the murderer is in Ellery Queen. But the main thing is that in a country which calls itself a democracy, it's the majority and not a tiny unrepresentative, warmongering elite who should be making the calls.
Adolf Hitler was against democracy because he thought it would inevitably lead to socialism. He was right. It's time for some Ellery Queen politics.
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