Rolled-up Trousers

The preposterousness and absurdity of the BNP

Osama Saeed — 2009-05-24T11:02:14+01:00

It's been warned throughout this time of economic crisis, that rising unemployment could lead to a rise in racist tendencies.

But these last few weeks, rather than the country turning in on itself, it has been our MPs that have borne the brunt of anger from a united public. A persecuted and vilified minority they have become!

However, once this has died down a bit, it has also been predicted that the disaffection brought about by MP expenses could lead to a surge in support for the BNP.

I find this logic somewhat warped. Understandably, trust in Parliamentarians is at an all-time low. Everyone is talking about politics, so much so that Question Time was brought forward to a 9pm prime time slot this week.

But what would make anyone think that voting for thugs now wearing lipstick would make things better? The BNP hadn't even got into second gear before they were caught out lying on their election leaflets. Pictures of happy families, OAPs and British workers were found to be actors, and not even British ones at that.

They also had a picture of what was supposed to be an NHS doctor backing them. On the side of the leaflet featuring the now compulsory "British jobs for British workers" slogan, was a man with stethoscope and white coat saying:

"I'm voting BNP because I see what immigration has done to the NHS."

Given the contribution of Asian doctors in particular to the NHS over the last many years, this is a remarkable sector to target to show the pitfalls of immigrations. It should send a shudder to think of the repercussions if the BNP ever succeeded in removing all non-white staff from our hospitals.

Then there's this banner:

Because We've Earned the Right!

Trafalgar - The Somme - Dunkirk - D-Day - The Falklands

What on earth has any of this got to do with the BNP? Are they arguing for the Gurkhas to be given citizenship? Indeed, many soldiers from the Indian sub-continent fought in the World Wars. This means that their descendents have exactly the same claim to this heritage as Nick Griffin.

The BNP can't even get through one side of A5 without tying themselves up in all sorts of knots.

MPs aren't getting it

Osama Saeed — 2009-05-21T13:37:06+01:00

More revelations on MP expenses today. It keeps on coming.

It is horrific, but I also can't understand why weeks into this affair, MPs are still being undone by this.

Today, it's not like David Cameron's Etonian pal Bill Wiggin, or Geoff Hoon, have been caught unawares. They've had more than ample time to review their records and come clean before this was dragged out by the Daily Telegraph.

Surely any spin doctor would have told them that it's better to release news on your own terms rather than have someone else expose it.

But clearly they and many other MPs who we've still to learn about, haven't learned the lesson. What the public are looking for is honesty and transparency.

Today's lot, and tomorrow's, have sat around hoping that the Daily Telegraph wouldn't notice them.

It is not good enough and the public deserve better.

I also wonder how the rest of the media have let so many MPs stay silent on the matter even till now. So many of them have been hiding in the corner hoping this will all blow over. I would have thought that some good reporters somewhere would be trying to steal a march on the Telegraph asking every MP who hasn't been covered yet, whether all their affairs are in order, or whether they'd like to hold their hands up to their constituents and declare anything.

That's what I've been doing with Mohammad Sarwar, and we wait for a response.

Sarwar expenses response criticised

Osama Saeed — 2009-05-21T13:10:27+01:00

Media Release - 20 May 2009

Glasgow Central MP Mohammad Sarwar has come under fire for his response to the expenses controversy engulfing Westminster.

The Labour MP, who was fifth most expensive in the House of Commons last year, broke his silence on the matter by reacting to a statement from SNP Westminster candidate Osama Saeed (below), replying that he would publish his expense claims on his website at a later date.

However, questions have arisen on why there should be a delay on this when the House of Commons authorities gave MPs a copy of all claims in April, with some MPs already having placed the documents on their websites. Sarwar also did not comment on the legitimacy or otherwise of his expenses.

On Monday, he said on his website: "The current controversy over MP's expenses has, quite rightly, raised both concern and anger. I can confirm that once all details are made available by the Fee's [sic] Office, I will be publishing them in full on this website".

Commenting, Osama Saeed, the SNP's Glasgow Central candidate said:

"I welcome Mr Sarwar's prompt response to my request and his undertaking to publish all his receipts. However, he really needs to explain why there should be any time lag before publication.

"The House of Commons authorities have made copies of the documents available for well over a month now, with MPs taking the opportunity to redact information. If there has been no wrongdoing on his part at all, he should say so. At the same time, if mistakes have been made, it is better to be upfront and honest rather than dragging this out.

"Given the level of concern, anger and disgust there is amongst the public right now, constituents deserve to know the exact state of play with their MP."

[ENDS]

Media Release - 18 May 2009

Sarwar urged to publish expense claims

Glasgow Central MP Mohammad Sarwar has been urged to put all of his expenses onto his website, and to make a personal statement on the controversy that has gripped the country.

The call has come from the SNP’s prospective candidate for the constituency, Osama Saeed.

The most recently published figures showed the Labour MP listed as the fifth most expensive in the entire House of Commons, claiming £174,882 during 2007/08 [1,2].

While finishing high in the expense tables, statistics on Parliamentary activity meanwhile shows him to be seventh from bottom among Scottish MPs.

Commenting, the SNP’s Osama Saeed said:

“Westminster has been rocked for weeks now with a soap opera of sleaze. Meanwhile, Glasgow Central’s MP has said nothing on the issue. People round the country are extremely angry at what has gone on, and this constituency is no different.

“It is not good enough to either have to wait till July for the House of Commons to finally publish everything or rely on the media to do it for them. For the sake of transparency I urge Mr Sarwar to break his silence.

“He should place all receipts onto his taxpayer funded website[3] for scrutiny so that constituents can at the very least have peace of mind if everything is in order.”

[ENDS]

Notes

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8044207.stm
Mohammad Sarwar also finished as Westminster’s third most expensive MP in 2003/04, and Scotland’s most expensive MP. Figures for 05, 06 and 07 have not been readily available at the time of this release
Sarwar claimed the maximum available £10,000 Communication Allowance in 07/08

Dividing the colonies to extract the oil

Osama Saeed — 2009-02-16T13:24:29+00:00

The new revelations contained in the Times contain more than a whiff of the 'divide and rule' mentality. It's absolutely extraordinary that a proposal could seriously be floated in Whitehall to stoke up independence movements in Orkey and Shetland in order to redraw maritime boundaries all the better for London to take in North Sea oil revenues.

The tone of the proposals and the fact they could even be aired displays once again the utter contempt in which Scotland has been held by successive London governments. Scotland is seen as nothing short of a cash cow, only for us to be further mocked by being told that we’re too poor to be independent. In reality, they knew back then that had we been independent, we’d be running ‘chronic surpluses to a quite embarrassing degree’.

This is no small matter. These deceits have meant that where we could have invested in our national public infrastructure with substantial oil revenues for thirty years, we’ve instead got some of the poorest areas in Western Europe. We could be infinitely better off right now, and it is making Scots angry.

A sensible and long term policy on the oil wealth could also made us into one of the world's major players. Just look at the statistics which put Norway's oil windfall fund as the third largest in the world - bigger than Kuwait and Suadi Arabia's to name two famous oil producing countries.

It's not just a case of what we could have been - it's what we still can be too. There’s estimated to still be around 30billion barrels still under the North Sea, with around 40billion extracted so far. It's up to us - if we get a chance to vote on it next year.

Bashir Ahmad: Judged by the content of his character

Osama Saeed — 2009-02-10T23:53:00+00:00

Four days after Bashir Ahmad’s death, I’m still finding it difficult to think of much else.

Glasgow Central Mosque was jam packed for his funeral which took place only half a day later. It’s customary in the event of someone’s death to pay tribute to them, so it’s difficult to convey exactly what made him so special. There is a reason why literally everyone’s comments about him are to do what his manners and gentlemanliness though.

He came from a culture which puts great stock on hospitality, but from this background, no one excelled him. He had an old school quality. Speaking to people, I’m amazed at how many folk have been dined and plied with food at his house. Mangoes had been delivered to farflung places of the country, where Pakistan’s king of fruit had never been before. Even his family appear to be taken aback by the sheer volume of people telling them how some of his kind words had made them feel special.

Martin Luther King said that he dreamed of a day when people would be judged, not by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. And this is exactly the basis upon which Uncle Bashir was loved.

I first met him in 2003, and saw him in action first in his successful campaign to become councillor in Pollokshields. Even at that time, being an Asian in the SNP was to invite ridicule from sections of the community. The charge was variously that being in the SNP was a waste of time, was dividing the us all, and one day the party would be exposed to be a bunch of rightwing xenophobes. SNP is BNP, you see.

One episode will always stick in my mind during this election campaign. The Labour campaign seemed infinitely bigger, there were many of them all rosetted up, with vehicles bearing loudhailers circling the streets. The SNP campaign meanwhile seemed to consist solely of him. Outside the bustling polling station of Pollokshields Primary School, Labour supporters jeered and mocked. He would always take this with a quiet dignity though, and that’s what made me so happy for him when he won.

One of the ladies that was heaping opprobrium ended up slipping on the pavement. Divine retribution? But who was the first to help her up? Yes.

A lot is said about the position of Muslims in the country, and surely Bashir Ahmad’s story should be an instructive encapsulation of all that’s best about Scotland. Someone who was devout, that practiced and believed in Islam, campaigned till his death for the independence of his country. He was centrally involved in politics, and did so without compromising his faith and his values. In fact he was lauded for them on his death.

Bashir Ahmad is a loss not just to the Asian and Muslim communities, but to the country. When people talk of an imbalance in representation, it’s not that our views are not being represented, because you don’t need to be of a specific colour to do that. It’s just the country is now not getting a different perspective that comes from diversity.

I’ve been embarrassed by questions from many people about my own future, and filling the gap that’s said to exist in the Scottish Parliament now. There is no by-election to fight after the death, and for those who have not heard, Anne McLaughlin is now an MSP by virtue of being the next on the SNP’s Glasgow regional list of candidates from the 2007 election. She will not be happy about the circumstances, but I know that she is equipped to do a great job.

So the Scottish Parliament will in all likelihood remain all white till the 2011 elections when this will have to be resolved again. One thing I do know is that Bashir Ahmad inspired and encouraged a generation after him, and his work will continue.

Bashir Ahmad MSP RIP

Osama Saeed — 2009-02-06T22:26:40+00:00

The news has come through this evening that Bashir Ahmad MSP has died of a heart attack.

He was at home with his family. The suddenness has left us all stunned. People with him at work only an hour or two earlier say all seemed fine. From God we come and to Him is the return.

Uncle Bashir, as we called him, was a great man. The best. People admired him because he had those characteristics we all need - exemplary manners, a great nature, warmth and hospitality.

He was a history maker - Scotland's first ethnic minority MSP, its first Muslim MSP.

He epitomised the stereotype of the first generation Asian Scots. Graft, hard work, entrepreneurship. He was also different to most in our elder generation - through his civic engagement. I'm in the SNP largely because of him. In 2003, he made the effort to get to know a lot of us who'd been involved in antiwar activity. Not only had he blazed a trail that a number of us were to follow, but he encouraged and helped others to do so. Often, elders give lip service about getting young people involved - he meant it.

He set up the Scots Asians for Independence as a bridge between the party and the Asian community and there are a tranche of people that owe him a debt for that work. So many in BME communities lack contacts and role models, and that's what made this body so important.

For him, it wasn't about his own personal achievements or glory. His cause was independence. Whenever you were to meet him, most likely you'd be quizzed about what you were doing to achieve it. In more recent times, you could also sense his own personal frustration that with his years, he perhaps didn't have as much energy as he used to.

For me he'll always be an inspiration. Speaking to people this evening just reemphasises the esteem and fondness in which he was held. My thoughts and prayers with his family.

DEC appeal farce: Comment of the day...

Osama Saeed — 2009-01-26T23:49:17+00:00

.. goes to Adrian Wells of Sky News. Announcing his channel's solidarity with the BBC, he said:

"We have to, as an international channel, focus on our primary role and that is to report the story and not become the story."

Mission accomplished?

You can tell how unpopular the decision is even within the BBC. The 10'oclock news and Newsnight both showed clips of the advert in their news items about the episode, with website and phone number clearly on display in the bottom-righthand corner.

BBC must air the DEC appeal

Osama Saeed — 2009-01-25T18:10:07+00:00

The BBC have royally messed up with the farcicial decision not to broadcast the Disaster Emergency Committee's appeal for Gaza.

Thirteen of the UK's leading charities have come together to do a joint iniatiative for the region which was already a humanitarian catastrophe, even before the three week bombing by Israel. 80% of the people there were dependent on UN food because of the twenty month Israeli siege, with the UN running out of food in December.

Since then, 1300 dead, many more thousands injured, even more homeless. These agencies want to tackle this. For the BBC to question whether aid can be distributed, and in effect accuse the country's leading charities of lying about their abilities, is extraordinary.

The main reason the BBC have cited though is the impact this would have on their impartiality. I'm afraid that's totally shot to pieces now, but I don't think anyone can ever feasibly argue again that it's in favour of the Palestinians. It's bad enough they have contributed through their (lack of) reporting to a climate where they clearly have no recognition of the situation in Gaza. To now not just ignore the suffering, but to stop urgent assistance from being collected, is disgusting.

Anyone that would have complained to the BBC because they broadcasted the DEC appeal, would have been an inhuman voice not worth listening to. Pandering to the worst elements of society is an abdication of backbone and principles. Surely the BBC has better guidelines than that.

I urge everyone to complain urgently:
Phone: 03700 100 222
Web: http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/

UPDATE: Tony Benn has aired the DEC details in BBC interviews. Watch here. Love the way he gives not the phone number, not the url, but the snail mail address! Long live Tony Benn.

UPDATE 2: I've been sent this link from 2005 about BBC DG Mark Thompson's visit to Jerusalem on a pro-Israeli charm offensive with Ariel Sharon.

UPDATE 3: I hear that BBC Scotland's HQ has been occupied by Stop the War protesters who say they won't leave till the DEC appeal is aired

Bush and the neocons have gone. Time for Al-Qaeda to depart stage-right too.

Osama Saeed — 2009-01-24T00:32:38+00:00

If you were to plan out Barack Obama’s first few moves for him, rolling back the excesses of the Bush years would be the obvious moves. The closure of Guantanamo and other torture sites is welcome, as his statement that the choice between safety and values that we’ve been presented with by Bush, Blair and others over the last few years is a false one.

In future, tougher decisions face him. He must give real hope to the Palestinians, and pressure Israel to withdraw to 1967 borders. When Bush arrived in office eight years ago, it was just after Ariel Sharon had kicked off the second intifada. In the following years, a succession of Israeli conditions have been met including the cessation of suicide bombings and the replacement of Yasser Arafat. There are another set of Israeli demands now before they say they’ll do anything. Very little is ever asked of the Israelis though. The hands-off policy of the Bush administration led to the bloodbath seen in Gaza over the last few weeks.

It was Bush’s farewell speech that capped it all off though. Citing that there hadn’t been any attacks on US soil since 9/11 he crowed that he had kept the US safe since then – crassly ignoring the hit his allies took in Madrid, London and many other places. Spain decided that joining Bush’s war in Iraq had put them in the front line of terror.

The ‘war on terror’ only served to escalate hostilities. It hasn’t made anyone any safer - quite the opposite. Al-Qaeda meanwhile have been at it even longer than Bush, and have similarly ended up further away from their stated objectives. Their declaration of war on the US cited the grievances of US troops in the Middle East, US support for Israel, and for dictators in the Muslim world. All three of these indicators have become worse since 9/11. Their actions gave the neocons the pretext they needed to launch devastating wars, killing hundreds of thousands of people in the process.

George Bush has exited stage right. I hope Al-Qaeda do likewise. There is the chance of a fresh chapter, but it needs space, time and calm. As President Obama said at his inauguration:

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”

I hope so. The last thing we need at this moment is a terrorist spectacular that would kill off any chances of this. The only way we’re going to bring justice to the world scene is through the political process, and the strength of our argument and endeavour within it. It was always thus, and so many of us have always said it. After so many lives and years lost, now it could be our time.

There is an ‘eye for an eye’ going on and it is making the whole world blind

Osama Saeed — 2008-12-29T22:23:20+00:00

Yesterday's vigil for Gaza in Glasgow’s George Square was unbelievably well attended. Hundreds came at just 24 hours notice in a remarkable mobilisation. Similar events took place at the same time all over the world.

The strength of feeling amongst people about this is as strong as anything I’ve seen since the Jenin massacre in 2002 - even more so than with Lebanon a couple of years ago.

The terrorist attacks on Gaza have killed more people than in the Madrid bombings. More people than in Bali. More than in Mumbai. Many times more people than in London.

Most right thinking people condemn any terrorist attack regardless of the perpetrators, regardless of the victims.

The same cannot be said for our world leaders. Too many of them in the West, and the Arab world have double standards. Too many seek to justify the killing of innocents. Some are driven by ideology.

It doesn’t matter what you believe, or if you’re Israeli or Palestinian. You do not kill babies and children.

The Israelis say they are responding to rockets. Some Palestinians are calling for a Third Intifada. Violence met by more violence. Al-Qaeda say they are motivated by Western atrocities. The US say they are in Afghanistan and Iraq because of 9/11.

There is an ‘eye for an eye’ going on and it is making the whole world blind.

Once our anger at this atrocity has subsided we must redouble our efforts to make peace. Israel’s medieval 18 month siege on Gaza must end. The truce between Hamas and Israel said that the siege would end 10 days into it. Six months later the Gazans were still waiting.

For 60 years they were waiting for a state. Now they just wait for bread and electricity.

I'm back

Osama Saeed — 2008-12-29T22:19:12+00:00

2008 has not been a rich year of blogging for me, with the latter half of the year in particular yielding no posts at all.

I'd managed two to three years pretty consistently before that, and even picked up a few awards and accolades along the way.

I don't think I've dried up or come up against writers block as afflicts many. It's just getting time to physically write things up hasn't been there of late.

It's been an incredible last six months for me personally. There's been plenty to blog about, but I've just not been able to do it. So it's a bit ironic that as things get more interesting, I've not been able to share it.

So I'm going to give this another bash now. As well as thoughts on current events, I'll hopefully also be posting up some of the things that I've missed over the last period too. The end of the year is a good time to reflect on these things in any case.

Centre for Social Cohesion

Osama Saeed — 2008-06-30T00:42:45+01:00

This is an extended version of my article which appeared in yesterday's Sunday Herald.

We officially launched the Scottish-Islamic Foundation this week, with warm words of encouragement and congratulation from three of the country’s four main party leaders and the head of the Catholic Church for what may well be the most innovative, ambitious and forward-looking programme ever laid out by a Scottish Muslim organisation.

At the same time, we were baffled by a briefing put out by the gloriously named ‘Centre for Social Cohesion’ warning people against us. They don’t have as wide a remit as their name suggests, a quick scan of their website shows almost everything is on the topic of Islam and Muslims, and very few escape their wrath.

Their “research” was in reality nothing more than a quick Google job, and a negatively screened one at that. The tactic of these kind of hatchet jobs which emanate from London is to smear by association. Attaching Muslims with someone controversial is like the “six steps to Kevin Bacon” test. It’s a modern day McCarthyism.

We could disavow the A-Z of Muslim groups that are blacklisted, and one or two groups in London have gained celebrity criticising other Muslims on the drop of a hat in a game that never ends. They as a result have no friends, while we’re committed to working with our community in improving things wherever necessary. If there’s criminality involved, then let the police deal with it, but there’s not a hint of that.

We’re a new body with no links to anyone outside of Scotland. Amongst our objectives are the furtherance of human rights and freedom at home and in the Muslim world. These right-wing bodies though say we’re lying about this, that we hate democracy. Some even say this lying is part of our faith, which really is the language of Islamophobia. It’s impossible to win against such a gutter argument.

They say we’re promoting a form of Islam that separates Muslims from wider society, but then they rail against the political connections we have and the influence we apparently wield. Which is it? Melanie Phillips laughably wrote about “Omar Saeed” (sic) mounting an Islamist takeover and setting up a “Caledonian Caliphate” on England’s borders. This conspiratorial nonsense is very reminiscent of how Jewish people have in years gone by been demonised, you could call it the “Protocols of the Elders of Caledonistan”.

Let me finish by briefly furnishing you with my own research on CSC. They have a neocon agenda, and their director Douglas Murray indeed wrote a book entitled ‘Neoconservatism: Why We Need It’. He told the Pim Fortuyn Memorial Conference in 2006: “Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board”. Fortuyn was famous for saying Islam was "a backward culture" and that he was “in favour of a cold war with Islam”. Social cohesion indeed.

The CSC shares a building with Policy Exchange, another rightwing “stinktank’. Last year, PE were subject of a Newsnight investigation which claimed to have uncovered damning evidence that they had forged receipts of extremist literature they said they purchased from Britain’s mosques. Its head Dean Godson said he would sue the BBC. We are all still waiting. The dodgy report’s author, Denis McEoin, sits on the CSC’s board.

And the media outlets that carried this shower’s internet activities are now linked in with all this themselves.

42 days later

Osama Saeed — 2008-06-16T15:27:33+01:00

There seems to be some despondency amongst activists regarding the 42 days result, the cynicism of the DUP, and the betrayal of some on the Labour benches who said they would rebel only for them to lose their spines at the eleventh hour.

Chins up though, this has still to go through the House of Lords, who will hopefully reject it and send it back to the Commons for them to think again. We must all then keep the pressure up.

Hopefully if there is an impasse, there will be no acceptance of sham compromises like the meaningless sunset clause that was wheeled out during the passage of control orders. It is disgusting that the government is playing with our liberties like this., Already we can see how anti-terror powers are being abused, and it should make us all shudder to think that if an even more authoritarian government ever came in, then the framework for tyranny has already been laid down by this lot.

This is why I support the stand that David Davis has taken. Some have accused him of being on an ego trip, but I can't see how that is the case given that the public are on the side of 42 days, albeit I don't think they care about it that much though. I hope he exploits it fully as a platform for airing this vital issue. If re-elected, he will be the Martin Bell of civil liberties.

Contrast this with MP Mohammad Sarwar. A couple of months ago he told the world he had learned his lesson and would be rebelling this time. Everything he leaked to the media then still is true:

"Last time I voted out of loyalty with the Government.

But since then there has not been a single case where prosecutors or the police have asked for an extension beyond 28 days. Only six people have been held for 28 days – three of whom were released without charge. The Government should think twice about doing this."

Asked about the possible impact on the Muslim community, he replied: "They will be upset. Most people are very reasonable but they just do not see a need for this legislation."

The reason for the uturn on the uturn and him being a "happy man" is that the Home Secretary has said she'll look into making payments to anyone held for more than 28 days but is not later charged. Ever the businessman. Except in this case, he's quite literally sold out.

UPDATE: Here's more from Scotland Against Criminalising Communities on Sarwar:

Zahid Ali - a respected member of Scotland's Muslim community and co-chair of the Scottish Stop the War Coalition Committee - emailed him to say:

"I was dissapointed that you have chosen to disregard the views of your constituents and broader society yet again and voted with the government on the 42 day detention vote. Do you actually believe that detention for 42 days is necessary or did you vote for it because you were told to by your party whip?"

Mohammad Sarwar's reply was: "The independent poll held before the vote last week indicated that 70% of the public supported the 42 day detention period! Did you miss this, who did I not listen to in this circumstance when such a high number of individuals supported it."

Hassan Butt: I wasn't a terrorist

Osama Saeed — 2008-06-16T14:31:00+01:00

Astonishing turn of events chronicled by this Channel 4 video.

It turns out that reformed terrorist Hassan Butt isn't reformed at all - because he never had the links with Al-Qaeda he claimed to have.

A bit of questioning by the boys in blue had Butt singing like a canary.

He even arranged to have himself stabbed to show how he lived in fear from those he supposedly once fraternised with. This led Ed Hussain to write an article based on it:

In Manchester in April, Hassan Butt, a one-time jihadist who is now opposed to extremism, was stabbed and beaten for speaking out against fanaticism. He now lives in hiding. Why was this not reported in the mainstream media?

All of which must make us wonder - why would anyone want to make themselves out to have been an idiot terrorist? He and journalist Shiv Malik were planning a book about his 'experiences'. Must be some amount of money in this game.

Vote Ken

Osama Saeed — 2008-05-01T10:21:16+01:00

I'm by no means a stranger to London so I hope readers won't mind me giving a quick tuppence on the Mayoral elections today.

If Boris wins, it will be the most ludicrous result since Hartlepool elected a monkey as Mayor. At least there, the monkey had some connection with the town and had one fairly decent policy of giving out free bananas to schoolchildren.

Boris has been thrust into this because the Tories have no chance on winning this on ideas, and have gone for affability instead.

It is however obvious that it's only the rapidly declining part of the population he's not offended that see him like that though. London is genuinely diverse, and the ethnic mix works well. This does not happen by accident though. There could be flashpoints and times of crisis in the future, and the mayor has to be someone that can unite. As Johann Hari points out, we would only need to look at the riots in Paris to see the potential harm that inflammatory statements can cause.

But even more than that, surely you have to go with the person who has concrete ideas every time.

Home Sec: terror threat "severe" and "growing"

Osama Saeed — 2008-04-15T23:06:13+01:00

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith appeared in the News of the World this week defending the need for 42 days by 'exclusively' revealing statistics on the level of threat we face. 2,000 individuals are being monitored, 200 networks and 30 active plots.

This all rings a bell, and that is because these are just about the exact figures that MI5 chief, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, released in November 2006. At that time there were 1,600 individuals, 200 networks and 30 active plots.

So in the last one-and-half-years, the good news is that there are no more active plots and networks, and when Smith says the problem is "growing", we'll accept that she means just on the lone individuals front rather than networks and active plots which she also mentioned.

Can we also ask that of these 30 active plots how 'active' are they? Why have these people not been arrested yet?

'Fury over plan to teach Koran in schools'

Osama Saeed — 2008-03-29T18:58:59+00:00

Here's a classic example of how it's not just irresponsible reporting about Muslims in sections of the press, but there's an industry out there looking for ways in which to deliberately pedal hatred.

The NUT called for the abolition of faith schools at their conference this week. I've lifted the following from 5CC:

A quote from the NUT General Secretary about the subject (from this Press Association article):
"I believe that there will be real benefits to all our communities and youngsters if we could find space for pupils who are Roman Catholics, Anglican, Methodist, Jewish, Sikh and Muslim to have more religious instruction in schools.
You could have imams coming in, you could have the local rabbi coming in and the local Roman Catholic priest. If there were opportunities where they all talked together to the youngsters, what a fantastic example that would be."
You can probably guess the Express headline. Ready?

'FURY OVER PLAN TO TEACH KORAN IN SCHOOLS'. Marvellous!

As you should be able to see if you click on that Daily Express article though is that they have deleted it from their website. It's still up at its bedfellow the Daily Mail though, as well as the Evening Standard.

UPDATE: I hear that the BBC's headline on this was originally "New plans to teach Koran in classrooms', but was changed later in the day to "Call to offer faith class choice". I would have hoped that the BBC's antennae for non-stories would be better than that.

Latest poll makes it neck-and-neck in Glasgow Central

Osama Saeed — 2008-03-22T17:05:19+00:00

The latest opinion poll of Westminster voting intentions have given the SNP a seven point lead over Labour.

When entered into Electoral Calculus, this puts the SNP and Labour neck-and-neck in Glasgow Central.

This isn't entirely surprising given how positively the SNP government in Holyrood is viewed (click here). Alex Salmond is 75 points ahead of Wendy Alexander in popularity. Prescription charges are being abolished, free university education has been restored and council tax has been frozen.

Little wonder that when Salmond challenged the opposition to reject the SNP budget and have an election, they backtracked.

Labour will eventually have to come to the polls again, though on current performance, it seems unlikely Gordon Brown will do it next year.

Further bad news for Policy Exchange

Osama Saeed — 2008-03-22T16:40:56+00:00

The Sun and the Daily Mail have taken down their reports of last year's dodgy Policy Exchange report which purported to show evidence of extremism in British mosques. It was exposed by Newsnight that several of the receipts used in the 'research' were faked.

The British Muslim Initiative is continuing dialogue with other newspapers who have not done the same. It was telling that they gave good prominence to their original stories, but despite the juiciness of Newsnight's revelations, they were not so quick off the mark in criticising the think tank.

We are also still waiting for Policy Exchange's promised legal action against the BBC. As they say, don't hold your breath.

Control Orders in tatters

Osama Saeed — 2008-03-22T15:23:00+00:00

Good interview on the BBC website with Cerie Bullivant, who was one of those that absconded a control order last year amidst quite a bit of publicity.

In December he was cleared of breaching the control order and in February, the control order was quashed by the presiding judge.

The judgements surely leave the government's strategy in tatters. Control orders effectively place someone under house arrest when there is not enough evidence to arrest and prosecute them. Given how widely anti-terror powers are defined, this must mean there is very little on them indeed. When the powers were introduced, we were told that this may because evidence was gained from bugging, which was inadmissible in court, or intelligence sources would be compromised.

In Bullivant's case, he was at his home one day when police officers delivered the control order from the Home Secretary. It appears that not only was there no admissible evidence for not going through the normal anti-terror prosecution route with him, but there was no evidence at all. There may be a cloud over his friends, but this is no reason for imposing draconian punishments on him.

He then decided to go on the run before turning himself in after a month. Remarkably, he was cleared of breaching the control order because of the stress that the ordeal involved. Subsequently, all restrictions have been removed from him, despite the government trying to add more. However, as Bullivant said afterwards:

"Although I am very happy that this order has now been lifted, this draconian legislation is still continuing to ruin the lives of others and their families."