Tag Archives: uganda

Opinion: Ideas are great, but don’t be trapped by ideology

By Graeme Littlejohn | Wed 13th March 2013 - 10:55 am

As though I have regressed to a version of myself more than two decades in the past, a question I often get asked these days is “why did you do it?”

People are interested to discover that despite having a well paid and relatively secure job with the Liberal Democrats in Scotland at a crucial time in our country’s history, and having just bought my first home, I decided to leave it all behind and move to Africa to work for Volunteer Uganda, a charity which strives to alleviate poverty through education.

As a mischievous child, impulsive, some would say reckless, …

Lord Avebury writes… Gay asylum-seekers: we’ve come a long way, but much still left to achieve for LGBTI people around the world

By Eric Avebury | Fri 15th February 2013 - 1:28 pm

It is estimated that worldwide more than 175 million people, some three times the population of the UK, are at risk of persecution because of their sexual orientation. Seventy-six countries criminalise consensual same sex relations, among them 54 countries of the Commonwealth.

Hatred against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people is deeply entrenched in the culture of these countries, and their elected governments reflect the prejudice of the masses. They know that persecuting LGBTI people is contrary to international law, and leads to friction with donor nations.

In the case of Gambia, when EU representatives were due to …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged asylum, equalities, gay rights, LGBT rights and uk border agency | 25 Comments

Mike Hancock welcomes Ugandan gay deportation case deferral

By Stephen Tall | Sat 20th August 2011 - 11:00 am

Richard Flowers reported here on Lib Dem Voice last week Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock’s grave concerns for a Portsmouth constituent facing deportation back to Uganda — Robert Segwanyi is gay, and argues he was imprisoned and tortured in his home country, where homosexuality is illegal. (Michael Andrewes, Mr Hancock’s constituency researcher offered further background in the Voice’s comments thread here.)

For those who supported Mr Hancock’s campaign on behalf of Mr Segwanyi there is some welcome news courtesy of the BBC website:

‘Gay’ Ugandan asylum seeker’s deportation deferred

A Ugandan man living in Portsmouth who says he will be

…

Posted in News | Also tagged gay equality and mike hancock | 1 Comment

Opinion: Lib Dems promoting human rights abroad

By Jonathan Baldie | Sun 8th May 2011 - 2:23 pm

As a Liberal Democrat member*, I’m proud of the fact that our party is in government, with ministers making tough choices about the UK.

While most attention is on electoral reform and tuition fees, I want to steer your attention towards foreign policy. In the Foreign Office there is one Lib Dem minister, Jeremy Browne MP. He takes the responsibility in the FCO for human rights policy among other things.

Mr Browne recently made an excellent Q&A video on YouTube last month, focussing on the UK’s action on promoting foreign policy abroad:

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david kato, human rights and jeremy browne | 6 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 11 February 2010

By Alex Foster | Thu 11th February 2010 - 8:11 am

Well, let’s see. First the earth cooled. And then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil. Then it was February 11th and time for Daily View, on this, Canadian actor Leslie Nielson’s birthday.

He shares the date with the Beast of Bolsover, Dennis Skinner, and Caribou Barbie, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Other notable occurrences today include the death of Sylvia Plath in 1963 and the début of Julia Child’s US TV show The French Chef in 1963. If you’ve never seen it before, go see Julia making omelettes.

2 Cheerful Stories

British Retail’s “irreversible downward spiral”

The Guardian has news that some British towns and cities have so many empty shops they may never recover:

Many of Britain’s towns and cities are suffering from such huge shop vacancy rates that they risk becoming ghost towns, wiping hundreds of millions of pounds off property values, a study revealed yesterday.

Cities such as Wolverhampton and Bradford, where nearly a quarter of shops lie empty, could be on an irreversible downward spiral as a result of the financial crisis. The research by the Local Data Company shows retail vacancy rates across Britain rose 2% in the past six months of last year to 12%, with some towns seeing as much as 24% of its shops lying empty.

“As much as 24%” ? What’s wrong with “Almost a quarter” ?

Oh, and NB, the photo in the story is my home city Nottingham. I’m not sure where it was taken, but it’s not really typical of the city.

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged andrew reeves, beast of bolsover, dennis skinner, eric avebury, inequality, john prescott, julia childs, leslie nielson, nottingham, retail, retirement, sarah palin and taylor dayne | Leave a comment

Peter Tatchell writes … Is Museveni the new Mugabe?

By Peter Tatchell | Wed 20th January 2010 - 3:45 pm

Peter Tatchell reports on Uganda’s drift to authoritarianism …

Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, was once seen as the country’s great democratic saviour. Increasingly, he is becoming ever-more tyrannical, repeatedly violating the democratic and human rights principles of the African Union, United Nations and the Commonwealth. The international community is mute. It colludes with his regime.

How odd. World leaders readily condemn President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan – but they happily fund and support Museveni. Why the double standards? How can they justify such silence and inaction?

President Museveni’s Ugandan critics say his regime is a constitutional …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged yoweri museveni | 16 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 17 December 2009

By Alex Foster | Thu 17th December 2009 - 10:06 am

Good morning, and welcome to Daily View. Today we’re wishing happy birthday to children’s author Jacqueline Wilson and commemorating the death of Dorothy L Sayers.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Auntie’s moral compass flushed down the toilet as BBC asks “Should gays be executed?”

Caron takes the BBC down for a particularly crass way of starting a debate on Ugandan policy. Particularly unfair in that the BBC ban homophobic contributions, so presumably anyone who thought gays should be executed wouldn’t be allowed to say so.

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged BA, bbc, cancer, caron lindsay, dorothy l sayers, gay execution, gay rights, jacqueline wilson, leaders tv debate, peter black, sandi the cat and Willie Walsh | Leave a comment

Social mobility: is the Coalition doing enough to encourage it?

Stephen Tall asks: "Did Nate Silver write in vain?"

Nick Clegg: "Of course the EU has to change"

"Mad, swivel-eyed loons": a top Tory on the Tories

Tag Archives: uganda

Opinion: Ideas are great, but don’t be trapped by ideology

Lord Avebury writes… Gay asylum-seekers: we’ve come a long way, but much still left to achieve for LGBTI people around the world

Mike Hancock welcomes Ugandan gay deportation case deferral

Opinion: Lib Dems promoting human rights abroad

Daily View 2×2: 11 February 2010

2 Cheerful Stories

Peter Tatchell writes … Is Museveni the new Mugabe?

Daily View 2×2: 17 December 2009

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

Most Read

Op-eds

Recent Comments

Social mobility: is the Coalition doing enough to encourage it?

Stephen Tall asks: "Did Nate Silver write in vain?"

Nick Clegg: "Of course the EU has to change"

"Mad, swivel-eyed loons": a top Tory on the Tories

Tag Archives: uganda

Opinion: Ideas are great, but don’t be trapped by ideology

Lord Avebury writes… Gay asylum-seekers: we’ve come a long way, but much still left to achieve for LGBTI people around the world

Mike Hancock welcomes Ugandan gay deportation case deferral

Opinion: Lib Dems promoting human rights abroad

Daily View 2×2: 11 February 2010

2 Cheerful Stories

Peter Tatchell writes … Is Museveni the new Mugabe?

Daily View 2×2: 17 December 2009

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

Subscribe

Most Read

Search

Op-eds

Recent Comments