A very brief note this week, devoted to Nelson Mandela. Nick highlights his statement and points us towards the debate that will take place in the House of Commons tomorrow. We also discover that Paddy spends time on his phone at the dinner table. He wouldn’t get away with that in LDV Towers.
A very sad week. I never met Nelson Mandela but, like many of you, I’ve also never known the world without him in it. This weekend it feels like an emptier place.
I was having dinner with Ming and Paddy when Paddy saw the news on his phone and broke it to us. Here’s the statement I issued on the party’s behalf.
I don’t normally encourage you to tune into parliament, but on Monday MPs will fill the Common’s benches to pay our respects and show solidarity with the people of South Africa. I’ll be working on my statement over the weekend and I’ll make it clear, from all of us, that the Liberal Democrats will continue to strive for peace, equality and dignity around the world.
These are the values Nelson Mandela gave everything for. Fighting for them is how we keep his memory alive.
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Perhaps some mention of the Treasury’s autumn statement might not have gone amiss. Will Hutton has helped out in the Observer:
Osborne wants to take us back to 1948. Time to look forward instead
… Next year the coalition – deputy prime minister Nick Clegg supporting Cameron and Osborne – is aiming to legislate that the reduction of the deficit on this scale and speed should be a statutory obligation. Stunningly – apart from some allegedly effective new measures against tax avoidance, and asking non-residents to pay capital-gains tax on the sale of their homes – all of the work is to be done by cutting spending, by a cumulative £75bn in ways yet to be specified.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/08/george-osborne-spending-cuts
A News report on Mandela that will probably not be covered by Nick Clegg, the BBC or mainstream UK media –
” Though considerably less harsh on Israel than his successors in the African National Congress, Mandela was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and its leaders. He dubbed Yasser Arafat “one of the outstanding freedom fighters of this generation” following the death of the Palestinian leader in 2004.
On Sunday, PLO Executive Committee members Hanan Ashrawi and Hanna Amireh attended a special service in memory of Mandela, who died Thursday, at the Holy Family Church in Ramallah. Special services and masses commemorating the South African leader were held across the West Bank, Ashrawi’s office said in a statement.
For Mandela, Ashrawi said following the service, “Palestine was not a question of solidarity or advocacy, but was [a cause] that he internalized and participated in as one of us. The linkage between South Africa and Palestine that Mandela spelled out was one of shared principles and struggles, primarily for self-determination, freedom, and human dignity.” ”
To read the full piece go to –
http://www.timesofisrael.com/for-palestinians-mandela-was-one-of-us/