Following the course of the riots in London, that have now spread to Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol is disturbing. For those on the ground it is frightening. The Guardian has a live feed which is worth keeping an eye on if you want the latest news.
What stemmed from a peaceful protest against the police shooting of Mark Duggan has turned into full scale lawlessness, looting and senseless damage and violence. There can be no excuse for the violence and damage being inflicted in what are mainly working class neighbourhoods. People’s homes and livelihoods are being trashed. I see Mr Duggan’s family and friends have condemned the rioting as well.
There are some interesting comments on the Guardian site on the issues of social exclusion, unemployment and lack of respect for authority that might lie behind the lawlessness.
One youth crime expert made this extremely depressing observation
Many of the people involved are likely to have been from low-income, high-unemployment estates, and many, if not most, do not have much of a legitimate future,” said criminologist and youth culture expert Professor John Pitts.
Unlike most people, some of those looting had no stake in conformity, he said. “Those things that normally constrain people are not there. Much of this was opportunism but in the middle of it there is a social question to be asked about young people with nothing to lose.”
Its pretty earlier to draw conclusions and I am not in a position to make a judgement on this from this far away, but it is clear that any sense of being bound by social norms is irrelevant to the hundreds of young people involved. Pitts made one further observation about where we have reached as a society (globally) that is worth thinking about too
A generation bred on a diet of excessive consumerism and bombarded by advertising had been unleashed, he added. “Where we used to be defined by what we did, now we are defined by what we buy. These big stores are in the business of tempting [the consumer] and then suddenly these people find they can just walk into the shop and have it all.”
It is a scary time for everyone in the parts of the UK where the riots are taking place, and most of us will know people nearby. Lets hope the rioting will stop soon, and as the UK Deputy PM has said the work can start to re-build the communities. That will take some time, and will need to look not just at the horrendous actions of those involved, but the root causes that lie beneath.
Posted in Riots, London, UK and Foreign Affairs. |
Last week I went to Brussels as part of my programme. Charming place. Easy to get around, nice people. About now though, some of those people (and my goodness there are a lot involved in the EU bureaucracy) are very worried indeed. As at tonight the Irish government have asked for, and the EU Finance Ministers (and IMF) have agreed to a massive bailout package for the Irish economy.
It had to happen of course. There was no way that the EU would allow the Irish economy to collapse. The effect on the rest of Europe would be huge. But questions are being asked around Europe about how much more the taxpayers of Germany, Italy, UK and others can continue to stump up. Greece, Ireland, the question seems to be who is next?
When we were in Brussels views varied, but there is pressure on the EU. No budget has been agreed for the coming year, there is concern about the long sterm stability of the Euro, and there is limited progress in trade talks. Financial pressure in individual countries, including here in the UK are causing people to ask serious questions about the EU.
Except the serious questions dont seem to extend to questioning some of the economic decisions that got countries like Ireland into trouble in the first place. There seems to be a stark lack of debate around enhanced regulation in the finance sector for instance.
There is certainly benefit for EU member countries of the relationship they have forged. But the financial stresses of recent times and those that are still to come, may cause a re-think on how that relationship looks in the years to come. A smaller, leaner EU may yet be the result.
Posted in EU and Foreign Affairs. |
I am off to the UK to represent the NZ Parliament at the UK International Parliamentary Governance Seminar starting on Monday. It is going to be a fascinating event. We are based in London for a couple of weeks, with side trips to Brussels to visit European Commission and Parliamentarians and to Cardiff to visit the Welsh Assembly. The time in London is devoted to understanding the Westminster system, the UK justice system, devolution and work on different forms of governance and representation. The seminar is attended by MPs from around the Commonwealth.
It looks like it is going to be really interesting and valuable for me as a relatively new MP. During the seminar and after I will also be meeting various contacts in the UK system, both in government and opposition and civil society.
In the interests of disclosure, yes this is a Parliamentary funded trip, so you will see the cost of it show up on an expenses release at some point in the future.
I will blog on the seminar itself, but also on happenings in the UK. It is going to be a fascinating time to visit with the coalition government bedding in, and huge cuts taking place in the public services. So, tune in for politics UK style. (and probably a bit of sporting discussion too.)
Posted in CPA and Foreign Affairs. |
Hilary Clinton’s visit, and the Wellington Declaration were a good marker post in the improvement of NZ/US relations. This has been developing over the last few years under both Labour and National and is, to state the obvious, a good thing. NZ and the US have far more in common than we differ on. Our relationship with the US is critical, not just because they are a global superpower but because there are great opportunities for us in the relationship.
What is interesting for me, though, in the wake of the visit is where we are heading in terms of the defence realtionship. Today’s stories indicate that the warming relationship might see us “playing war games” in the very near future. I think this is an area where we need to tread carefully, for two principal reasons.
First, we have deliberately and clearly staked out our independent stance in a post-ANZUS world. Some level of training and engagement will be beneficial but the government needs to be very clear about setting our own priorities, and where our limits and boundaries are. Are there any caveats in place to how the relationship will develop, or is it full steam ahead to a neo-ANZUS strategic relationship?
We may well continue to differ on occasion on strategic and politicial issues and we need to be able to differentiate and limit our involvement where that is appropriate. The government needs to give us some indication of how they will manage this to protect the indepdendence of our stance if, for instance, another Iraq situation comes along.
The second issue is around funding. The more we engage in a deeper defence relationship with the US the more costly that will be. Now some of that cost might be justified, but if I know some elements of our military it will be milked for all it is worth. There are a lot of other priorities, not only in terms of defence forces but also the wider Budget.
A steady improvement in our relations with the US is welcome, but in our enthusiasm for this its vital we do not try to re-create a version of the ANZUS era, the time of which has passed, and lose the strong and independent place we have carved for ourselves on the world stage.
Posted in Defence and Foreign Affairs. |
“Punching above our weight” is one of the most over-used phrases to describe New Zealand’s international presence, but today’s entry into force of the Cluster Munitions Convention is an example of our ability to take a leadership role in global debates. Along with Austria, Ireland, Mexico, Norway and Peru we were the core group of countries that led the push for a ban.The convention bans the use and production of cluster bombs. These are munitions that contain a number of small bomblets and are used to cover a large area and act as a deterent to advances by ground troops. The reality is that many civilians are affected by them, because just like landmines they litter the ground after conflict is over.While China, Russia and the US are still to sign up, and the campaign will go on, the fact that more than 100 countries have signed, and now 30 have ratified is a sign that the international community are well and truly behind this convention.New Zealand government Ministers (particularly Marian Hobbs and Phil Goff) and officials played a leading role in getting the convention finalised, including hosting a crucial negotiations here in 2008. The real drive has come from NGOs, and in particular from Mary Wareham. Mary has been a tireless campaigner on this issue, and I know just how thrilled she will be to see the convention come into force.If you want to find out more information about cluster munitions and the campaign to ban them check out this website
Posted in Human Rights, Disarmament and Foreign Affairs. |
