Outside looking in

EuroPride 2010 - Nick Herbert MP visits Warsaw

2010-07-19T20:48:00.006+02:00

On Saturday 17th July EuroPride was held in Warsaw, Poland. Europe's premier gay pride event was for the first time held in eastern Europe and in one of the new EU member states. Warsaw has consistently held gay pride events since 1998 but in this devoutly catholic country the opposition to such events is always vocal and sustained. In 2004 and 2005 official marches were not authorised by Lech Kaczynski, the late President of Poland and at that time President of Warsaw on the grounds of protecting public morality and that he was against "propagating a homosexual lifestyle."

With the European spotlight falling on Warsaw, the city authorities were keen to avoid any bad publicity but at the same time were hardly fulsome in their support. The Mayor, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz was conspicuous by her absence as she was on holiday. Could you imagine the mayors of Berlin or London missing a 'Pride' event? A heavy police presence was in evidence as counter demonstrations by nationalist/fascist groups were also organised.

The main political party in Poland that supports gay rights is the socialist SLD that sprang from the loins of the old Communist Party. How ironic that after the Communist Party curtailed people's freedoms for so many years their progeny is now fighting for peoples rights whilst the opponents of the former regime are woeful in their support. Also ironic is that members of SLD should be rubbing shoulders with UK minister Nick Herbert, Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs and the highest ranking gay minister in the coalition government. David Cameron despatched him to Warsaw as a sign of support and solidarity for homosexuals in the region. It is a particularly significant gesture after Cameron's decision to link up in the European parliament with the party of Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski - Law & Justice (PiS) who have consistently opposed gay rights.

Nick Herbert was visible riding in the lead float of the parade and witnessed first-hand the egg and bottle throwing by far right thugs at the start of march. This is a timely reminder to people in the UK who enjoy the carnival atmosphere of Pride in London that in the east of Europe at least people are still fighting for their rights. It was also a testing environment due to the 35 degree heat but despite this the protesters maintained their good humour and the 3 hour march through Warsaw concluded with a rally in Constitution Square addressed by amongst others Nick Herbert and Dustin Lance Black Oscar winning screenplay writer of the biopic 'Milk'.

Paxman - not all have been as good as Clegg

2010-04-13T10:16:00.000+02:00

After Clegg's successful interview last night here is a reminder of people who have acquitted themselves less successfully at the hands of Paxo. It should be said though that these people certainly had more to hide. No wonder Cameron and Brown won't acquiesce and appear on Newsnight.

13 May 1997

Michael Howard vs Paxo - interview regarding the sacking of prison governor, Derek Lewis

03 June 2009

William Hague vs Paxo - interview regarding the status of Tory donor Lord Ashcroft

Warsaw in mourning

2010-04-12T15:18:00.000+02:00

Living in Warsaw has been a very strange experience since the air crash in Smolensk, Russia on Saturday which claimed the life of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria. The details of the tragedy have been well documented by the various news outlets and will continue to be carried for the next few days.

15 MPs including two deputy speakers of the Polish Parliament, the heads of the armed forces, the head of the National Bank of Poland and countless other civil servants, dignitaries and relatives of those who died at the original Katyn massacre were also killed. It has shattered the political establishment and the country is in a deep state of shock and collective grief. Although the President was a controversial figure, whose party 'PiS' are in coalition with the Tories in the European Parliament, most people are looking beyond that to the human tragedy that has led to hundreds of people having lost family, friends and loved ones.

The one positive that seems to have emerged so far is that the overwhelming openness and cooperation shown by the Russians has led to a thaw in what was a very frosty relationship between the two nations not least because of the original Katyn massacre. The sight of Putin hugging Polish prime minister Tusk has held up as a sign of solidarity on behalf of the Russians.

As a catholic nationalist Kazcynski upset many people with his traditional conservative approach particularly to foreign affairs and gay rights. Twice as Mayor of Warsaw he banned gay rights marches and members of his party have held anti-semitic and homophobic views. His passing may mean that his party moves on to a new era but knowing the fluidity of Polish politics the party is just as likely to collapse or be absorbed into another party. The President's twin brother and leader of 'PiS' survives him but it remains to be seen whether after such a devastating event their party can survive beyond the cult of Kaczynski.

The 'Northern Offence' - squaring the circle

2010-04-08T15:59:00.000+02:00

With the Lib Dems 'Northern Offence' strategy now underway I was reminded of David Dutton's excellent book 'A History of the Liberal Party' (Palgrave 2004) and in particular the opening chapter that focuses, amongst other things, on the emergence of the Labour Party and its effect on the fortunes of the Liberal Party at that time. Whilst there are many reasons as to why the Liberal Party went into a period of sharp decline it is only right that as we head into the 2010 General Election we should reflect on this period of British political history to try and learn some lessons. It may also serve the Labour Party to reflect on this and how people who feel unrepresented and taken for granted can turn on their political leaders.

In the latter part of the 19th century, by far and away the biggest problem for the Liberal Party was its relationship with the working class voter and how they could gain their votes without upsetting the middle classes who were its traditional support. This sounds very much like the problem the Labour Party is having in 2010 but with a slight twist. How to keep the support of the middle classes without frightening off the working class completely. It seems that this is something they managed to do successfully in 1997 but now after 13 years of rule they risk losing a large amount of support, haemorraghing middle class voters to the Tories and the Lib Dems and losing core working class support not only to the Lib Dems but disturbingly to the BNP too. The message here is quite clear. If you don't look out for the needs of those you represent or hope to represent, they will find someone else who does or in the case of the BNP, they think does.

It might come as a surprise to many in the Lib Dems and in the Labour Party that Keir Hardie, Arthur Henderson and the first Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald all sought unsuccessfully to be Liberal candidates. The Liberal Party turned their backs on these people who were then instrumental in the creation of the labour movement and the formation of today's Labour Party. MacDonald in particular was very disappointed that the needs of the labour movement could not be met by the Liberals at that time.

It would therefore be an interesting squaring of the circle if the Lib Dems manage to make inroads into the North in 2010 and into constituencies which it at one time neglected to represent properly. Could the Labour Party be about to be taught a lesson that the Liberals learnt at their hands some 100 years before?

My active GE campaign is over - or is it?

2010-04-06T18:46:00.000+02:00

After a brief sojourn in the UK for Easter I am back in Warsaw just as the campaign proper gets underway. My first feeling after Gordon Brown fired the starting pistol was one of frustration. I won't be able to sample the cut and thrust of the daily politics on the doorstep and instead will have to make do with my view from the outside of the goldfish bowl.

During my stay in Brighton I managed to get to Eastbourne, leave a donation and deliver a few leaflets (in what must have been the smallest street in the UK!) but will this amount to the apex of my help during the 2010 GE campaign? The answer to this has to be a resounding no but what can I practically do to help the Lib Dems from my vantage point on foreign soil? Here are my list of things which anyone can effectively do to actively be involved in the GE (with the aid of a laptop) from anywhere in the world.

1. Make a donation

Go the Lib Dem website and check out the target seats asking for donations or donate to the party centrally (check out the rules on donations over £500 if you are being so generous!)

2. Renew your membership

If like me your party membership is due to expire after the election then renew it before to give the party extra money for its coffers.

3. Social networking

Use sites like facebook and twitter to promulgate the Lib Dem message giving it the widest possible positive coverage to friends, family and colleagues.

4. Encouragement

Encourage friends who are standing in the election as MPs (or councillors) or those treading the streets and posting leaflets to ride out the rough times, bad weather, angry voters (and their dogs!) and to just keep going.

5. VOTE!

I hope that anyone who is living abroad has already arranged a proxy vote or has arranged to vote at their embassy. If you are returning to the UK I believe you have until April 20th to get yourself registered.

Of course with 24 hour news channels and the internet keeping me updated I will be passively involved but come May 6th I will feel that having done all of the above, I will also have actively contributed to the result.

Should we be hung up on a hung parliament?

2010-03-30T20:39:00.003+02:00

With the polls narrowing and the Conservative’s lead diminished, many column inches have been filled chewing over the possibility of a hung parliament. Whilst journalists and commentators find this idea obsessively interesting I am not sure that the general populous are as fixated. To me, the possibility of a hung parliament demonstrates that the public at large are generally dissatisfied with a tired and worn out Labour government but not ecstatically enthusiastic about the Tory alternative. This coupled with a general disillusionment with the political process means that the political future of the UK is very much up for grabs.

The spectre of a hung parliament is something that could make or break a third party in the run up to polling day. Who will the Lib Dems support? Are they left or right leaning? Will the party tear itself apart over a deal with another party? All such questions have already been asked even though the campaign proper is yet to begin. Clegg who has been wary of being painted into the position of ‘kingmaker’ was quick to insist that the position of kingmaker is one that lies with the British people and the party with the biggest mandate will have the right to seek to govern.

The question of ‘the biggest mandate’ is of course a somewhat vexed question as under the current electoral system it is possible for the party with the biggest number of votes not to be the party with the largest number of seats so how the issue of deciding who has the mandate of the British people could be rather contentious. That said, Clegg was right at this stage to knock this issue into the long grass.

As a pluralist party who believe in a proportional voting system, which would in most cases produce a coalition government, I would not want the Lib Dems to rule out cooperation with any party at this stage. It would seem to me to be rather foolhardy to commit yourself so early to one outcome when the electors could deliver a very different result on polling day.

Another important factor in the debate about hung parliaments is that the Lib Dems are not the only players in this scenario. Whilst it is unlikely to see a cabinet of Conservatives and Nationalists in a hung parliament, support from the Northern Ireland Unionists (DUP & UUP) would be a logical step for the Tory party to make if they were in fact the biggest party.

In many ways amongst the debate and discussion about hung parliaments more fundamental and telling statistics are being obscured. Nick Clegg highlighted in his speech to the Lib Dem 2010 spring conference that in the 1951 general election only two percent of voters chose another party other than Labour or Conservative. In 2005 that number had increased to 32%. It proves that the vice like grip that Labour and the Conservatives had on the electorate has been loosened, weakened and stretched to such a point that not only is the time right for a change in the electoral system but that people are much more willing to put their faith not only in the Lib Dems but also in smaller, alternative parties.

After Vince Cable’s performance last night on Channel 4’s ‘The Chancellors’, I am increasingly convinced that the Lib Dems can have a serious effect on the outcome of the election. With the leaders debates and many campaign twists and turns yet to come the focus should not be on who will work with who but what a Lib Dem government can deliver for people if they are elected.

Exploding Euro myths

2010-03-27T17:44:00.000+01:00

As we head toward the General Election the spotlight will undoubtedly at some point fall on the Lib Dems pro-European credentials. The right-wing media very often likes to exploit this as a supposed Lib Dem weakness. Of course much of the anti-European sentiment that has been whipped up has been based on half-baked myths about 'Brussels bureaucracy' and to this end I thoroughly recommend Catherine Bearder MEP's excellent page on 'Euromyths' which appears on her website.

http://www.bearder.eu/pages/Euromyths.html

It is up to us as Lib Dems to take the argument to eurosceptics and expose their motives. Whilst I disagree with the views of left-wing campaigners such as Tony Benn, I can respect his euroscepticism as being one of democratic principal. What I cannot accept however, is the rather xenophobic views of the right who would withdraw us from the EU and effectively neuter us in the wider world purely for an outdated and abstract idea of sovereignty.

Whilst by no means perfect, the EU has ensured peace and security within its borders since its creation and this is something that is often overlooked when commentators analyse the 'failures' of the EU. It also represents the best hope for the economic future of the European continent in the face of the rise in the economic power of China, India and the far-east and also in tackling the environmental challenges that no doubt lay ahead.

To repeat a well used maxim; stronger together, weaker apart.

Competent Cameron?

2010-03-26T19:46:00.000+01:00

As this has already been blogged about in great length I won't add much other than to say that the self-styled prime minister in waiting needs to get a grip on his brief if he hopes to get a grip on the country. It is rather worrying that having created, with great fanfare, a new grouping in the European Parliament, Cameron seems to have very little idea as to what they are doing there. For gay people who are considering trusting Cameron and the Tories with their vote, this suggests that the Damascene conversion supposedly undergone by Cameron and the wider party is nothing more than political expediency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBlDfp85gP8

Hello, good evening and welcome!

2010-03-26T19:20:00.000+01:00

As a long standing Liberal Democrat, avid news hound and political junky who lives in Poland I have decided to blog on current political events as we head towards the UK General Election in 2010.

For obvious reasons I have named my blog 'Lib Dan - outside looking in' and I hope that my perspective of being in another country will allow me to view political events with a degree of distance and objectivity. That said, one of the reasons that I am able to connect with you is through the medium of the blogosphere which is symptomatic of the shrinking world in which we live.

I also hope to provide some insight into the politics of Poland and how this can relate to the UK. As we have seen in recent months with the linking of the British Conservatives and the Polish Law & Justice (PiS) parties in the new right-wing grouping in the European Parliament our interests are often closely entwined and in the aforementioned case, with controversial consequences.

I very much welcome constructive comments and discussion.

Happy blogging!

Lib Dan