UN Mission Ends

The UN has suspended its mission in Syria today. Robert Mood, the head of the UN mission cites the increasing violence as the reason for suspending the mission.  He says that Syria has become too dangerous for the UN monitors to carry out their duty safely.

I believe this marks a significant turning point in the whole saga, Russia and China will come under increasing pressure from Western and Arab nations to take action and to stop blocking any form of UN resolution. The Annan peace plan is in tatters, there is no ceasefire anymore (if there ever was) and it looks like Syria is going to slip further and further into violence and bloodshed.

The UN needs to take action as soon as it possibly can, I believe that a UN peacekeeping force should enter Syria, made up of soldiers from all across the globe. Assad must be forced to resign to allow a peaceful transfer to democracy.  Syria cannot be allowed to become another Bosnia, Rwanda or Lebanon, the international community must do something to help the rebels and prevent warfare. This is not sustainable.  

The Election of the Century

It’s not often that a country of 11 million people decides the fate of the entire world. But on Sunday the Greeks get that opportunity, and although my statement does seem outlandish, it’s not far from the mark. Many economists and political pundits are treating this as a referendum on Euro membership; Greeks are faced with a choice: Vote SYRIZA and leave the Euro but cut the austerity or vote for New Democracy or PASOK and stay in the Euro but continue to suffer humiliating austerity. Not an easy choice considering the Euro is supported by 80-90% of Greeks.

Although you would be forgiven for thinking so, the Greek economy is relatively unimportant. It isn’t a large economy and most banks don’t have huge exposure to it. But it’s the contagion effect, if Greece defaults then will fear spread in the markets. Many banks will begin to default; other weak economies such as Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain could collapse and require new bailouts. This would through most of the world into a recession; Obama would lose all hope of a re-election.

The weight of the world is on the shoulders of the Greeks, and nobody knows what to do.

Minister for Murdoch Survives Commons Vote

Jeremy Hunt managed to survive a parliamentary vote yesterday despite losing the support of the Liberal Democrats and having the opposition of the Labour party. One of the most notable moments was when the Shadow immigration minister, Chris Bryant directly accused Jeremy Hunt of lying. Despite the fact that you are not allowed to accuse ministers of lying in parliament, the speaker of the House allowed it this time.

The public are wondering why Cameron is continuing to back Hunt, despite his unpopularity and the widespread belief amongst the public that he was biased has lied to parliament and has broken the ministerial code. I am angry that more Conservatives did not vote against Hunt as they know damn well that he is guilty – they just don’t want to embarrass their party. To the two Conservatives who voted against Hunt, I congratulate, they put honour and decency before the party which is the way it should be.

Jeremy Hunt in Parliament Yesterday

Russia is Willingly Allowing the Escalation of Violence

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke 1770. This is one of the most common quotes to be attributed to WWII, when good men stood by in Italy and Germany and allowed the fascist regimes of Mussolini and Hitler to rise. I firmly believe that this can be attributed to Syria right now. The international community is still sitting on its hands, largely neutered due to Russia and China.

Hillary Clinton has issued a statement where she accuses Russia of lying; Russia claims that the only weapons they are sending to the Syrian Army will not be used against civilians. This claim is not believed by the international community, considering that all weapons available have been used against civilians. Clinton is using increasingly angry rhetoric, most people believe that she is trying to apply diplomatic pressure to Russia in an attempt to change Russia’s viewpoint.

The only problem is I think it will take a lot more pressure to change Russia’s mind. When Russia abstained over the Libya vote, and Libya turned out to be such a success Russia felt ignored. Now Russia is trying to show the world that it is still important and still powerful, by allowing the deaths of thousands. Russia may not be participating in the actual killing, but it is guilty by consent.

Months ago I would not have advocated military intervention, but now I believe it is the only thing we can do to prevent all out civil war between the different groups in Syria. What would be best would be an UN peacekeeping mission that would not take sides, but protect civilians.

The Assad regime cannot stay. It must stand down, or get blown up. 

Murdoch's A Liar!

The Inquiry had a big day yesterday, former PM and Chancellor Gordon Brown attended to give evidence to Lord Leveson. Also present was the current chancellor, George Osborne. Possibly one of the biggest moments of the Leveson Inquiry was when Gordon Brown flatly contradicted Rupert Murdoch over evidence given to the Leveson Inquiry. Both men spoke under oath, so if either is found out to be lying they could be in a lot of trouble.

When Murdoch gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry he claims that he received an angry call from Brown who said “your company has declared war on my party, so I have no choice but to declare war on your company.” Brown denies that any such conversation happened, so one of the men has to be lying. I would imagine most of the public would think that Brown is telling the truth and Murdoch is lying, Murdoch is a slimy man who cares only about making money and controlling politics. Despite the accusation of lying, Murdoch has issued a statement saying he stands by what he said.

It wasn’t the only thing that Brown revealed at Leveson, when giving her evidence Rebekah Brooks claimed that she had been given permission by Gordon Brown’s wife, Sarah Brown to publish a story. Brown denied than any sort of permission was given, which is understandable considering what the story was. When the Browns’ son was only four and a half month’s old the Sun (which Ms Brooks edited at the time) published a story on its front page that told the world that their son had cystic fibrosis. The vast majority of people will believe the Browns’ on this one, especially considering that they had yet to tell close family members. Even Louise Mensch, the Conservative MP most in love with the Murdoch media does not believe Ms Brooks!

Osborne’s appearance produced less headline material, yet he still denied emphatically that he or his party had got too close to the press, the Murdoch’s in particular. Osborne was questioned over his decision to hire Andy Coulson, just weeks after he resigned from the NOTW due to the phone hacking scandal.  

Today is another important day for the Leveson Inquiry with the former Prime Minister, John Major making an appearance.

Gordon Brown at the Leveson Inquiry

Neo-Nazi MP on the Run

Previously I have reported on the worrying rise of far-politics across Europe, including France, Germany, Norway and Greece. Unfortunately Greece has entered back into the fray with news that Ilias Kasidiaris is still at large, the Golden Dawn politician assaulted two left-wing, female politicians on live television last week.

After getting into a heated argument the facist MP threw water at Rena Dourou, a leading member of SYRIZA.  Liana Kanelli of the KKE Communist party then stood up to protest at Kasidiaris’ actions, his response was to hit her three times in the face. The assault caused protests against Golden Dawn to erupt across the country. Golden Dawn frequently tries to deny that it is a violent party and to many people this incident proves that Golden Dawn is a violent party.

Not long after the assault took place, a state prosecutor called for Kasidiaris’ arrest on suspicion of grievous bodily harm (we still have to say suspicion as he has not been convicted – despite the video). Unfortunately he has remained at large and Golden Dawn has refused to speak against Kasidiaris’ actions, despite the growing anger.

Despite the clear violation of the law and human decency it may not be such a bad thing.  Seeing the violent attack on TV has infuriated the Greeks and may cost it severely at the next election. Golden Dawn is currently polling at half of what it got at the General Election, a significant decrease. 

Red circle, the Neo-Nazi MP attacking the KKE member
Green circle, Ms Dourou of SYRIZA

*sigh* More Crisis in the Eurozone

The Eurozone crisis continues to dominate the airwaves today with reports that Spain will ask for a bailout by this afternoon. Despite these rumours the Spanish government is denying that it will ask for a bailout and it will be able to sort itself out. Yesterday Obama urged Europe to try and sort things out; he is fed up with the dithering and the lack of leadership at the heart of Europe. Obama knows that if Europe doesn’t sort itself out then the American recovery will be blown off course months before a re-election. Yesterday news came that Spain’s credit rating was downgraded to BBB by the ratings agency Fitch, which estimates that Spain will need between €60 and €100 billion to save its banks, pushing Spanish debt to 95% of GDP. This is unsustainable; the austerity already underway in Spain is only going to cause debt to rise and the economy to contract. Not what we want.

To be frank I’m fed up with the crisis in Europe, it’s CONSTANTLY in the headlines. Barely an evening passes by when I’m not hearing about the crisis in the Eurozone. The only break we got from it was when the news was all about the Jubilee last weekend! Europe has shown extremely weak leadership in this crisis and we are the only ones able to decide our fate. Europe must stand up and tackled the debt crisis, if we do not find a strong leader within the next few months the Euro, Europe and the social order of earth is doomed (OK – so a slight exaggeration, but my point is still valid).