1. Ukraine frenzy in Parliament

Hoping to hear details of the budget from the Chancellor I switched on Parliamentary Questions on Wednesday the 26th of November. What I heard instead was an orgy of Russophobia, with MPs of all parties lambasting the ‘aggression’ of the Russian state, or as Edward Leigh MP called it, ‘the Bear’. According to another MP the Russian Federation is led by ‘the killer Putin’. Yet another lady MP, close to tears, enquired of the Prime Minister what he was going to do about the tens of thousands of children abducted from Ukraine by Vladimir Putin. The intellectual level of this session was roughly that of a junior school playground on a wet Friday afternoon. Dissent from the mob view was clearly out of the question.

In theory, Parliament is expected to provide intellectual and moral leadership for the UK on both domestic and foreign affairs. Political parties are, in theory, expected to provide distinct points of view, to challenge established narratives and to ensure that a proper debate occurs on matters of grave concern to the state. None of this happened. Instead the MPs present lashed themselves into a competitive state of fury about the very possibility that discussion might take place concerning the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. No account was taken of the desirability for the British people of restoring good relations with the Russian Federation or of ensuring that all the people who currently inhabit the 2014 borders of Ukraine have their concerns taken seriously. The unanimity displayed was consistent with that of a mob consumed by a desire for war at any price. 

Can a country that conducts its foreign policy in this manner properly be called a parliamentary democracy? The conduct of the current parliament makes that questionable.

Dave Gardner.

2. The Digital ID kill-switch

We saw with Covid lockdown how any sense of reality could be pushed out of the window with Police squads giving Granny a caution for one too many walks in the park. The Boys in Blue were only too ready to be the physical ‘kill switch’. Likewise with ‘Free Palestine’. With Digital ID we welcome in the ‘electronic kill switch’ linked to your bank account, your NHS entitlement… everything you have been encouraged to use. We’ve all been blocked on Facebook… welcome to ‘being suspended for not following community guidelines’ in real life.

Paul Moor, South West Workers Party