It's bad enough to have to put up with this smarmy individual on the tv, where there is an off button, and when you are feeling quite well. Imagine the horror of him standing at your bedside making political capital out of your misfortune.
So yesterday my heart went out to those poor people in a Lebanese refugee camp who had the misfortune to be alighted upon for that purpose, by the aforementioned prime minister.
Whilst he was there, and giving the locals a break from the dubious pleasure of his company, he took time to talk to the press and to berate other European countries for not doing enough in the circumstances, and demanding that they 'step up to the plate'.
This must have gone down well with the rest of Europe and in particular with Frau Merkel. Germany admittedly is now struggling and has had to temporarily close its borders to new refugees, but it should be remembered that last weekend it took 70% as many refugees as Cameron intends to accept in the next 5 years.
Other countries are doing sterling work. Even smaller states, including the very smallest, are taking some people.
At the same time Cameron and May, whilst accepting the scale of the crisis, refuse to do anything much but throw money at it.
In fairness it is true to say that the UK has sent a great deal of money as part of it's overseas aid budget (with one eye on the added advantage that it secures their G8 membership requirements).
But they want the refugees to stay ...well anywhere, as long as it isn't Europe. Despite the ridiculous overcrowding in terrible conditions of the camps in Lebanon and Jordan, they think that these countries should take more, and that the countries of North Africa should set up holding camps.
I'm not sure if I were a refugee that I'd particularly want to be in Egypt or Libya... and not even Tunisia since the Arab spring (so much supported by the UK government) and since the absolutely disastrous war in Libya, waged by the Brits and French at the behest of the Americans, which has left yet another state in complete lawless turmoil.
Of all the countries in Europe, France and Britain are most responsible for the instability in the Middle East (Britain more so than France, given France's refusal to take part in the illegal war in Iraq which left a huge part of the region in chaos and with no real effective government), so thinking that it can tell other countries to step up to the plate is more than a little ridiculous.
I also think given the extreme nature of the legislation being debated in the Westminster parliament yesterday, the man behind it should have had the courage to turn up and listen to the discussions. (Craig Murray has an excellent analysis of the implications here.)
If Cameron were half a man he'd have been there, not sliming (not slimming, as the pic above shows) his way across in the Middle East like the Spiv PR man he really is.
To call this b*****d obnoxious is actually an insult to people who are obnoxious in my view but hey have to call him some something I suppose so obnoxious numbnuts it is!
ReplyDeleteAs far as his s***e about Europe doing more well it might actually help if motor mouth actually talked to his bested mates in the Middle East and got THEM to do more.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/08/world/gulf-states-syrian-refugee-crisis/
Don't forget when Cameron says that he will allow 20,000 refugees to enter the U.K. there is a caveat that has not really been trailed that much, if at all, by the Tory earse sucking media. I refer to the fact that once the refugees turn 18 they will be returned to Syria!!!
http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/07/syrian-child-refugees-will-be-deported-at-age-18-says-paddy-ashdown-5380419/
There are a couple of other wee factors that, in my view, have had a major impact on the current mess that is the refugee crisis in Europe.
1) Where has the U.N. been ever since this refugee mess first raised its ugly head ... absolutely nowhere as far as I can see. So much for the U.N. being a recognised international institution, in my view, it is nothing more than an over paid talking shop.
2) Where has the E.U. been since the start of this crisis? Well, in my view, the E.U. is nothing more than a a European copy of the U.N. ... an over rated talking shop! There is one little difference here though. THIS talking shop is driven by Germany. Anything Germany says the E.U. all but does A.S.A.P. The best evidence of this approach to doing nothing is how the whole Greek affair was handled.
Any organisation worth its salt would have, as soon as the crooked workings of Goldman Sachs became known, would have gone after G.S. with a mallet to smash them to bits. There again G.S. is an AMERICAN institution so no one can touch G.S. with a tissue far less a mallet!
Yes agreed. This is a massive crisis, a least in large part, caused by interference from the outside.
DeleteIt's far too big for any one country to deal with.
It's ridiculous to expect Jordan and Lebanon to take that kind of level of immigration. It is also pushing Turkey to its limits.
It needs concerted action by the UN.
The EU has been found wanting again. Germany has led, and countries like Sweden, Netherlands have followed. But Czech Republic and Hungary have been appalling... Not the people, the governments.
It won't go away and closing borders only mean that the people build up on the other side of the border.
The notion that the original agreement that you stay in the country you land in, would leave Greece with hundreds of thousand s of refugees, which, of course, it cannot take.
The countries that waged war and interference (over a few hundred years) in the Middle East, are hugely to blame. Bush, Blair and Berlusconi have to take a massive share of the blame for their illegal war in Iraq.
This is massive movement of people and it's not over.
We might as well make up our minds that we will have to ALL do something.
And we could start by rounding up the people smugglers and putting them in the pokey so that they can no longer take the entire savings of desperate people for dangerous and deathly journeys.
In the meantime I'm proud of the Scottish people, the government and the opposition parties (with the exception of the Tories) who are doing so much to help the refugees.
War war rather than jaw jaw.
DeleteNot hugely surprising given the money that war makes, compared to the money that peace makes.
DeleteI agree that no one can expect Jordan or Turkey to take all the refugees going Tris but at the same time the likes of Bahrain, Qatar, U.A.E and Saudi SHOULD and MUST do more than they are. Why on earth are refugees traveling thousands of miles to what is deemed safety when then can travel, for the most part hundreds of miles to safety.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think the E.U. SHOULD have been doing since day one is enforcing the "stay in the country you land in" on a temporary basis. The E.U. should have been supporting Greece and Italy from day one in building temporary camps for the refugees and helping in the repatriation of the refugees throughout Europe WITHOUT the need for the refugees struggling hundreds of miles across countries to get to one particular country, namely Germany.
I am sure a coordinated approach by the E.U. in Greece and Italy from day one would have ensured current events and crises would not be occurring. Still the E.U. knows best don't they ... apparently!
I totally agree with you over who is to blame for the current refugee mess, namely Bush, Blair, Berlusconi et al.
In my view there is NO punishment that is too good for the people smugglers. I'd hang, draw and quarter the bastards if I could!
It is great to see the Scottish Government doing all it can. It is just so frustrating to read absolutely horrendous and ridiculous tweets etc from complete imbiciles calling on the Scottish Government to do more. For god's sake what more can they do? The Scottish government has NO control over immigration! Immigration is controlled by Cameron the tosser!
I completely agree that Saudi and the other Gulf state (most of them immeasurably rich) should be taking people.Of course we need to get people integrated into whatever country they go to. Not living in refugee camps without money, without work.
DeleteIt's a recognised fact that we need young, trained, bright people, and as Iain Macwhirter has pointed out, Germany is taking so many, not solely out of the goodness of its heart. Like Scotland it has an ageing baby boom population that within a few years will start retiring, needing pensions, and then needing care.
Really we need to grasp this opportunity.
I agree about the smugglers too. They are murderers. A bit like the UK government really.
I tend to think this should have been a UN exercise rather than an EU one.
But I agree that the EU has been found wanting. Given its treatment of Greece I begin to wonder about the wisdom of Scotland remaining a part of it.
I'm mindful of the fact that an independent Scotland could probably become an EFTA member, whereas the UK would never been accepted into that organisation of small but rich countries.
Did he take Theresa May's "Go Home" vans along with him?
ReplyDeleteProbably. It's his style.
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