Archive for October, 2006
New Labour Finally Removes Its Gloves, If Not Yet Their Veils
Posted by David Conway in Multiculturalism, Religion on 12/10/2006
Well, I never. What’s going on?– to borrow the title of Marvin Gaye’s illustrious soul ballad.
You wait forever for a New Labour minister to say something moderately critical about the intransigence of some British Muslims, and then, blow me, in the space of a week no fewer than three of them show up doing so.
The first was Jack Straw who last week-end publicly expressed his preference for Muslim women in Britain not to wear the niqab, especially when visiting his parliamentary surgery. The niqab is that particular form of veil favoured by some Muslim women which conceals all but the eyes of its wearer. Straw said he preferred they didn’t because he claimed their doing so placed a barrier between them and whichever non-Muslims wth whom they happened to be having dealings at the time that prevented communication and so was not conducive to social harmony and cohesion.
The response of some British Muslims to Straw’s remarks has been predictably negative: ‘The Muslim community feels angry and let down’ one Labour-party Muslim activist in Straw’s Blackburn constituency is reported to have said. ‘We want him to apologise and will keep on protesting until he does. I feel outraged and want him out of his job. The majority of Muslim women want him out’ another Muslim woman reportedly said at a protest held in Blackburn against Straw.
Judged by the tone of these comments you would have thought Straw had asked Muslim women to disrobe completely before entering his surgery.
It’s good to talk
Posted by Robert Whelan in Religion on 11/10/2006
It seems strange that Jack Straw should have said what he did when he did. Up until now, he has established a reputation for pandering to Islamists – during the cartoon fiasco he seemed more offended by the portrayal of Mohammed than the banners calling for ‘a real holocaust’ – and at all costs seeking to woo the Muslim vote. So why court controversy by expressing discomfort about the wearing of the veil?
The children of tomorrow
Posted by Robert Whelan in Family, Marriage and the Culture on 09/10/2006
The Future Foundation, a think tank amongst other things, brought out a report last week telling us that today’s parenting is – contrary to popular belief – better than ever. According to their report, The Changing Face of Parenting, recent concerns about dangerously pressurised childhoods seem to have been misguided. However, a closer examination of the findings suggests that perhaps they don’t present such a break with recent concerns about overly pressuirsed children.
Unadvisable Moves Afoot in Romania and Bulgaria
Posted by David Conway in European Union, Immigration on 06/10/2006
The British government is widely reported to be as yet undecided whether to allow Bulgarian and Romanian nationals the right to work in the UK upon their countries joining the EU next year. Regardless of whether it does, come the accession of their countries to the EU, Bulgarians and Romanians will as citizens of the EU be able to enter Britain freely.
In anticipation of that day, it was reported last month in the Daily Telegraph that Romanians and Bulgarians have been busy queuing up to obtain passports to enable them to leave as soon as it arrives.
The British government was profoundly embarrassed by its gross underestimate of the numbers of East Europeans whose countries acceded to the EU in May 2004 who migrated to Britain to obtain jobs. They predicted only 13,000 would come. To date, at least 345,000 have.
Could it be to spare itself similar embarrassment of discovering correspondingly large numbers of Bulgarians and Romanians show up in Britain come accession day, irrespective of whether they have been granted the right to work here, that, as was reported in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, Britain is about to lift visa restrictions on Romania and Bulgaria in advance of their accession? The more allowed in prior to their accession the smaller will the head-line figure be of those arriving come that day.
A Good Decision by the ECJ Over Who Should Pay for Bringing Up Baby
Posted by David Conway in Family, Marriage and the Culture on 05/10/2006
In a landmark decision this week, the European Court of Justice has ruled employers may pay their more experienced staff more than less experienced ones from a belief that extra job experience increases productivity, without needing to justify that belief first.
The Court was called on to decide the matter after employers of a 44 year old female health and safety inspector from Manchester appealed to it against her successful challenge in an employment tribunal against their having paid her less than male colleagues on account of their greater years of service. She argued the practice to be discriminatory, since it was invariably women like her who took time off work to look after their children who fell behind male colleagues as a result.
Thank goodness for this sane ruling. In an age when lesbians and single women are equally as able as married women to have children, whether a woman has a child is entirely up to her. Men hardly come into the reckoning, save through the decision of a woman to involve a man in the upbringing of her child.
Let’s have a European parliament in Warsaw….!
Posted by James Gubb in European Union on 03/10/2006
Last Thursday a signature ceremony was held to celebrate the European parliament’s purchase of its own buildings in Strasbourg. The cost of the buildings? Just 136 million euros, of which approximately £10 million will come from British taxpayers held in escrow for such a noble purpose. Worth celebrating? On the plus side I guess 136 million euros is not bad as the cost of parliaments go, given that the Scottish one, for example, cost along the lines of £431m. Heh, we could buy a few more! At least then we could have a proper ‘travelling circus’; I’m sure MEPs must get incredibly bored of visiting just two parliaments.