Asian Voice - Saturday 22nd May 2010
COMMENT
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Thought for the Week
Challenges at home David Cameron is firmly ensconced in 10 Downing Street and his Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government is busy taking the measure of things in Whitehall. The British economy is in dire straits and its ills have of necessity to be addressed first. The reasons are not far to seek. The previous government's “emergency” measures, including £950 billion worth of bank bailouts, asset guarantees and 'quantitative easing', have blown a black hole in public finances: the deficit stands at 12.8 per cent of GDP – higher than that of Greece – and government debt is expected to climb to 82 per cent of GDP by next year. It is a very bleak picture indeed. Yet a collapsing economy is not the only problem that will need to be fixed. Mr Cameron also spoke of the needs of a broken society as he set about building his coalition. Inner city youth crime, declining standards in inner city education, growing council estate lawlessness throughout the land and its problem families are issues that will require the new Home Secretary Teresa May's urgent attention. She and her colleagues will also have their hands full tackling the threat of terror-
ism, dealing with immigration concerns in a manner that conforms to the best British tradition of firmness and fairness, just as the Government's security policy must combine effective policing without trespassing on the citizen's human rights. That is what the people of this country perceive as the rule of law. Hence ministers are expected at all times to keep faith with its most exacting principles and standards. The British way of life, above all, must remain true to itself, even as it struggles to defeat those who would destroy its essence. Teresa May is an experienced politician, having been an interim Tory party leader and a member of the Opposition Conservative front bench for several years. She is undoubtedly aware of the expectations which accompany the installation of a new regime. She knows that the government's honeymoon with the public cannot endure, that complex and difficult times are certain to emerge as the early optimism ebbs, but we believe she has the ability and fibre to rise to the occasion as Home Secretary. We offer her our good wishes as she goes about her myriad tasks.
Corrupting influence of money in sports Money makes the world go round is the line of a pop song that once made it to the charts. But too much of it, like power and absolute power, money corrupts and corrupts absolutely. Money is flooding into sports in such vast quantities that greed has subsumed common sense and respect for measured equilibrium between supply and demand. Football clubs are hostage to exorbitant wage demands by star players. Many clubs, facing crippling debts, have gone into receivership. This is particularly true of clubs that fall outside the magic circle of the top four of five in the Premier League. The English experience is replicated on the continent. Even the privileged few need sugar daddies to keep them afloat. Nobody in his or her right senses would wish footballers' salaries and transfer fees to conform to the patterns of the distant past. Every sportsman has a limited time-span and so deserves the best remuneration available. But within reason, surely. Truckloads of money bring with them dangers of excess. Players are frequently unable to handle such riches and surrender to an unrestrained Bacchanalian lifestyle that eventually brings grief to them and their near and dear ones. The tragedy of George Best comes readily to mind. The fall from public grace of golfing maestro Tiger Woods is another case in point. Returning to football, the game's national and international administrators appear as paralyzed as the football clubs themselves in the face of spiralling costs. No attempt has been made thus far to cap players' wages, or at least to bring these under some form of control. The need to capture silverware for club trophy rooms, it would seem, is all that counts. There may well come a time when the goose stops laying the golden eggs, when football, confronted by its subprime crisis, hits the buffers. Cricket too has its problems. Not so long ago it was a poor relation to its richer cousins, such as football, tennis and golf. Over the last few years huge television audiences, especially in India, and massive television revenues have transformed
cricket into a money spinner. Although not in the league of the three sports listed above, cricket's new one-day format and the shorter Twenty20 are bringing in the crowds in huge numbers. As a result players are better paid than they once were, with mega-stars even earning mega-bucks. But here, again, money has brought problems. Certain players, succumbing to temptation, threw matches to satisfy betting syndicates and earn underthe-table cash rewards. The late Hansie Cronje was one such player to blot his copybook; India's Mohammed Azharuddin ended his career under a cloud as suspicions mounted that he had trodden a similar path to riches. Danish Kaneria, the Pakistani and Essex legspinner, and the young Essex fast bowler Mervyn Westfield were arrested recently by the Essex police and released on bail on “suspicion of conspiring to commit fraud following the police's investigation into alleged spotfixing in Essex's Pro40 victory against Durham last September.” In India, Lalit Modi, the Commissioner of the Twenty20 IPL, has been charged with 20 counts of corruption by the Indian cricket board, while Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is facing the prospect of a court battle with IMG after the marketing firm served him with a writ of defamation for having accused it of promoting rebel cricket in England. That said, heartiest congratulations to the England cricket team for winning the World Twenty20 tournament in Barbados, where they beat Australia in the final by a comfortable 7 wickets. English cricket could be experiencing a new dawn. And then there is the British boxer Amir Khan, who had to fight in America – which he did in some style defeating Paulie Malignaggi in New York's Madison Square Garden in defence of his WBA light-welterweight title – because the fee offered him in the UK was considered inadequate for a world championship bout. Parsimony is as unacceptable as greed.
Media exposure defeats Islamic radicals in Tower Hamlets A few months ago, the investigative reporter, Andrew Gilligan, revealed in The Sunday Telegraph and on Channel 4's Dispatches programme the machination of a fundamentalist Islamic group, the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE), which is based in the East London Mosque, to control, through fair means and foul, the Tower Hamlets council in east London. The publicity caused considerable public concern and cleared moved the local Bangladeshi community to take remedial action. As a result, Lutfur Rahman, the Labour leader of Tower Hamlets council, has been replaced by Helal Abbas, who has condemned the IFE's goals and undemocratic practices and accused the organisation of running the council.
In the investigation, one of the MPs representing the area, Labour's Jim Fitzpatrick, charged the IFE of 'corrupting' and infiltrating the local party in order to promote its wider agenda. Mr Fitzpatrick, the MP for Poplar and Limehouse, was targeted by the IFE and accused of 'Islamophobia'. He was re-elected with a substantial majority. He said: “It is a body blow to the credibility of IFE and their claim that no one can get elected in Tower Hamlets without their sanction.” Mr Fitzpatrick's Respect opponent George Galloway, who has made no secret of his dependence on IFE support, came third in the election with 17.5 per cent of the vote. Moderation and decency won over bigotry.
“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” - Jawaharlal Nehru
“Our London” CIIr Navin Shah AM London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow
DEAL OR NO DEAL! From the X Factor drama before the election we’ve now, in the post-election period, moved on to Deal or NO Deal drama gradually being played on the national stage. With the LibDems losing seats rather than gaining, the ‘X Factor impact’ has proved to be very temporary. There needs to be a deal and there would be one - I suspect between the Tories and LibDems – but at what cost? A real mismatch of an alliance Tories and between LibDems will no doubt be sold to the public as a necessity in the ‘best interest of the Nation’. However the cost of such a deal will be enormous and I fear that the core values held by the two parties in question would be watered down or even totally lost in the process to enable them to cling on to power. In the run up to the election there was no real enthusiasm for David Cameron which is borne out by the failure of Tories to get overall majority and a clear mandate to run the country. The victory is hollow and now totally reliant on the support from the LibDems. Electoral reform and amnesty for immigrants are the two key examples of LibDem core values on which they fought the election and all such values are now at a risk if they were to sign a pact with the Tories. The other option is for Labour and LibDem parties to come to an but that I think is not going to happen. As to Labour Party itself, as expected, we have lost seats but the results suggest that we are down but not out. During the election campaign and even before the way media has attempted a complete character assassination of Gordon Brown is reprehensible – the main guilty party being the gutter press like the Sun and the Torygraph. Like it or not, bias on the part of media and political parties in a real world will always remain but to demonise and attempt to destroy anyone of any political party is not
acceptable. I also find the odecity of Nick Clegg, David Cameron and their cronies and the media demanding departure of Gordon Brown outrageous. Prime Minister is not elected by people and it is for the Labour Party to decide who their Leader is and when if any change in the leadership is required. Given the hung parliament scenario it is crucial that Gordon Brown remains the Prime Minster, as required under the parliamentary rules, until there is a clear and acceptable resolution to the current fiasco of no overall control. At Brent and Harrow level I’m pleased that Barry Gardiner and Gareth Thomas are re-elected to serve the community and am gutted that Tony McNulty and Dawn Butler lost their seats. Tony in his career spanning some 24 years in the Local government and as an MP has made immense contribution and been a genuine and great friend of our community. I’m confident that both Dawn and Tony would reemerge. Moving from the national to local council elections – the best news has to be the trouncing of the BNP in Barking and Dagenham. Credit goes to the residents for rejecting the venomous fascist party and ‘Hope Not Hate’ campaign run by Searchlight and many, many other fair minded individuals and organisations. Labour Party’s resounding success in London is another big and good news story for Londoners. As you know I have special reasons to be extremely pleased with Labour taking charge of both Brent and Harrow Councils. Both of these areas in the last four years were savaged by Tories and LibDems with their mega cuts in services and broken promises. Even in adverse financial climate we in the Labour Party’s priority will be to safeguard frontline services and make every effort to protect our community and businesses to survive and build a better future.
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