Listening to Norman Baker on the news last night trying to justify increasing the number of people killed and injured on our roads left me feeling thoroughly sickened.
Every six and a half weeks on our roads around 322 people are killed, about the same number as the total UK military casualties in Afghanistan from 2001 to date. The UK has its own Afghanistan 8 time each year, except this death toll includes 120 children.
But in the name of personal freedom and in the name of unnecessary cuts, the ConDems are happy to see more people being killed and injured and more families plunged into a lifetime of grief.
Speeding is a crime that kills people. Cars are the most lethal and widely deployed weapons in the UK. The government must be no let up on road safety measures and indeed it must be harder on criminals - those people who break speed limits. The government and police should be cracking down on speeding drivers, it should be treated with the seriousness of drink driving and it should become just as socially unacceptable. It is time to get these criminals off our roads.
Sadly Mr Baker must think it acceptable to increase the number of children killed on our roads. He should be ashamed of himself.
Green Party campaigner in Kent. Also a nurse, academic, former manager, writer, Druid, husband and father...
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Friday, 18 September 2009
Just to prove my point...
After my blog post a couple of hours ago I have just had a quick flick on Kentnews.co.uk and they have a poll on Afghanistan - should we still be sending sending troups there? 67% have voted no. Assuming that isn't 2 against and one for, it is highly encouraging, especially for true blue Kent.
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Letter to the KM on Afghanistan
As the UK death toll has ticked over the 200 mark, my thoughts are with the families and friend of those dead, injured or still out there. Below is a letter to the KM in response to a local person's attack on my letter published the previous week.
Before that, this is an extract from a post on Socialist Unity:
Dear Editor,
Mr Johnson's claim that NATO 'sorted out' Bosnia is, at best, an exaggeration and ignores the impact of the EU and Russia on the Dayton Agreement. However, more of concern in his letter is the claim that the UK is safer because of our actions in the Middle East.
Lasting peace is rarely achieved by occupying a country and NATO forces have occupied Afghanistan for a period longer than the Second World War yet peace there is still a long way off. NATO intervention in Afghanistan has not prevented terorist attacks in the UK, it has increased the risk of them.
It is now widely receognised that the only way to peace in Afghanistan is through negotiation with the Taliban, not continued occupation.
I, along with most people in this country, am proud of British troops and their peacekeeping skills but unless we are attacked directly, our troops should be deployed under the UN flag, not the NATO one. Peacekeeping forces need the legitimacy of the UN, not the US. My criticism is of our warmongering politicians and their subservience to the US will, it is not of our forces.
Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party
Before that, this is an extract from a post on Socialist Unity:
Perhaps the last word should go to Lance Corporal Joe Glenton. In a letter to Gordon Brown, Glenton wrote: “It is my primary concern that the courage and tenacity of my fellow soldiers has become a tool of American foreign policy.
“I believe that when British military personnel submit themselves to the service of the nation and put their bodies into harm’s way, the government that sends them into battle is obliged to ensure that the cause is just and right, i.e. for the protection of life and liberty.
“The war in Afghanistan is not reducing the terrorist risk, far from improving Afghan lives it is bringing death and devastation to their country.
“Britain has no business there. I do not believe that our cause in Afghanistan is just or right. I implore you, sir, to bring our troops home.”
Dear Editor,
Mr Johnson's claim that NATO 'sorted out' Bosnia is, at best, an exaggeration and ignores the impact of the EU and Russia on the Dayton Agreement. However, more of concern in his letter is the claim that the UK is safer because of our actions in the Middle East.
Lasting peace is rarely achieved by occupying a country and NATO forces have occupied Afghanistan for a period longer than the Second World War yet peace there is still a long way off. NATO intervention in Afghanistan has not prevented terorist attacks in the UK, it has increased the risk of them.
It is now widely receognised that the only way to peace in Afghanistan is through negotiation with the Taliban, not continued occupation.
I, along with most people in this country, am proud of British troops and their peacekeeping skills but unless we are attacked directly, our troops should be deployed under the UN flag, not the NATO one. Peacekeeping forces need the legitimacy of the UN, not the US. My criticism is of our warmongering politicians and their subservience to the US will, it is not of our forces.
Stuart Jeffery
Maidstone Green Party
Monday, 20 July 2009
Letter to the KM on Afghanistan
While Maidstone trumpets its military history with a new army recruitment centre, the death toll of both British forces and civilians in Afghanistan continues to rise.
The purpose of the US led invasion of Afghanistan was to capture Bin Laden putting an end to al-Qaida and Britain also wanted to end the opium production. Eight years on, as neither of these aims have been achieved, it is surely time to rethink our future involvement.
Firstly, party political discussions about helicopters and equipment simply miss the point - we need to get our troops out of the country.
Secondly, NATO has no legitimacy in the region. It happily supports some Middle Eastern states with appalling records on human rights while adopting an aggressive stance against others. NATO should not be the organisation in charge of security in Afghanistan. It should be the United Nations that takes the lead in restoring a peaceful democracy.
Let's hand Afghanistan to the UN and withdraw from this pointless war.
Stuart Jeffery
The purpose of the US led invasion of Afghanistan was to capture Bin Laden putting an end to al-Qaida and Britain also wanted to end the opium production. Eight years on, as neither of these aims have been achieved, it is surely time to rethink our future involvement.
Firstly, party political discussions about helicopters and equipment simply miss the point - we need to get our troops out of the country.
Secondly, NATO has no legitimacy in the region. It happily supports some Middle Eastern states with appalling records on human rights while adopting an aggressive stance against others. NATO should not be the organisation in charge of security in Afghanistan. It should be the United Nations that takes the lead in restoring a peaceful democracy.
Let's hand Afghanistan to the UN and withdraw from this pointless war.
Stuart Jeffery
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Helicopters to Afghanistan?
Letter to the Kent on Sunday based on their headline story:
Of course we should ask why the government is ignoring Army calls to be provided with the equipment necessary to operate effectively, but surely it is time to ask some even bigger questions about our involvement in Afghanistan.
The purpose of the US led invasion of Afghanistan was to capture Bin Laden and put an end to al-Qaida, Britain also wanted to end the opium production. Sadly, opium production has increased twenty fold since 2001, the threat of terrorism has risen, world opinion is against the NATO led occupation and the majority of British people want troops home by the end of the year.
It seems then that discussions about how many helicopters the troops need miss the wider point that we have followed the US into a war that has little legitimacy. We should not have invaded Afghanistan and it is time for our troops to return.
Furthermore, NATO should not be the organisation in charge of security in Afghanistan. NATO bizarrely supports some Middle Eastern states with appalling records on human rights while adopting an aggressive stance against others. The United Nations should take the lead in restoring a peaceful democracy and rebuilding the country.
Let's hand Afghanistan to the UN and withdraw from this pointless war.
Of course we should ask why the government is ignoring Army calls to be provided with the equipment necessary to operate effectively, but surely it is time to ask some even bigger questions about our involvement in Afghanistan.
The purpose of the US led invasion of Afghanistan was to capture Bin Laden and put an end to al-Qaida, Britain also wanted to end the opium production. Sadly, opium production has increased twenty fold since 2001, the threat of terrorism has risen, world opinion is against the NATO led occupation and the majority of British people want troops home by the end of the year.
It seems then that discussions about how many helicopters the troops need miss the wider point that we have followed the US into a war that has little legitimacy. We should not have invaded Afghanistan and it is time for our troops to return.
Furthermore, NATO should not be the organisation in charge of security in Afghanistan. NATO bizarrely supports some Middle Eastern states with appalling records on human rights while adopting an aggressive stance against others. The United Nations should take the lead in restoring a peaceful democracy and rebuilding the country.
Let's hand Afghanistan to the UN and withdraw from this pointless war.
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