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non angelus, sed anglus!

Proud to be British

a golden moment I’m proud to be British today.

Yesterday London hosted the Olympic Torch. It was taken through the city by a number of the great and the good.

But that’s not what made me proud.

That, in fact, has made me rather ashamed to be British. Ashamed that the United Kingdom has done nothing substantial to protest about China’s handling of the recent protests in Tibet. Ashamed that the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has done nothing to express his disapproval of those actions. Instead, he stood there with the Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell, silently. For shame.

The BBC records the ongoing debate in the UK:

[Liberal Democrat Leader Nick] Clegg told the BBC on Sunday it was a “mistake” for Mr Brown to be involved with the torch ceremony and Britain had to be clear with the Chinese authorities that they needed to “play by the rules”.

“The cornerstone of those international rules is that we all respect those fundamental human rights to which we, the British, have always attached a great deal of significance,“ he said.

“And that’s why it’s wholly inappropriate that Gordon Brown is participating in this torch bearing ceremony today.“

It’s quite staggering when one finds oneself siding with the Liberal Democrats. It seems I am not the only one:

Labour former minister Kate Hoey told the BBC the passage of the torch through London was a “complete farce” and said Gordon Brown had been “very, very mild” with China over its actions in Tibet.

“He’s not even coming out publicly and saying ‘I think what China has done inside Tibet is abhorrent’. He has got to do that. I am absolutely appalled by this,“ she said.

But Olympics minister Tessa Jowell told the BBC: “It is absolutely not an endorsement of the Chinese government or any of the aspects of the Chinese government that in this country we find completely unacceptable.“

Which is, of course, naive at best for the Chinese know very well that this is a huge propoganda game and every single politician around the world who stands silent is a silent endorsement of their barbaric actions.

Conservative leader David Cameron later told Sky News: “I suppose the pictures tell a story which is that people in our country do have a right to peacefully protest - and that is absolutely right and people who feel they want to protest should feel able to do so, but they shouldn’t break the law.“

So why is this entry entitled “Proud to be British”? Well, because when the British protest they do so in unique and clever ways. The picture at the top of the entry is of protesters attempting to put out the Olympic Torch with a fire extinguisher!

Genius, pure genius. Makes me proud.

Posted by on 04/07 at 12:35 PM

Hey David, Doesn’t this mean the French are cleverer than the Brits?

Why do all the hard work of trying to put out an olympic flame when you can get officials to do it for you?

Posted by Gordon Cheng on 04/08 at 08:35 AM
no, it means that the French officials just capitulated more rapidly than the British would.

no change there, then

Posted by on 04/08 at 09:23 AM

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