UK politics

Tories still homophobic?

GLBT rights, Tories, UK elections, UK politics
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Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling says bed and breakfasts should be able to refuse gay couples:

The Tories were embroiled in a furious row over lesbian and gay rightson Saturday after the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, was secretly taped suggesting that people who ran bed and breakfasts in their homes should “have the right” to turn away homosexual couples.

[..]

“I think we need to allow people to have their own consciences,” he said. “I personally always took the view that, if you look at the case of should a Christian hotel owner have the right to exclude a gay couple from a hotel, I took the view that if it’s a question of somebody who’s doing a B&B in their own home, that individual should have the right to decide who does and who doesn’t come into their own home.”

Remember what the Tories did last time they were in power. Cuddly Dave may want to have his party metrosexual and gay friendly, but too many in the party are still bigoted.

Your Happening World (13)

Forward March of Decentism, Israel Apartheid state, Linky Linky, UK politics
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News of interest on March 30th 2010:

Tories succesfully bully BBC – again

BBC Bias, Tories, UK politics
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The BBC have dropped a Panorma investigation into Lord Ashcroft’s tax dodging ways, according to
The Guardian:

Intense pressure from Conservative officials helped to force the BBC to quietly drop a lengthy investigation into Lord Ashcroft, the party’s billionaire backer and deputy chairman. Panorama, the corporation’s current affairs programme, was expected to focus on Ashcroft’s business empire and his use of offshore entities.

Letters and personal interventions by senior Conservatives have increased pressure on programme makers, according to insiders. There is now little prospect of the investigation being broadcast before the general election.

The disclosure follows previous claims that the programme was shelved for legal reasons. The delay will please David Cameron but will cause concern that the BBC has been silenced in the runup to the general election. The Tories are anxious to suppress more publicity about Ashcroft’s affairs after the outcry over the billionaire’s belated revelation that he was not domiciled in the UK for tax purposes, and so paid no tax on overseas assets.

The spin on this is that it would be unfair of the BBC to pay attention to these charges on the eve of an election, but the truth can never be unfair. As anybody who isn’t a Tory hack can see, it’s actually much more unfair to the voter to cover up the truth of these allegations and make the Tories seem more principled and less grasping than they actually are. The BBC however is instituationally incapable of doing anything but cower in the face of sustained pressure and is here actively hindered by its chapter and culture of strict impartiality, which is sensitive to charges of being unfair.

Met thugs forced to pay damages for wrongful arrests

Bloody Lawyers, Civil liberties, Policing, UK politics, Video
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The wheels of justice grind slowly, redux. Metropolitian Police have to pay 6,000 pounds in damage for wrongful arrests during the G20 protests:

At the time, protesters complained they were treated harshly because it had been a peaceful meeting. Some of the activists chanted “shame on you” at the officers during the raid which was subsequently posted on YouTube.

Ms McClure, of Leeds, and Mr Rubens, a Glasgow student, complained that they had been unlawfully arrested and held without reasonable suspicion.

They said they were made to stand in the street as officers compared the group with images of protesters that been gathered by intelligence teams.

Mr Rubens said in a witness statement to the court that he had been “very shaken up”.

In a statement, the force said: “The Metropolitan Police Service can confirm that it has settled a claim made by two people present at an address in Earl Street on 2nd April.

“We have accepted that they should not have been arrested and have agreed to pay them compensation. Any further claims will be looked at on a case-by-case basis.”