Tuesday, June 21, 2005

More Nonsense from the Extreme Left

An angry man, Alan Hinnrichs, from Dundee, Scotland, does not want Gordon Brown, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer and future leader of the Labour Party, to speak at the Anti-Poverty March on 2nd June in Edinburgh.

He writes: “This single action almost renders the demo meaningless and loses it all credibility in my view.”

He objects to Brown marching in a crowd of 100,000 plus with him because he:

a) supported the Iraq war (obviously Hinnrichs opposed it … as did Saddam Hussein);

b) spent “£20m in public money to the extreme right-wing Adam Smith Institute” (a far fetched nonsensical ascription of “extreme right wing” applied when to the Adam Smith Institute – on this scale where would Hinnrich’s place the Nazis?).

c) “summarily sacked 104,000 low paid civil servants in this country” – yet the same Brown has added over 100,000 civil servants to the State payroll.

Hinnirchs adds that letting Brown speak at the demonstration is an:

“action [that] would be a betrayal of the poor of Africa who are in poverty because of Gordon Brown's polices. Demonstrations are where the people protest against the government and make their grievances known. They are not places for future prime ministers to grandstand.”

What absolute nonsense! Gordon Brown’s policies did not cause the “poor in Africa” to be in poverty. Much of that, if not all of it, is caused by the theft of the continent’s resources by homespun dictators, corrupt politicians and the imposition of lunatic economic policies (e.g., Zimbabwe) that have made a mess out of Africa.

I note that Hinnrichs says not a word of condemnation of the warlords, racists and thieves who have looted the continent, destroyed its economies and oppressed its peoples for more than thirty years (if the can stomach supporting the likes of Saddam Hussein, silence on Mugabe and his ilk is no doubt easy). Add to this the protectionist economic policies of the European Union
and we have a complete explanation of Africa’s poverty. And who is working to reverse the protectionism of the EU? Why Gordon Brown and Tony Blair!

The whole point of demonstrations is to influence those able to do something about what you are demonstrating for or against. Adam Smith understood this in his many efforts to influence British governments and Ministers in the late 18th century. And here is a Government Minister in the second highest office in the land marching with Alan Hinnrichs. I would think Hinnrichs would be better spending his time trying to have a quiet word with Gordon Brown to encourage him to do more.

Instead, Hinnrichs announces he is going to do something really silly. He says:

“If he does speak on July 2, I, for one, will make my feelings clear by booing him and turning my back.”

Thus speaks the voice of the extreme left in alliance with the worst examples of the truly extreme right. I would rather march with Gordon Brown.

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