This entry was posted on
Tuesday, February 7th, 2006 at
9:11 am and is filed
under The War on Stupid.

Independent – Blair in climbdown over education plan to buy off rebel MPs
Times – Backbench rebels force climbdown on school reform
Mirror – PM’s bid to avoid vote defeat

Tch. Where’s that famous Blair arrogance when we need it? Go on, Tony… push it! You know you want to…

BBC – Cameron ‘to curb PMs’ war power’: Conservative leader David Cameron has called for curbs on prime ministers’ power to declare war or agree treaties without the approval of MPs.

Yes, quite so. An excellent safety valve. Any PM wanting to misuse the military would first have to massage intelligence and wield an enormous amount of media control in order to diddle Parliament and… erm… hang on…

Charles Clarke: There are forces in this country, including within the Muslim community, who seek to weaken and damage the democratic fabric of our society.

Funny you should mention that…

Independent – Ministers use cartoons anger to renew calls for ‘glorification of terrorism’ law: Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, gave a strong signal to the police to proceed with the prosecution of Muslim protesters who called for people to be beheaded or massacred over the publication of offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed… Mr Clarke sought to use the protests to challenge opponents of the Government’s Terror Bill to drop their opposition to some of the most controversial proposals including a clause to outlaw the “glorification” of terrorism, which was thrown out in the Lords. His remarks are certain to intensify the row over the Bill when it returns to the Commons next week.

So why do we need the new laws when you’re perfectly able to apply existing laws to this incident? Surely you’re not using a sensitive issue to gain political capital? I would have expected better from the man who waited 4 months after the July 7 bombings to starting making ‘ID cards protect you from terrorism’ noises again.

(PS – Well done to Talk Politics for being right on the money.)

Jeff Jacoby – We are all Danes now: Hindus may consider it odious to use cows as food, but they do not resort to boycotts, threats, and violence when non-Hindus eat hamburger or steak. They do not demand that everyone abide by the strictures of Hinduism and avoid words and deeds that Hindus might find upsetting. The same is true of Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Mormons: They don’t lash out in violence when their religious sensibilities are offended. They certainly don’t expect their beliefs to be immune from criticism, mockery, or dissent… But radical Muslims do.

Beg pardon?

Christian, Hindu, Sikh… I could go on, but I refuse to waste time on a man who is a waste of space.

Right, that’s it for me this morning. Back to work…