Racism at the top? Labour and Conservative parties in the dock
What you need to know:
The Muslim Council accused the Conservatives of not acting against racist MPs and showing a callous attitude to complaints.
Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, who was the first female Muslim Cabinet minister, has long criticised her party over the issue.
Among the allegations the Council cited were comments made by Boris Johnson that women who wore burkas looked like letter boxes or bank robbers.
Johnson is the leading favourite to take over as Prime Minister when an election takes place soon to find a successor to Teresa May, who has resigned.
You couldn’t make it up. On the same day last week, officials launched an investigation into claims of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, and the Muslim Council of Britain asked for an investigation into alleged Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
All this just days after the two largest political parties in Britain suffered major humiliation in the European elections.
Labour lost half of its seats in the European Union and the Conservatives got less than 10 per cent of the vote for its candidates, often polling in fourth or fifth place behind the tiny Green Party.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission announced it had started a full statutory investigation into the Labour Party after receiving a dossier of complaints and 1,000 pages of testimony.
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson said the commission’s decision showed that it had “reasonable suspicion that the party has unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised people because they are Jewish.”
He said, “I feel utter shame that this investigation is necessary but I truly hope that it will provide the means to finally root out anti-Jewish racism from our party once and for all.”
Louise Ellman, MP and president of the Jewish Labour Movement, said, “It’s a disgrace that it has come to this.”
The Muslim Council accused the Conservatives of not acting against racist MPs and showing a callous attitude to complaints.
Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, who was the first female Muslim Cabinet minister, has long criticised her party over the issue.
Among the allegations the Council cited were comments made by Boris Johnson that women who wore burkas looked like letter boxes or bank robbers.
Johnson is the leading favourite to take over as Prime Minister when an election takes place soon to find a successor to Teresa May, who has resigned.
Officials of both parties insisted action was taken when any member was accused of discrimination by faith or race.
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How sad to read of the death of Binyavanga Wainaina, aged only 48.
Among the Africana on my bookshelves is Wainaina’s One Day I Will Write About This Place, about his young life in Kenya, which I bought after learning of his 2002 Caine Prize for African writing.
His satirical essay, ‘How To Write About Africa’, appeared in Granta magazine and became the most requested piece in the magazine’s history.
The essay mocks the cliché-laden, paternalistic style of writing employed by Westerners, journalists not excluded, when describing Africa and its people to the white folks back home. Wainaina’s quips are cruelly accurate and I cannot be the only European hack who winced upon reading them.
For instance, tongue solidly in cheek, he tells writers: Treat Africa as if it were one country; give the impression that without your intervention, Africa is doomed; never say anything negative about, elephants, even if they do kill people and destroy their crops; African characters should include naked warriors, loyal servants, ancient wise men or corrupt politicians; be sure and mention the African sunset, which is always big and red.
What a writer! The world is now a poorer place.
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A schoolboy who was in a coma for nine weeks was woken up by his mother spraying her favourite scent under his nose.
Kacper Krauze, 13, got into trouble while splashing about in the River Eden in Cumbria last February. Unable to swim, he was submerged in the freezing water for 25 minutes before being dragged out. Although medics restarted his heart, the boy remained comatose.
In an effort to wake him, his mother and father spent hours by his bedside in a Newcastle hospital talking to him and playing his favourite music.
The breakthrough came when a nurse suggested bringing in some of his toiletries to wash him.
Research shows that stimulating a coma patient’s senses of touch, hearing, vision or smell, can help them recover.
And when his mother, Wioletta Krauze, sprayed Kacper with an aerosol of Lynx perfume, he opened his eyes immediately. “He must have remembered his favourite smell,” Wioletta said.
Kacper still struggles with speech and using his right hand, but is otherwise fully recovered.
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This column last week poked gentle fun at Britain’s abysmal record in the Eurovision Song Contest, noting that Michael Rice singing Bigger Than Us came plumb last of 26 nations in the latest competition. Our man was awarded a mere 15 points, compared to the winner’s 492.
Alas, it is now our sad duty to report that things were actually worse.
A revision of the scores by the contest organisers deducted four more points from Michael’s score, leaving him with a mere 11.
Oh well, there’s always next time.
