Point of Principle
The Vicar of Downing Street's legacy of global human rights enhancement continues to prosper in the form of British opposition to an Italian attempt to get United Nations backing for a worldwide moratorium on capital punishment. According to diplomats, Britain "opposes the death penalty", and is therefore hampering the chances of getting a resolution through the UN because Britain is "sceptical about getting a resolution through the UN". Just because something might be difficult, that doesn't mean it ought to be attempted, even in defence of global British values.
"I don't think that Tony Blair is against abolishing the death penalty," said a campaigning Italian MEP, with the reckless optimism of one whose government has been all too recently deberlusconified. He thinks Britain's attitude is the result of "the wish for a good relationship" with the US, and with the enthusiastic executioner who claims to be chief executive there.
This is, of course, a desperate Latin oversimplification. It is true that his reverence's reaction to Saddam Hussein's execution was a bit more muted than one might have expected from such a champion of human rights, particularly the rights of military aggressors; but his reverence was, after all, rather busy at the time. Indeed, it is a tragic irony that, occupied as he was with Bee Gees and international statesmanship, his reverence may have been too busy to provide George W Bush with the calming, restraining influence which has been seen to such devastating effect in the Crusade Against Terror as a whole. Left to his own devices, with no still, small voice to lend his ear a healthy dose of British phlegm, Bush hailed the execution as "an important milestone", and it was left to Margaret Beckett, his reverence's Minister for Lesser Breeds, to stress that it was the Iraqis' own responsibility, rather than that of the American guards who handed Saddam over, or even that of the American government which runs the Iraqi government.
When one is used to playing with cruise missiles and tanks, at the cost of thousands of lives, a single detrimentation at the end of an ordinary rope may hardly seem worth the bother; but it was a distasteful spectacle. Hence, "discussions within the EU on how to proceed are still under way"; which is a diplomatic way of saying it is virtually almost certain that, when not gambolling about Washington being a faithful little ally, and having his tummy tickled, Tony Blair is probably not altogether opposed to doing something very definite about the death penalty, once the appropriate prioritisation mechanisms are in place.
"I don't think that Tony Blair is against abolishing the death penalty," said a campaigning Italian MEP, with the reckless optimism of one whose government has been all too recently deberlusconified. He thinks Britain's attitude is the result of "the wish for a good relationship" with the US, and with the enthusiastic executioner who claims to be chief executive there.
This is, of course, a desperate Latin oversimplification. It is true that his reverence's reaction to Saddam Hussein's execution was a bit more muted than one might have expected from such a champion of human rights, particularly the rights of military aggressors; but his reverence was, after all, rather busy at the time. Indeed, it is a tragic irony that, occupied as he was with Bee Gees and international statesmanship, his reverence may have been too busy to provide George W Bush with the calming, restraining influence which has been seen to such devastating effect in the Crusade Against Terror as a whole. Left to his own devices, with no still, small voice to lend his ear a healthy dose of British phlegm, Bush hailed the execution as "an important milestone", and it was left to Margaret Beckett, his reverence's Minister for Lesser Breeds, to stress that it was the Iraqis' own responsibility, rather than that of the American guards who handed Saddam over, or even that of the American government which runs the Iraqi government.
When one is used to playing with cruise missiles and tanks, at the cost of thousands of lives, a single detrimentation at the end of an ordinary rope may hardly seem worth the bother; but it was a distasteful spectacle. Hence, "discussions within the EU on how to proceed are still under way"; which is a diplomatic way of saying it is virtually almost certain that, when not gambolling about Washington being a faithful little ally, and having his tummy tickled, Tony Blair is probably not altogether opposed to doing something very definite about the death penalty, once the appropriate prioritisation mechanisms are in place.
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