Green Gas

Strange as it may seem, in view of its much-documented concern for fairness, justice and human rights at home, Britain's greenest government ever has been accused of backsliding on such matters abroad. According to Amnesty International, the authorities in Algeria are restricting freedom of expression, dispersing demonstrations and harassing human rights defenders; so much so, in fact, that of the £303 million in export licenses to Algeria which have been approved over the past five years, £290 million was classed as "military". Coincidentally, Algeria has some of the largest natural gas reserves in Africa; and as recent weeks have shown, Britain is desperately short of renewables like wind and water. Doubtless the exports in question were marked with the mandatory Not to be used for internal repression; yet still there are those who worry that the British government has not yet learned the error of its ways in dealing with the Arab world's Theresa Mays. Even Muammar Gaddafi, despite his moral regeneration from dictator to "autocrat" in the wake of his love-in with the Reverend Blair, came to a bit of a sticky end, with unfortunate consequences for hard-working families like British Petroleum.