TMP Online

There are less than two weeks to go until the race for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election kicks off proper.

The last six polls of Democratic caucus voters in Iowa, all conducted between 13 and 19 December, show Senators Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton neck and neck, with Obama and Clinton leading in three of six polls each. They are both averaging 28.3%, with former Vice Presidential candidate, John Edwards, trailing behind with an average of 23.2%.

The Iowa caucus vote takes place on Thursday 3 January and the winner will be looking to use the momentum built up there to sweep to victory in the other states which vote in quick succession afterwards.

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The British National Party has been reported to the Electoral Commission and the police over possible financial irregularities. Labour MP Jon Cruddas (right) used an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday to make a number of charges regarding alleged illegal activity and financial irregularities in the internal operations of the BNP.

Speaking in the debate, Cruddas said
“Last week I wrote to the police to request an investigation into claims of illegal spying within the BNP,” he told the Commons. “Today I have been given a 20 page dossier entitled ‘Financial Irregularities in the British National Party: An Investigation by Searchlight Information Services’ which I am in turn sending to both the police and the Electoral Commission.”

He went on to outline a list of serious allegations against the BNP including the following:
■ the BNP’s 2006 accounts have still not been submitted to the Electoral Commission, more than five months (so far) after the due date;
■ the BNP failed to report a donation of £5,315 in the period 1 July 2007 to 30 September 2007 in contravention of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000;
■ BNP financial records were shredded at the home of the party’s former national treasurer in 2004;
■ the BNP has solicited donations from overseas to an organisation by the name of Civil Liberty, which Searchlight considers is merely a front organisation set up to circumvent the prohibition on donations to political parties from individuals who are not registered to vote in the UK;
■ the BNP attempted to earn insurance commission by means of an insurance entity that was not authorised by the Financial Services Authority and there were serious doubts whether the activity was exempt from the requirement for authorisation:
■ there is evidence that the BNP financed its insolvent position in 2006 by a failure to pay sums owed to HM Revenue and Customs in respect of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and value added tax (VAT);
■ there are allegations that the BNP has paid workers in cash to avoid tax and national insurance contributions and to enable them to claim state benefits; and
■ the BNP claims to have spent at least £70,000 on printing equipment in 2005, but no such expenditure is shown in the accounts.

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Early day motions (EDMs) are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons by MPs.  Diane Abbott (left), MP for Hackney North,  has just submitted an EDM against the Conservative’s London Mayoral candidate and MP for Henley, Boris Johnson (right) in the following terms:

“That this House condemns the reference by the hon. Member for Henley of black people as `piccaninnies’, of Africans as having `water melon smiles’ and of African people that `left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain’; notes that the leader of the Conservative Party, the rt. hon. Member for Witney, has been asked by leading members of London’s black community to disassociate his party from these remarks and has refused to do so stating that the rt. hon. Member’s remarks have been `taken out of context and fail to properly represent what he has said in the past’; further notes that the hon. Member has never disputed the fact that he wrote these comments about black and African people; and believes that there is no context in which such remarks could be defensible or justified.”

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Yesterday the Guardian’s G2 section did a fashion profile of Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey. Unlike more high profile ethnic minority peers such as Lord Ahmed and Baroness Amos, Baroness Young is one of many ethnic minority peers we hear little about.

Young was an actress during the 1970s and 1980s and went on to become Professor of Cultural Studies at Middlesex University in the mid 1990s. She was head of culture at the Greater London Authority from 2000 to 2004, the year she became a cross bench peer in the House of Lords. She sits on the Boards of the South Bank Centre and the Royal National Theatre amongst other appointments.

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Labour Party Deputy Leader and Leader of the House of Commons, Harriet Harman MP, has kindly passed TMP a copy of a recent speech she gave in her constituency on migration and diversity, which we publish exclusively here today.

Harman, who is also Secretary of State for Equalities and Minister for Women, represents Camberwell and Peckham, an inner city South London seat with the largest black community of any constituency in England. It was in Harman’s constituency that the young Damilola Taylor was brutally murdered on the notorious North Peckham estate on 27 November 2007.

In the speech given to London’s South Bank University Harman admitted that “just as this country has long benefited from migration, there has too, regrettably, always been fear and hostility to blunt the welcome.”

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TMP advisory board member and London Assembly Member, Murad Qureshi AM (pictured on the left with Viendra Sharma MP), explains why it is so important for London’s ethnic minority communities to get out and vote in the May 2008 GLA elections. 

As we approach the London Assembly elections next year, Labour can be proud of its achievements in relation to the representation of ethnic minorities in London and the policy successes we have delivered to date.

On the Assembly, Labour is presently the only party with ethnic minority representation and a majority of female members. 50 per cent of our candidates for the May 2008 London Assembly constituency elections are from an ethnic minority background including Navin Shah in Brent & Harrow, Shafi Khan in Croydon & Sutton, Ranjit Dheer in Ealing & Hillingdon, Balvinder Saund in Havering & Redbridge, Jennette Arnold AM in North East London, Ansuya Sodha in South West London and myself in West Central London.

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On the day EU leaders sign the Lisbon Treaty, TMP’s new european columnist, Anne Fairweather, reflects on our relationship as citizens with the European Union. 

As the leaders of Europe gather in Lisbon to sign another European Treaty, the debate as to what it all means is as unenlightening as always. The real challenge to all politicians that recognise that the EU is a necessary and useful institution, is how to communicate this to Europe’s citizens.

It is hardly surprising that most people have little idea about what the purpose of the EU is, let alone what it does. The debate has been stuck in a rut for decades. The European Union tends to be described by anti-Europeans as a plot to take over British sovereignty – a debate that fails to recognise that political power in Britain has become more and more defuse over the centuries. Whilst those that speak out in favour of the EU are characterised as leading Britain into a never-ending ‘ever closer union’. This then generates fear, as it is perceived to have no end other than that of a ‘super-state’, whatever that maybe. This is an equally curious concern as no one even thinks to ask what the purpose and direction of their own country is. In fact, the way in which the UK’s borders and political institutions have evolved over centuries ought to provide a template for understanding how the EU evolves.

A common understanding of the role, purpose and direction of the EU is desperately needed. Interestingly, the need to co-operate across nations is not questioned when one considers the challenges of the modern age, from climate change to terrorism, mass communication to world trade. It is therefore puzzling that the legitimacy of the institutions, which the EU encompasses, is constantly questioned. The EU is the most creative and organised response to the need to co-operate in the modern world. Rather than responding to policy challenges on an ad hoc basis, the EU allows for a more consistent and transparent approach.

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The Equality and Human Rights Commission joined forces with high profile faith leaders to claim back Christmas yesterday.  The Commission said it was responding to a growing feeling that it’s taboo to celebrate Christmas in our public spaces.

This year it is the traditional Christian nativity play that is the centre of the stories, with the usual reports of a local authority or public body falling prey to the accusation of “cancelling Christmas” and PC running amok. The resulting media furore is now a regular ritual of the holiday season.

Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said,
“A lot of these stories about Christmas are the usual silly season stuff. But I can’t help feeling there’s sometimes an underlying agenda to use this great holiday to fuel community tension.
That’s why I asked leaders in different religious communities to join me in saying: It’s time to stop being daft about Christmas. It’s fine to celebrate and it’s fine for Christ to be the star of the show.” (continue reading…)

This weekend Oprah Winfrey joined Barack Obama on the campaign trail in Columbia, South Carolina.  Talkshow queen Oprah is supporting Obama’s bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.  You can watch them team up below.

In the wake of the sentencing of Samina Malik last week, TMP columnist, Lola Adesioye, argues that the sooner we come to terms with the idea that freedom of speech and expression do, in fact, come with limits and consequences, the better.

There is something fundamentally wrong with the individualistic society in which we live today. Obsessed with individual freedoms and liberties, we appear to have lost the ability to see the causal link between our actions and their consequences. Young boys who carry guns fail to see it – they are just protecting themselves after all. The actor Chris Langham, jailed for downloading child pornography, was unable to see it – according to him he was simply perusing sexual images of children for his own research. And now it’s the turn of self-named ‘lyrical terrorist’ Samina Malik to have missed this vital action/reaction link.

Apparently Ms Malik is just a naive young woman, who thinks that watching beheadings of Westerners and supporting jihad is “cool”. She is, of course, entitled to her views. After all, she’s an individual. Shouldn’t we all be able to think, say and do what we want?! Aren’t we all entitled to our freedom of expression, our freedom of speech, without repercussion?

Well, no actually, we’re not. The sooner we come to terms with the idea that freedom of speech and expression do, in fact, come with limits and consequences, the better. After receiving a 9 month suspended prison sentence for possessing documents likely to be of use for a terrorist, I’m sure that Malik has been reminded of that today.

Personally I have no sympathy for the girl. Her argument that she was just seeking “fame” carries no weight with me. What does supporting the execution of westerners and downloading terrorist material have to do with finding your fame and fortune? Most people I know who are looking for fame are auditioning for Pop Idol.

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