LIBYA HIT BY TSUNAMI

For nearly two months our daily news headlines have been led by the push for democracy in Arab nations.


More recently the news has been dominated by Libya with TV stations having reporters on the frontline, in Tripoli and in neighbouring nations.

None-the-less there has been space in every hour for other international and national news, sport, weather and comment.

Not any more. As soon as the earthquake and tsunami struck in Japan all other news ceased to exist.

I wake up every day to Sky News and seemingly the only news in the world is Japan. I wouldn’t mind if the content of the programmes was informative but invariably it is repeating what it told me the hour before and the day before.

I accept the events in Japan are terrible – the worst earthquake and tsunami ever.

Yet to behave as if all other news had ceased is simply ridiculous.

I suspect that come the next TV awards Sky News will receive a gong for its coverage in Japan.

In the meantime Libya’s struggle goes on as it does in other Arab nations but Sky News and other TV stations have enforced their own news blackout – censorship far more effective than anything Gadafi or the other despots could have imposed.

The tsunami has not only swept away thousands of people but also sensible news coverage.

Both are major tragedies.

MY BOAT IS BIGGER THAN YOUR BOAT

Spain’s minister of the interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, recently officially received the new Guardia Civil patrol boat, the Río Segura, in the port of the Bay of Cádiz. It is the largest vessel to be acquired by the maritime service of the Guardia Civil. It will largely be assigned to service on the high seas in the fight against drug trafficking and illegal immigration.


This is the continuation of a process started in 2007 when the first two ocean going vessels were acquired by the Guardia Civil – the Río Tajo and the Río Miño. These are now also backed up by reconnaissance aircraft.

The Río Segura is 73 metres long, weighs 2,100 tonnes and can be on patrol for 60 days. It has a crew of 39 people but in the case of a rescue on the high seas can take on board another 80. It also has a tele-medicine system on board.

The ministry of the interior also announced a new Guardia Civil unit with its HQ in Cádiz’s port that will serve the Strait area and will use the Río Miño with 32 crew starting operations in April.

Now the first thing that has to be said about the Río Tajo and Río Miño and the new super patrol vessel the Río Segura with relation to Gibraltar is that the British Government is fully aware of their existence. The first two have taken part in a number of international drug operations working with SOCA – the UK’s organized crime agency. Indeed it is likely that the Royal Gibraltar Police either through SOCA or links with the Spanish law agencies have also been involved. Hence in the future all three patrol boats will work with the British police and security agencies in the international war against drugs and people trafficking.

So what is the Gibraltar perspective on this? First it is the RGP and the local port and customs agencies to decide what size of vessels they need to perform their duties in the waters surrounding the Rock. In the end it is a political decision whether they receive these resources or not but it should be a professional request for the equipment to meet the task. So what do they need, have they asked for it, have they received it?

Secondly the waters around Gibraltar are British so it is for London and not No 6 to decide whether the patrol boats used by the Royal Navy are up to the job or whether more fire power is required.

Certainly in Rubalcaba’s statements no mention was made of Gibraltar or its waters in relation to the Segura, Tajo or Miño. That is not to say one or more will not appear around Gibraltar either in the course of its duties or as a perceived incursion in to Britain’s territorial waters.

When those incursions occur then the Gibraltar Government of the day should speak out openly to denounce the violation of its waters – and let both London and Madrid know of its anger. However it is for Britain to take action – yet it has to be realised that the days of sending a gun boat, even if Britain still had one, have long since gone.

The British police agencies work closely with the ministry of the interior as well as the Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional. Hence the British Government should make plain that whilst the Segura, Tajo and Miño work on the high seas with SOCA to combat international crime it is not acceptable for the same vessels, or their smaller versions, to violate Britain’s international recognized territorial waters around Gibraltar. Cooperation works two ways.

WAIT THERE SON WHILE I GO TO THE BROTHEL

Now here’s a strange tale. A 39-year-old man was recently arrested by police in Madrid after he left his son in his car whilst he visited a brothel in Fuenlabrada.

The father has been charged of abandoning a minor. It is alleged he left his son for over an hour whilst he went to the ‘club de alterne’ nearby.

The crying and calls of the youngster locked inside the vehicle were heard by a man who was out running as he passed by. He alerted the National Police who sent a patrol.

It was around 21.00 when officers arrived at the scene. The doors of the car were locked, the windows closed and the street temperature was three degrees centigrade.

Officers asked the boy through the windows if he knew where his father was? The boy told them he said he’d be gone for just five minutes but hadn’t returned and he was cold. The police visited nearby businesses finally arriving at the brothel where the father was with a woman.

The man, who has previous convictions, was arrested and taken to the police HQ. After appearing in court he was released on bail but ordered to present himself to the police every two weeks.

I’ve heard of a child being left outside a pub in England whilst the father or mother or indeed both downed drinks inside – but a brothel! Words fail me!

FINE GIRL, YOU ARE!

When I was young, yes that long ago, I could be heard in many a folk club, pint of stout in hand, crooning along with the best of them to Irish folk songs.


Indeed I even had a copy of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem song book. In the privacy of my own home I would strum along on my guitar to Republican airs.

“Right proudly high over Dublin Town they hung out the flag of war

'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky than at Suvla or Sud-El-Bar

And from the plains of Royal Meath strong men came hurrying through

While Britannia's Huns, with their long range guns sailed in through the foggy dew”

You get the gist.

So why am I telling you this?

Well the Republic of Ireland has just had a general election. As I lived in Dublin for some years, have close Irish roots, indeed my son was born in Churchtown and hence is a son of the Liffey - I have been taking a keen interest in the results.

I have also been spellbound at the knots news presenters have got themselves into trying to pronounce the names of Ireland’s political parties.

At the end of verses in a number of Clancy Brother songs they would shout – Fine Girl, You Are! Apparently Fine Girl is now the major party in the Irish Government.

Of course Fianna Fáil has long considered itself the natural party of government in the Republic. And here perhaps the news readers haven’t got it totally wrong. The proud party of Éamon De Valera was nearly wiped out – hence pronouncing Fianna Fáil as fail may be more than appropriate.

Fine Girl You Are, Indeed!

(For the record Fine Gael secured 76 seats (+25) and will be in coalition with Labour 37 (+17) whilst Fianna Fáil have 20, down 58. Sinn Fein and other parties won 33 seats.)

RACISTS AREN’T TALENTED

Some years ago I was involved with an amateur theatre which had its own bar area. After rehearsals or performances actors with a modicum of talent who had taken to the stage started drinking sessions which ended in behaviour that was totally unacceptable. They were tolerated, even lauded by some, because they’re “artists” – so we have to indulge them. Of course if a paying customer to the theatre had behaved in such a manner they would have been thrown out on their ear – and quite rightly too.


This came to mind when I saw remarks by Beatriz de Orleans. She in case you didn’t know – and I didn’t – is the director of communications for Dior in Spain.

In an interview with Concha García Campoy she has leapt to the defence of the fashion house’s sacked designer John Galliano. She purrs that “he is a genius”, we have to “respect his talent” and “we have all been very drunk some day”.

Of course for the majority of woman and mankind the work of fashion designers like Galliano passes us by. Our budget only allows us to by off the peg sensible clothes. For many millions they are so poor they live in rags. Those of us who do see his bizarre creations dismiss them as frippery.

What Beatriz and those of her ilk fail to recognise is that a person who sits on a bar stool and loudly voices anti-Semitic insults and broadcasts his admiration for Hitler isn’t a tortured talented genius – he or she is a racist.

It is not the drink or drugs or a combination of both that puts these words into his or her mouth it just gives them the Dutch courage to speak what they believe openly.

Hitler was probably a handy man to have around the house if you wanted the front room decorated. However the vast majority of us wouldn’t give him or Galliano house room.

Whether Beatriz de Orleans would, is of course, another matter.

A WEEK IS A LONG TIME...

It was Harold Wilson who gave us the phrase “A week is a long time in politics” – and in the case of what is happening in the Middle East and North Africa that is certainly true.

In January I visited the UK to write an article about Sky News and to attend the Fabian Society New Year Conference where Ed Miliband was to speak. Also pencilled in to my diary was a meeting with Sir Teddy Taylor, the former MP for Southend East.

As I caught a minor bug I went ahead with the Sky and Fabian dates but cancelled my meeting with Sir Teddy along with a couple others.

I wanted to chat with Sir Teddy about Gadafi because he had travelled to Libya on a couple of occasions to meet him. My interest was to learn what he made of the leader of that nation and to discuss his views on the Lockerbie bombing – especially as Sir Teddy is from Glasgow. It was mid-January and nobody had foreseen what would happen just weeks later. At that point Gadafi and Libya were on the rehabilitation list!

Reading Sir Teddy’s words in his autobiography Teddy Boy Blue now makes strange reading. I quote:

“If we endeavouring to solve the many problems facing the Middle East my belief is that we would make more progress if we treated the various nations with dignity and respect.

“Another good example of this is my experiences in Libya. I paid a visit there at a time when Mr. Gadaffi (sic throughout) appeared to have no friends in the world and when I was advised that it would be dangerous to travel there. However, as so often before, I found that the foreign office assessment of nations was not too accurate. I visited Mr Gadaffi on my first visit there and several times thereafter. During my first visit he agreed to cancel the provision he had made for the supply of weapons to the IRA and to many other terrorist groups in the world. These massive changes in policy have been maintained.

“The main feature for me on my visit to Libya was to see the actual country itself and the services provided to the community. Of course there is always the danger of being misled, but I can only say that as a person who has no financial or other interests in nations like Libya ...my assessment was that they had many positive features which sadly are not communicated to our people. My experience in the world is that those countries which the West approves of are often the most horrible nations for people to live in whilst those they disapprove of are often liberal and exciting nations which people seem happy to live in.”

It would be interesting to know how Sir Teddy feels about these impressions now.

As I say – a week is a long time in politics!

OK, HE’S BRITISH

Gibraltar is a small community, some 30,000 souls all told. That includes Gibraltarians, Britons and other nationalities that have made the Rock their home.

So on the international stage it is not surprising to find there are only two Gibraltarians who have found fame and fortune. One is the singer Albert Hammond and the other the fashion designer John Galliano.

Now whilst Hammond was born in London his parents are Gibraltarian having been evacuated during World War II. So Hammond is technically English but was brought up in Gibraltar. His hit records include: "It Never Rains in Southern California", "The Free Electric Band”,"I Don't Wanna Die in an Air Disaster", "I'm a Train” and "Down by the River".

The problem is both Hammond and Galliano are claimed by the British media to be British. Hence Galliano is a British fashion designer although he was born in Gibraltar, has a Gibraltarian father and Spanish mother, but was raised in England.

Normally I go out of my way to correct both being labelled British, but I now make an exception.

Over recent days Galliano has been suspended then sacked by Paris fashion house Dior, first for making anti-Semitic remarks whilst drunk in a bar in the city. Then having been caught on video, drunk, in the same bar months earlier saying he loved Hitler and again mouthing anti-Semitic sentiments including references to people being gassed.

Whilst this in itself was despicable behaviour it also blackens the name of Gibraltar – a community where people of Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and other faiths and none – all live in peaceful co-existence and harmony.

So Albert Hammond is Gibraltarian, ok – but you are right Galliano is British!