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16 December 2018 at 8:26am

Where do former UK prime ministers stand on the Brexit issue?
All four of Theresa May's most recent predecessors joined her in voting Remain in the referendum.
All four of Theresa May’s most recent predecessors joined her in voting Remain in the referendum. Credit: PA

Theresa May has accused Tony Blair of “insulting” the British people and the office of prime minister by “undermining” Brexit talks with calls for a second referendum.

The Prime Minister said there are “too many people who want to subvert the process for their own political interests” and warned a second referendum would amount to Parliament abdicating responsibility.

After Mrs May’s stinging rebuke of her predecessor, here is a look at how former British prime ministers view Brexit:

David Cameron

David Cameron set the wheels in motion
David Cameron set the wheels in motion  Credit: Hannah McKay/PA

Mrs May’s old boss triggered the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU and campaigned for Remain.

After losing the historic vote, Mr Cameron swiftly left Number 10, quit as an MP and has remained virtually absent from the ensuing debate over Brexit.

Earlier this month, he said he did not regret calling the referendum, adding: “Obviously I’m very concerned about what’s happening today but I do support the Prime Minister in her efforts to try and have a close partnership with the European Union.”

Gordon Brown

Former prime minister Gordon Brown sees another referendum as the answer
Former prime minister Gordon Brown sees another referendum as the answer  Credit: Nick Ansell/PA

Brexit has left the country divided and led to a breakdown of trust within the electorate, according to Mr Blair’s successor.

Furthermore, allegations of betrayal risk creating a “poisonous and toxic atmosphere” that could be exploited by populists.

In October, Mr Brown predicted a future referendum on Brexit will take place.

He said if Britain leaves the EU without a deal in March 2019 but with, as he expects, an extended transition period retaining some aspects of membership, the next general election will be fought on Europe.

Tony Blair

Tony Blair has made no secret of his desire to remain in Europe
Tony Blair has made no secret of his desire to remain in Europe  Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA

The Labour heavyweight drew Mrs May’s ire after saying the Prime Minister must stop “banging (her) head against this brick wall” and go for a second referendum.

He said the country had been “held hostage” by division in the Tories, but said the issue was such that it would not make any difference if it was a Labour or Conservative government “or a divine government” running the negotiations.

Mr Blair described the “disentangling” process of Brexit as “hideously complex” and said all options of leaving the EU have “significant drawbacks” compared with staying in.

Sir John Major

Sir John Major also had to deal with the issue of Europe splitting the Tories
Sir John Major also had to deal with the issue of Europe splitting the Tories  Credit: Scott Heppell/PA

No stranger to the challenge posed to Tory leaders by Euroceptic MPs, Sir John has made several interventions on the issue.

As a former PM all too familiar with the realities of unrest in Northern Ireland, he has called for the immediate revocation of the Article 50 withdrawal process in order to give politicians on all sides time to work through the “morass”.

Sir John has also warned that Brexiteers responsible for persuading the British public to leave the European Union will never be forgiven for their “false promises”.Last updated Sun 16 Dec 2018

17 December 2018 at 10:19am

Theresa May invites David Cameron to backseat drive on Brexit

PESTON’S POLITICS ROBERT PESTON

Mrs May's predecessor David Cameron is advising her how to get some kind route out of the EU through parliament.
Mrs May’s predecessor David Cameron is advising her how to get some kind route out of the EU through parliament.  Credit: PA

If you want a symbol of the catastrophe Theresa May faces over Brexit here it is: her predecessor David Cameron is advising her how to get some kind route out of the EU – that isn’t the fast one over the cliff – through parliament.

This is like the pope asking the chief rabbi on the true meaning of the Eucharist: when Theresa May became prime minister she defined herself by defenestrating all things and people of a Cameroonish hue (including, most notoriously – and some would argue most self-destructively – packing Osborne off to the backbenches).

But now the former prime minister has become her personal Brexit-crisis adviser, as she desperately tries to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU with a chaotic no deal.

Mrs May's predecessor David Cameron is advising her how to get some kind route out of the EU
Mrs May’s predecessor David Cameron is advising her how to get some kind route out of the EU. Credit: PA

Mr Cameron’s advice is conspicuously being taken, at this juncture by her ministers if not publicly by her. 

Because what he told her – I understand – is that she should “get on with getting parliament to work through the options”.

You will have heard the Business Secretary Greg Clark just this morning become the latest member of the Cabinet to say on the Today Programme that the time is almost nigh to press MPs (possibly through an innovative process of holding advisory votes on different options) to express their collective views on what kind of Brexit (or potentially no Brexit, via a referendum) they would choose.

When Theresa May became prime minister she defined herself by defenestrating all things and people of a Cameroonish hue.
When Theresa May became prime minister she defined herself by defenestrating all things and people of a Cameroonish hue. Credit: PA

Mr Cameron has made it clear – according to my source – that “she has to help parliament find an answer, recognising that she doesn’t have a majority”.

This of course is reinforcing the pressure on her from her senior backbenchers like Nicky Morgan to put party allegiances to one side in the search for a way through the impasse.

And what kind of Brexit would Mr Cameron himself favour?

Well she is listening to him partly because he has privately endorsed her “partnership” approach to the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU. 

This would be either her Brexit plan, which a majority of MPs detest, or an amended version (which the EU comprehensively squished on Thursday) or some version of the arrangement Norway has with the EU.

So Mr Cameron is – as you would expect – a proponent of what Michael Gove would see as the best Brexit available and Jacob Rees-Mogg would view as BRINO (Brexit in name only) serfdom.

And if MPs won’t back any Brexit plan? Would Mr Cameron suggest she put the BIG question back to the people with a so-called People’s Vote?

My source conspicuously dodges when pressed. 

That said, Mr Cameron probably knows better than to opine on plebiscitary matters, since if he hadn’t decided on the original poll, she wouldn’t be in her quandary today and he’d still be in a job.Last updated Mon 17 Dec 2018.

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11/17　20,000歩弱を歩きました。前の日はコンサートだったのに・・・（無謀）
コースはほぼ平地で、だらだら歩いたので心臓への負担はゼロ、でも膝が疲れた。それに、どんなに遅くなっても行程は「絶対変えない」主義の我らは、夜の川崎大師の参詣となった（笑）
　
　 　
　川崎民家園（生田緑地内）
 　 　
　 　 　
　 　
　 　 　
　 　 　カラタチ
　
　 　 　
　 　 　
　 　 　
　 　
　
川崎宿
 　
　
　六郷渡
 　
　
川崎大師様
 　
(周囲はほぼ真っ暗）
お賽銭箱が大きすぎる！
ほかの人が撮影した写真

Photos by Google 

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We have been discussing the American Parliament system as, meaningfully, a two-party system. But I have been interested in some of current new movements and trends, as well. So this is just for my brief study notes.

What is DSA(Democratic Socialists of America) , a NGO which seeks more human orientated democracy? http://www.dsausa.org/

Who We Are & What We Do
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the United States. We believe that working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few. We are a political and activist organization, not a party; through campus and community-based chapters, DSA members use a variety of tactics, from legislative to direct action, to fight for reforms that empower working people.

Current Campaigns

DSA and YDSA chapters organize around a variety of issues based on local priorities, especially labor solidarity and anti-austerity work. However, the national office provides resources and support for the main activist priorities of the organization as voted on by delegates to our national convention:

Medicare for All Click here

Strong Unions Click here

Electoral Power

Bernie Sanders launched a political revolution and we’re continue to build it, supporting democratic socialist candidates running for local and state office. We’re also grappling with how to build independent political power to hold candidates we elect, and others, accountable to their constituents rather than the donor class. Click here to go to our electoral website.
OP-ED: Restoring respectful discussion: A practical guide
SEPTEMBER 22, 2018
  A recent article called for “wholehearted praxis” in how we interact with our comrades, and argued against “internal policing.” I think the intent was good, but the article did not offer a concrete analysis of what goes wrong in personal interactions where there are legitimate political disagreements, and only gave vague advice about what…
Climate Change Needs a Short-Term Plan and a Global One
SEPTEMBER 19, 2018
The democratic left generally agrees that using renewable energy is necessary to defeat climate change and is becoming more focused on moving our nation to a renewable future. Yet we also know that climate change is a global problem. The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) latest forecast gives us a hint of what we need to do globally.
Part Two, American Socialism Then and Now
SEPTEMBER 15, 2018
Those of us who declare ourselves socialists must reaffirm our radicalism, envision a truly revolutionary anti-capitalist future, and understand that today, as in Gilded Age America, the our cause is increasingly that of a radical democracy struggling to be born.

Socialism is no longer a dirty word in the US – and that’s scary for some

Arwa MahdawiSun 29 Jul 2018
Since Trump took power, membership of the Democratic Socialists of America has leapt from 6,000 to 47,000 – and even conservatives are struggling to articulate what is so bad about free education and healthcare
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally in New York. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally in New York
Here’s a fun game to play with a right-leaning American: say the word “socialism” and count the number of seconds it takes for them to scream “VENEZUELA” in response. It is unclear how many conservative Americans could identify Venezuela on a map but, boy, they all seem keen to inform you that the beleaguered country is a shining example of why socialism will never work, certainly not in the US.
For a recent example of how Republicans go completely Caracas at the mere mention of the S-word, please see Meghan McCain, the daughter of the 2008 presidential candidate John McCain. Last week, Meghan McCain had a meltdown on the daytime television chatshow The View when the subject of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old Democratic Socialist who recently unseated a 10-term New York congressman, came up.
US news

Why the Democratic Socialists of America are experiencing a boom

Douglas WilliamsSat 12 Aug 2017
Bernie Sanders revived a political current that seemed dead in the US. But working-class Americans’ isolation from mainstream politics helped, too
For the Democratic Socialists of America, there has been a silver lining in this dark year dominated by Trump. Thanks to a post-election membership boom, the organization is now 25,000 people strong. The DSA has become the largest socialist organization since the heyday of Eugene Debs and the Socialist Party of America at the turn of the 20th century.
Most of the new members of the organization have been young people, whose affinity for socialist ideas – or at the very least for a rejection of capitalism – has been growing in recent years as the punishing blows of neoliberalism have placed them in a more precarious place than ever before.
This newfound energy was on display at their biennial convention last weekend in Chicago, where more than 1,000 attendees from dozens of chapters around the country gathered to debate resolutions, set priorities for the next two years, and elect people to serve on the National Political Committee.
So why has the DSA’s membership increased threefold since Donald Trump won? The first reason is the most obvious one: the Bernie Sanders effect.
While polls had shown a growing dissatisfaction with capitalism in the wake of the Great Recession, there had not been a national figure that was able to coalesce that disquiet into an alternative vision for society, politics, and economy.
It was thought that Barack Obama might be this person at one point, but disillusionment set in once it became clear that Obama was not keen on using his mandate for the kind of truly transformational change that had been promised throughout his 2008 campaign for president.
Sanders’s entry into the race in April 2015 was, at first, treated as an afterthought. Not completely surprising, of course, given that Hillary Clinton had been, essentially, running for president for nine years. But with shock results in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Bern-feeling was off to the races.
Sanders, previously a little-known “democratic socialist” independent senator from Vermont, was able to win more than 13 million votes and 43% of the Democratic primary electorate. But his biggest impact came in what he did for socialism in the United States.
Bernie Sanders managed to revive a political current that seemed all but dead in American politics. After decades of continual red-bashing from rightwing forces in media and politics, the notion that the people, not corporations, should own more of the wealth in this country suddenly became something worth discussing.
This feeling only accelerated after Trump’s elevation to the White House in January. While many Democrats saw the mass protests against Trump’s election as an aberration, leftists saw an opportunity to engage in building the base for socialist ideas around the country.
The DSA is the largest manifestation of this, but by no means is it alone: local organizations such as the Philly Socialists, the Mobile Bay Socialist Collective in Alabama, and the armed resistance group Redneck Revolt work alongside the DSA’s estimated 105 (and growing) chapters on projects ranging from tenants’ rights, reproductive justice, and labor rights, to justice for the victims of police brutality.
Most Americans do not feel represented by Democrats or …
Oct 25, 2016 … Sixty-one per cent of survey respondents say neither political party reflects their … About two in three Republicans believe voter fraud is a bigger … of Americans who see a very non-responsive political system to their situation.
Britain’s two-party political system isn’t working
 Wed 20 Apr 2016 
The debates prompted by the Panama Papers, while usefully illuminating the extraordinary corruption of many foreign leaders, may have distracted us from the real problem in Britain. Unlike in Russia or China, the corruption in British politics does not stem from those in power abusing their position for personal enrichment. Instead, it comes from the structure of our decaying political system. Propped up by money from vested interests, the rigid two-party straitjacket has left the UK with a malfunctioning democracy and led to widespread public disillusionment.
It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s clear that people are looking for a new kind of politics that goes beyond traditional party lines: a politics first and foremost of engagement and transparency, not reducible to the old left-right divide.
Young and liberal in America: ‘It’s both hopeful and disturbing’
As part of the Ask America project, the BBC spoke to young activists at a political convention for progressives in New Orleans.
If you have story ideas or questions about the US you want us to explore please let us know. You can email askamerica@bbc.co.uk or use #BBCAskAmerica.
Video by Hannah Long-Higgins
  • 07 Aug 2018
    How socialism became the talk of the midterms
    By KIM ADAMS • SEP 11, 2018
    Socialism is getting more attention in American political races, with high-profile candidates embracing so-called socialist policies and groups like the Democratic Socialists of Americaswelling their membership ranks and openly backing congressional candidates like New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
    “I believe in health care for all, I believe in education for all, I believe in housing as a human right” said Ocasio-Cortez in an interview with DeRay McKesson on “Pod Save the People.” If people are going to call me a socialist for believing in those things, all right, call me a socialist, I don’t give a damn.”
    Ocasio-Cortez’s position is “quite a distance away from what socialism traditionally has meant,” said Frank Newport, editor-in-chief at Gallup. He points to Gallup polling during the Cold War, when the company found Americans defined socialism as “the things that we would have thought of 50 years ago, government ownership of the means of production and equal incomes.”
    At the time, communism was spreading across Eastern Europe, Western European governments were experimenting with socialism and U.S. government news reels were warning Americans to be on guard.
    “The theory of socialism may be exciting to the intellect of many people,” said one 1955 film. “Its glittering promises may seduce the judgment of millions.”
    But the film warned that socialism was a first step on the slippery slope to communism.
    That connection between socialism and communism has faded for some, said linguist Deborah Tannen at Georgetown University. She’s written several books on how words and their use can change over time.
    “I think young people are just so distant from [the Cold War] that those negative associations would no longer be taboo,” she said.
    Today, Gallup polling shows more than half of young people (18-29) have a positive view of socialism. Perhaps because rather than linking it to communism, they tend to associate it with a more accepted partner — democracy.
    “Democratic socialism means that in a democratic civilized society, the wealthiest people and the largest corporations must pay their fair share of taxes,” said Democratic presidential candidate and longtime Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2015.
    “Most older people thought this is the kiss of death,” said Georgetown’s Tannen. “If he says he’s a socialist, he’s dead in the water.”
    In fact, Sanders made it all the way to the Democratic convention, and now congressional candidates are weaving the ideas of democratic socialism into successful campaign platforms for the midterms.
    That said, Americans attitudes toward socialism haven’t changed much in recent years, according to Gallup’s polling. More than half of Democrats view socialism positively and have for years. Less than a quarter of Republicans feel the same. What’s really changed is the way people feel about capitalism.
    From the financial crisis to the Occupy Wall Street movement to the reaction to recent corporate tax cuts, capitalism has become, in some circles, the new villain. The percentage of Democrats who have a positive view of it has dropped 10 points in the last two years.
    “I think for a lot of people, the way that they use ‘socialism’ is maybe just to mean not capitalism,” said Benjamin McKean, a political theorist at Ohio State University.
    “If you’re a young person coming out of college, you’re seeing some people doing incredibly well,” he said. But, “you’re seeing most people, in an economy that’s supposed to be doing great, not doing any better than they were a few years ago, sometimes even doing worse.”
    Which may be part of the reason behind a 12-point drop in approval of capitalism among young people, in particular.
    But overall, 56 percent of Americans still view capitalism positively, compared to just 37 percent for socialism. So the current economic system isn’t likely going anywhere just yet.

 

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世の中に怒ることは多々あれど、笑っちゃうこともある。Boris Johnson. ヒジャブやブルカを着用する女性を「郵便ポストみたいだ」、「銀行強盗みたいだ」と言い放ち顰蹙を買い、メディアに追いかけられ、ユーモアなのか皮肉なのか、天然のままなのか、Oxfordshierの自宅に押し掛ける記者さんたちに、でっかい、上品とはいい難いマグカップにドバっと紅茶を入れて、「まぁ、まぁ、お茶でもどうぞ！」という。批判を浴びるのは承知の上だと思うけど、そのユーモアに思わず大笑い、Boris。 君はおかしすぎる！

“I have nothing to say about this matter except to offer you some tea…

Steve Bannon claimed Boris Johnson had "nothing to apologise for" over burka comments
Eaton-Oxford Statesman

Tory investigation into Boris Johnson burka comments must not be ‘whitewash’

The row over Boris Johnson’s burka comments is rumbling on. Credit: PA
The Conservative Party’s investigation into Boris Johnson’s controversial comments over the burka cannot be a “whitewash” the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has said.

Following the former foreign secretary’s comments that Muslim women who wear the burka look like “letter-boxes” or “bank robbers”, the MCB’s letter to Theresa May is expected to state that “no-one should be allowed to victimise minorities with impunity”.
Miqdaad Versi, the Assistant Secretary General of the MCB, told ITV News that there must be “transparency” around the investigation into the comments, which were a “a deliberate action to stoke tensions”.
「ブルカ」発言で非難されるジョンソン前英外相　質問答えず記者にお茶を
批判と擁護の両方
英政府の平等人権委員会（EHRC）は10日、ジョンソン氏の発言が「ムスリム女性を中傷する」恐れがあると懸念を示した。レベッカ・ヒルセンラス委員長は、「民主主義社会は表現の自由にその実効性を依存しており、不見識な意見や不寛容な意見の表現は一般的に、違法ではない」としつつ、「今回のボリス・ジョンソン氏の言葉遣いは、ムスリム女性を人間ではなく物扱いし、中傷するおそれがあり、扇動的で社会を分断する。政治関係者が指導者となるからには、社会の手本となり、しっかり責任のある態度で議論するべきだ。このような表現は、正当な対話を妨げる物になりかねない」と声明を発表した。
EHRCは市民からの苦情に応えてコメントしたものと見られる。同様に保守党の理事会も、多数の苦情を受けて、ジョンソン氏の発言が党の規則に違反するかを調査しているという。
党内調査について元保守党党首のイアン・ダンカン・スミス議員はBBCに、「下院議員の発言について、党内部の仕組みを使って下院議員をだまらせるべきではないと思っている」と、ジョンソン氏を擁護した。

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Mandela lecture: Five things Barack Obama said

Barack Obama has used his first high-profile speech since stepping down as US president to take swipes at “strongman politics” and politicians’ disregard for the facts. His comments are seen as thinly veiled criticism of the current US administration’s use of what has been described as “alternative facts”.
Here are five key points from his Nelson Mandela lecture, made to the world’s media and an audience of some 15,000 people in South Africa’s main city, Johannesburg.
 Jul 19

Mandela Day is about taking action to change the world for the better. In these young people, I see Madiba’s example of persistence and hope. They are poised to make this world more peaceful, more prosperous, and more just.

4. Viva democracy!

Politicians using “politics of fear, resentment, retrenchment” were rising “at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago,” Barack Obama warned.

Democracy is messy, he said, “but the efficiency of an autocrat is a false promise”.

“It is time for us to stop paying all of our attention to the world’s capitals… and focus on the world’s grassroots. That is where democracy comes from,” he added.

Warning against creeping populism and “strongman politics”, he made the case for liberal democracy, saying that he believed it offered the better future for humanity.

“I believe in Nelson Mandela’s vision” for the world’s future, he said, “I believe that a world governed by such principles is possible”.

“It can achieve more peace and more cooperation in pursuit of a common good,” he added.

“I believe we have no choice but to move forward… I believe it is based on hard evidence. The fact that the world’s most prosperous and successful societies happen to be those which have most closely approximated the liberal progressive ideal that we talk about.”

Things may go backwards for a while, but – ultimately – right makes might,” Mr Obama said. “Not the other way around.”

Full Text

Sammary by BBC

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11/11(月）未明、Nobel Academy のサイトで授賞式の模様を食い入るように見ていた。
Kazuo Ishiguroさんは、身体とたたずまいは日本人、言語と身体の動きはHalf British/Half Japanese のような感じで、穏やかでにこやかな表情で、楽しそうに嬉しそうに賞を受けた。喜ばしい瞬間だった。
 
でも、その前に平和賞を受賞した ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) のベアトリス事務局長（Beatrice Fihn）のスピーチが超過激、直截的・感動的で驚きだった。日本人被爆者Thurlow節子さんのスピーチも力強く、会場に感動を広げた。世界に声を拡げるものだったと思う（拍手）　スピーチ原稿（こちら）

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2017 Richard H. Thaler
Richard H. ThalerさんPhoto: University of Chicago/Anne Ryan
もう一つ、おかしみとともに感動したのは、経済学賞を受けた米国の受章者が舞台で思わず見せた涙。正直そうで可愛らしく、VTRを戻して何度も見てしまった。どの受章者も人生をかけた挑戦を長年たゆみなく続けた人で、それだけで十分人を感動させるのだと思った。

 

こちらは、受賞後の夕食会でのIshiguroさんのすばらしいスピーチ：

Kazuo Ishiguro – Banquet Speech

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海外の作家でこの頃一番読んだ（読んでいる）のは、カズオ・イシグロさん。その人がノーベル文学賞受賞者となった。すばらしい。

読んだのは（途中までのも多いけど）；
・遠い山なみの光（１９８２年）　英・王立文学協会賞　　A Pale View of Hills
・日の名残（なご）り（１９８９年）　英・ブッカー賞　　(映画を観ただけ）
・わたしたちが孤児だったころ（２０００年）　　　　　　When We were Orphans
・わたしを離さないで（２００５年）                                       NEVER LET ME GO
・忘れられた巨人（２０１５年）                                               A Bruied Giant

ノーベル文学賞にカズオ・イシグロ氏　英国の小説家

下司佳代子＝ストックホルム、編集委員・吉村千彰
2017年10月5日20時29分
　スウェーデン・アカデミーは５日、２０１７年のノーベル文学賞を長崎出身の英国の小説家、カズオ・イシグロさん（６２）に授与すると発表した。賞金は９００万スウェーデンクローナ（約１億２５００万円）。授賞式は１２月１０日にストックホルムである。
　発表の瞬間、会場の報道陣から驚きの声が漏れ、拍手が続いた。授賞理由は「人と世界のつながりという幻想の下に口を開けた暗い深淵（しんえん）を、感情豊かにうったえる作品群で暴いてきた」とされた。アカデミーのサラ・ダニウス事務局長は「ジェーン・オースティンとフランツ・カフカをまぜるとカズオ・イシグロになる。そこにマルセル・プルーストを少し加えなければいけない。彼は非常に誠実な作家で、彼自身の美学の宇宙を作り上げた」とたたえた。
“This is a very weird time in the world, we’ve sort of lost faith in our political system, we’ve lost faith in our leaders, we’re not quite sure of our values, and I just hope that my winning the Nobel prize contributes something that engenders good will and peace,” he said. “ It reminds us of how international the world is, and we all have to contribute things from our different corners of the world.Read More →