The Joy of Six 1086

"The idea of the 'illegal' asylum seeker is a falsehood that has been actively peddled by the Home Office and the Home Secretary in recent years. When people talk about asylum seekers coming to the UK 'illegally', what they really mean is asylum seekers arriving via informal and unofficial routes, such as crossing the Channel via small boat. However, asylum seekers are legally allowed to come to the UK even when making an 'illegal entry'." Amelia Susserott explodes the myth of the illegal asylum seeker.

Peter Hain says British politicians have failed Northern Ireland: "What a colossal, devastating failure by British politicians over Northern Ireland. The current impasse - with the Northern Irish Assembly still suspended and another set of elections now required, the second since May - is the product of terrible neglect by the British government starting in 2010, accelerated and deepened by Brexit, which has shattered the delicate power-sharing balance required for functioning Northern Irish institutions."

A growing number of children with mental health problems are being treated on adult psychiatric wards as services struggle to cope with a surge in demand, reports Shanti Das.

James West is critical of the way the media covers climate change: "This is one area where many people with no qualifications in science, with largely arts and humanities training and who have no authority in science, feel able to express opinions on climate science and expect to be taken seriously."

"Watching that scene we, the excited children of black Jamaican migrants in Luton, let out a collective 'Yes!'. Sidney Poitier was one cool dude on and off screen - and we loved, absolutely loved Virgil Tibbs, the actor who played him and all he stood for." Colin Grant surveys the career of Sidney Poitier.

Robert Edgar traces the roots of folk horror back to Thomas Hardy.

John Arlott: "One of the great English radical Liberals of the 20th century"

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On the BBC website you will find a radio programme entitled John Arlott: Cricket's radical voice. And it is a desperately good programme too.

As its blurb says:

It is not an exercise in nostalgia about a man universally considered to be the greatest cricket commentator and 'the voice of an English summer' it is an exploration of Arlott as a political figure both inside and outside the world of cricket. 

John Arlott's politics can best be summed up as those of a radical liberal, and he twice stood unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Party. But he would have found obedience to the party whip difficult, and he rarely adopted a party political stance during the many years that he appeared on the panel of the BBC Home Service's Any Questions. 

He appeared with such people as ... Michael Foot and a young Margaret Thatcher; and he attacked the political orthodoxies of both left and right. He always championed the 'common man' against the power or money or privilege.

Thanks to James Tarry for putting me on to it.

Emlyn Hooson 1925-2012

Lord Hooson, who died yesterday, was leader of the Welsh Liberal Party from its inception in 1966 until 1979, and MP for Montgomery from 1962 to 1979.

He won the seat at a by-election following the death of the former Liberal leader Clement Davies and retained it through five general elections. The Shropshire Star has a photograph of him being carried through the streets of Welshpool after the constituency's result was declared in October 1974 election.

As his Daily Telegraph obituary makes clear, he was not afraid of controversy:

After Liberal losses in the 1970 election, Hooson told the Liberal Assembly that the public wanted a middle-of-the-road party, blaming Jo Grimond and Jeremy Thorpe for trying to take it Leftward. When the Liberals merged with the SDP in 1988, he backed Alan Beith for the leadership against the less cautious Paddy Ashdown. 

Hooson attracted abuse from party activists, particularly the Young Liberals who at one conference waved sticks of rhubarb at him when he opposed sanctions on South Africa. Yet they were allies in opposing the Vietnam War, and the Young Liberals’ leader, Peter Hain, relied on Hooson’s advice when forced to apologise to Edward Short, Leader of the Commons, for suggesting he was implicated in the Poulson affair. 

Hooson opposed both Grimond’s readiness to keep the 1964 Labour government in power, and the Lib-Lab Pact concluded with James Callaghan by Steel. But the leader he trusted least was Jeremy Thorpe. When Grimond retired in 1967, Hooson stood against Thorpe partly on policy grounds but also because of a deep and, as events would prove, shrewd distrust of Thorpe’s character.

He also enjoyed a distinguished legal career. The Telegraph says:

Hooson also enjoyed a distinguished legal career At the Bar, Hooson earned a reputation as a cool, clear thinker and lucid advocate. In 1960, at 35, he became the youngest Silk for many years.

Hooson defended Ian Brady in the Moors Murder trial and, so Disgruntled Radical always tells me, prosecuted Alan Turing when he was tried for 'indecency'.

Norman Lamb: Lib Dems would settle for Alternative Vote

Next Left has an account of a fringe meeting at the Labour Conference in Manchester. Among those taking part were Peter Hain and Norman Lamb:

Peter Hain was running late for the event, but he had a good opening line.

"I am sorry for being late. But before I came here, I thought I had better go and give a speech on electoral reform."

This generated a hearty cheer from Lamb on the platform, as well as applause and laughter from much (if not all) of the audience.

To which Hain said:

"But wait until you hear what it was. I am for the Alternative Vote - and not for proportional representation."

To which Lamb shouted: "We'll take that. We'll take that" from the platform.

Next Left suggests this has long been the position of most of the LibDem frontbench, but notes that they may have "difficulties convincing their party that AV is a step in the right direction if the holy grail of STV can not be gained".

Watch this space.

Peter Hain still in breach of political donation rules

George Parker writes in the Financial Times:

Peter Hain, the minister in charge of Whitehall’s biggest budget, is still in breach of the rules on political donations, five weeks after he admitted failing to declare fully who backed his bid for Labour’s deputy leadership.

More than six months after his campaign ended, Mr Hain has yet to give a full statement on who funded his run to be Labour’s number two. He should have made the declaration within 30 days of accepting a cheque.