Moreover no draconian military rule featured during Ian Smith’s tenure
Posted in General on 23. Sep, 2010
Moreover, no “draconian military rule” featured during Ian Smith’s tenure. Platitudes such as this, vilifying the former white government of the country, are frequent.The chimera of vote franchise since the end of white rule, featuring evil charades of polling in a process entailing violence, intimidation, reprisals, obstructionism, chicanery and resistance to investigation is the only dubious “right” which was not available to most Africans during the previous administration. New Labour is anxious to bring in compulsory ID cards, too.The combined effect of this legislation is to remove our protection as citizens from the abuse of power by our executive government. I am, fortunately, a white, grey-haired, middle-class woman who has never “broken the law”. Nevertheless I am worried that if I join another peace rally, mislay my ID card, or otherwise express my disagreement with the Government I could find myself the subject of government’s “reasonable” suspicion and be “disappeared”.HILARY CHIVALLWHITTLESEY, CAMBRIDGESHIRE Truth, lies, Christians and party politics Sir: Dr John Neasham asks whether we should read anything into the fact that the General Election will be held on Ascension Day (letters, 8 April) Ironically, we should indeed. It is now legally empowered to confine any one of us to our homes merely on its suspicion that we might have had something to do with terrorists.The Government has imposed restrictions on our freedom to protest peacefully.
New Labour has also brought in Asbos, which have resulted in people being imprisoned as criminals for breaking unreasonable conditions imposed by poorly briefed magistrates under pressure not to appear “soft on crime”. I am contacting the EU and UN to invite international observers to ensure that the elections are free and fair.CHRISTOPHER FOYLELONDON WC2 Frightening erosion of civil liberties Sir: Andrew Grice (“The week in politics”, 9 April) does not address what I believe to be the central issue of the election: the despotic New Labour Government’s slide towards making Britain a police state.This Government has been assiduously removing our civil liberties at a frightening pace. However, in previous parliaments neither the privatisation of the railways, nor the poll tax would have got through the Commons.TOM MACFARLANETHORNTON CLEVELEYS, LANCASHIRESir: With voter apathy apparently on the rise I would ask everyone to consider those less enfranchised than others in this coming election.Since I reached voting age, just over 28 years ago, I have never been able to vote for or against the government that sets my laws, taxes me or wages war on my behalf. I come from Northern Ireland.COLIN MITCHELLLISBURN, CO ANTRIMSir: I am very concerned about the potential for massive fraudulent postal voting in the forthcoming election on 5 May, coupled with probable distorted results caused by overdue boundary commission changes. I have never been able to weigh up the characteristics of would-be leaders of the nation and say “yes, this is the one whose vision I will align myself with” and vote accordingly. I have never been able to review national progress over a four-year term and then register my intent for it to continue on course or to change.And no, I don’t come from a little-known Eastern European state clamouring to gain entry to the EU. Had he been successful, he would have been catapulted immediately to the centre of English football administration, to a seat on, say, the international and executive committees of the FA, as Dein was when he returned to power via the Premier League.As it was, the best known English footballer in world history failed miserably to attract support from his fellow directors at the time.
They believed, to his chagrin, that he would merely increase the influence of the big clubs and voted instead for Robert Chase of Norwich City and the chairman of Liverpool, Sir John Smith, who also chaired the Sports Council.Charlton said: “I don’t agree with being against people because they are the big clubs’ candidates. “I have kept my promise to the fans by taking them home,” he said, “but now we need to fill this stadium every game.”The terraces, so familiar from the playing days of Johnny Haynes, Tosh Chamberlain, Bobby Robson and Jimmy Hill, have been replaced by covered stands with executive boxes under the roof at three corners. The try they scored after six minutes it involved 11 phases and 40 pairs of hands, the last of which belonged, fittingly, to the outstanding Semo Sititi was the most poetic expression of attacking rugby witnessed at this level since Christophe Dominici, the French wing, set about tearing up the All Blacks at Twickenham in 1999. The defensive work of Brian Lima, truly a tackler for the ages, was every bit as exceptional. It would be all too simple to lament the straitjacketing of international sportsmen who, despite their six-figure salaries, will never play with the freedom of mind and spirit shown by the Samoans yesterday But to hell with it. This game was not about England and their World Cup prospects. It was about 22 gloriously talented men in blue shirts who fought the good fight with pride, imagination and smiles on their faces.Put simply, the Samoans reminded the union code of its own possibilities.
The islanders, reduced to scratch status by the lop-sided economics of the professional game, laid their unique brand of rugby romanticism before a crowd of 50,000 rapt Melburnians and, in the process, raised the temperature of this tournament to something approaching boiling point.
It would be easy to rip into the English performance, to mock the schoolboy uncertainties of Matt Dawson and Jonny Wilkinson at half-back, to ask pointed questions of a back row run ragged by players who scarcely earn a brass farthing between them. Once again, the mountain was moved – not quite far enough to send the astonishingly instinctive players of Samoa into dreamland, but a whole lot further than England could have imagined possible at the start of a contest so exhilarating that it almost revisited the World Cup summit scaled by the France-New Zealand semi-final four years ago. Substitutes: Fitzpatrick (Salford), Maye (St Helens), Bates (Gateshead), McLoughlin (Oldham).Referee: T Alibert (France).. Substitutes: Graham (Featherstone), Miller (Whitehaven), Tunstall (Workington), Howieson (Sheffield).IRELAND: Cummins (Leeds), Smyth (Warrington), Doran (Oldham), Stewart (St Helens), Gaskell (Warrington), Handforth (Wakefield), Roden (Oldham), Marshall (London), Cantillon (Widnes), Slicker (Huddersfield), Farrell (Oldham), King (Barrow), Gallagher (Leeds). Joe Berry, the outstanding Henderson and Duffy linked up in the slickest of handling moves for Danny Arnold to go over and Duffy to kick his third goal.The Scots seemed to be on their way to victory when Henderson and Berry were again involved in setting up Jason Roach in the opposite corner but Duffy could not land the goal and Scotland somehow allowed the initiative to slip away from them before Fitzpatrick provided the dramatic climax.SCOTLAND: Penny (Warrington), Roach (Swinton), Reed (Gateshead), Solomon (Doncaster), Arnold (Salford), Duffy (Leigh), Henderson (Barrow), Berry (Batley), McConnell (London), McDonald (Leeds), Morrison (Huddersfield), Knox (Swinton), Wilkes (Keighley).