A scab which should not have been picked

http://www.libdemvoice.org/chris-rennard-elected-to-federal-executive-by-lib-dem-peers-48220.html refers.

My father taught me not to pick at scabs. They were nature's way of covering up wounds so that they could heal.

When it was clear that the Liberal Democrat party had exhausted all processes for dealing with Chris Rennard's exploitative behaviour (not forgetting that he had already been effectively and quietly sidelined after the first complaint by a young woman member had been made) and that protocols had been put in place which should prevent a recurrence, I suggested to the last of the Channel 4 Six who was still a member that pursuing the matter publicly would do harm to the party and her reputation without giving her the satisfaction that she desired. She did not take it well, but the public row died down anyway.

One would have thought that the senior people in the Lord's would have had the sense not to open the wound again. The argument that Lord Rennard has "served his sentence and been rehabilitated" is all well and good, but to my mind retaining his party membership was sufficient rehabilitation. The public - nudged by the media, especially the online media - will not understand. As young public relations practitioners are taught, “If the public thinks you have a problem, you have a problem.”. Jane Brophy in Oldham West will not welcome this distraction. If the affair drags on into 2016, it is going to affect our campaigns in the Scottish and Welsh general elections.

There are Lords (and even Ladies) who believe that Chris Rennard was hard done by. They are of a generation which believes that "boys will be boys" excuses everything. They no doubt also hark back to the golden days when Rennard-inspired campaigns won by-election after by-election and may even believe that we lost so badly in the 2015 general election because Rennard was not at the helm. They should recognise that things have moved on, even in the last decade. Not only have sexual politics changed, but so has campaigning. Today and the immediate future belong to the likes of Michael Ashcroft and Mark Pack. Pickles and Rennard are yesterday's men.

Britain's part in the restoration of the Shah

Cathy Fox's blog excerpts corroboration of the leading rôle played by Britain in unseating the democratically-elected prime minister of Iran. In my opinion, the ex-spook Cavendish exaggerates the influence of communists and neglects that of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP). However, the very fact that he writes from the perspective of a different interest tends to confirm the evidence that Britain instigated the coup. Now that Iran is back at the international conference table and clearly willing to cooperate in bringing an end to the Daesh insurgency in Syria, surely the time has come for that apology by the UK government.

Fighting Oldham West

This and other posts on the subject of a welcome change in Liberal Democrat parliamentary by-election tactics were very cheering. It helps that the parties said to be the front-runners in Oldham West And Ryton have their difficulties. UKIP has declined sharply in the opinion polls (though I note that BBC has been giving Nigel Farage the oxygen of publicity in the wake of the "Dear Donald" letter). Labour is more publicly divided than I can remember since the Gaitskell/Bevan splits of the 1950s. Indeed, their candidate is said to be opposed to Corbyn's leadership. (Has he been asked which side he would have taken on the Welfare Vote, one wonders?)

On the face of it, Oldham West is a "safe" Labour seat. However, there is a strong Liberal tradition in the town and the late Michael Meacher - a strong supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, by the way - must have had a large personal vote. A well-known local campaigner has been selected for the Liberal Democrats and Great George Street is actually putting resources in. The signs are good.

What a contrast with Barnsley Central in 2011!

Rhodesian UDI

The descendants of colonialist settlers in what is now Zimbabwe, led by the self-mythologising Ian Smith, declared independence unilaterally fifty years ago today. It was to be another 24 years, followed by a vicious civil war, before majority African rule was established.

In a Liberal Assembly of 1966, the then leader Jeremy Thorpe said:

"Fellow Liberals, we are now writing the last major chapter in a long Imperial history: are we to allow it to be said, that at that stage we destroyed the multi-racial Commonwealth which we have created, that we have appeared to reverse our beliefs in a non-racial society, that we abdicated our responsibilities to the 4 million Africans living in Rhodesia, all because we were too weak in resources and determination to prevent 2000,000 people from setting up illegally a political system, based on racial discrimination in its every aspect? I cannot believe that that is the role of Britain and I would only say this, if we fail to end this rebellion, if we are set on that course, then we shall not only lose the respect of the world but far worse, we shall lose our own self respect as well."

He went on to recommend to the Labour government instigating high-level bombing of Rhodesian railways and, if I recall correctly, connections to the Kariba hydro-electric scheme. The sobriquet "Bomber Thorpe" attached to him as a result by prime minister Harold Wilson and the media took a long time to shed. Wilson chose to take the sanctions route. This did not bring the speedy end to UDI which he proclaimed.

Winifred Knights

As if I had cued the paper, the Independent yesterday published an article about a prize-winning woman artist who was famous in her day but is now largely forgotten. An exhibition of her work is opening at the Dulwich picture gallery. I suppose it is too much to hope that it could travel to the Glynn Vivian when the latter finally reopens.

Luckily, there was a full moon

It is fifty years since the Great North-Eastern [America] Blackout. Contrary to supposition, there was no significant increase in the birthrate in the summer of 1956.

Anniversary of the end of hanging

The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 came into effect on this day fifty years ago. It fulfilled a promise by Labour under Harold Wilson who had come into power the previous year, but it was down to a back-bencher, Sydney Silverman, to introduce the measure as a private member's bill.

We need constant reminders about women artists

Last week, Radio 3's Composer of the Week has been Louise Farrenc. In her time (the mid-19th century) she and her publisher husband were a considerable presence in music in France and beyond. The examples which Donald Macleod have played, including songs specially recorded by the splendid Ruby Hughes, show that her fame was fully justified. No doubt the easy access to publishing helped, but the young Louise Dumont had established herself before her marriage to a supportive husband. (The story of women composers who were forced to stick to home and hearth after marriage is a long one.) Yet outside France she was largely forgotten. I confess that I did not know of her until CotW responded to a suggestion from a listener that she be featured.
Someone I knew only as a name in the roster of Les Six was Germaine Tailleferre until she was featured in CotW. Her extensive catalogue, including both inventive pieces and background music for the French screen, was a revelation. Not enough is available as commercial recordings. CotW has featured the work of women composers in other recent series.

Jessica Duchen's blog post in the middle of the week was therefore timely. It seems that every generation has to fight anew for equal treatment of women in the arts, and that female achievers in previous ages are dropped from the record. History has been equally unkind to graphic artists.

There is one area of the creative arts which is an exception: writing. Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters have never been far from the top of reading lists. Women dominate the golden age of detective fiction. There seems to be no discrimination in the distribution of literary prizes. There is clearly something to do with the male/female dynamic here.