Lord Steel corrects the record

David Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, the first presiding officer of the reborn Scottish Parliament, former leader of the Liberal Party, has been suspended from membership by the Scottish Liberal Democrats at the request of Jo Swinson, deputy leader of the federal party. It is the responsibility of the state party to consider what further measures to take.

The cause is the evidence that the Lord Steel gave about Sir Cyril Smith to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Lord Steel said he asked the late politician in 1979 about claims that he abused boys at a Rochdale hostel, and found they dated back to Smith's time as a Labour councillor in the 1960s. He told the inquiry he came away from the conversation with Smith "assuming" he had committed the offences, because he did not deny them. This contrasted with statements Lord Steel had previously made, implying that he had not given credence to reports of Smith's misdemeanours.

As I always take the opportunity to point out when the name of Cyril Smith comes up, he was not alone in his time on Rochdale council in taking advantage of vulnerable children at the Knowl View establishment. A Conservative councillor and at least one other Labour councillor (Smith was a member of the Labour party at the time) were also involved. They escaped being named and shamed in their lifetimes because they did not rise to the political height which Cyril Smith reached after he became Liberal MP for the borough. Nor does the only indecency which Smith is known to be guilty of, getting a kick from smacking boys' naked bottoms, come close to the outrages which later convictions of paedophiles have revealed. However, all that does not excuse David Steel, believing what he then assumed to be the case, not only failing to take action against Smith but in going further by recommending a knighthood for the man.

In spite of this one black mark, Lord Steel deserves to be remembered not only for his introduction of the humane Abortion Act 1967 but also by restoring faith in the UK economy by sustaining the government of James Callaghan in 1977 and 1978, keeping the militant socialists of the time at bay. Later, he pushed through the merger of the Liberal and Social Democrat parties restoring order after the fall-out from the 1987 general election.

Did an international treaty bring Facebook down?

Facebook users throughout Europe and possibly further afield were locked out of the social medium for the best part of yesterday. We still have heard no explanation from the company. This has led to some wild speculation, even blaming new executive Nick Clegg.

A more credible explanation is that FB released a major update in a "live test" (what used to be dubbed "trying it on the dog" in my days in IT, and definitely not recommended practice). The fingered culprit is a filter to comply with an updated Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement  (ACTA 2.0). As I understand it, the European Parliament prevented the EU endorsing the original ACTA and has not yet considered the update.

I should be grateful for more informed comment or correction.

Will Sir Christopher object?

The Armed Forces (Derogation from European Convention on Human Rights) comes up for second reading tomorrow. Sir Christopher Chope has been in the habit of blocking private members' bills on the grounds that they do not receive sufficient scrutiny at second reading stage, scheduled as they are for Fridays when most MPs have started an early weekend. To be sure, some loosely-worded legislation - like the  Postal Voting Bill, which has been scheduled and deferred already since its introduction last year - has been punted into the long grass, but Sir Christopher and his little group have it seems singled out much worthy legislation, especially in the field of civil and  women's rights.

It will be interesting to see if he shouts "object!" tomorrow. Leo Doherty's Bill would appear to fall within the category of "well-meaning but flabby legislation" which Sir Christopher and his cohorts decry. It would, without any proviso, "require Her Majesty’s Government to derogate from the European Convention on Human Rights in its application to the conduct of members of the armed forces participating in combat operations overseas". If passed into law, it would send out the message to the world that our servicemen and women could commit acts of barbarism as bad as those of the terror groups such as al-Qa'ida with impunity.

Now I accept the arguments that at least one disreputable law firm, with the flawed testimony of supposed victims, has abused the system, and that cases have been pursued decades late when alleged perpetrators are well into old age. But there are more nuanced remedies without going to the extreme of placing all our military above the law.

The decline of stock trading?

"Rick" foresees a future where entrepreneurs no longer bother with the stock market for raising money. There is a growing trend for companies to raise money privately before selling equity, as Facebook, Google and Twitter did . If I understand him correctly, he believes that in the future they may cut out the latter stage altogether, with worrying implications for the transparency of company activities.

He quotes a former investment manager as saying that investors "essentially dump companies onto public markets when they have extracted most of the value from them." Rick goes on: "Given that we have an ageing global population that is reliant on stock market performance to pay its pensions, if stock markets are increasingly made up of stuff the rich don’t want any more, will they provide the returns necessary to support an increasing proportion of the world’s people?"

It means that pension funds, so long dependent on investment in publicly-traded stock, will have to change their strategy. It has implications for government, too.

The Women Leading the Rail Industry in Wales

To celebrate International Women’s Day last Friday, Transport for Wales and Network Rail teamed up with Cardiff University to raise the profile of three of the industry’s leading women.


Alexia Course,  Alison Thompson and Bethan Jelfs were all interviewed by journalism graduate student Isobel Owen, the Transport for Wales website reports. 

Alexia Course, who has worked in the rail industry since leaving University and was appointed as Rail Operations Director for Transport for Wales last summer, said;

“It’s great to be celebrating International Women’s Day and to be interviewed by a Cardiff University female student who will shortly start her professional career. The theme this year is ‘Balance for Better’ and I’m proud that Transport for Wales’ gender ratio on its senior management team and Board is leading the way with strong male and female representation.”

“In partnership with our colleagues in Network Rail, we would like to highlight the equal opportunities available for men and women across the rail industry”.

Alison Thompson, a civil engineer, who has worked in the rail industry for almost 30 years and is currently Chief Operating Officer for Network Rail in Wales and Borders, added;

“Together with Transport for Wales, we are focused on delivering the best service for our passengers. To do this, we will be delivering a significant amount of work on the railway across Wales and Borders, which will provide a wealth of opportunities for people who want to embark on exciting and challenging careers, regardless of their gender.”

“I am pleased to be celebrating International Women’s Day and to be showing women interested in joining the rail industry that it is a great opportunity for everyone!”

Bethan Jelfs, Customer Service Director for Transport for Wales rail services said:

"International women's day is incredibly important for showcasing the incredibly talented and successful women within the rail industry.

"We are committed to bringing new talented people through with our apprentice schemes and we look to promote STEM subjects to boys and girls wherever possible.

"It's so important to show that gender should not be and is not a barrier from succeeding and reaching your potential."

The Party of Wiles swings with the wind

Before the 2016 referendum, Plaid Cymru was in no doubt that Brexit would be a disaster. The party saw the referendum was an English plot to drag Wales out of Europe. Then Wales voted more strongly to withdraw than did any of the other home nations. Afterwards, the then leader of PC in an opinion piece in the Guardian wrote:

the dust may have started to settle after the EU referendum, but the tectonic plates will be shifting for some time. Wales voted to leave. The result was narrow, meaning that all political forces must respect the 48% who voted to remain. But it was not narrow enough to be overturned or called into question. [...] We accept the result.

Now PC candidates, sensing that the mood of the country has changed, are Tweeting all over the place that Plaid Cymru is the only national party which has consistently opposed Brexit and even accusing Liberal Democrats of opposing a People's Vote.

One trusts that when the next general election comes, the voters will be aware that Plaid are as consistent and honest as Brexiteers.

Referendum, swayed by state-of-the-art propaganda and nationalist sentiment, accepted as fair by government

Thanks to UKTV for examining in detail the Nazis' propaganda machine. In the second programme in the series, the authors explain how the Saarland plebiscite was a key step on the way to Hitler's domination of mainland Europe.

The requirement for a plebiscite was part of the post-Great-War settlement (the Treaty of Versailles). After fifteen years the inhabitants, until then under the trusteeship of the League of Nations, were to indicate the sovereignty under which they desired to be placed.

An Encyclopadia Britannica article takes up the story;
In the years 1933-35 the plebiscite dominate the life of the Saarland. The Liberty front - German exiles, Saar socialists, Communists, unionists, Catholics, Jews and Francophiles - defended the Saar against annexation by imperialistic Germany, which was favoured by the German front and the National Socialists. 

The UKTV programme explained the propaganda war. Joseph Goebbels distributed  "people's receivers" in the Saarland. These enabled Goebbels' sophisticated propaganda carried by the monopoly Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (Imperial Broadcasting Corporation) to be heard throughout the region and to become the media-dominating messages. The Britannica article goes on:

Hitlerite methods influenced the vote which was held  on January 13, 1935, and it does not seem impossible that the vote itself was manipulated. Nearly 98% of all qualified voters appeared at the polls, an unprecedented showing, although the weather was bad and about 135,000 voters cast their ballots in a location other than that in which they were living. During the 18 hours in which the ballots were stored, Natinal Socialists had access to them. This fact was concealed by the official reports, which also overlooked discrepancies in the returns. Ninety and three-tenths per cent declared for union with Germany [...] on March 1, 1935, the Saar territory was handed over to the Third Reich.

The EU increases our trading opprotunities and helps developing nations at the same time