The courage of the protesters in Tarhir Square, facing the stones, clubs and bullets of the pro-Mubharak thugs.
And the extraordinary courage of so many ordinary people in Libya, armed only in their belief in democracy and human rights.
Contrast that to the actions of our own Prime Minister, David Cameron.
I have to confess that when I first saw him on TV in Tahrir Square earlier this week, I genuinely thought for a moment that he was really there to express solidarity with the pro-democracy movement in Egypt. And I thought great, good on him.
And then the horrifying reality: he was there, in the Middle East, at a time of such violence and chaos, with a delegation of arms traders, to sell more arms.
More guns, more tanks, more armoured vehicles, stun grenades, tear gas, riot-control equipment.
I know that ethical foreign policy has gone out of fashion, but frankly the blatant opportunism of this visit is morally obscene.
But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.
FULL CONFERENCE SPEECH HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment