Ashdown, refugees and bombing

At last, a politician of stature, who is not afraid of standing up to the prime minister, has the bottle to attack Cameron`s recent announcements with both barrels (Cameron`s refugee plan is pathetic - as is his military one,08/09/15). Of course, the "plan to take in 20,000 refugees" is a derisory gesture, another con-trick designed to give more misleading impressions about this so-called "compassionate" Conservative administration.  Paddy Ashdown is right to challenge the Tory nonsense about "not helping those in flimsy boats" reducing the "temptation to take this lethal jouney". Has a British Prime Minister ever misread an urgent situation so dramatically?

     Ashdown is correct about the bombing too; how will we destroy Isis "by killing more Muslim Arabs with Western bombs"? It is obvious diplomacy has to be the first resort, especially as the usual justification given for violent jihadism is the foreign policy of the west, with its repeated invasions, interference and killing. The UK and its government should not only learn from its recent actions in the Middle East, rather than repeat the mistakes, but also remember how peace finally came to Northern Ireland.

 Hopefully, Labour`s new leader will use Ashdown`s arguments next week to defeat a government intent on increasing its role in a military action which clearly isn`t working. What an excellent opportunity, also, to develop new avenues of diplomacy with Russia!