Trump`s visit a disgrace!

Forgive me for being childish, but I take grave exception to my prime minister inviting Trump to this country for a state visit (To rage against Trump`s visit is simply childish, 27/04/19). Simon Jenkins may think the awful precedents, like the visits of Ceausescu and Mugabe, justify a similar one by the American president, but all they achieved was to cause embarrassment to Britain, and strengthen those leaders` justification for dictatorship.

    Jenkins can see "no reason for childish protests against a guest invited in Britain`s name", so presumably he doesn`t mind his country being taken down yet another few notches in the opinions of every decent human being on the planet. Rather than taking a stand against climate-change deniers, misogynists, and peace-threatening world leaders, like any modern liberal state, Britain`s prime minister, so devoid of any trade policy of any note, apart of course from selling arms to the Saudis so that the destruction of Yemen can continue, and so desperate for trading allies, chooses yet again to suck-up to the White House.

 Good on Corbyn, Bercow and Cable for refusing to attend the dinner with Trump. Any Tories with an ounce of integrity should do the same! It is not the protests which will "feed the prejudices" of Trump`s supporters but the sight again of the British government "kowtowing to this US administration" (Trump visit: Corbyn refuses dinner, 27/04/19).

Apology for Amritsar needed!

When our prime minister can only express "deep regret" about the Amritsar massacre, when 279 innocent people were gunned down in cold blood by British troops, with more than 1,200 injured, and when an apology is refused because, according to the junior foreign minister, it could have "financial implications", there are clearly serious questions to be asked about this government`s moral compass (Regret but no apology from May on centenary of Amritsar massacre, 11/04/19)! Equally shameful was Mark Field`s comment about "debasing the currency of apologies"; the fact that so many massacres, murders, lootings, rapes and tortures were carried out in the name of the British empire does not mean government apologies should not be forthcoming. On the contrary, such apologies could promote a better understanding of this country`s often disgraceful past, and lead to schools` history teaching including all the details of imperialism.

      As the MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, Preet Kaur Gill, recently said, "By writing people out of our history can we really be surprised that hate crime continues to exist or racism continues to fester?" How can this country claim to be a supporter of international human rights, condemning countries like Brunei for being opposed to the "values of respect, diversity and equality", when it refuses to acknowledge its own culpability for atrocities in its not too distant past?

Gender pay gap unlikely to change!

With "more than a quarter of companies paying women over 20 % less than men", and almost a third of businesses having gender pay gaps "worse than the national average", stating , as Rachel Reeves, chair of the business, energy and business strategy select committee, did that "there is a long way to go" is something of an understatement (Quarter of employers have gender pay gap of more than 20%, 05/04/19). Would it not be better to say that the latest figures show that this policy of transparency is simply not working, and other methods are needed?

      Naming and shaming companies has no effect, and the government`s laissez-faire attitude towards pay is revealed by the 22.9% gender pay gap in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, up from 8.2% last year, and the 14.5% figure in the Department for Exiting the EU, up from 8.8%. Companies face legal action if they do not submit the details, but there is no requirement to include an action plan for closing the gap, and all the minister for women, Victoria Atkins can say is that these figures need to "settle" before plans to widen this failing scheme come into operation!

         It is not simply that women are being paid too little, but that, as can be seen in the BBC, many men are overpaid, often to obscenely high levels. Legislation is clearly needed to ensure the gender pay gaps are reduced, and the overall pay gap between top and bottom does not exceed a reasonable level. Socialism may not be too popular with American bankers, but government regulations to check the greed of corporations and their top managers would be welcomed by many in the UK (JP Morgan boss: socialism would be a disaster for US, 05/04/19)!

Events in need of commemoration

Two events which cover "thorny issues", but which should be commemorated next year, and would most certainly not "strain relationships" with "other states involved" in the first world war, are the peace treaty and the Amritsar massacre (Row over extending centenary events to cover British atrocities, 02/04/19). Remembering the details of the Versailles settlement would remind all politicians that treating so-called enemies with fairness and respect is the best way to secure future peace, with the Treaty of Vereeniging which ended the Boer War the example to be used, contrasting the sensible assistance for the South African economy in 1902 with the punishment dished out to Germany.

 The Jallianwala Bagh massacre commemoration would do much to amend the distorted view of British history, with its tradition of exceptionalism, and remind everyone that a large proportion of the story of our past consists of seizing and looting colonies, the most awful of atrocities, and a reliance on essential colonial aid when the going turned rough! The exaggeration of differences with our neighbours continues to serve us badly!