Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

Israel

It was colder than I had expected, but the damp weather reflected the grim reality on the ground that is Israel 2004. All hopes of a rapid return to negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians seemed to have faded.

I met with politicians and officials from both sides, and the pessimism was equally shared. The blame game was in full swing.

In the absence of confidence that a negotiated peace deal is possible, and believing that the status quo is untenable, the Israeli Prime Minister has decided to act.

As you will have seen from your TV sets, the Israelis are building a fence/wall that will run from north to south separating “their bit” from the part occupied by the Palestinians, and talking of some kind of unilateral action to pull back behind this barrier.

It is in many ways understandable that 3 years of suicide bombing and many lives lost have driven them to this. They need security and the fence project – costing billions – is supported by the vast majority of their population.

Unfortunately the barrier is being built down a line that does not accord with the borders of Israel before the war in 1967, so many will claim that they are building part of it on occupied territory – i.e. someone else’s land. It will also cause major disruption to the lives of many communities divided by this new scar on the landscape. And so the violence and hostility will continue. In fact, towards the end of this year, when this unilateral step may well take place, it could get worse. With the US distracted by its own Presidential election, no meaningful intervention seems likely.

So my second overseas visit in my new capacity as shadow foreign minister drew to a close on Thursday with a sense of foreboding. This long running dispute seems set to continue.

There are several reasons why this is such bad news. I sympathise with the Israelis who live in the shadow of fear; equally I feel for the Palestinians, the vast majority of whom live in abject poverty.

But there is also another motivation to strive to find a solution. The Israel/Palestine conflict is a primary catalyst for the global terrorists who threaten our way of life. Until this historic battle for the Holy land is resolved, there will always be extremists out there who will treat it as an excuse to inflict terror on all of us.

posted by Nigel on Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

Harnessing Street Wisdom

It has been a mixed week for the onwards advance of technology in my professional life. After years of denigrating colleagues who tap away into bleeping hand held gadgets in an attempt to make a simple diary appointment, I have now joined them! The prospect of a database, diary, word processor and communications centre all in a computer that fits easily in my shirt pocket finally seduced me. I am now well on the road to gadgetry addiction, although eveytime I think I have caught up a new invention appears!

At the same time my laptop crashed over Christmas throwing my systems into temporary disarray. Some of you have had to wait longer than usual for replies as a result and I apologise for this.

Late last year Jan and I became (to our astonishment) avid fans of Fame Academy. Thinking about the success of TV programs like that and fiddling around with computers this week has prompted me to ponder again how technology could be better harnessed to improve the link between MPs and the electorate.

Of necessity, our democracy has always been representative. You elect me to go to Westminster on your behalf and (sadly) you are stuck with the decisions that I make on how to vote on all issues. Every 4 years or so you get the chance to throw me out.

Some of us are now asking whether inter-active technology gives an opportunity to make our democracy more direct - ie to hand real and immediate power back to the electorate in some way, using the miraculous power of the Internet.
Some may wonder whether this would be a good thing. Surely big decisions should be left to "wise" people who know more than we do! Of course, that was an argument deployed years ago against widening the electoral franchise to everyone. The recent poll on BBC 4 asking listeners to vote for a new law, ending up with the suggestion that householders should have more power to defend their own homes, is a classic example of how many feel that their voice is not being heard.

Would it be dangerous to give people more power? I think not. I like to chat to people wherever I go, and with some notable exceptions, I am constantly impressed by the deep resevoir of knowledge and ideas out there..
Maybe we must seek new ways to harness all of this street wisdom.

What do you thnk? Mail@garystreeter.co.uk

posted by Nigel on Friday, January 16, 2004

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

Top up fees

I hope you had a restful Christmas break. In my next life I am coming back either as our Siamese cat which spent most of the festive season curled up on his bed on the Aga, rising only to polish off an individual sachet of duck and gravy; or perhaps as a plumber who seem to be able to charge what they like and come when they want.

Sadly that important spiritual decision does not help me resolve one of the big issues that Parliament will be voting on in the next few weeks, namely how to pay for higher education.

Currently 40% of 18 year olds go on to higher education. The average student leaves university with a debt of £20,000, although the repayment terms are generous. This is of concern, but we still have one of the most open-handed systems of student support anywhere in Europe and in the USA most students work their way through college.

Unfortunately, even the status quo is not an option. Most universities are facing a massive funding crisis, racking up debt and the salaries of lecturers have fallen well behind the earnings of equivalent professionals. No one seriously challenges whether or not more money is needed, it is.

The issue is whether the extra cash should be put in from general taxation, or paid for by the students who benefit from getting a degree. A graduate is likely to earn over 49% more than those with equivalent A-levels who don’t go to university, so they do very nicely thank you. Naturally the country also benefits because higher incomes pay higher taxes.
So should the 60% who leave school at 16 or 18 and start work stump up more for the next generation of graduates, or should the high fliers pay for it themselves? The government are proposing top up fees, paid for by the students.

My worry is that we might deter the brightest people from modest income backgrounds, the very last thing we must do.
Is there perhaps another route: to look again at the ever burgeoning numbers going to university? Could we cut out some of the Mickey Mouse courses, encourage more vocational training, scale back on the numbers of universities and focus resources on the best places and avoid the need for top-up fees?

I would value your views. Mail@garystreeter.co.uk or drop me a line at the House of Commons, Westminster SW 1A OAA

posted by Nigel on Thursday, January 08, 2004

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

A Festive Message

It’s Christmas again. The in-laws have arrived, we have put out the same dysfunctional lights and the tree fell over again – just as it did last Christmas. Most of us will have consumed pretty much the same food and drink as last year and received the same glittering array of socks and pants. Just as we have in the past three years, my family started our festive season by sitting for hours in the cinema enjoying a Lord of the Rings film. (I only cried twice which is something of an achievement, as I have been known to blub at emotional moments in Neighbours.)

We all tend to do return to well worn paths at this time of year, and there is something reassuring about tradition. Long may it last!

But does that mean that nothing has changed out there in this hurly-burly world of ours?
Hardly. This year has seen momentous changes: the toppling of a dictator; great rifts in the International consensus and significant political change in our own nation. We have even witnessed a tremendous world cup victory by England! Many families will have experienced change, maybe through new birth or sadly through illness, another kind of life-shock or even the death of a loved one. Change is swirling all around us everyday, sometimes knocking on our door at the most unexpected time.

So maybe, in the midst of our traditional festive patterns, it is a good time to think about what changes we would like to make to our own lives. I just drove past a road sign proclaiming “Changed Priorities Ahead” – maybe that is not such a bad slogan for us to ponder as we pick through the turkey carcass. Someone once calculated that we all spend most of our time focussing on the urgent rather than the important; responding to events, rather than shaping them. So young or old, single or married, let me throw you a festive challenge:

What would you like to change about your life next year? What are you going to do about it?
After all, the whole point of the Christmas story is that God intervened and introduced into human existence a baby who was to change the world forever. Love him, hate him, believe in him or ignore him, you cannot deny the impact that the baby born in a smelly stable has had on the entire world.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

posted by Nigel on Monday, January 05, 2004