Jingoism Rules At Tory Party Conference

Another Tory party conference draws to a close and perhaps a good time to reflect on the beast which is Conservatism. As the economy falters, delegates, cabinet ministers and party leader alike have all resorted back to type, which is gratifying because at least it is honest. There is nothing more sickening than a Tory trying to convince us that he is in favour of big society when what he really wants is a country with strong defences to protect the privileged few who will benefit from the stream of elitist measures we can expect to see in the future. They are a paranoid lot on the whole, the Tories, and think the whole world is against them. They want to reduce the influence of Europe on their affairs, as if that was a bad thing, they have vetoed plans for a European military headquarters, they plan to raise the barriers against an influx of more mad foreigners, and are reopening embassies abroad to keep tabs on the big bad world. No budget is too big when it comes to stiffening our defences against the Frog and the Dago!

What a sorry display of retrogressive colonialism. Hague even suggested we revitalize that great institution, the Commonwealth. Why don't they bring back slavery while they're about it? They are still singing to the tune of Rule Britannia, when the fact is that unless Britain learns to get on with its neighbours in a far less patronizing way, it will become even more sidelined in the power games of the future than it is now. Will the USA, assuming it recovers its authority, really prefer to negotiate with an isolated UK rather than a unified Eurozone? Will the growing influence of Russia and China give a hoot about the Commonwealth? The sort of jingoism we heard this week from the Tories only gets up people's noses and turns the UK into a joke abroad.

And where do their partners in government fit in to all this? It seems any pretence of kowtowing to the Liberal Democrats has finally been abandoned. How will the Libdems feel about ditching the Human Rights Act, for example, as proposed by Theresa May? The cracks that were starting to show before will surely widen to threaten the entire edifice in the wake of this conference. All this shows what a mistake it was for such two unsuitable partners to get into bed together in the first place. This torn coalition is weakening further the recovery which was already beginning under Labour. With growth barely happening at all (revised down to 0.1% in the second quarter) they had better start focusing on the important issues of jobs and housing before bothering about diplomatic havens abroad for their pals.

Milton Johanides is a retired businessman, church elder, writer and artist. He has been featured on BBC TVs Songs of Praise, owned numerous art galleries and once ran an award winning picture framing business in Scotland. The views expressed in these articles are his own.
email: miltonjohanides@yahoo.co.uk
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Cancún climate change conference: Russia will not renew Kyoto protocol - The Guardian

Chimneys billow smoke over St Petersburg. At the Cuncún climate change summit Russia said it would not renew its commitment to the Kyoto protocol beyond 2012. Photograph: Sergey Kulikov/AFP/Getty Images

The UN climate change conference in Cancún – and the future of the Kyoto protocol – was cast into doubt today after Russia said it would not renew its commitment to the treaty that has governed climate negotiations for more than a decade.

In a late-night plenary session, Russia's climate change envoy, Alexander Berditsky, said his country opposed a renewal of Kyoto beyond its 2012 end date.

"Russia will not participate in the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol," he said in a prepared statement.

The announcement, delivered in what were supposed to be the final 24 hours of the summit, makes it even more unlikely negotiators will be able to produce a strong outcome at Cancún, environmental groups said.

After last year's failure at Copenhagen, a weak result – or outright collapse – of talks at Cancún would damage the credibility of the entire UN negotiating process, the energy secretary Chris Huhne warned.

"Next year people will say, well, we're not going to make any progress and we end up with a zombie conference where there won't be anybody at a senior enough level to take any serious decisions at all."

Negotiators were planning to meet through the night to try to resolve the difference. But Russia's announcement further cements the divide between rich and poor countries over the future of the agreement following a statement from Japan at the start of the talks that it too would not sign an extension of Kyoto.

Japan reiterated its opposition on Thursday night, with negotiator Akira Yamada saying a renewal of Kyoto was "not an appropriate way or an effective way or a fair way to tackle climate change".

Canada is also believed to oppose extending the Kyoto agreement.

Russia's statement had been much anticipated. As Berditsky noted: "Russia has repeatedly stated, including at the highest political level, that the adoption of commitments for the second commitment period under the Kyoto protocol as it stands now would be neither scientifically, economically or politically effective."

But the announcement so late in the talks risks overwhelming progress made elsewhere at Cancún on agreements to preserve tropical rainforests and on climate finance.

Instead, ministers spent much of Thursday trying to devise a strategy for overcoming the divide over the future of Kyoto.

Developing countries say Kyoto is essential as the only international agreement requiring industrialised countries to reduce their emissions. "A second commitment period is a must in the outcome," said Brazil's climate change negotiator, Luiz Figueiredo.

But some developing countries have also admitted they were open to a fudge – deferring the question of Kyoto's future to next year's climate summit in South Africa.

In addition, the EU climate commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, has also been circulating a proposal – backed by small island states – that would circumvent the issue of Kyoto.

Even without the fight over Kyoto, the UN summit is facing all-night negotiating tonight to try to produce even modest areas of agreement.

There were divisions over the ambition and governance of a green fund to help developing countries buy the technology they need to reduce their emissions and protect their people from rising seas and drought.

There was also a stand-off between China and America on the sensitive issue of monitoring and verifying emissions reductions.

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