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Talking with Tatchell - Archive This is an archive of Peter's weekly online TV series, Talking with Tatchell.
It was broadcast in 2007 on 18 Doughty Street. Safe, clean water is a human right Safe, clean water is a human right Over one billion people have no clean, safe drinking water; 5,000 children die every day from water that is dirty and contaminated. Peter Tatchell interviews Nick Edmans of the charity WaterAid. Watch the interview here: At least 2.2 million people - 1.8 million of them children - are killed each year by water-borne diseases. Every night, 10,000 parents cradle in their arms a child that died from dirty water that day. A further 2.6 billion people have no secure, hygienic toilet facilities, which breeds disease and contaminates ground water. For a tiny fraction of global military expenditure, everyone on earth could have infection-free drinking water and millions of lives could be saved. The clean, safe water that we take for granted in the West, is only a distant dream for one-sixth of the world’s population, especially in Asia and Africa. Hundreds of millions of people have to trek for miles and hours every day to fetch often foul smelling, diseased drinking water that often causes deadly dysentery, cholera and typhoid. The lack of safe water supplies often impacts worst on marginal social groups, such as lower castes and ethnic minorities, who may be denied access to water sources and be forced to pay premium prices to private suppliers. Some tourist developments, such as big hotels and golf courses, result in private companies sinking their own bore holes to extract water from below ground. This sometimes results in the depression of the water table; causing a drying up of wells and consequent water crises in the surrounding villages. Water shortages and a lack of affordability in developing countries have sometimes been exacerbated by privatisation, which has usually benefited urban dwellers to the neglect of their rural counterparts. With global warming and rising populations, the prospect looms of future conflicts - even wars - over insufficient fresh water supplies. A foretaste of such disputes can be seen in the friction between Israel and the Palestinian territories over Tel Aviv’s diversion of water from the Jordan River to meet Israeli demand, leaving the West Bank under-supplied. In a world of immense wealth and plenty, some people have so little – not even the basics like safe, clean water. It is time for a global commitment to redistribute wealth from rich nations to poor ones and to divert investment in weapons and wars to health-sustaining, life-saving development projects. WaterAid is working to bring fresh, safe drinking water to communities worldwide. Do fascists have a right to free speech? What limits, if any, should there be to freedom of expression? Peter Tatchell interviews Luke Tryl, President of the Oxford Union, and Brendan O'Neill, Editor of Spiked. Weyman Bennett of Unite Against Fascism agreed to participate but he was unable to attend at the last minute. Watch the interview here: Peter Tatchell writes: Should fascists have free speech? Or are some people so dangerous – especially to minority race and faith communities – that it is legitimate to limit their freedom of expression? Why should fascists be given free speech when they would, if given half a chance, deny free speech to others? Critics argue that right-wing extremists like Nick Griffin and David Irving are either fascists or fascist sympathisers and apologists. They say these men’s ideas and policies are so threatening that they should be denied public platforms in order to protect vulnerable communities and in the interests of social cohesion and solidarity. It is possible that if there had been no free speech and no platform for Hitler and the Nazi Party in the early 1920s – if their meetings and marches had been stopped – they may not have grown in strength and influence. The Nazis might not have come to power and the Holocaust and World War Two may not have happened. Other people argue that the best way to defeat the far right is by challenging and debunking their ideas through education and debate. Fascist ideology doesn’t stack up and can be demolished by rational, informed argument. Suppression won’t make their ideas go away. They will fester underground. Open scrutiny and critique of fascist policies is the most effective way to erode public support and sympathy. The issue has been bought to a head by the Oxford Union’s decision to hold a free speech debate on 26 November 2007, headlined by Nick Griffin, leader of the neo-Nazi British National Party, and Holocaust revisionist historian, David Irving. Nick Griffin is the leader of a far right party that has a history of promoting racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism and prejudice against Muslims – and of using intimidation and violence. Griffin has a conviction for inciting racial hatred. (1) David Irving was branded by a British judge in 2006 as ‘a racist, an anti-Semite and an active Holocaust denier.’ (2) Support for free speech does not oblige the Oxford Union or any other institution to reward these men with a prestigious public platform, which will give them an air of respectability, raise their public profile and allow them to espouse their intolerant views. Under British law, Nick Griffin and David Irving still have the freedom to espouse their views at any public meeting they wish to organise, or in any leaflet they wish to print. Inviting them to the Oxford Union is qualitatively different. It is helping them propagate their bigotry. No institution is required, in the name of free speech, to proactively promote the purveyors of prejudice. Not offering hate-mongers a platform is not the same as banning them. The invitations to Griffin and Irving should be withdrawn by the Oxford Union and alternative non-bigoted speakers invited to discuss what limitations, if any, should be placed on freedom of expression. Free speech is an important human rights issue that should not be cheapened by the sensationalism of parading of pair of right-wing extremists in the chamber of the Oxford Union. Sources: (1) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4670574.stm (2) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4449948.stm
Indonesia - Democracy without justice Indonesia has made the transition from dictatorship to democracy, but without justice for millions of victims of President Suharto's tyranny. Peter Tatchell interviews Indonesian human rights campaigners, Carmel Budiardjo and Adriana Siti Adhiati. Watch the interview here: President Suharto ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 30 long, dark years, from 1967 to 1998. During this period, millions of Indonesians were massacred, jailed, tortured or forced to flee their homes to escape murderous rampages of the armed forces. President Suharto’s bloody rule was backed by the West. The UK and US sold him the weapons that he used to repress his own people. We colluded with his human rights abuses. In 1998, economic downturn and mass protests forced Suharto from office. Since then, Indonesia has embraced democracy, holding largely free and fair elections. Democracy has not, however, bought justice for the millions of victims of Suharto’s tyranny. They have no redress. The government and military officials who authorised or committed murder and torture live openly and freely; never called to account. Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, for example, was responsible for many of the worst atrocities after Indonesia invaded and occupied East Timor. He was recently rewarded with the post of district military commander in the city of Jayapura, the capital of Indonesian-annexed West Papua. During the period of Indonesian occupation of East Timor, nearly 200,000 people - around a third of the population - died. In West Papua, an estimated 100,000 people have been killed. East Timor is now independent. But West Papua is a nation that still suffers Indonesian oppression and exploitation, with the collusion of western oil and mining companies. They are looting West Papua’s immense natural riches. Suharto and his cronies embezzled billions of taxpayers’ money. Hardly any of it has been recovered; depriving the government of desperately needed funds for economic development and education and health facilities to uplift Indonesia’s impoverished people. New democratic Indonesia has failed to bring Suharto to justice. Instead of being tried for crimes against humanity, he is allowed to live out his days in luxury, enjoying the fabulous wealth plundered by him and his family during the thirty years he terrorised the country. Note: Adriana Siti Adhiati works with Down to Earth, the International Campaign for Ecological Justice in Indonesia.
Saudi tyrant is not welcome Gordon Brown should not be welcoming the Saudi dictator, King Abdullah, to Britain. Peter Tatchell interviews protest organiser Owen Jones of the Socialist Youth Network and Simon Hill of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. Talking with Tatchell - Saudi tyrant is not welcome The Saudi regime is one of the most corrupt and barbaric in the world. It is guilty of detention without trial, torture and public beheadings. Yet Britain sells arms, pays bribes and welcomes the "Killer King" to Downing Street. Gordon Brown refuses to meet the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. He says he wants to take a stand against tyranny. Yet Gordon Brown is willing to meet the Saudi dictator, the “Killer King” Abdullah. The oil-rich despot will be hosted by the Prime Minister at Downing Street and he will stay with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The blood-stained “Killer King” presides over a regime that is guilty of detention without trial, torture and the public beheading of unchaste women, gay people and Muslims who turn away from their faith. His government bans political parties, trade unions and suppresses not only non-Muslim religions but even Muslims who do not adhere to the Saudi state’s hardline interpretation of Islam. Women are prohibited from voting or driving and must cover themselves from head to toe. The country is a theocratic police state. These abuses provoke not a murmur of criticism from the British and US governments. Instead, we prop up the “Killer King’s” regime; selling him arms and buying his oil. King Abdullah should be arrested and put on trial for torture, not embraced and feted. Protest 1: Protest 2: Labour's subversion of liberty The Labour government is mounting one of the biggest ever peacetime assaults on civil liberties and the right to privacy. It is undermining the rights of the individual and strengthening the power of the state; creating a snooping, surveillance society, and eroding the right to protest and the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. Peter Tatchell interviews political columnist and civil liberties advocate, Henry Porter. Watch the interview here: Talking with Tatchell - Liberty subverted by Labour Under Labour we have experienced a huge expansion in CCTV, the DNA data-base and in covert phone and email interception. The government plans to force us to carry national identity cards, which we will be required to produce to get a job, buy a house, open a bank account and to access education, health-care and welfare benefits. ID cards will enable the state to track us from the cradle to the grave. Big Brother will be watching you, me and all of us. Precious hard-won freedoms, won through centuries of popular struggle against the tyranny of absolute monarchs and corrupt parliaments, are under attack. The ancient writ of habeas corpus, which has for hundreds of years protected the citizen against arbitrary arrest and detention without trial, is threatened. Already, Labour has extended to 28 days the period that the police can hold terrorist suspects without charge. Free speech is menaced by public order laws that are increasingly interpreted to punish people for offending the sensibilities of others. The right to protest can now be curtailed on the say-so of the police, and demonstrations near parliament now require police permission seven days in advance. While many of these measures are being introduced for the apparently reasonable purposes of combating crime and terrorism, some of them have already been abused and all of them are open to serious abuse by a future less benign government.
A new law giving western companies the right to profit from Iraq’s oil wealth will deprive Iraq of funds vital for reconstruction and development. Peter Tatchell interviews, Iraqi trade unionist, Muayad Ahmad, co-founder of the Federation Of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI) and Ewa Jasiewicz of Hands off Iraqi Oil and Platform. Watch the interview here: Talking with Tatchell - Iraq oil grab by the West First, the west invaded Iraq. Then it occupied Iraq. Now the west wants to grab a share of Iraq’s oil profits. A new US-backed law will open the door to foreign exploitation, fragmentation and privatisation of Iraq’s vast oil reserves, which amount to at least 10% of the global total. Western oil companies like BP, Shell, Chevron, Total and Exxon will be granted long-term production sharing agreements that will bring them immense wealth, at the expense of the Iraqi people. Oil revenues are the major source of funding for Iraq’s economic development. Yet large chunks of these revenues are now destined to go into the pockets of multinational conglomerates. It was only last month that Alan Greenspan, former head of the US Federal Reserve, dropped the bombshell: "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." (Bob Woodward, 'Greenspan Is Critical Of Bush in Memoir,' Washington Post, September 15, 2007). Iraqi trade unions are leading the campaign to demand that the oil industry remains in public hands and is used to benefit the Iraqi people. But they are under attack from the British and US-backed sectarian right-wing government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad. Using a 1987 Saddam-era anti-union law, oil minister Hussein Shahrastani has declared the oil workers’ union illegal and barred it from consultation on the new legislation. His government has threatened to arrest the union leaders and seize their funds. More information: Hands Off Iraqi Oil and Basra Oil Union. See also the article by Kamil Mahdi, No oil for law, Transnational Institute / Red Pepper, August 2007:
The unelected House of Lords is an affront to democracy. Peter Tatchell sets out the case for reform in this interview with Peter Facey of Unlock Democracy and Baroness Scott of Needham Market. Watch this edition of Talking With Tatchell here: Talking with Tatchell - Elect the Lords Peter Tatchell writes: Britain is a flawed democracy. Our second legislative chamber, the House of Lords, is unelected. Members of the Lords are appointed for life. No matter how rarely or badly they fulfil their duties they cannot be removed. They are not accountable to us, the public, for laws they pass which affect our lives. A hang-over from the dark ages of feudalism and aristocratic privilege, the Lords are appointed by the great and the good, consist of the great and the good, and often serve the interests of the great and the good. They do not reflect or represent a true cross-section of British society. Moreover, the appointment system, largely based on nominations by the party leaders, smacks of patronage. This system has been thoroughly discredited by the ‘cash for peerages’ scandal, which has added to the urgency of reform. It is time to remedy the democratic deficit by dumping aristocratic titles like Lords and Baronesses, electing the upper house and renaming it the Senate. The Senate would have, say, 360 members. Elections could be every five years, coinciding with the Euro-elections. The system of election for the Senate should vary from the House of Commons, to ensure that the Senate’s composition does not merely replicate the composition of the lower house and instead offers a fresh composition to political decision-making. In particular, the electoral system should allow for the representation of minor parties, to reflect the full range of political opinion in the country. It should not reproduce the big-party stitch up that characterises the voting system in general elections for the House of Commons. To this end I would suggest the following three innovations: First, election via regional party lists, to reflect the regional strengths and weaknesses of particular parties. The regions could be the same as used for the Euro-elections. In a 360-member Senate, each of the 12 regions would elect 30 Senators. Second, open party lists, where electors can vote for their preferred candidates from a particular party, or can vote for a mix of candidates from different parties. In other words, a person may not like the first few candidates on their preferred party’s list of candidates, so they would be free to vote for candidates further down the list. Equally, they may want to split their votes between candidates from different parties. Third, to redress the gender imbalance in parliament and secure 50 percent women’s representation, electors could be required to vote for an equal number of men and women candidates. In each region, there would be two lists of candidates – a male list and a female list. If a regional Senate constituency elects 30 members, for example, electors would vote for 15 men from the male list and 15 women from the female list. The top 15 candidates from each list would be elected. More info: Elect The Lords Hands off the people of Iran Neither Washington nor Tehran. A war against Iran would be another disastrous neo-imperial adventure, which would strengthen the Tehran dictatorship. The overthrow of the clerical regime by the Iranian people - not US military intervention - is the best way to resolve the nuclear crisis and prevent a needless, unjustified war. Peter Tatchell interviews Mark Fischer of Hands Off the People of Iran and Yassamine Mather of Workers Left Unity Iran, 21 September 2007. Watch here: Talking with Tatchell - Hands off the people of Iran Peter Tatchell writes: The Iranian regime is a neo-fascist state. It is notorious for unfair trials, detention without charge, torture, executions, media censorship, gender apartheid, bans on non-Islamist political parties, the violent suppression of peaceful protests and strikes, and the persecution of left-wingers, trade unionists, students, feminists, gay people and religious and ethnic minorities. The case for regime change is overwhelming, but it must come from within – by and for the Iranian people themselves - not as a result of US neo-imperial diktat. Many Iranians are hoping for a non-violent Czech-style ‘people power’ democratic revolution, involving mass protests by socialists, liberals, secularists, democrats, women, students, trade unionists, religious dissenters and minority nationalities. A democratic, progressive Iran would pose no threat to anyone. President Bush would therefore find it much harder to persuade the American public and military to go to war. He would lose the main argument he uses to incite public opinion in favour of military action – namely, that Iran is a dangerous, terroristic, fundamentalist, anti-Semitic dictatorship, which is striving to develop nuclear weapons and which poses a serious threat to international peace and security. If Iran was no longer a fanatical religious tyranny, the case for war would evaporate. Bush would lose the battle for hearts and minds. Public opinion would desert him. US politicians and grassroots opponents of war would be empowered and strengthened. In contrast, US military intervention would strengthen the position of the hardliners in Tehran; allowing President Ahmadinejad to play the nationalist card and portray himself as a heroic war leader. It would also give him an excuse to further crack down on dissent, using the pretext of safeguarding national security and defending the country against US imperialism. This would setback the struggle for democracy and human rights. Moreover, a US attack on Muslim Iran would increase the sense of grievance felt by Muslims worldwide; radicalising Muslim youth, fanning the flames of fundamentalism, increasing support for Islamist parties and resulting in thousands of new recruits to the ranks of Jihadis and suicide bombers. Tragically, the leadership of the UK and US anti-war movements are sleeping walking into making the same mistakes over Iran as they made over Iraq. They are silent about the regime’s despotism and oppression. Mirroring Bush and Brown, they refuse to show solidarity with the Iranian peoples’ struggle for secularism, democracy, social justice, human rights and self-determination for national minorities like the Baluch, Ahwazi Arabs and Kurds. The new campaign group, Hands Off the People of Iran, argues that both US war and Iranian tyranny should be opposed in equal measure. Neither Washington nor Tehran! To view the programme, click on this link: Talking with Tatchell - Hands off the people of Iran Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, 18 Doughty Street Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Ends War is a crime against children War is child abuse. Millions of children are being killed, wounded, conscripted, orphaned, jailed and sexually abused in 30 conflict zones. Peter Tatchell interviews Mark Waddington of the charity War Child, which is reaching out to the child victims of war and transforming their lives. Watch the interview here: Talking with Tatchell - War is a crime against children According to the United Nations, in the last 10 years, two million children have been killed in the Congo, Darfur, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan and other war zones. That’s one child killed every three minutes. In the Congo alone, four million people have died since the late 1990s – the biggest mass killing since WW2. Iraq has seen over 650,000 deaths, coinciding with the invasion and occupation since 2003. Many of the dead are children. Among the children most vulnerable to violence are young girls, and young people who are gay, HIV-positive, members of ethnic minorities and dissenting faiths, and those whose parents support political parties that are involved in conflicts. In addition to the children killed, the UN estimates that six million children have been permanently disabled as a result of conflicts over the last decade. In total, millions of children have been orphaned; hundreds of thousands have ended up living rough on the streets (there are an estimated 250 million street children worldwide); and tens of thousands of teenagers have suffered imprisonment or been forced into the sex industry. The indirect effects of war can be as devastating as violence itself. Vast numbers of children are suffering malnutrition, due to the destruction of crops, livestock and food distribution networks. Many child refugees have died as a result of diseases caused by a lack of access to clean water and from the sometimes deliberate contamination of water supplies by opposing armies. There is also widespread child homelessness, following the bombing or burning of villages; and illiteracy as a consequence of the disruption of education following the destruction of schools and the murder of teachers. War Child is an award winning charity that works with local partner organisations to protect marginalised children - street children, child soldiers and children in prison - in places that are acutely affected by conflict such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. For more information see: War Child Ends
Britain’s corrupt voting system The electoral system is rigged against democracy. It is corrupt, unrepresentative, anti-democratic and unfair. Peter Tatchell interviews Chris Huhne MP of Make Votes Count and Mary Southcott of the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform. Talking with Tatchell - Britain's corrupt voting system London – 14 September 2007 Peter Tatchell writes: At the 2005 general election, Labour won 35% of the vote but bagged 55% of the seats. The result was even more skewed in Scotland where, on less than a 40% share of the vote, Labour grabbed almost 70% of the seats. Across the UK as a whole, of the eligible voters, almost twice as many people didn’t vote (39%), compared to those who voted Labour (less than 22%). Despite being supported by only a fifth of the eligible electors, Labour breezed back into power with an overall 66 seat majority. Further proof of this staggering gerrymandering of the electoral process is the fact that, on average, it took a mere 26,906 votes to elect a Labour MP, but 44,373 to elect a Tory MP and a massive 96,539 votes to elect a Lib Dem MP. Almost four times more votes were required to elect a Lib Dem MP, compared to a Labour MP. The Conservatives were also badly done by. They polled more votes than Labour in England but won 92 fewer seats. Conversely, in Surrey they won every seat despite winning only half the votes. The UK Independence Party polled 603,298 votes nationwide and the Green Party 257,758 votes. Neither party won any seats; leaving their voters totally disenfranchised and alienated by the electoral system. Not a single MP now in parliament won the votes of more than 50% of the eligible voters in his or her constituency. A mere three MPs secured the support of more than 40% of their electorate. Conversely, three candidates became MPs with fewer than 20% of registered electors voting for them. Although the electoral system is currently biased towards Labour, its flaws are long-standing. No post-1945 government has won a majority of the popular vote; all have ruled on the basis of minority electoral support. Even Margaret Thatcher’s landslide majorities in the House of Commons in the 1980s were based on popular votes of less than 45%. During the Iron Lady’s hey-day, a majority of voters were anti-Tory. It’s just that the electoral system prevented the anti-Tory parties, which had a majority of the popular vote, from winning a majority of the seats in parliament. The rot has got to stop. We need a House of Commons that reflects the people’s will; where the proportion of seats won corresponds to the proportion of votes cast. In other words, a fair voting system, to ensure that: every vote counts, the government has majority support, and parliament represents the full spectrum of voter opinion – and is not just stuffed with MPs from the big-two party establishments. It is time to finish the parliamentary reform process begun by the Chartists. What is required is a new Great Reform Act to remedy the democratic deficit and secure representative democracy for the people of Britain. The Scottish and London election systems are practical examples of a fairer electoral process. Electors vote for both a constituency MP and for a party list. This combines the accountability of single member constituencies with additional ‘top-up’ MPs based on the total list vote received by each party; thereby ensuring proportionality between the number of votes cast for that party and the number of seats it secures. It works well in Scotland and London, why not at Westminster? For more information re the Make Votes Count campaign, see: To view the programme, click on this link: Talking with Tatchell - Britain's corrupt voting system Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, 18 Doughty Street Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the search facility to access past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Ends Labour versus the unions? – Brendan Barber of the TUC Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress, discusses the unions' strained relations with the Labour government over its anti-union policies, the prospects of a union rebellion and strike action, and arguments in favour of economic democracy and employee empowerment in the workplace, in this edition of Talking With Tatchell. Watch here: Talking with Tatchell - Brendan Barber of the TUC The government has acted “ruthlessly” and made a “major, major mistake” by imposing a below-inflation wage increase on public sector workers, according to Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). He makes this criticism in an exclusive TV interview - Labour v the Unions? - aired tonight, on the eve of next week’s TUC conference in Brighton. Mr Barber is interviewed by human rights campaigner, trade union member and Green Party parliamentary candidate, Peter Tatchell. Acknowledging the strained relations between the government and the trade unions, Mr Barber says of the latest government-imposed pay restraint: “I just don’t think that’s justified.” He condemns the government’s failure to listen to the independent pay review bodies and to the trade unions as “unacceptable,” especially when city fat cats are scooping billions in bonuses. Criticising the widening gap between the very rich and middle and lower income earners, Mr Barber says: “I don’t think that’s healthy in a democracy.” He laments the government’s opt out from employee protection under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, saying it sends a “very, very negative signal.” He urges the government to “think again.” Responding to Peter Tatchell’s suggestion that trade unions should insist on economic democracy and worker participation in decision-making, Mr Barber says the TUC is “pressing that issue and that cause...on this issue - genuine opportunities for workforce involvement – we need a much livelier debate about that than perhaps we’ve had for some time”. While noting Gordon Brown’s commitment to a government of all the talents, Mr Barber regrets that these talents include the former CBI union-basher, Sir Digby Jones, but not a single trade union leader. To view the programme, click on this link: Talking with Tatchell - Brendan Barber of the TUC Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, 18 Doughty Street Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Ends Britain’s asylum shame The UK’s asylum system is rigged to fail as many applicants as possible. It is unjust, chaotic and inhumane. Watch this edition of Talking With Tatchell here: Talking with Tatchell - Britain's asylum shame Peter Tatchell interviews Dr Frank Arnold, clinical advisor to the Medical Justice Network; Puck de Raadt, an asylum worker with the Churches' Commission on Racial Justice; and Maria, a former asylum detainee who fled persecution in an ex-Soviet bloc state (her full identity is withheld, to protect her family against retribution). Peter Tatchell writes: Innocent asylum applicants who have committed no crime, including children, are held in asylum detention centres. They are detained like common criminals in prison-like conditions, pending a ruling on their claims. Some spend several months, or even a year or more, in detention. Those detained have fewer legal rights than a person charged with murder or rape. There have been persistent allegations of mistreatment in asylum detention centres; including allegations of racist and homophobic abuse, sexual harassment, physical assaults, deficient medical care and restricted access to legal representatives. Detained victims of torture often get little or no treatment and counselling, which prolongs their suffering and trauma. The ‘fast-track’ asylum processing system does not give applicants adequate time to prepare their claims and gather corroborating medical and human rights evidence. Moreover, cuts in legal aid mean that solicitors no longer receive sufficient funding to prepare fully documented asylum applications. Not surprisingly, many asylum claims fail. This results in genuine refugees being labelled as bogus and deported back to their home countries to face further persecution. There are reports of asylum deportees being violently restrained and incapacitated to force them onto planes. When they get back to their countries of origin, some are arrested, jailed and tortured, despite Home Office assurances that it was safe for them to return. This is the harsh, cruel reality of Labour’s asylum system. The government’s priority is to cut asylum numbers, with little concern for the merits of individual cases. It is a policy devoid of justice or compassion. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=f443ae4648be7d8b1e85c66d6816fff3 Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Ends Cannabis - reclassification or decriminalisation? The war on drugs has failed, yet the government is considering reclassifying cannabis as a class B drug and reintroducing tougher penalties. This knee-jerk response is driven by an ill-informed moral panic that won't protect young people. Perhaps it is time we considered Dutch-style decriminalisation and coffee houses? Dr Evan Harris MP, Liberal Democrat science spokesperson, and Sebastian Saville, Executive Director of the drug agency Release, debate the pros and cons of cannabis law. Watch here: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=58f35a6f5468eea004b6c203f4a859e6 Peter Tatchell writes: The current tabloid-fuelled hysteria against cannabis is pure hypocrisy. Legal drugs like tobacco, alcohol and prescription medicine cause far more damage and death than spliffs and hash cookies. Why the double standards? We need to distinguish between cannabis use and cannabis abuse. The distinction is real and important. Cannabis may not be totally benign, but it is not fair or reasonable to extrapolate from a minority of cannabis abusers to generalise and damn all cannabis users. This is like suggesting, on the basis of a study of alcoholics, that alcohol is invariably abused and damaging and should be banned. There are an estimated three to six million regular cannabis users in the UK. This means that up to 10% of the population is criminalised. Criminalisation is not a rational, workable or humane response. Most cannabis users are otherwise law-abiding people. Many of them hold responsible, professional positions and do their jobs well. They are sensible, moderate users, not abusers. The Netherlands has got it about right, with government-licensed and quality-controlled cannabis production, and the sale of cannabis through government-supervised coffee shops. This policy breaks the link between cannabis dealing and organised crime and helps prevent the adulteration of cannabis with harmful additives, which reduces the risks. If the UK adopted a Dutch-style system, cannabis sales could be taxed and the revenue raised could be used to fund drugs education and rehabilitation programmes. A wide range of professional, expert bodies support cannabis decriminalisation, including the Drugs and Health Alliance, Transform, Release and the UK Harm Reduction Alliance. They are right. Criminalisation is not the solution. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=58f35a6f5468eea004b6c203f4a859e6 Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Ends Ethnic cleansing of Arabs in Iran http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=86987933901d4bdfcb3fa38754914183 Peter Tatchell writes: More than 50 Ahwazi Arab activists have been charged with insurgency since 2005. They are accused of being “Mohareb” or “enemies of god,” which is punishable by death. Other allegations include sabotage and possession of home-made bombs. No material evidence has been offered to support the charges. All the accused are at risk of execution. Already, over a dozen activists have been hanged in recent months. Most Ahwazis believe the activists were framed. Their real ‘crime’ is campaigning against One of Protests against Ahwazi political parties, trade unions and student groups are illegal. Arab candidates have been barred from standing for election. Already, 250,000 Arabs have been uprooted from their villages following the Iranian government’s confiscation of 200,000 hectares of farmland for a massive sugar cane project. Compensation was in some cases less than 3% of the market value of the land, notes Miloon Kothari of the UNCHR. A further 400,000 Ahwazis Arabs face displacement by the creation of the new military-industrial Arvand Free Zone (AFZ) covering over 3,000 square kilometres, along the Shatt Al-Arab waterway, which borders Iraq. Ahwaz produces 90% of In a bid to crush Arab ethnic identity, Contrary to To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=86987933901d4bdfcb3fa38754914183
Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Ends Jamaica - homophobia, murder music and free speech Is Peter Tatchell writes: Eight leading Jamaican reggae /dancehall stars, including Buju Banton and Beenie Man, have sung songs openly advocating, encouraging and glorifying the murder of queers. See their homophobic “murder music” lyrics here: http://www.petertatchell.net/popmusic/Dancehall-Dossier-FINAL.pdf Are these artists merely reflecting homophobia or helping create it? Many gay and straight Jamaicans argue that lyrics urging the killing of queers may not create homophobia but they certainly help legitimate and encourage it. When homophobic violence is extolled by big-name reggae super stars it fuels and reinforces anti-gay hatred. It encourages some young men to believe that it is cool and acceptable to bash lesbian and gay people. These murder music lyrics stir up homophobic hatred and violence, in the same way that the BNP’s racist incitements stir up racial hatred and violence. Can it ever be acceptable or legitimate to subject other people to violent threats and intimidation? Are homophobic incitements any less worthy of condemnation than racist ones? Critics of the Stop Murder Music campaign claim it is an attack on freedom of expression. They protest: what about free speech? But since when has free speech included the right to incite the murder of other human beings? Do the defenders of homophobic murder music also defend the right of white racists to incite the murder of black people? No, of course, they don’t. They rightly condemn even the slightest prejudice against the black community. So why the double standards when it comes to homophobic bigotry? The murder music singers are not the only culprits. The Jamaican government and police are notorious for their inaction against homophobic violence. According to Jamaican law, inciting violence and murder is a criminal offence. Why aren’t these artists being prosecuted? Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report that homophobic violence is a major problem in All these respected bodies accuse the Jamaican government and police of colluding with queer-bashing attacks, and of failing to protect the gay victims of mob violence. Ending murder music will not, of itself, end anti-gay violence. But it can contribute to deescalating the culture of homophobia that is terrorising lesbian and gay Jamaicans and wrecking their lives. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=ea549f923a51daa4d050241c6b6d6c94 Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Gordon Brown – Change? What change? Gordon Brown promised change. But has he delivered? Chris McLaughlin, editor of Tribune, Labour's left weekly, discusses Gordon Brown's performance as Prime Minister and the prospects for a snap election in the autumn. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=b54ba9aac5723eb7b49d7fc58df8ae1a McLaughlin says that sources close to the Prime Minister have intimated that he will not call an election until spring 2008 at the earliest. Despite extensive media speculation about an autumn election, he exclusively tells Peter Tatchell: "I'm told…that he [Gordon Brown] hasn't generally made his mind up. My instinct, which has not been countered by any of the people I've been speaking to is that he would like to go next Spring rather than in 2009…. Definitely not in autumn this year…Because if Gordon Brown is going to display his notorious caution in one respect, it's going to be to make sure that the Labour party is in a condition to fight. It's got no money, it's still in debt…. It's got half the staff it had a year ago ". Peter Tatchell writes: Much of the country was hoping that Prime Minister Gordon Brown would break with the disastrous policies of his predecessor Tony Blair. During the run-up to his election as Labour leader and his assumption of the Prime Ministership, Brown promised change and offered the tempting prospect of a new New Labour. Although I want to believe him, I fear his rhetoric of change and renewal is just more spin. Where’s the substance? I don’t see it. Well, not yet. Aside from a refreshing change of style and tone, there have been no significant policy shifts. Indeed, Brown seems to have reaffirmed his commitment to continue all of Tony Blair’s disastrous policies: Iraq, Trident renewal, ID cards, creeping privatisation, road building, airport expansion and more nuclear power stations. Gordon’s much proclaimed changes are, to date, rather superficial and marginal to the central agenda of the New Labour project; more a shift in manner and emphasis than a break with the last decade. The hope that Brown will return the party and government to its Labour roots is, I suspect, wishful thinking. He has already said there will be no back-tracking on Blair’s agenda. Nothing surprising about that. After all, he was the co-architect of New Labour. He has backed and funded every Blairite blunder. Brownism is, it seems, destined to be a continuation of Blairism by another name. Different PM, same old policies. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=b54ba9aac5723eb7b49d7fc58df8ae1a Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Prison isn't working The prison system is not fit for purpose. Failing both prisoners and society, it neither deters nor rehabilitates. Overcrowding, poor welfare provision, victimisation and reoffending are rife. Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, discusses with Peter Tatchell what's wrong with the prison service and how to fix it. Click here to watch the programme: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=b8dff61c28087fdc17a3abac5ccdee89 Peter Tatchell writes: There are record numbers of prisoners in our jails. We imprison a higher proportion of the population than most comparable western nations, yet our crime rate is often higher. Prison isn’t working. Many prisoners are incarcerated in squalid conditions – including antiquated, insanitary Victorian jail wings - that have been condemned as unfit by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons. We have an unacceptably high reoffending rate; ranging up to 70% for some categories of young prisoners. This is clear evidence that prison does not rehabilitate. It is a failure. Too many young men enter prison as petty offenders and leave as hardened criminals, destined for a cycle of repeat offending and imprisonment. Overcrowding puts a huge strain on prison staff and services. With too many prisoners and too few resources, many prisons cannot meet the medical, educational and welfare needs of their inmates. This contributes to tension and conflict. It means that many prisons are not providing effective rehabilitation programmes. Without completing these programmes, prisoners cannot get recategorisation or parole – an injustice that fuels their rage against society and increases their likelihood of reoffending. More than half of all prisoners have mental health problems. Yet few get appropriate, effective treatment. Many should not be in prison at all. They need medical help. But they rarely get it. A high proportion of prisoners are illiterate or semi-literate, which makes it difficult for them to complete offending behaviour management programmes. Foreign prisoners who are unable speak English are at a huge disadvantage. They cannot articulate their needs and cannot complete the necessary prison courses. There are hundreds – possibly up to 2,000 – innocent prisoners in our jails. All victims of miscarriages of justice. Failed by the magistrates and crown courts, the Appeal Court and the Criminal Cases Review Commission, some are serving ten or more years for crimes they never committed. There are no adequate checks and balances to protect prisoners against abuse and victimisation by prison staff. Homophobia, racism and Islamophobia are rampant in many - not all - jails. Muslim prisoners are particularly prone to harassment and to false allegations of terrorist sympathies. Once labelled a security risk, they suffer diminished opportunities for earned privileges such as special education courses, extra visitor passes, access to prison computers, transfer to open prisons and day release for external study and work experience in preparation for their return to civilian life at the end of their sentence. For all inmates, these earned privileges sometimes appear to be given or denied at the whim and fancy of staff officers. Prison security departments have huge power to influence a prisoner’s fate; including decisions like parole, recategorisation, access to courses and release on temporary licence. But prison security officers are a law unto themselves, with no proper scrutiny, transparency or accountability. Likewise, the Independent Monitoring Boards vary in their independence. Some tend to rubber stamp prisoner governor’s decisions and explanations. The same goes for the Prison and Probation Ombudsman. All too often the Ombudsman ignores evidence of abuse and sides with prison chiefs and the Home Office. The prison service is a shambles. It needs urgent reform to ensure that inmates are treated fairly, encouraged and facilitated to reform, and that they leave prison with the best possible help to lead a productive, law-abiding life. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=b8dff61c28087fdc17a3abac5ccdee89 Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Gordon Brown's great nuclear con trick Gordon Brown says expanded nuclear power is essential to cut carbon emissions and global warming. The Prime Minister is wrong. Roger Higman, Campaigns Coordinator of Friends of the Earth, discusses with Peter Tatchell the cheaper, greener and safer alternatives, such as energy conservation, wind, wave, tidal, hydro, geo-thermal and solar power. Click here to watch the programme: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=afb6da65e27e71bbf73fd6ab60701ee9 Peter Tatchell writes: The Prime Minister wants to build about 10 new nuclear stations, at a construction cost of around £30 to £40 billion; plus tens of billions more to decommission the reactors at the end of their working life and to store their toxic radioactive waste for 20,000 years. There are viable, practical alternatives. The government’s Energy Review in 2002 advised that the UK could cut its energy needs by one-third through a comprehensive programme of energy conservation, including double-glazing, loft insulation, energy-efficient boilers and switching to low-energy light bulbs. More efficient industrial motors in factories could enable us to save enough electricity to shut down four nuclear power stations. If the whole country switched to low energy light bulbs, we could save the equivalent of the electricity generated by one nuclear power plant. The government’s own estimates, commissioned from the Carbon Trust, suggest that the UK has the potential to secure all its energy needs from renewable resources. Off-shore wind farms could comfortably generate the same amount of electricity as 12.5 nuclear power stations. Wave power could match the electricity output of 8.5 nuclear reactors. Tidal power is another major option. It could produce around 15% of our electricity needs. Just one project, the proposed Severn estuary tidal lagoons scheme, has the potential to fulfil 6% of the UK’s electricity demand. An additional 9% of UK demand could be met by tidal schemes in the Thames, Humber and Mersey estuaries. Other renewable sources include solar power. Within five years, Germany will generate as much of its electricity from solar power as we currently generate from nuclear (around 20%). We could match and exceed Germany if we made solar tiles the universal, mandatory roofing material for all domestic, industrial, commercial and public buildings. Another non-nuclear alternative is rolling hydro power, which involves placing turbines on river-beds to capture the power of river flows; mini-hydro schemes; and combined heat and power stations to capture and use the waste heat produced by energy generation. A new frontier technology is hydro pressure from the gas pipe network. Mini-turbines in gas pipes could utilise natural variations and changes in gas pressure to produce electricity. This technology is already being trialled successfully in the US, Switzerland and Italy. Geo-thermal power has some potential in the UK, but our best bet would to import from Iceland electricity generated from its geo-thermal (and hydro) sources. One other possible import is electricity produced by concentrated solar power. This involves giant mirror farms in desert regions like southern Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and north Africa, which concentrate the sun’s rays to create intense heat to drive turbines and generate electricity. By covering less than 1% of the world’s desert regions with the concentrated solar power stations, we could produce enough power to meet the entire world’s electricity needs. Say no to Gordon Brown’s nuclear con trick. It is not needed and not honest. There are safer, cleaner and cheaper alternatives – lots of them and they can produce all our energy needs in perpetuity. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=afb6da65e27e71bbf73fd6ab60701ee9 Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Baluchistan freedom struggle - Pakistan colludes with Taliban Mehran Baluch, the Baluch representative at the UN Human Rights Council, discusses the Baluch struggle for liberation from Pakistani occupation and oppression. Watch his Talking with Tatchell interview here: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=6047f4ff19c2da48b68fed7e067a3a5f Pakistan invaded and annexed the newly-independent state of Baluchistan in 1948. But the Baluch people have never given up their struggle for freedom. After six decades of occupation and bloody repression, Pakistan is once again escalating its war against the people of Baluchistan, detaining without trial thousands of Baluchs and executing hundreds more. Because Britain and the United States want Pakistan as an ally in their so-called “war on terror” they are arming Pakistan and acquiescing with its suppression of the Baluch people. Pakistan’s war against non-fundamentalist Baluchistan and its moderate nationalist forces is strengthening the position of the Taliban who have exploited the situation to establish bases in the region. From these bases they launch terror attacks against the Baluch and seek to enforce the Talibanisation of Baluchistan. The Pakistani government colludes with the Taliban’s murderous campaign, on the grounds that it helps to crush the Baluch people and their struggle for independence. Many of the Taliban leaders hide out in Baluchistan, from where they plan and launch their military operations to overthrow the democratically elected government of Afghanistan. Their campaign to usurp power in Kabul is taking place with the tacit collusion of key figures in the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services. The Pakistanis are allowing the Taliban to use Baluchistan as a base for their war against democracy and human rights. The international community is looking the other way, allowing the Baluch people to be suppressed and ignoring their right to self-determination. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=6047f4ff19c2da48b68fed7e067a3a5f Note: Talking With Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on the internet TV channel, www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. The global resurgence of religious intolerance From Washington to Baghdad and beyond, religious intolerance is making a comeback; threatening democracy and human rights. Peter Tatchell interviews feminist commentator, writer and secularist, Joan Smith. Watch this Talking with Tatchell interview here: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=3b09cdc1335941ca7b5b2e47de9d1556 Two centuries after the Enlightenment, religious ignorance, superstition, sectarianism and prejudice are on the rise again. Reason, science, liberalism, democracy, secularism and humanitarian values are under attack from fundamentalists within many faiths: Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. They want to reassert religious dogma, authority and control. Even in a wealthy, well-educated democratic nation like the US, faith fanatics have succeeded in hijacking the Republican Party, capturing the Presidency and propagandising creationism, sexual abstinence and a prohibition on the federal funding of stem cell research. In Britain , the Church of England bans women bishops, there is an explosion of faith schools that tolerate the bullying of lesbian and gay pupils, and some religious groups have attempted to censor entertainment such as the play Behzti and Jerry Springer: The Opera. At the heart of the global resurgence of religious intolerance are attempts to police gender and sexuality; including restrictions on women's reproductive rights and their access to economic and political power, and escalating state-sponsored assaults on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in countries like Catholic Poland, Muslim Iran and Anglican Nigeria. We also see rising religious sectarianism in countries such as Iraq, where rival Shia and Sunni Muslims are car bombing and assassinating each other in a bitter battle for clerical supremacy and state power; and in Palestine where fundamentalist Islamists have displaced secular nationalists from the leadership of the national liberation struggle and are seeking to impose their particular interpretation of Islam on everyone else. To view the programme, click on this link http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=3b09cdc1335941ca7b5b2e47de9d1556 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Somaliland - An African and Muslim success story Somaliland is an African and Muslim nation that is embracing peace, democracy, human rights and economic development. Peter Tatchell interviews Dr Mohamed-Aar A Mohamed of the Somaliland Research Society UK and Lulu Farah of the Somaliland Forum UK. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=ab582664e25d0b3d2d97aecffaa80790 In contrast to the war, chaos and human rights abuses in Somalia , the independent nation of Somaliland is an oasis of peace, stability and progress - despite a lack of international recognition and aid. Somaliland broke away from the war-torn, failed state of Somalia , declaring its independence in 1991. In recent years it has held multi-party local, parliamentary and presidential elections that have been judged to be free and fair by international election observers. It has made big strides towards ensuring freedom of speech, protest and the press, and advancing women's rights. But despite all these positive achievements, Somaliland does not have international recognition. It wants, and deserves, membership of the African Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations. Isn't it time the world recognised, celebrated and supported this great African and Muslim success story? For more information about Somaliland , see this article: http://www.petertatchell.net/international/africasuccessstory.htm To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=ab582664e25d0b3d2d97aecffaa80790 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Iraq descends into clericalism and barbarism Iraqi human rights activist, Ali Hili, reveals that for most ordinary Iraqis, life is now worse than under Saddam Hussein's brutal misrule. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=284e09a3e5173070d4eb5760da645c26 Saddam was a tyrant. It is good that he is gone. But since the American and British-led invasion in 2003, a once prosperous nation has been reduced to chaos, impoverishment and terror. Despite the country's immense oil wealth, mass unemployment and poverty are now the norm. In many regions, public utilities and welfare provision have collapsed. Although many Iraqis are attempting to forge a peaceful, democratic future, much of the country is blighted by war, mob rule and sectarian violence. Most people live in a state of permanent insecurity and fear. Suicide bombings, assassinations and death squad killings are daily occurrences. Some of this indiscriminate violence is perpetrated by foreign al-Qaida terrorists and by Sunni insurgents, including loyalists to Saddam's now defunct Baathist regime. But many of the killers are linked to leading Shia parties in the western-backed Iraqi government, in particular to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and its armed wing, the Badr militia. Other killers belong to the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to firebrand fundamentalist cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Both these Shia militias have instituted a reign of terror, often aided and abetted by Iran . Despite their differences, Sadr and Badr share the common goal of establishing an Islamist dictatorship. Under their brutal, perverse interpretation of Islam, Sunni Muslims and other religious minorities face harsh persecution; as do women who refuse to wear the veil and who refuse to submit to male domination. Also targeted by the Sadr and Badr killers are lesbian and gay people, women who have sex outside of marriage, and anyone who wears jeans or shorts or who listens to western music. Having a stylish haircut, drinking alcohol or wearing jewellery can get you branded as an “infidel” and result in a bullet in the back of the head. Saddam was evil. But even under his savage regime everyday life and personal relationships were never subjected to such extreme moral policing and violent repression. For women and gay people, and for Muslims who follow the “wrong” interpretation of Islam, the clock is being turned back to the Dark Ages. Ali Hili is director of Iraqi LGBT. For more info and to make a donation: Blog: http://iraqilgbtuk.blogspot.com/ To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=284e09a3e5173070d4eb5760da645c26 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Monarchy v Democracy - Time for an elected Head of State? Labour MP Andrew MacKinlay sets out the case for an elected head of state http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=c7df2ba254804cf535ae2e35baabe25e Hitler may have lost the war, but a monarch of German descent sits on the throne of Britain . Queen Elizabeth II is a descendant of the German Royal House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The real issue is, of course, not the non-British heritage of the British Royal Family, but the fact that we have an unelected and largely unaccountable monarch as our Head of State. Monarchy is incompatible with democracy. It perpetuates elitism, snobbery, privilege and deference. It is steeped in misogyny, religious intolerance and, by default, racism. Male heirs are favoured over female ones; people of faiths other than the Church of England are excluded; and a black or Asian person can never be our Head of State. According to the elitist values of the monarchical system, the most stupid, immoral royal is more entitled to be Head of State than the wisest, most ethical commoner. Monarchs get the job for life, no matter how appallingly they behave. Imagine the embarrassment of having a king like the insensitive, gaffe-prone Prince Philip. The alternative to royalty is not a US-style executive president. We could have an elected president, but a low-cost, purely ceremonial one, like the Irish. This would ensure that the people are sovereign, not the royals. And we get an important safeguard: if we don't like our head of state, we can elect a new one. Is it time for a democratic republic? To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=c7df2ba254804cf535ae2e35baabe25e Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Russia 's war against Chechnya - Self-determination denied Ivar Amundsen, Director of the Chechnya Peace Forum, and Shamil Zakayev, Coordinator of the Chechen diaspora in the UK , discuss with Peter Tatchell the on-going war and human rights abuses in Russian-occupied Chechnya . http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=621e542b48c94396d21b89540bd24962 In 1999, President Putin launched the second war in Chechnya . Since then, 100,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more have been displaced. Both the United Nations and the Council of Europe have condemned the widespread use of torture by Russian forces and by the militia of the puppet President, Ramzan Kadyrov. The people of Chechnya are being denied by Russia the right to elect their own President and determine their own future. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=621e542b48c94396d21b89540bd24962 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Is multiculturalism subverting human rights? Johann Hari , columnist for The Independent, says multiculturalism is divisive, patronising, oppressive and often implicitly racist. In particular, it leads to a shameful betrayal of women's rights. He is interviewed by Peter Tatchell on Talking With Tatchell: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=744642077d8826456d9346bf2992f1a5 The multicultural ethos sometimes colludes with oppressive ideas within minority communities, especially ideas concerning women and gay people. In these circumstances, respecting diversity can lead to the toleration of reactionary cultural traditions. Multiculturalism tends to treat minority communities as one homogeneous mass; based on the dominant elites and values within those communities. It often neglects dissenting voices within minorities. This is wrong. Individual rights should always trump community rights. Instead of multiculturalism's often one-sided focus on difference, promoting shared humanitarian values and equal citizenship are much more effective ways to secure justice and empowerment for minority peoples, argues Mr Hari. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=744642077d8826456d9346bf2992f1a5 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Sian Berry - Green Party candidate for London Mayor Sian Berry , Green Party candidate for London Mayor, critiques Ken Livingstone's record and sets out her agenda for a green, affordable London . Sian is interviewed by Peter Tatchell on his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=833507374833cc73baa077b08c7ba39e Sian discusses river buses to transform the Thames River into the 14th 'tube' line; and cuts in public transport fares to encourage people to leave their cars at home. She also talks about more eco-friendly low-cost housing; and a massive tree-planting programme to soak up pollution and carbon, and to turn London into a garden city. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=833507374833cc73baa077b08c7ba39e Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Gordon Brown - The good, the bad, the ugly Suzanne Moore, feminist & Mail on Sunday columnist, questions Gordon Brown's record over the last decade and whether he can beat off the challenge from David Cameron. Suzanne Moore is interviewed by Peter Tatchell on his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=355a978d71271cf38ee0a6ddf432118f There has been much discussion of Tony Blair's legacy. But perhaps it might be more accurate to talk of the Blair-Brown legacy. Despite their personal rivalry, the two men worked together to bring to fruition the New Labour project. Brown was Blair's ‘Mr Money Bags'; funding his every policy whim and fancy. Sitting at the Cabinet table, he colluded with every good, bad and ugly twist of policy. Will Gordon Brown now distance himself from the Blair era? Can he reinvent the Labour Party and give it a fresh appeal? Will voters warm to his more touchy-feely, humble persona? How will he square up to fresh-faced, smiley David Cameron? Is Cameron's more liberal, green Toryism a genuine change of heart or just more spin? Can he succeed in convincing the electorate that the Conservatives are no longer the nasty party? To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=355a978d71271cf38ee0a6ddf432118f Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Women - Still the second sex? Julie Bindel, founder of Justice for Women, discusses the unfinished battle for women's emancipation with Peter Tatchell - on his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=490d897bef7392af0ce53d8df4167629 Women's rights have been long ignored, frustrated and delayed. A century after the Suffragettes, women are still treated as the second sex. What are the key injustices holding back women? Among other things, shocking levels of domestic violence, sexual abuse and degrading imagery still blight the lives of millions of women. They also suffer fewer job opportunities, lower incomes and glass ceilings. Women's liberation remains an aspiration, not yet a reality. How do we ensure equal rights, dignity and liberation for the female half of humanity? To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=490d897bef7392af0ce53d8df4167629 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. John McDonnell MP - Labour leadership contender John McDonnell is the left-wing MP challenging Gordon Brown for the leadership of the Labour Party. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=2a127d7aa852ede6aa692b324d2f2fe6 The Labour hierarchy want to see Gordon Brown crowned, not elected. John McDonnell believes Labour Party members deserve a choice of candidates, and that a leadership contest will generate a much needed, healthy debate on Labour's future direction. In this edition of Talking with Tatchell, McDonnell sets out his agenda to reposition Labour as a modern, forward-thinking, radical party of working people – based on the democratisation and redistribution of economic and political power. In Parliament, John McDonnell is the Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs. Within the Labour Party, he is the Chair of the Labour Representation Committee, a rank-and-file organisation of Labour Party members and trade unionists, which campaigns for left-wing policies, internal party democracy and the accountability of Labour's elected representatives. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=2a127d7aa852ede6aa692b324d2f2fe6 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. The BNP's secret plan for apartheid in Britain Ex-BNP activist turned anti-fascist campaigner, Matthew Collins, Director of Searchlight's Operation Wedge, reveals the inside truth about the BNP and how to defeat them. He is interviewed by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, on his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=0331ae60617c365f38073ef063afc6fa The far right British National Party is fighting a record number of seats in the 3 May local, Scottish and Welsh elections - over 800 seats in total. It is aiming to double its number of councillors. Matthew Collins reveals that the BNP's makeover as an ostensibly respectable English patriotic party is a con. The BNP may have discarded its bovver boot image in favour of slick city suits, and toned down its street thuggery, but behind the smiling face of its leader Nick Griffin lurks a hateful Islamophobia, racism and homophobia. The BNP is a menace to democracy and minority communities; posing a particular threat to the security of Black, Asian, Jewish, Muslim and gay people. Collins explains the BNP's strategy: it preys on deprived white working class communities; exploiting and manipulating their grievances – often fabricating claims of preferential treatment for immigrants and asylum seekers, in order to stir up a racist backlash that it can then take advantage of. The key to defeating the BNP is youth education in diversity and tolerance, the promotion of multicultural projects where people of all races work together to benefit all sections of the community, and government action to address the neglect and deprivation that prompts some alienated white working class people to turn to the BNP. Collins also warns that in order to win broader electoral appeal the BNP has, at least publicly, dumped its more extreme policies, such as the repatriation of non-white people. Now it has a more subtle, covert strategy to drive black people out of Britain - a secret plan for a regime of de facto apartheid, whereby non-white people will face gradually ever-increasing restrictions, exclusions and deprivations. The BNP's aim is to make life in Britain so unbearable for black people that they will want to return to the countries from which their forebears migrated. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=0331ae60617c365f38073ef063afc6fa Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. Zimbabwe's students resist Mugabe's tyranny http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=425489c5dad00921b5f7835144d43667 Zimbabwe Independence Day on 18 April should have been a day of national pride and celebration. Instead, it was day of mourning and protests – in Zimbabwe and by Zimbabwean refugees across the world, including in London. The protests were against President Mugabe's misgovernance, which has resulted in 2,200% inflation, 80% unemployment, an average life expectancy of only 35 years and over 1.5 million orphans. This mass impoverishment of a once prosperous African nation is compounded by the bloody suppression of opposition parties, trade unions and civil society organisations. Mugabe maintains his tyrannical rule by means of beatings, censorship, bans on strikes and protests, disappearances, detention without trial, torture and even murder. Despite this barbaric repression, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans are involved in the resistance, determined to secure democracy, human rights and social justice. Zimbabwe 's students are playing a key role in these protests against the Mugabe regime – and being systematically targeted for arrest and beatings by the President's secret police and security forces. In his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell, Peter Tatchell interviews Washington Katema, National Coordinator, Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU). To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=425489c5dad00921b5f7835144d43667 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=c4f48d42ad379769d3ffad1ded5658ae British democracy isn't working. Public confidence and participation is falling. In 2005, the Labour government was re-elected with the support of a mere one-fifth of eligible electors. More people didn't vote (39%) than voted Labour (less than 36%). The first-past-the-post electoral system disenfranchises millions of voters. Many people feel alienated; that their votes don't count. In addition, we have an unelected House of Lords, now further tainted by the loans-for-peerages scandal. There is a crisis of democracy. People feel politicians don't represent them and that they are powerless to influence the government. Proof of this was the decision of Prime Minister Tony Blair to drag Britain into the Iraq quagmire, despite massive public protests against the war. Politicians need to reengage with the public. We need a parliamentary system that is more representative and accountable. British democracy needs modernising, to make it fit for the twenty-first century. The time has come to renew the democratic process. On his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell, Peter Tatchell interviews Pam Giddy, Director of The Power Inquiry. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=c4f48d42ad379769d3ffad1ded5658ae Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=b26dab7a88028832ff0f3d90ee6df2ff Medical research using animals is scientifically flawed. The physiological differences between animals and humans are so great that it is not possible to accurately apply data gained from laboratory animals to people. Drugs tested on animals are often not applicable or safe for humans, as evidenced by drugs like Eraldin and Opren, which were safety tested and approved on animals but went on to cause serious illness and death in patients. Most human diseases are uniquely human. To develop the safest, most effective treatments requires the study of human cells, tissues and organs. Humane alternatives, without experimenting on animals are possible and get results. The Dr Hadwen Trust has been helping pioneer new medical techniques and treatments for 37 years, without using vivisection. On his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell, Peter Tatchell interviews Dr Gill Langley, Scientific Director of the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=b26dab7a88028832ff0f3d90ee6df2ff Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=d95a9506c38e6f13a04a9738a00dc29e# The allied occupation of Iraq has paved the way for the mass looting of the country. Billions have gone missing. Corruption is rife. The US has strong-armed the Baghdad government into privatising Iraq 's oil wealth, with western petroleum corporations being offered extraordinarily favourable licences and astronomical profit margins. Meanwhile, the country is being torn apart by sectarian civil war and is sliding fast towards theocracy, with fundamentalist Islamist militia's and death squads having de facto control over large regions and millions of people. The killers in the Badr and Sadr militias are the armed wings of parties and ministers in the Iraqi government. Is there any hope at all for democracy and human rights in Iraq ? On his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell, Peter Tatchell interviews Nadia Mahmood of the Iraqi Freedom Congress. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=d95a9506c38e6f13a04a9738a00dc29e# Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=d543efc1d9c6d20f552b8cecad9a4118 Nuclear, coal and gas-fired power are based on finite resources and are environmentally destructive. Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is the tried-and-tested, safe, non-polluting, cost-effective and permanently sustainable energy technology that can meet the world's entire electricity needs and spur the economic development of many currently arid, impoverished nations. It is the key to future global energy provision and security. On his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell, Peter Tatchell interviews Neil Crumpton, Climate and Energy campaigner with Friends of the Earth. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=d543efc1d9c6d20f552b8cecad9a4118 Talking with Tatchell is broadcast every Friday night at 8.30pm on internet TV - www.18doughtystreet.com Previous programmes are permanently archived. Type “Tatchell” into the Search facility to access all past editions of Talking With Tatchell. http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=bcc23f9912b8d0a3fc4e0cf3984820f2 Over the last year, Iran has seen rising levels of resistance to President Ahmadinejad's repressive regime. Strikes by bus workers and teachers, women's rights demonstrations, student occupations and protests by Iran 's suppressed national minorities, especially the Kurds, Baluchis and Ahwazi Arabs. Rejecting the neo-con agenda of US invasion or a preemptive strike against Tehran , human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell asks: What are the prospects for regime change from within – by and for the Iranian people? On his weekly TV programme, Talking With Tatchell, Peter Tatchell interviews Maryam Namazie - Iranian broadcaster, humanist, feminist and communist – on the value of solidarity with the Iranian people's struggle for democracy, socialism and human rights. To view the programme, click on this link: http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=bcc23f9912b8d0a3fc4e0cf3984820f2 |