As a fervent Scot, and son of the manse, Gordon Brown hates Britain’s past; anything to do with the empire and with colonialism, especially. So, of course, does the BBC, which leaps at any opportunity to denigrate British achievements. The government’s absurd and patronising decision to “apologise” for the way children from broken homes were sent to Australia and elsewhere in the Commonwealth to start new lives is thus naturally front page BBC news this morning. Yes, some of these children were badly treated, and it is deeply sad and regrettable that they were. But standards of childcare, and understanding of childcare issues, were very different then. The idea of “apologising” for what happened is preposterous and nauseating.
What’s next? A grovelling apology to Oz for James Cook landing there in the first place? Or to Spain, for beating them in the Armada, thereby postponing the colonisation of British fishing grounds by Spanish fishermen for four hundred years?
Would that this Prime Minister (and the BBC) would focus instead on issues that really matter. How long will it be before one of his successors will be forced to “apologise” for his headlong, wreckless rush towards causing fuel poverty for millions by his fervent belief in global warming? And for wrecking British social fabric and culture by encouraging unrestrained immigration?
I’d love to see the Labour Party apologise for voting to abolish the Royal Air Force in the 1930’s ( BBC headline for 1942 “We fought our own side on the beaches, because the Jews forced us to do it”), and for bankrupting Britain twice – in the 1970s and now on the ‘Noughties. Or should that be the ‘Naughties?’
Bear in mind this is an apology to the forgotten generation, not the country – and it’s Australian led, after their apology to the aborigines (or the stolen generation) two years ago, Brown is just jumping on the bandwagon
Sorry, RH, I disagree. The distinction is that there are still many thousands of these people still alive, they deserve proper recognition. Plus the many many relatives they were taken from in this country.
What surprises me is that the OZ Prime Minister makes a formal apology today, No 10 and Whitehall must have known about this for a long while – but Brown’s apology is not until next year. Too busy today ?
*Will there be compensation attached to this apology?
*Who will pay – Australian Government, United Kingdom Government or some other body?
*Are the figures of 500,000 people held in orphanages or children’s homes between 1930 and 1970 all British children from broken homes? Given that Australia’s population was approx. 6.5 million in 1930 rising to around 13 million in 1970 that figures seems much too large?
*What percentage of the British children were abused?
*What percentage enjoyed a better life in Australia than they would had they remained in the UK, at war and in the lean times after?
*What does the Canadian Government have to say about this?
*What percentage of the children came from labouring backgrounds and would be assumed to follow that course as adults?
*What would the future of these children have been in Great Britain?
While it would have been nice for the BBC to provide some of the answers it only seems reasonable for Brown to consult with survivors (and I hope, experts in the subject) before making a statement let alone an apology.
Trending topic on Twitter now –#SaySorryBrown.
The British government shoul apologise for illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that have killed thousands of innocent Muslims.
Not illegal, wind-up artist. Only in your mind.
Yes those wars were illegal. It’s only illegal when Putin, Chavez, Ahamdenijad do it. It’s legal and fine when Bush or Blair do it. That’s the way the world works – one rule for the west, one for everyone else.
Also, they were a great success weren’t they? Iraq has become jsut as corrupt as before, but only after a civil war where thousands of innocent people died. And have the taleban been crushed in Afghanistan? No, they are as strong as before.
Bush believed the hype of American military power. Reality is, US power is weak. Obama is learning the same lesson, though only after making same mistakes.
Apologies are irrelevant. I am very sceptical of the notion of an illegal or legal war. The only legitimate war is one of self defense against aggression or in support of an ally enduring such aggression;
hence the US action in destroying the Taleban after 9. 11 can be viewed as a reponse to an attack on the US ( the regime having provided a haven for Al Queda)..
Unfortunately the neo liberal doctrines holding sway in the West confuse legitmate revenge with an absurd notion of nation building etc etc.
We should have no interest in what happens in Afghanistan other than we should make it clear to any regime the Afghans choose to install or tolerate that the West will not tolerate any hostile move against Western countries that may be sourced from Afghanistan.
AS for Iraq. That never made sense to me. It did not serve our interest to remove the regime odious though it was.
Neo cons and liberals always end up causing havoc largely through what they believe are good intentions.
Any Western attempt to install democracy in the Middle east is pointless and should cease. Likewise should cease any attempt by the same neo liberal idiots to allow the spread of Sharia in the West. There is and always will be a fundamental divide between a Sharia based society and one, as ours is, based on Common Law. To fail to understand this will lead to much suffering for millions of people who just want to live their lives
wots an illegal war?
Is it illegal like 7 arab states invading an internationally recognised small country within 48 hours of a UN vote setting it up?
Like that you mean?
Oh okay, you would like to talk about Israel would you? Is the carpet bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza – killing hundreds to get a few terrorists – perfectly legal then? Well, if Israel does it, then it must be legal. one law for Jews, another for Muslims.
Israel did NOT carpet bomb Gaza. My source for this statement Former British Colonel Richard Kemp appearing on the BBC.
Occassionally the BBC slips up and lets the truth out at which point it tries to hide it in the Internet so only those who know where to look can find it. The speaker will never be called on again by the BBC.
Best quote: I don’t think there has ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF is doing today in Gaza.
Apart from Kemp, the evidence that Israel did not carpet bomb is clear.
1/ Even taking Hamas’s falsified figures, for the sake of the argument, as fact the casualty rate in Gaza was much lower than similar wars conducted in built up areas such as Bosnia, Chechnia, Georgia.
2/ Constant film coverage of the war showed no carpet bombing. If you can provide filmed evidence (YouTube?) to the contrary please link it.
3/ Photographic evidence of Gaza after the war, including Google Maps, showed most buildings still standing and inhabited. I have just returned from Munich where 80% of the city was flattened during WWII. That is carpet bombing.
Oh god, the muslims have found this forum again.
Looks like we’d better start sucking up to them in the manner they are accustomed too. I can hear a gentle ticking.
You didn’t answer piggy kosher’s question. Why not? I thought it was quite a good one.
Don’t mind Tahir, he is just following the command of his Paedophile Prophet to kill all the Jews hiding behind trees (strange words for a supposed Messenger of the Jewish God)
aha, funny how quickly someone resorts to the grossly offensive language to discuss Islam.
Is this a front for one of those BNP/english defense league sites, its certainly sounding like one here now
What Islam/Mohammed did or didn’t do is irrelevant to the discussion of whether Britain should apologise for Iraq and Afghanistan.
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I won’t ask the previous (or the present) Iraqi governments to apologise for the deaths of millions of Muslim Iranians and Iraqi citizens during the Iran-Iraq Wars nor hundreds of thousands of Muslim Kuwaitis, Kurds and Marsh Arabs during various wars and operations. The culprits are dead aren’t they?
You left out warlord, thief, torturer, racist, mass-murderer, woman-beater, psychotic, all round degenerate scumbag, and inventor of the most henious political-ideology-disguised-as-a-religion ever dreamed up by a sick, twisted mind.
The good news is he’s dead (from syphilis). The bad news is his evil death cult is alive and well.
The only thing that has been carpet bombed is your addeled mind.
I suspect in a discussion with mw about islamic aggression against the Jewish nation, you wouldnt last 5 minutes.
Bit like the islamic armies.
Oh Okay, you’re a scholar.
Let’s discuss Israel/palestine then, seeing as you so clever.
Ben-Gurionism – a failed policy? A policy that in the short term appeared to make Israel strong, has only weakened in the long run? not to mention given encouragement/credence to the Arab states.
Ben-Gurionism? What’s that? Do you mean the version of Labor Zionism practised by the democratically elected Israeli Knesset during the period 14 May 1948 – 7 December 1953 and 2 November 1955 – 21 June 1963 while he was Prime Minister? In what sense, 61 years after independence, has it failed? Which Arab states will put up as counter examples of successful policy?
Yes the issues of islam are openly discussed here.
It is remarkably free of the obscene anti – semitism masquerading as progreesive socialism I have seen on sites you would perhaps prefer.
Anyone who uses the term “carpet bombing” in their opening anti Israeli/Jewish whinge is not to be taken seriously.
Enough trolling please.
you’ve used the first two trump cards already
1 – insult Islam with some sort of Mohammed slur
2 – call me a troll
whats next, a Hitler reference somewhere?
pathetic.
You are a troll and as such should be ignored.
Don’t worry Tahir, they’ll be able to arrange the Hitler reference like they can arrange the bad spelling and poor grammar.
Scott, I’m curious about your constant defense of Islamic barbarians. Do you honestly think that their promotion is beneficial to your ‘alternative lifestyle?’
yet more Islamic hypocracy?
Pathetic.
No need for the blanket characterisation of Scots. I’m a fervent Scot and happily British and I AM proud of Britains past. Comments like this only serve to cheapen what is an otherwise impressive site.
Thank you for bringing this post back on topic. 😎
For PM Brown (and BBC):
Melanie Phillips on ‘gesture politics’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1228122/Im-sorry-Gordon-apologise-things-ARE-fault.html