Best of Tweets and Quotes on today's demonstrations

1. 14,000 UK border agency staff have walked out yet majority of flights are still on time and those flights that are delayed are only 45 minutes late? If the flights can still operate on time without the 14,000 UK border staff then why not get rid of them and save the state some money and pay off some of the national debt?
2.  A crowd gathers outside the Department for Work and Pensions head office in Tothill Street, Westminster to chant "DWP - pension thief".
3. 
   
    Department for Education says of state schools in England, 26% are closed (4,640 schools), 22% are partially open (3,888) and 23% (4,115) are fully open.
4.   When the time comes, I will also take strike action for the right to retire. Who wants to be treated by a 67-year old theatre nurse? I've been paying into my pension for over 30 years, and I pay taxes too.
5. Aound 90% of the Met Police's civilian workers who are in the PCS union are taking part in the strike. This means police officers have been drafted in to staff the force's call centres - and that is having "some impact on times taken to answer emergency calls", says the Met. Average times to answer 999 calls was up to 15 seconds - five seconds longer than the normal target.
6.  "EDUCATION CUTS NEVER HEAL".
7.  The fire alarm at Heathrow was set off in Boots at 1130 BST, resulting in Terminal 3 being evacuated for 20 minutes. Not known if deliberate or accidental.
8.  "I'm a sports teacher. Can you imagine me teaching hockey at 68 in my wheelchair? It's simply not feasible." South Manchester teacher at Manchester march.
9.  "Hi ho hi ho, we work all day and see no pay".
10. The government seems intent to push the idea that taxpayers should not have to pay for public servants pensions. Aren't public servants taxpayers too?
11.  The biggest outbreak of industrial unrest since the coalition was formed.
    
    
    
     

Are we still the party that cares?

We used to be the party that cared. We used to debate about issues that involved people's lives and how we would try and make things better for them. Now we spend hours debating about our position on the ranking scale of politics i.e are we centre left, progressives or economic/social liberals but then don't do anything with it. We are in power and we have the means to find solutions and answers to the problems that we previously spent time trying to make a difference to.

I now call upon the party to help the Tamils who suffered during the war in 2009 between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers. A programme on Channel 4 was screened last week called 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields'. I wasn't allowed to watch it but I have seen short clips of it since. The programme showed actual mobile phone and video footage of the suffering endured by the Tamils.

The Lib Dems did care. On 29 April 2009 an Opposition Day debate was called by our MPs in the House of Commons. The motion was moved by Ed Davey who said:
'That this House is concerned that the fighting in Sri Lanka has already had a devastating effect on hundreds of thousands of civillians with thousands killed and wounded, many tens of thousands traumatised and suffering from lack of food, water and basic medicines...'

Simon Hughes was one of the first, if not the first, MP to talk to the Tamils who were demonstrating in Parliament Square during that period. We looked after the Gurkhas.

David Miliband has been the only British politician to speak out on this issue. Barely any one of the British press have written or reported about the programme. This programme is important because it provides real evidence of what went on during the war. The Sri Lankan government sent away journalists and the UN and then later said that it hadn't harmed any civillians. The truth is that they didn't want any witnesses to what they did to civillians. The Tamil Tigers were to blame to and shelled and killed the Tamils. However, the point is that the Sri Lankan Government did not follow the international laws on war. Now we have evidence.

The UN produced a report in April this year called 'Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka' which said that war crimes were committed by the Government of Sri Lanka. The secretary-general, Ban-Ki Moon, has not initiated any action. China and Russia side with Sri Lanka and it seems that the UN has too.

The Liberal Democrats are part of the Government. We need to take up the position of being the party that cares, NOT the party that cared. Our mid-term rewrite of the coalition agreement is coming up and I really hope we put in there 'War Crimes'. There's thousands of Tamils in this country.

We can still debate political positions but we then need to use this to do something. I study maths in school and wonder what I am going to do with all the formulaes I learn but one day I will use it to calculate my mortgage and bills. In this way we must go into society and care.

This issue is very important to me because I am half-Tamil. I was one of thousands in Parliament Square during that period demonstrating. People told me about how worried they were about their relatives who were in danger of being killed but I didn't realise the full horrific extent of it all. I now know.

Below is a quote about the UN and some links. Please look at them.

'You won't need the U.N. You will simply need men with shovels and bleached white linen and headstones.' George Clooney 14 Sept 2006 in a speech to the UN.

http://chelliahlaity.blogspot.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/opinion/21iht-edmiliband21.html?_r=1

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/sri-lankas-killing-fields/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1

Maelo Manning Interview

Another child blogger got in touch with me and requested an interview. Her name is Alisa and she has a great blog at Youths Do More.

THE INTERVIEW
What got you into politics?

When I was 2 years old I used to watch the news with my mum. Pictures of wars would make me angry and I used to jump on the sofa and shout, ‘It’s enough people’. I used to love watching the BBC News and still do. When I was 10 years old I joined the Lib Dems because I believe in their principles of fairness, equality and community. Politics affects all our lives in everyway even with children eg education.


Why does everyone love your blog instead of Harvard professor’s blogs?


It would be great if everyone loved my blog but I am very grateful for the followers that I have. I get repeat comments from well known bloggers who encourage me a lot. In this country people talk about policies that affect children like social mobility but nobody high up really asks children what they think. Not even me who blogs about politics but I carry on making my views known. I would love to talk to British politicians. Grant Shapps, Conservative MP, spoke to me about housing policy last year at the LibDem conference. A very nice man. I met a British politician recently who treated me as if I was a nuisance child (not naming this Lib Dem person). That’s typical of the way children are treated. Harvard! I would love to go there someday. Wow! I don’t think I can compete with Greg Mankiw’s blog yet.


Give us three of the best blog tips-not just for political blogs!
a. Make the blog attractive so people will want to look at it.


b. Use a variety of views – humour, serious opinion and fact.


c. Be topical and current. People don’t care about what happened years ago unless it is related to something current.


Do you want to be a political blogger all your life or is this just a stepping stone to becoming the Lib Dem leader?
It would be a huge privilege to lead the Lib Dems one day but, for now, my ambitions are to carry on being a political child blogger and doing well in school. My blog is not for political self-promotion purposes but is for making my voice heard especially to help women and children. I am a child feminist and am particularly worried about the poverty that women and children suffer in lower economically developed countries (LEDCs).


What’s your message to all the talented youths out there?
Talented youth excite me. It worries me how celebrity culture really dominates children’s lives nowadays. I wish more girls, especially, would aspire to become successful business women, MPs etc. I would love to lead a campaign to help change the way girls view themselves – brains instead of using their bodies.


You’ve been to a fair few political events. What’s been your favourite?
I go to every Lib Dem conference and many political events hosted by other groups such as Compass. My favourite inspirational moment is when I met Phillip Blond, Director of the think tank called ResPublica, who wrote ‘Red Tory’. He encourages me to aspire to great things and is a wonderful man and role model.

Me in a bunny costume and Hugh Heffner

I was outside the  Playboy in Mayfair, London last night (4 June) dressed in my Easter Bunny costume to demonstrate against the use of children by the Heffner empire to increase his billions. I am talking about the merchandise made by Playboy targeted at children. These items of merchandise are pink in colour and have the bunny logo to make it attractive. The discrimination against females is done in a jokey manner so as to make it look harmless. Lots of girls I know have the Playboy merchandise without realising what it means.

Well, I saw for myself today what it means. It means that the club treats women as accessories for men. This type of objectification of women is dangerous because it encourages a downhill attitude that ends in violence against women. I saw the Bunnies close up and I cannot for the life of me see how it can be empowering to be dressed like that and to do the work that they do.

 Girls of my age want to be WAGS, models or pop singers. We need to show them, my generation, that they need to and can aspire to use their brains instead of their bodies. When my generation reaches the age of entering the workplace there won't be enough women to do so because they would have gone down the Playboy route in using ther bodies instead of their brains.

The demonstration was organised by the 'EFF OFF HEFF' campaign. I am glad it is spelt as EFF because i am not allowed to swear. Anyway, the campaign name says it all.

Syrian 'Children's Friday'

About 30 children have to date been killed in Syria during the demonstrations. The most memorable death is of the 13 year old boy called Hamza Al-Khatib who was tortured to death by the police. Today has been named as 'Children's Friday' by the Syrian Revolution Facebook page group who are dismayed by the torture of children. Unicef says that most of the 30 children killed were shot by security forces.

In the previous uprisings like in Tunisia there has always been a death of one person  that has united the freedom seekers and I think  this 13 year old boy has become a focal point for Syria. It is a disgraceful situation that the government of Syria has allowed the torture and killing of children in clamping down on demonstrations. The Syrian government must now make  a pathway to peace and start talking with the demonstrators. Enough of this unjustifiable  violence and killing,

Please remember Hamza and others like him acrosss the world who are caught up in wars made by power crazy governments.