A Mother's Day Thought

Below is a prayer for all mothers everywhere. I chose this because it covers mothers in all situations. If you aren't a Christian and you are reading this then please stop and just think about mothers everywhere today. What is said in this prayer can also be a wish from people who don't believe in God.

A Mother's Day Prayer

God our Creator, we pray:

for new mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility;

for expectant mothers, wondering and waiting;

for those who are tired, stressed or depressed;

for those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family;

for those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty;

for those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities;

for those who have children they do not want;

for those who raise children on their own;

for those who have lost a child;

for those who care for the children of others;

for those whose children have left home;

and for those whose desire to be a mother has not been fulfilled.

Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender,

and that they may lead their children to know and do what is good,

living not for themselves alone, but for God and for others.

Amen.


http://www.dgreetings.com/mothers_day/mothers-day-prayer.html

Anything in the Budget to Improve a Child's Lot?

When George Osborne said ‘a society should not just be judged by the strength of its economy', I looked to see whether children had been helped by the budget. Children are often overlooked when it comes to political distribution.

I hope that the lifting of the tax threshold to £8,105 will help those people who have to make difficult financial decisions in their lives such as heating the house or feeding their child. There are families who can't afford a holiday or even a day out and I hope this will make a difference to their lives.

The Junior ISA which is being looked at as a replacement for the Child Trust Fund will be a way for parents to save £1,200 tax free every year till the child turns 18. More excitingly, the Government is working with organisations that work with children to see how this can benefit children who are in care. These are vulnerable children who miss out on the benefits that children from happy homes have and, therefore, deserve more care and attention.

£100 million will be used to promote Science in Britain. This is much needed investment because Britain is behind in new inventions and is having to compete against countries such as India who invest heavily in Science. Government should recognise that the importance of Science needs to be drilled into children's minds at school level.

I think it was a good Budget but to balance the economy we need something like the Big Society to fill in the gaps where money cannot be squeezed into. Then we will have a balanced society.

Summary of Sheffield Conference

The 'Cleggzilla' posters

I love Conference time. It is better than Christmas for me. The buzz, the sense of community and a shared belief in the party is a positive experience. What I noticed the most was how comfortable the party feels about being in Government. These was an atmosphere of calmness and acceptance, different from the Autumn conference last year. There are my thoughts:

1. The demonstrations weren't as disruptive as the media had predicted. When I went into the City Hall entrance on Saturday morning there were some demonstrators outside who were asking delegates what they were going to vote for in the NHS debate. Delegates replied that it wasn't the business of others to know this. I think delegates should have privacy over their vote because it is a private vote. It's not as if delegates who were being asked were MPs who have to declare the way they vote. Delegates are ordinary people exercising their right to vote in the capacity of being a Lib Dem member.

2. The unions who organised the demonstrations ended up ill-benfitting Sheffield because their demonstrations actually put the normal Saturday shoppers off coming into town. I know this because I spoke to a few taxi drivers who said their business had decreased because of this reason. Money spent on the 'Clegzilla' (very funny though these were) posters could have been put to better use. It's a pity that having 3.000 extra people in Sheffield did not profit the businesses as much as it should have done.

3. I found the NHS debate very confusing. I was all over the place and writing furious notes to my mother, who was sitting beside me, about it. Isn't Liberalism about the Government intervening when an institution of the state isn't working? People always complain about the NHS and, yet, weren't keen to see changes being made. Then there was talk about 'profit' and I took this to mean that the NHS wouldn't be free to use anymore. I was wrong. The debate wasn't about charging patients and this confused me further. See what I mean!

4. The debate on 'Strategy, Positioning and Priorities' was one long needed. Have you looked at the party's website? It needs a different and more up to date format. Look at the Conservative's website. It is NOW, it is attractive and makes me envious. I have blogged before about how the party needs to communicate the Lib Dem messages more widely and more positively. If we don't get this right then we risk losing potential members and our policies will be misunderstood if we don't explain them clearly.

5. The Diversity debate rages on. I know we need more ethnic minorities and more women in the party but instead of talking all the time about increasing diversity why doesn't the party take action instead? As an example, my mother is Indian but has never been approached to find out if she's keen to become a PPC. This isn't a hint, by the way, because my mother doesn't want to be a PPC but I use her here to make a point. Take action please.

6. The exhibition area is always packed with freebies. It is my favourite spot at Conference. I helped out at the LDEG (European Executive) stall. The two men called Rakesh and Jason at the Politico Internet stand were extremely friendly and helpful. After what I have said about the party's website above, do check out their offerings at http://www.politicointernet.co.uk/, especially if you are a councillor or PPC.


7.  The phrase 'Alarm Clock Britain' makes me shudder because I hate getting up early enough at 7.15am so I can't imagine what it must be like for this group of people who struggle to make a living. The people in this group haven't been looked after enough. A lot of political commentators have said that this means the same group of people that Ed Miliband calls "the squeezed middle". I wonder if 'squeezed middle' refers to the middle classes who will lose out on child benefits and other tax advantages? Nick has positioned our party in the 'Centre Ground' of British politics. Now, let's communicate that message to voters.

8. I made a speech at the debate on 'Taking Responsibility' which was the Youth Justice Policy paper. My main points were: (a) we need to realise that children occupy more spaces than just at home and at school. Government policies need to target the behaviour of children in places like holiday clubs, youth clubs etc so there's a joined up approach to prevention: (b) the whole family approach can't always mean blood ties because people move away from their families to find jobs. We need a new way of finding support within the community or society. I mentioned the report published by ResPublica called 'Befriending'; and (c) children  need to be shown the values of hard work and discipline instead of focussing on celebrity culture.

My special moments were when people came up to congratulate me on my speech and gave me lots of encouragement and support. I really appreciated this. I met Alex White from Scotland who was the next youngest speaker at the age of 14 and I look forward to seeing her speak again in the future. John Pienaar interviewed me and there's a photo of this on the right hand side of my blog. Meeting him was a thrill.
I was inspired and motivated by this conference and am proud to be a Liberal Democrat.

I met Anne Frank's Last Living Relative

Buddy Elias Frank standing by Anne and Margot Frank's grave.

Sometimes in life you meet somebody who leaves you speechless. I met Buddy Elias Frank, Anne Frank's last living relative, at the Jewish Book Festival on 27 February. It was amazing to even be in the same room as Buddy and his wife, Gerti Elias. I recently blogged about the children of the Holocaust and I believe it is a very important subject. It is because of people like Anne Frank that we can put a face to the human suffering otherwise the Holocaust would only be a historical event in our lives. Anne Frank's father, Otto, and Buddy's mother were siblings and while Buddy and Anne were growing up they were very close. In fact the whole Frank family were very close. Anne used to call Buddy 'Bernd'. His real name is Bernhard.

Here is an extract from a letter that Anne wrote to Buddy before she was taken to the concentration camp:
"Dear Bernd,Many Happy Returns on your birthday (all birthday letters start like that) and many more to come. I hope you're all healthy there like we are here. We had five days off for Pentecost, that was great and I 've been very busy. I don't get home before 10 at night, but usually a boy walks me home.How's it going with the girl you sent us a photo of? Do write to me and tell me, I'm very interested in things like that. This epistle didn't turn out very long but I also don't have anymore time to write, since I am going with Father to a film showing at some friends. Best Wishes to everyone. Write me back. Anne"

Buddy and Gerti were a warm hearted, friendly couple that wanted to share a story of love with the world. You can only appreciate the magnitude of what I experienced by also reading the following extracts from the book called 'The Treasures from the Attic. The Extraordinary Story of Anne Frank's Family'.

This is part of a letter from Otto Frank to his family after his liberation from a concentration camp.
Dear Mom,
Dear everyone,
Tomorrow we will be in Marseille, and then this letter will hopefully be forwarded to you. I assume I will be able to telegraph right away too so that you will know I have returned safe. We sailed from Odessa. Did you get my news from Kattowitz & Czernowitz?! For now we don't yet know if we can go back to Holland or if we will have to go to England for awhile first. For me the main thing is that we get out of Russia, so we can be reunited with our loved ones. You have no idea how much I long to see you again. All my hopes are for the children. I cling to the firm belief that they are still alive and that we will be together again soon. They will hardly expect their Pim to still be alive-they experienced too much, and they must know how everything was in the "Auschwitz extermination camp" where I was..."

Soon afterwards Otto discovered that his children, Anne and Margot, had died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp from malnutrition and other illness in late March 1945. The camp was liberated in April 1945 and 60,000 emaciated prisoners were discovered. Anne and Margot had been buried in a mass grave.

The following is the letter that Buddy wrote to Otto after the discovery of the deaths of Anne and her sister Margot.
"Dear Ottel, 
I also want to write how terribly sorry I am about your horrible fate. I think I can say: our fate. I remember so well the lovely days with you and Margot in Adelboden. Edith and Anne are fixed in my memory as well, of course, and will be treasured there for ever. I know that you have a hard battle ahead now, to recover from everything and make a fresh start. We can only give you so little support now, I wish you were here with us already, or we were wtih you. I am positive that better times will come, for you too. You'll do it. Chin up! See you very soon - 
Your Buddy"

Buddy and Gerti live in Switzerland and are actively involved with the Anne Frank Foundation. I recommend this book because it will take you into a journey of the past and go into the detail of the lives of a very lively and heartwarming family who met and overcame many tragedies.
http://www.annefrank.org.uk/

Don't skip my blog just because I am a child

Michael Morpurgo gave the Richard Dimbleby lecture last night on children's rights. It was an inspiring lecture that really touched me. He referred to the UN Convention on Children's Rights. Some of the things mentioned in there are so basic that you wouldn't even think that there are children in the world to whom these do not apply i.e right to a name and a right to play.

I take these things for granted. What Michael Morpurgo said reminded me of  a scene from the movie called 'Kite Runner' where the children in an orphanage in Afghanistan had to hide when the Taliban came because children get shot down if they get in the way. Children should not have to run to safety everyday. The orphanage was so over crowded and dirty and the children were ill as a result. These are 'Rights of Survival' mentioned in the UN Convention and they should be given without question to children all around the world.

Michael Morpurgo spoke about his experience in Gaza, he said "I heard shots, then the screaming, saw the kids running to help their wounded freinds. Now i really was outside the comfort zone of fiction. There was blood, his trousers were soaked in it, the bullets were real. I saw the boy close to, saw his agony as the cart rushed by me. many like him, the doctor told me, ended up maimed for life".

Scenes like this usually only happen in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries) and countries which are at war. Children are always the innocent victims in decisions taken by Governments. When Governments create policies they need to prioritise children more highly.

http://layneafghantrip.blogspot.com/

190 TAKEN A DAY IN CHINA

In China 190 children are snatched every day to be trafficked. These children are being sold for as much as £6,600 pounds. Imagine the devastation a parent faces when they find out that their child has been kidnapped. Many of these children are used as beggars to make money for their 'adopted' families. I almost wanted to cry when I read about how some of these children are then maimed so their chances of making money is increased because people will feel sorry for them.

Finally, yesterday, a son was reunited with his father after being missing for 3 years in Shenzhen City. A breakthrough was possible because of a blog set up by Yu Jianrong, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who asked people to post photos of children they see begging in the street and of other children they think might have been kidnapped. Parents can also post the photos of their missing child on the micro blogs in the hope that family members will see them.

I gave a speech last year at the Autum conference on Gendercide and how China is the worst country for this. I stated that Gendercide has far reaching consequences and child abduction is one result. Most of the children stolen are boys because of the one child policy. Most families prefer boys. China needs to respect the rights of the children and start to take action over children's wellbeing.

So far China hasn't done anything to solve child abudctions. Recently, a boy was taken in broad daylight in China. He was screaming and crying but passers by ignored him. What is it that makes people there ignore such a crime?  I can't imagine the same happening here. China may be a rising superpower but internally the country doesn't seem to be using any powers to make the life of citizens better in terms of human rights.

http://t.sina.com.cn/1932619445

The Children of the Holocaust

The most famous child of the Holocaust is Anne Frank but around 1.2 million Jewish children died during this period. The children who were killed were Romani Gypsies, Polish, German children who were disabled and Jewish. These children were either killed when they arrived at the camps, killed immediately after birth, killed when they were born in the camps and those over the age of 12 were used for medical experiments. Other children died of starvation or from illnesses they caught from living in unhygienic conditions in the camps.

There is very little recorded of the children's experiences of the Holocaust but some have been reported and tell about how these children struggled from losing their families, having to move to strange places they had never lived in before and having to adapt to new cultures. The children who lived in hiding like Anne Frank had to do couldn't play with toys or move for hours on end because neighbours might have become suspicious. They lived in constant fear.

As a child myself, I know how hard it would have been for them to not be able to play with toys or to remain still. Jewish children had to adopt new religions to hide the fact that they were Jews. They couldn't make a single mistake by saying a word or making a movement that would have marked them out as Jews. Ethnic Cleansing still goes on around the world despite the Holocaust. We need the acceptance of diversity in our world.

Tunisia needs the Rule of Law

 In the words of the Tunisians themselves, a blogger there called Wled El Banlieue commented, "After 23 years of a single political voice in Tunisia, we're now discovering plurality. Let's learn democracy."

The Tunisian president, Ben Ali,  who was  in power since 1987 fled the country due to so much rioting. People hated him because he took away people's freedom of speech, movement and imposed a police state and he was very corrupt. It is astonishing how much Ben Ali himself and his family owned that should have belonged to the state.

This is why I think the rebuilding of Tunisia's economy and social fabric should be done according to  the principles of the Rule of Law.  The Rule of Law states that no one should be above the law. The Government needs to have only the authority that the public allows it to have. This is a golden opportunity for Tunisia to rebuild their society. Unemployment stands at 14%. The protest started when an umeployed graduate called Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself and died because he was making a living from selling fruit and vegetables on the streets and the police stopped him from doing so. He had no other way of getting an income and chose to kill himself instead. This was a drastic act of desperation which shows the huge gap that exists in Tunisia between the rich and the poor.

The Rule of Law is an excellent tool for equalising the gap between rich and poor in countries which are embracing democracy. There is always a danger if somebody is in power for too long like Ben Ali was.
I don’t think that somebody should be allowed to be a president for more that 8-10 years because then that person's power would become too much for them and they might think they are the equivalent to God and use their power wrongly. This happens in school when one person becomes very popular for a long time and then controls what everyone else does and wears.

In Memory of Christina Taylor Green Aged 9, Arizona

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/09/christina-taylor-green-symbolic-life
 
A beautiful 9 year old who was killed for no reason in Arizona on 8 January 2011 thereby ending her dream of going into politics to unite all the political parties in America.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto Thee.
May the Almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us.
And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

Multiculturalism isn't just about food

Asian men in Derby have been arrested for drugging and exploiting young girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen years.The men would find their victims at train stations, council estates and even walking home from school. The men would be nice to their victims at first, they would do this by giving them expensive gifts and taking them out. This practice by Asian men in the North has been the subject of an investigation by The Times. What is worrying is the attitude of these Asian men towards White girls.

Sometimes, we have to appreciate that multiculturalism also includes bad things about people. When people say the word 'multicultural' I bet the first thing that comes to your mind is foreign foods. I am half Asian and people are always asking me whether I eat curry. Food seems to be the test of multiculturalism. However, it is not only food that immigrants have introduced into this country. They have brought in some wonderful Global aspects like their religion, clothing, ways of life and, on the bad side, prejudices.

If this country really does want to be multicultural we need to recognise the bad and the good. For example: I have seen English people wearing saris which is good because we are accepting an Indian tradition. The bad example is this story about the Asian men. Sometimes in this country we are too scared of saying some things for fear of being labelled as 'racists'. Keith Vaz MP has said that cultural sensitivites must not stand in the way of investigating why Asian men are preying on White girls.

Today Jack Straw has said that 'some Pakistani men see White girls as easy meat' and is being accused of stereotyping people. People like Jack Straw need to be listened to because the evidence in what he says is the trial of the 13 Asian men that has just finished and the realisation that this is a big social problem. Also, Jack Straw didn't say that ALL Pakistani men are bad. Let's make way for a good discussion which recognises social problems that are particular to some groups of people without labelling it as 'racist'.