Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
the damage continues
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Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
slowly going down his private medicine route
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Headline grabber Cameron uses his size 12 boots on the daffodils yet again .....he really should
engage tongue to brain,.....his error of judgments continue....
Did PM misread the spin in Sri Lanka? Island's cricket hero says David Cameron is 'misled' over Tamil north
The sport's greatest wicket-taker, Muttiah Muralitharan, said: 'I see there is improvement'
Sri Lanka's most famous cricketer and symbol of the country's post-civil-war reconciliation triggered acute embarrassment for David Cameron yesterday when he said that the Prime Minister had been "misled" over the plight of the Tamil people.
Mr Cameron's historic trip to the north of Sri Lanka on Friday, in which he became the first world leader to meet Tamil refugees and visited a newspaper whose journalists had been assassinated by government forces, prompted a showdown with the country's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the Commonwealth summit.
But criticism came from more unexpected quarters yesterday as Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's most prominent Tamil and Test cricket's greatest wicket-taker, suggested undue attention was being given to the Tamil northern region.
Murali, as he is known to fans, met Mr Cameron at an event at Colombo Cricket Club to promote Foundation of Goodness, a charity that uses cricket to promote reconciliation between Tamil and Sinhalese populations. Speaking to reporters before he met the premier, Muralitharan bowled Mr Cameron a political googly when he said: "He must have been misled by other people. People speak without going and seeing the things there. I go on and off. I see from my eyes there is improvement.
"I can't say the Prime Minister is wrong or not. He's from England, he hasn't seen the site, he hasn't visited these places - yesterday only."
Muralitharan's charity is backed by Sir Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff, and runs games between teams from the north and south of the island.
The off-spinner, who retired from test cricket in 2010 with 800 test wickets, added: "My opinion is, there were problems in the last 30 years in those areas. Nobody could move there. In wartime, I went with the UN, I saw the place, how it was. Now I regularly go and I see the place and it is about a 1,000 per cent improvement in facilities.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
Of course places can and sometimes do improve
and of course the mouse was trying a publicity stunt which looks to have failed
but there again we have poverty and big problems in the UK and we see how things go wrong in our very own country
then dictate to others?
the shooting of the afghan?
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Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
"the shooting of the afghan?" which Afghan are you referring to Keith ? The Taliban who was shot by a Marine ?
Roger
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
Things improved in Jaffna when the Sri Lanka government stopped murdering Tamil dissidents.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
Whatever the circumstances, we have our own issues
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa defiant on rights row
Mr Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka would "take its own time" in probing alleged abuses
Continue reading the main story
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reacted defiantly to the UK's call for an inquiry into alleged human rights abuses, saying "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".
He was speaking on the second day of the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.
British PM David Cameron had urged Mr Rajapaksa to ensure an independent inquiry or face a UN investigation.
The abuses are alleged to have been committed mainly against Tamils since the end of the war in 2009.
President Rajapaksa's response to David Cameron's remarks was not as direct as that of some of his colleagues but he still seemed indignant.
On the other hand, he declined to criticise Mr Cameron for travelling to northern Sri Lanka saying he was "welcome" to do that, even calling their discussions very cordial and friendly. Mr Cameron later said he had held a second round of talks with his host, which showed that the "conversation" was continuing and difficult issues could not be solved in one visit.
But the British prime minister has injected a new dynamic by being the first foreign leader to place an ultimatum for an inquiry before Sri Lanka. Diplomatic tensions will remain high. Mr Rajapaksa defended his own domestic war commission and insisted that international pressure "won't do anything".
Pro-government commentators have pointed to alleged abuses under British colonial rule to suggest Britain has no moral right to criticise Sri Lanka.
And Mr Rajapaksa made an oblique reference to Bloody Sunday, when 13 civilians were shot dead in Northern Ireland by the British army in 1972.
He said some investigations took 40 years to emerge, referring to an inquiry into the shootings which reported in 2010 and laid responsibility for the events on the army.
Mr Rajapaksa also accused his critics of ignoring deaths during the period of the civil war.
"Every day for the last 30 years people were dying... so we have stopped it," he said.
"We will take our time and we will investigate into 30 years of war," he added.
Mr Rajapaksa has said the end of the war has brought peace, stability and the chance of greater prosperity to Sri Lanka.
Basil Rajapaksa, President Rajapaksa's brother and a senior minister in his government, had already rejected Mr Cameron's call for an inquiry, saying it "definitely" would not be allowed to take place.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
another nail in coffin for the mouse
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
dave seems to get up people's noses in that part of the world, after his trips to india and pakistan he came away as popular as a botulism biriani.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
not doing that well in the UK either
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Another Cameron headline promise in the long grass.............
UK failing on green commitments, conservation groups say
Government earns praise for progress on fisheries but comes under criticism for failing to protect greenbelt and wildlife
David Cameron, making a speech on green policies in 2008. The PM's failing to deliver on his promise of 'greenest ever government', conservation groups say in their report. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
The government is failing to make good progress on five in six of its promises to protect nature and wildlife, according to a report produced by every large conservation group in Britain.
While praising moves to tackling damaging fishing practices and the ash dieback epidemic, the 41 groups say the government is failing to protect the green belt, reverse declines in wildlife, and improve the welfare of farm animals.
"David Cameron promised the greenest government ever. Using the government's own promises as a yardstick, today's findings show he's failed to stick to his plan," said Dr Elaine King, director of Wildlife and Countryside Link, which represents 41 groups including the WWF, the Wildlife Trusts, the RSPCA, the RSPB, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Marine Conservation Society. Only one in three people polled thought the government took the natural environment or scientific advice into account when making decisions and just one in five thought the government was "the greenest ever".
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
not looking good for the mouse
another nail in his coffin
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Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
the way you are talking kieth,he will soon have a full metal jacket.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
the only thing green about them is the land they want houses built on.
sorry philip i forgot the wind turbines for a moment.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
and solar panels.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
just trying to work out something good about them?
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Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
Another nail in the mouse's coffin
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