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Showing posts from March 17, 2019

What Is It We Should Value?

Dear Reader, Journalist Ian Birrell, in his lead article in the i newspaper yesterday about the plight of the Yazidis , begins his final paragraph with: As we stand on the cusp of Brexit, we need to ask ourselves profound questions about national values. We have sent a message to the world that we are tearing down bridges and building walls. We have corroded our reputation as a sensible international player, diminished our global standing and demeaned the mother of parliaments with this humiliating debacle. The key words (for the purpose of my article) are: "we need to ask ourselves profound questions about national values. " Of course, Ian Birrell is talking essentially of the subject of his topic (the Yezidis), but his final words broaden the conversation to include the role that the West has been playing around the world, and although we like to think that Britain's role is essentially humanitarian, it is we in the West (Britain included) that has largely