How many divisions has the Pope? If you are the servant of the servants of a Kingdom not of this world, you do not need divisions and none can stand against you.John Paul II ranks with Churchill, Reagan, Roosevelt and Thatcher: the five greatest figures of the 20th century. But the Pope would never have seen his role in political terms. I have heard a number of people who had the privilege of meeting him, and they all said the same He was a wonderful pastor. Some people thought that Andropov was not merely reacting out of political calculation and that under the Communist carapace there was a residue of religiosity which led him to wonder whether God might be tapping history on the shoulder.It was both understandable and appropriate that the KGB should have plotted to assassinate the Pope The script needed a Judas. There was always a resurrection.John Paul II was a symbol of his countrymen’s sufferings, and their strength. His appointment alarmed Yuri Andropov, the head of the KGB who was shortly to become the leader of the Soviet Union.
Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam (Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church). John Paul II, one of the most important popes since St Peter, was a Petrine character. He was a rock on which a citadel could stand; a rock upon which faith’s enemies would split asunder.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. John Paul II became Pope at the right moment, from the right background. Poland’s modern history had been a crucifixion: mass murder, the destruction of cities, attempts to eradicate the Polish nation Everything in Poland was broken, except spirit and faith. Howard is complicit in this folly and deserves only contempt.
Using fear again as a weapon, New Labour has set about demolishing legal, civil and human rights in Britain and now they want us to thank them for this vandalism by voting them back in.There are other choices, other parties which stand for decent values and international law. Commentators who now proclaim that this war and Blair’s “bravery” is leading to a swell of democracy in the Middle East are either dolts or knaves. For me it is the Liberal Democrats who, I hope, will get many more seats and bring honour back into the Commons. What’s more, they don’t scare me, unlike the monstrous New Labour apparatchiks and the voraciously hungry New Conservatives.y.alibhai-brown independent.co.uk
More from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.
Nor do I submit to that loathsome demand that we should keep the war out of this election.For many, the war is the election; that and the anti-terror travesties pushed through by this government.Billions of pounds have been misused to kill innocents in Iraq and we are not even trusted to be told the truth of just how many were sacrificed without their consent. Oil? Well, we wait to be informed on those yields and the special deals we will be given for our support of Bush. So, yes, though it has been moving to witness the defiant rush to the polls in Iraq, there is still a long road out of hell for Iraqis.Adlai Stevenson, the US statesman, said in 1952 when he won the Democratic nomination: “Better we lose the election than mislead the people.” Today, half a century later, we are asked unequivocally to re-elect a Prime Minister who not only misled his people again and again but who is still doing it, refusing to let us know the truth of what is happening in Iraq and why. As US control of that region grows, real democratic energy will be drained away to be replaced by a new gang of elected slaves.
Ten thousand prisoners, torture, unlawful arrests, collective punishments, daily violence, a population numbed by decades of oppression and want – this is the “happy” Iraq we have delivered.Meanwhile mercenary companies – some chaired by former Tory ministers – have doubled their revenues and thanks to this adventure profits are doing very well, too, for our defence industries. The Tories would never knowingly associate themselves with these. They include combating child poverty, promoting children’s rights, some (concealed) re-distributive measures, anti-racist legislation, a stated commitment to the founding doctrines of the welfare state (though this becomes dubitable as the Private Finance Initiative juggernaut drives through the public services) and the future of Africa.But then good came out of the Thatcher years too. Economic liberalisation freed up individuals to make their own destinies as self-employed workers. Vietnamese refugees escaping Communism were welcomed with exceptional goodwill because of Margaret Thatcher’s commitment to them and her positive leadership which brought on side the most rabid anti-immigrant newspaper editors.Her ministers were not all abject and easy to dominate. The big cats like Kenneth Clarke and Michael Heseltine asserted themselves. And it was in 1979, under Mrs Thatcher, that the House of Commons Select Committee network was set up, the most significant parliamentary development of our time.Neither of the main parties seems to be emphasising these real achievements.
