The Disunited Kingdom | The Irish Language and Irish Unity | Marwan Barghouti – A Resolute Defender of Freedom

The Disunited Kingdom

At the time of writing this week’s column Keir Starmer is still the Leader of the British Labour Party and Prime Minister. On Monday he delivered a ‘Save Keir Starmer’ speech which may or may not work for him. Can he survive the voices of opposition within Labour? That is a matter for his party.

The reality is that his leadership of Labour and its success in the 2024 general election had little to do with Starmer and more to do with voters’ deep antipathy toward the Conservative party. With a landslide victory and a massive majority of 174., Starmer was given a mandate to right the wrongs of a decade of Tory mismanagement and corruption, and of the Brexit debacle.

Instead and in just 23 months Starmer has lost the confidence of the vast majority of the electorate in Britain. His funding of public services in the North is disgraceful; his government’s abject failure to tackle the cost of living crisis; or his bizarre and stupid appointment of Peter Mandelson to the post of Ambassador to the USA, have cost Labour dearly. Allied to these has been his shameful support for Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people. Consequently, Starmer is now reputedly the most unpopular British Prime Minister since opinion polling began decades ago.

The Irish Language and Irish Unity

Well done to Conradh na Gaeilge on the publication of its report – ‘A United Ireland: A Transformative Opportunity for the Irish language and Gaeltacht.’ The report, written by Roisin Nic Liam, a researcher at Queens University, is an insightful examination of how the Irish Language has been traditionally viewed in the context of Irish Unity and its place in the growing conversation now taking place on unity. It accepts that “comprehensive planning is required in order to clarify what a united Ireland might look like. Such clarity would ensure that the people of Ireland are able to make an informed decision about the future of the country. Central to this discussion is the question of the Irish language.”

Marwan Barghouti – A Resolute Defender of Freedom

After 24 years the continued imprisonment of Palestinian Leader Marwan Barghouti is more than a punitive act of judicial oppression by Israel. It is a calculated strategic decision to prevent the emergence of a united Palestinian leadership. Barghouti is widely recognised among Palestinians as the leader who can unite the various Palestinian groups and provide a united, coherent political strategy to challenge Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and its genocidal policy in Gaza.

For more than 50 years Marwan Barghouti has been part of the struggle against Israel’s apartheid regime, its brutality and occupation of Palestine. He was born in 1959 in the west Bank. When he was eight years old the 1967 war resulted in Israel occupying the west Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. It was under this military occupation that Marwan grew up.