Cerebral Palsy: Arbitrary like eye colour?

Francesca Martinez, comedian (pictured)

A fellow cerebral palsean has remarked that Cerebral Palsy is no different or more important than something such as eye colour. She refuses to be limited by her mild form of CP, and has remarked on something that I cannot agree more with here:

"No wonder people are still so nervous about disability, and I can only conclude that names for them are hand-picked from a tombola of words most likely to induce fear and panic. Just stick your hand in and pull one out. Syndrome. Disorder. Cerebral. Palsy. Disease. Spina. Bifida. The rest is easy. Take two words, mix them together, apply to one human being and, hey presto, you've got a ready-made freak. Labels are powerful tools that shape attitudes and tell us much about how the things they are describing are viewed. I have spent my life trying to extricate myself from the label that was plastered all over me at birth. "

This is probably very true: from my own experience, I have been rejected for interviews at jobs where they have been looking for applicants - which I have put down to CP (Asda being the main example here). It's demoralizing to the point where you just don't really want to bother, really. Perhaps a "normal" manual job like that is out of my reach.

Josh Blue, who also has CP, jokes in the video below that the reason he is a stand-up because he didn't have much choice to be anything else. "What was I was gonna do, be a traffic cop?" *flaps arms around*



You can read the Francesca Martinez article here - it also addresses the politicisation of Cerebral Palsy by David Cameron and his son Ivan, who recently passed away. Plus a good personal account.

Bush: Smart, Articulate, Successful

So said Bob Tuttle, US Ambassador to the United Kingdom in the Telegraph.

What successes, I wonder? The Iraq debacle will always be his 'legacy', in my mind, and the global crisis that has soured the end of his second term.

Not to mention he is the most unpopular outgoing President (ever). The sooner Obama is sworn in, just a few more days come Jan 20th, the better.






Can't say I blame Connecticut, to be honest.

One thing, if anything I agree with Tuttle on, is that we should keep close ties with our American cousins. It is important for them, and important for us. I wouldn't have thought Sarkozy and France, Merkel and Germany would be too comfortable with us having a major role in European Politics, particularly as we weren't one of the founders of the Rome Treaty in 1957.

That is not to say I am a Euro-skeptic, far from it. Recent events in the financial crisis have shown that we do have an important role to play in International Affairs. Even though it was a big gaffe for Brown saying he 'saved the world' regarding the financial crisis... Even though he seems to be leading the way.

The only thing is... I'm not so sure if Obama and Brown will be best of friends, even if Obama thinks Cameron is a 'lightweight'.

It will be interesting to see how relations and UK impact on the foreign stage will play out in the next decade.


-- Post From My iPhone

'Baby P' scandal rumbles on

The Baby P scandal rumbles on.

The head of children's services at the council at the centre of the Baby P controversy has been fired without pay.

Haringey Council said Sharon Shoesmith, who had defended her department over the death of the 17-month-old baby, had been dismissed with immediate effect.

The boy, who was on the council's "at-risk" register, died in 2007 with major injuries, including a broken back.

His mother admitted causing or allowing his death. Her boyfriend and Jason Owen were convicted of the same offence.

Reports the BBC

It has been well documented the Baby P case, causing rows in Parliament. Most shockingly is trhe injuries the baby suffered that the mother and boyfriend got away with:

April 2007: Baby P is admitted to North Middlesex hospital with bruises, two black eyes and swelling on the left side of his head.

May 2007: After seeing marks on the boy's face, a social
worker sends Baby P to the North Middlesex where 12 areas of bruises
and scratches are found. The mother is re-arrested.

30 July 2007: Injuries to Baby P's face and hands are
missed by a social worker after the boy is deliberately smeared with
chocolate to hide them.

This is just a few of the key events in the timeline

So what is there to be done? And exactly who takes the blame? Is it the Labour government, who since 1997 have decentralised government and given more power to local authorities - and in this shocking case, a local authority that failed to protect the welfare of a child. The responsibility of the child rests firmly on the mother I beleive but also government has a right and a duty to make sure that the wellbeing of the child is protected.

It would be perhaps, too extreme to wish the mother be sterilised for her negligence of her own baby - that would be taking it too far. And it seems that the amount of incidents that social services saw happen to Baby P meant that they should have acted.

There is a saying - Post Hoc ergo Propter Hoc - after it therefore because of it. Baby P did not die because Labour decentralised government and the local authorities failed to act in the best interest of the child. It is not Labour's fault. But it did, indeed happen on Labour and Brown's watch.

Right, left and centre I beleive Labour are vulnerable with scandals like these and the effects of the credit crunch that we are having to deal with. The 'era of change' is something that will be translated to British Politics come the next general election. It does not help that the council in the case was forced to admit earlier this month that it had spent
£19,000 on media training for high-profile employees involved in the
Baby P case. The last thing this country needs is spin, it requires action.

The sacking of the official will help, but the sooner the Labour government can complete their inquiries, the sooner Labour can focus on the good things that they have done for the country in the last 11 years, in education and the welfare system and reducing crime. Yes its not perfect but things never will be.

Baby P, the economic crisis and the foreign policy of the UK are the major attacking points and weaknesses of Labour. It is not a time to dwell on past mistakes, scandals or tragedies, it is time to put things right. And that is what is happening here in the Baby P case with the sacking of the Sharon Shoesmith. So when you think about who you are voting for in the next General Election, vote Labour. It's the best of the worst. Brown isn't the most charismatic of Prime Ministers, but at least he's not lightweight like Cameron.