Today was one of those that Shakespeare called so foul and fair.

I met a woman at work who told me stories to make our politicians ashamed of themselves. I have railed against the likes of that odius Claire Short and the deceased Robin Cook. Pretend socialists both: one was the Foreign Secretary and the other the DFID Minister at a time when South Central Africa was suffering badly from floods, then famine and always from political instability. They nailed their colours to the anti Iraq mast in a very public way. At the same time they were, in my opinion, derelict in the
way they treated their African briefs.

What has brought this up again? The woman I met is from an African country I knew well for a while and this happened to her and her family:

Her husband was forced to flee to the UK following attempts on his life
She and their children then followed him here after having been forced to flee the arrival at their house of 14 armed murderers
Her children were followed and harassed by a Policeman from their home country on a bus ... in ENGLAND
Her mother was poisoned and died

The former consort of a late president who was a tyrant when he was alive is now living in poverty in a village: good. Her uncle, also a former murderer and henchman of that President is in relative poverty although still active in politics. This man sent his own son to a police station to deliver a written note. On the note, addressed to a policeman it said, "Shoot the bearer of this letter, my son". The policeman advised the young man to run away for his own safety.

We are not talking about Zimbabwe here either. As my contact told me, the good news from Zimbabwe is that everyone knows what is happening and people can take action against it. Where she comes from, no one outside the country knows.

What crime is this family guilty of? Being politically active in a way that the ruling party does not like. What's not to like? Well, just being a member of an opposition party, that's all. Not activists or rebel rousers: just being prepared to say you don't agree with the ruling party. So you have to die. And your spouse. And your children. And your parents.

There are some evil people around and yet the likes of Short and Cook are happier playing interfering petty politics than protecting the lives of ordinary people from countries who could be making a difference or just living a normal life.

DW