UN - Reform Or Dissolve?
First of all, here are the results of last week's Baby Sex Tests poll. As always, the results aren't necessarily representative of anything other than the opinions of people who read this blog and are willing to take a few seconds to contribute to the wider debate, but they are interesting nevertheless:
| Would you use the new early pregnancy sex test? |
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| Yes, definitely 0% (0 votes) |
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| If it was free, but not for £189 14% (4 votes) |
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| No, I'd wait for the 20 week scan 38% (11 votes) |
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| No, I'd find out at the birth 31% (9 votes) |
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| No, it shouldn't be allowed 17% (5 votes) |
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| Total voters for this poll: 29 |
This week's poll (in the sidebar): Following the United Nations' election of Zimbabwe to head the Commission on Sustainable Development, what future should we seek for the UN and by what means?
Most people probably realise that the UN is as plagued by allegations of corruption as is the EU; however, while most appear to have woken up to how the vast majority of British legislation now comes out of the European Union, few still seem to realise that the United Nations is responsible for global tax schemes such as the international tax on airline travel and a new global carbon tax amounting to 15-20 pence a gallon on petrol. Yet these initiatives are surely equally unacceptable attacks on national sovereignty?
Earlier this year, America's former Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, suggested that reform of the United Nations had failed and called for an end to "assessed contributions" to the international body, arguing instead for a completely voluntary system to pay for UN activities.
Maybe readers think that, for all its problems, the UN remains a force for good in the world? Let us know what, if anything, you believe should be done about the UN — take the poll or leave a comment!
2 comments:
An international air transport tax and carbon tax are just the beginning. Other schemes that the UN is contemplating include an E-mail tax (0.5 pence per megabyte), a currency transaction tax, and an aviation fuel tax. Then there's also an international conventional arms trade tax, a commercial fishing tax, an Earth-orbiting satellites tax, an electronic spectrum use tax(covering television, radio, and mobile phones), an international business profits tax, an international advertising tax, and fines for ocean dumping.
on Tuesday 22 May from 3-5pm the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission will hold a hearing in Committee Room 20 (venue to be confirmed) in Parliament, on the issue of Reform of the United Nations. We will specifically be looking at the performance of the new UN Human Rights Council, as well as other human rights mechanisms within the UN.
We have an outstanding panel of eminent people contributing to the hearing:
Lord Hannay of Chiswick - former UK Ambassador to the UN and Chairman of the United Nations Association of the UK
Geoffrey Robertson QC - a leading human rights barrister and author of Crimes Against Humanity
Tom Porteous - Director of Human Rights Watch
Joseph Loconte - Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Centre and former member of the US Congressional Taskforce on the UN
The hearing will be chaired by the Commission's chairman, Stephen Crabb MP, and the room is booked in his name. It is open to the public, so please do come along and bring others with you!!
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