Lecture in memory of a great man of peace
Another nightmare scenario from Highways England. Its not enough that they disrupted the M62 in Lancashire for years but now want to vent their useless plans on Yorkshire. May as well just use the old A62
THIS June’s decision by the Swedish Government to close the inquiry into the murder of Olof Palme the Prime Minister of Sweden in 1986, having named the most likely suspect, is of much interest to many in Yorkshire.
The death of Olof Palme who was shot dead in Stockholm walking home with his wife Lisbet from the cinema, has been marked for over 30 years by the Olof Palme Peace Lectures held in Leeds in his honour.
The lectures are a tribute to his work in tackling world poverty, disease, climate change and weapons of mass destruction and not about military strength for which he was made Chair of the UN Commission on Common Security.
The mystery of the murder of Olof Palme involved multiple theories and rumours but it is now claimed that a Swedish graphic designer Stigh Engstrom based in Stockholm, as the likely suspect who died 20 years ago.
Other peace lecturers have been Lisbet Palme, widow of Olof Palme; the US Senator
George Mitchell; Jude Kelly of West Yorkshire Playhouse; John Hume from Northern Ireland; Professor Paul Rogers of Peace Studies at Bradford University, and Sir Patrick Stewart, the actor born in Mirfield and former Chancellor of Huddersfield University.
Olof Palme visited Leeds University as a student politician.
Peace lectures have been held since 1986, and the 2020 lecture is by Leeds-born journalist Anthony Clavane and author of
The Promised Land, his book about Leeds United, will be at Leeds Civic Hall on September 28, at 7.30pm on Sport, Peace, and Culture.
How will people be treated equally?
SPEAKING for the Conservative group on Kirklees Council, Clr John Taylor claims that ‘a cursory glance at the Black Lives Matters aims’ shows that they are ‘promoting the de-funding of the police, the destruction of capitalism and stopping the war on drugs’ (‘Call for ‘calm heads,’ 15 June). What’s more, BLM ‘is seeking no-less than the overthrow of our way of life.’
I have taken a look at the official BLM website. There is indeed a petition to ‘defund the police.’ It is quite clearly a USAspecific petition, as it states that ‘Right now, Minneapolis and cities across our country are on fire’; I have not seen this demand raised by anybody in the UK.
Of capitalism and the socalled ‘war on drugs,’ I could find no mention at all.
Rather than addressing seriously the issues of racial disadvantage raised by the BLM movement, it seems that Clr Taylor prefers to distract attention by making false claims. Let’s instead hear more about how his party intends, as he advocates, ‘to enable all people ...to succeed and to be treated fairly and equally.’