The Good Guys Win One (British MP Jenny Tonge is sacked for pro-suicide bomber remarks)

BBC ^ | Friday, 23 January, 2004, 15:11 GMT | Anonymous BBC story monkey

[alnitak]

Tonge sacked over suicide comment

Dr Tonge is stepping down as an MP at the next election

Jenny Tonge has been asked by Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy to quit his front bench following her remarks about Palestinian suicide bombers.

The Lib Dem MP has insisted she did not condone suicide bombers despite saying she would consider becoming one if she were Palestinian.

Now Mr Kennedy has asked her to step down as children's spokeswoman.

He said: "Her recent remarks about suicide bombers are completely unacceptable."

"They are not compatible with Liberal Democrat party policies and principles.

"There can be no justification, under any circumstances for taking innocent lives through terrorism."

Repeated criticism

He added he was sorry to lose Dr Tonge from his frontbench team.

Mr Kennedy's decision was announced after a day in which Dr Tonge was repeatedly criticised.

Dr Tonge said she understood her remarks may have upset some people but insisted she was not condoning violence.

"I was just trying to say how, having seen the violence and the humiliation and the provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand and was trying to understand where [suicide bombers] were coming from," Dr Tonge told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Charles Kennedy should say whether he stands by her comments and if he doesn't he should deal with her firmly Michael Ancram Tory MP

But fellow MP Louise Ellman, a member of the Labour friends of Israel group, said: "Jenny should be making an apology.

"She is giving the green light to terrorism at a time when we should all be urging peaceful negotiations to end the tragic conflict in the Middle East."

Dr Tonge is stepping down as MP for Richmond Park in south-west London at the next election.

She was speaking to a pro-Palestinian lobby when she said of Palestinian suicide bombers: "If I had to live in that situation - and I say that advisedly - I might just consider becoming one myself."

Trip to Israel

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said the comments would "sicken those across the world who have lost loved ones to suicide bombers".

He continued: "There can never be an excuse for taking innocent lives, and I am surprised that Ms Tonge is voicing her support for such terror."

HAVE YOUR SAY Dr Tonge has drawn attention to the root causes of terrorism Mark, Birmingham Send us your comments

Israel's ambassador to London, Dr Zvi Shtauber said Dr Tonge's comments were "appalling".

"In my mind no grievance can justify a campaign of terror against children, bombing buses, bombing coffee shops," he said.

A statement from Dr Tonge's party said: "She was not speaking for Liberal Democrats - Liberal Democrats do not condone terrorism in any circumstances, whether by suicide bombers or anyone else."

Kenneth Collins, a former chair of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, said: "The comments were irresponsible and phrased in a way that people will take from them that she was in favour of terror and not peace, and I'm sure that is not what she intended."

[alnitak]

Sanity prevails (for once).

[ken5050]

I, for one, wouold LIKE to see her become a suicide bomber...

[RandallFlagg]

Isn't Dan RATher retiring soon?

[KantianBurke]

"Kenneth Collins, a former chair of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities"

There are Scottish Jews? Wonder how their bagpiping skills are when it comes to Hava NeGila :>

[KangarooJacqui]

Sanity prevails (for once).

And rightfully so.

[j_tull]

I wonder where the good doctor stood on the Northern Ireland issue.

[Kirkwood]

Na, na, na, na...
Na, na, na, na...
Hey! Hey!
Goodbye!

[theFIRMbss]

>"I was just trying to say how, having seen the violence and the humiliation and the provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have done since their land was occupied by Israel..."

REG:
They've bled us white, the bastards. They've taken everything we had, and not just from us, from our fathers, and from our fathers' fathers.

LORETTA:
And from our fathers' fathers' fathers.

REG:
Yeah.

LORETTA:
And from our fathers' fathers' fathers' fathers.

REG:
Yeah. All right, Stan. Don't labour the point. And what have they ever given us in return?!

XERXES:
The aqueduct?

REG:
What?

XERXES:
The aqueduct.

REG:
Oh. Yeah, yeah. They did give us that. Uh, that's true. Yeah.

COMMANDO #3:
And the sanitation.

LORETTA:
Oh, yeah, the sanitation, Reg. Remember what the city used to be like?

REG:
Yeah. All right. I'll grant you the aqueduct and the sanitation are two things that the Romans have done.

MATTHIAS:
And the roads.

REG:
Well, yeah. Obviously the roads. I mean, the roads go without saying, don't they? But apart from the sanitation, the aqueduct, and the roads--

COMMANDO:
Irrigation.

XERXES:
Medicine.

COMMANDOS:
Huh? Heh? Huh...

COMMANDO #2:
Education.

COMMANDOS:
Ohh...

REG:
Yeah, yeah. All right. Fair enough.

COMMANDO #1:
And the wine.

COMMANDOS:
Oh, yes. Yeah...

FRANCIS:
Yeah. Yeah, that's something we'd really miss, Reg, if the Romans left. Huh.

COMMANDO:
Public baths.

LORETTA:
And it's safe to walk in the streets at night now, Reg.

FRANCIS:
Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let's face it. They're the only ones who could in a place like this.

COMMANDOS:
Hehh, heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh.

REG:
All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

XERXES:
Brought peace.

REG:
Oh. Peace? Shut up!

[pabianice]

I see from her photo that her sex reassignment is almost complete...

[B Knotts]

She should have held her Tonge.

[Riley]

Life imitates art. Nomination for post of the week!

[ScudEast]

Wonder how their bagpiping skills are when it comes to Hava NeGila :>

LOL - I'm sure I read somewhere that they had bagpipes in the bible so it's not as strange as you may think :)

On the subject at hand, I saw this lady saying this on BBC Parliament and my jaw hit the floor. I have a suspicion that Mr Kennedy agrees with her too, despite his protestations to the contrary. I would have hoped that this would result in the Liberal Democrats becoming even more irrelavent at our next general election but I've a feeling that these sentiments are shared by a lot of people in my country. Whether or not any of them will vote at the election is another matter, of course.

[Prodigal Son]

"She is giving the green light to terrorism at a time when we should all be urging peaceful negotiations to end the tragic conflict in the Middle East."

This is probably the most pertinent point here.

It is a known fact that terrorism would not exist were it not for the media. Terrorism would be totally ineffective were it not for the fact that killing loads of people constitutes 'news' and that by doing so a group gains an instant world stage.

What this MP has done is worse than treasonous. She has encouraged suicide bombers everywhere. This is the kind of propaganda the terrorist is willing to kill for. Here they have won a willing convert.

[thoughtomator]

"Dr Tonge has drawn attention to the root causes of terrorism"

Indeed, the root causes being the Leftist press which gives terrorists the favorable press coverage which is the primary goal of terror.

[highlander_UW]

"I was just trying to say how, having seen the violence and the humiliation and the provocation that the Palestinian people live under every day and have done since their land was occupied by Israel, I could understand and was trying to understand where [suicide bombers] were coming from," Dr Tonge told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Apparently she isn't aware of Britain and the UN's role in setting up Israel if she believes it's some form of occupation. And apparently Israel isn't allowed to defend itself against repeated attacks by it's neighbors in the various wars against Israel as well as the current suicide bombing attacks.

[highlander_UW]

I, for one, wouold LIKE to see her become a suicide bomber...

Do you suppose she's a member of a religion where they only assurance for salvation is to blow one's self up? The left is so flamingly ignorant regarding Islam and the motivations of the terrorists it's horrifying.

[Seruzawa]

Well Jenny, that's what happens when life, to you, becomes all one big gray area.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

"Dr Tonge has drawn attention to the root causes of terrorism. "

Yeah. Palestinians.

[js1138]

I wonder how many of these bleeding hearts would have aggreed with Hitler? After all, Germans were starving as a result of oppressive sanctions imposed after WWI.

What's the difference?

[blam]

It looks like Dr Tonges' 'tongue' got here more trouble than she bargained for...Good riddance!