Hague speech provokes anti-Tory rage

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, DEC. 16. In a desperate search for an issue that will give them at least a fighting chance in the general elections, which are barely five months away, the Tories have come close to playing the race card with their leader Mr. William Hague saying that a ``tide of political correctness'' stands in the way of effective policing and tackling street crime.

In a speech that has provoked anti-Tory rage right through the political spectrum, Mr. Hague said the Macpherson report into the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence had been used by the ``liberal elite'' to brand every branch of the police as racist, and this had led to a collapse of police morale. He blamed the rise in street crime on the Macpherson report's call for an end to stop-and-search policy of the police as it was seen to be directed against non-whites who, it was alleged, invariably, ended up being stopped and searched.

Mr. Hague, who was speaking at the Centre for Policy Studies, a right-wing think tank, saw behind the Macpherson report a liberal conspiracy inspired by a politically correct mindset. He declared that a Tory Government would ``take on and defeat the attitude of condescending liberal elite that has never trusted the police and now wants us to believe they are all racists.'' His government, he said, would expect the police to use the stop-and-search policy rigorously and ``political correctness will not be allowed to come in the way of law enforcement.''

In the heat of moment, he got both his figures and facts mixed up - and his party office later owned up the ``phrasing error'' with regard to Mr. Hague's statistics through which he sought to link a fall in arrests with a slow-down in stop-and-search policy. But it was left to Sir William Macpherson to clarify that he had not recommended an end to the stop-and- search. What he had suggested was that all such cases should be recorded and the police officer concerned should give in writing the reason for his action.

The Prime Minister's office denounced Mr Hague's remarks as ``desperate and disreputable'' and an attempt to revive his party's election agenda having lost out on almost all big issues like the economy and Europe in recent weeks. The Liberal Democrats said the speech was ``motivated by party politics'', while Stephen Lawrence's father said:``He has been desperate to play the race card and has found a way to do it.'' The liberal media called the speech ``disgraceful'' and a ``cynical'' attempt to exploit the race card on the eve of the elections.

The Guardian in an editorial dubbed it as a collection of ``dishonest facts, misrepresentations and plain lies''. It reminded Mr. Hague of his ``ringing declaration'' accepting the Macpherson report when it was published, and accused him of ``caving in'' to the pressures from within the Tory circles, including The Daily Telegraph, the Tory mouthpiece in the mainstream media. The Independent was even more angry saying it was ``one of the most disgraceful speeches by a front rank politician in recent times.'' If Mr. Hague really believed in what he said then ``not only will he lose the next election badly, but he will deserve to do so,'' it concluded ominously.

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Section  : International
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