The Seven Principles of Public Life

[kbo234]

Regarding the UK's failure to engage with the issue of the treatment of the Gazans by Israel, here is a moving and powerful article.

Please follow the advice and write to the email address at the bottom of the article, raising the issue of the Committee's failure to impose these standards re the activities of Jewish Lobby groups in the UK. (see further below to see these seven principles)


WILL NOBODY BRING CHRISTMAS CHEER TO BESIEGED AND STARVING GAZA?

2007-12-23 | Group urges Standards Committee to stamp out Israeli influence that paralyses heart of British government

As the twenty-one month long siege of Gaza becomes a death sentence for yet more civilians, a group in the UK with experience of the Occupied Territories is urging the Committee on Standards in Public Life to examine whether there is undue Israeli influence at the heart of British government.

The blockade stops vital medical supplies going in and prevents chronically sick patients (including children) transferring to proper hospital treatment outside Gaza. Israel’s deep penetration of our political system, says the group, is preventing Britain from taking a principled stand on Middle East matters, including the long catalogue of grotesque violations of Palestinian human rights, of which the Gaza siege is only the latest example. Conservative Friends of Israel, for example, claim the support of 80 percent of Tory MPs.

Signatories to the letter include Mona Baker, Karl Sabbagh, Derek Summerfield and Felicity Arbuthnot.

Spokesman for the group is David Halpin, a trauma surgeon, who has spent all of the last five years of his retirement standing with the Palestinians for Justice. He has seen the destruction of lives, limbs, livings and hope at first hand. He advised the Hamas government how they should investigate the use of illegal weapons by Israel. In March, he lead a team of seven UK doctors into Gaza. The Dove and Dolphin Medical Centre was opened then. This is named after the symbolic voyage he led five years ago from which the charity was named... www.doveanddolphin.co.uk

He says: "It is insufficient that humans should weep beneath the crucifixion of the Palestine people in 2007 AD. They must halt it forthwith."

Businessman Stuart Littlewood, who was in Gaza last month, remarked: "When you urge the British government to act for justice you are blocked at every turn by Friends of Israel in high places. No-one, it seems, is prepared to break the siege and land humanitarian supplies on Gaza's beach. What happened to our Christmas spirit?"

Felicity Arbuthnot campaigned for many years in Iraq. She says: "The horrors inflicted on Gaza and Iraq and threatened elsewhere in the Middle East are encapsulated for me by a young doctor. She had the skills but was denied the facilities and medications so she watched helplessly as her young patients died. 'There is a hole where my heart should be,' she said. In the name of our common humanity, as Eid, the Jewish Festival of Light and Christmas are celebrated, ENOUGH!"

The group invites readers to join them in pressing the Standards Committee to uphold the seven Principles of Public Life and banish lobby groups acting on behalf of foreign military regimes. Write to:
Mr Peter Ramsden
Secretary to the Committee
Committee on Standards in Public Life
35 Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3BQ
email: public@standards.x.gsi.gov.uk


-ends-
More information from....
David Halpin, 01364 661115
Stuart Littlewood, 01760 755349
Felicity Arbuthnot, 0208 985 0058


Castle Acre
Norfolk

19 December 2007

public@standards.x.gsi.gov.uk


The Seven Principles of Public Life

The Committee has set out ‘Seven Principles of Public Life’ which it believes should apply to all in the public service. These are:

Selflessness
Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, their family or their friends.

Integrity
Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties.

Objectivity
In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.

Accountability
Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.

Openness
Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.

Honesty
Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.

Leadership
Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example.