John Pilger at the Ferens (3/5) By Martin J Deane

(1/5), (2/5), (3/5), (4/5), (5/5).

Chagos This was the work of the Labour government of Harold Wilson, with his Foreign Secretary. Denis Healy was Defence Secretary at the time. The Chagos Islands lie halfway between Africa and India. They have been populated since the 18 century - as long as Australia has been (by immigrants). All the Chagosians were expelled by the UK government and the principal island of Diego Garcia was given to the USA as a military base. This was all done in secret. The deal even included a bargain price for a Polaris submarine!

Diego Garcia is now their third biggest overseas base. From here the Americans have bombed both Afghanistan and Iraq - and maybe Iran to come. Yet it's a wonderful place. It escaped the tsunami. It has its own natural lagoons. It's a paradise. Yet the people were forced out - and there was NO media mention. Even today defence correspondents still refer to the place as uninhabited in the news.

But the people, many of them women in their 70's and 80's have fought this in recent years all the way to the High Court. Their defence has been that you can't throw people out of their country - an idea going back to the Magna Carta. Nowadays there are loads of documents of government officials available, even entitled Maintaining the Fiction. This is a real conspiracy to dispossess a people. And they won ... But then Blair invoked the Royal Prerogative. Now even the Queen has agreed that the Chagos people will never go home. Yet still two judges have declared it: illegal, outrageous and repugnant. So something will have to happen.

It's a metaphor for the Middle East. It's the struggle between people and power. Pilger contacted Healey to ask if he would interview on this: No - he could not remember anything about the Chagos Islands...!! Remember, Wilson's government was followed by 7 administrations - all who did nothing to change the situation. Questions

Britain's working class Hull has a great labour history - yet the turnout here was lower than it was nationally. This last election (2005) was the lowest on record: 1/5 electors voted for the Blair government. Yet they called it a landslide ... Pilger said that rather - the country is on strike. The people are disillusioned and disaffected. It's not apathy - it's a form of direct action. The media continue the nonsense of distinct parties. There is clear convergence between New Labour and the Conservatives. But it is different elsewhere. Visiting Venezuela and Bolivia - here you find simple people having very sophisticated political discussion.

The ordinary people there threw out Bechtel from Bolivia over its trying to privatise their water. If they can do it there ... And it's the poorest country in Latin America!

Continued...Next Page (4/5)

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