One of the more entertaining aspects of the current situation is the strange combination of bedfellows it has propelled out of the woodwork. I was struck by this aspect when I saw a report to the effect that the Socialist Group in the European Parliament had boycotted a vote on Sri Lanka, on the grounds that they would not vote 'on an imbalanced text'.
The comments came from Robert Evans, who had previously been implicitly condemned for in effect fibbing, when the European Parliament accepted that it was not the fault of the Sri Lankan government that the European Parliament delegation had failed to get to Trincomalee. The story Evans had given out was that the government had delayed clearance for the flight and after a long inexplicable wait the delegation had finally given up and left the airfield.
It turned out that Evans, supposedly the expert on Sri Lanka, had refused the offer of a government plane on the grounds that this detracted from the 'neutrality' of the delegation. Why Evans thought that, in visiting a country run by a democratically elected government, he had to remain neutral between that and a group the European Union has recognized as terrorist, would defeat me - were I not aware, from British friends, that Evans represents a constituency in which pro-Tiger Tamils are one of the most efficient lobby groups.
Evans then, dealing with the European Union office in Colombo, which made no secret under Julian Wilson of not only its own political predilections but its distribution of largesse in accordance with those predilections, ended up waiting for a South African plane and pilot, which had naturally to be cleared, for competence as well as security. The fact that this took time ended up, in his report, being the fault of the Sri Lankan government. Thankfully, after investigation, the European Parliament, while refraining from actual criticism of Evans, made it clear that his version of events was nonsense.
Unfortunately, as we know even in Sri Lanka, a small minority that makes a big noise is often thought of as representative, simply because others have neither the energy nor the commitment to engage in matters about which they have little interest. With regard to Sri Lanka, we suffer from the fact that most Europeans are content to leave the running to Britain, and most British are content to leave the running to those who are deeply involved. But, unfortunately, except for sterling characters like Lord Naseby, who worked in Sri Lanka and therefore has a strong affection for this country, any affection British parliamentarians have for Sri Lanka depends on the votes they can get.
Thus we find that the most vociferous speakers on the issue are a bunch of urban MPs in whose constituencies the Tigers are immensely well organised. Many are Labour, others are - sadly - Liberal Democrats, the exception that proves the rule being the former Conservative MP Andrew Pelling who was deprived of the Conservative whip after being accused of beating yet another of his wives. He has not been convicted of this, as he proudly told a Croydon newspaper, when I first drew attention to the moral inadequacies of British MPs who attack Sri Lanka, but clearly he may have to seek refuge in the Labour Party if he is to get back into Parliament.
Fortunately for Sri Lanka, some Conservative MPs have now made it clear that they will not let the battle for Sri Lanka's soul go by default. Some of them indeed assert a moral authority that goes further than even our government, in saying, as Charles Tennock did, 'Although we support the Government's offer of amnesty for the majority of LTTE, it is vital that no-one responsible for the most serious war crimes is allowed to get away with impunity'. And recently Shadow Defence Minister Liam Fox, in trying to pin down how precisely the British government used its aid funds, indicated that they needed to check on what precisely was happening, given the enormous strength of the lobbyists who had danced round successive British High Commissioners. Thankfully the current British High Commissioner, whilst doubtless pursuing worthy ideals, does not see his role as one of making waves, a la Gareth Evans, who has now finally decided to retire.
So the Tigers now seem to be left only with the more extreme Socialists, those who like Joan Ryan think Gordon Brown is not good enough really. In this we can see parallels with America, where the strongest supporter of the Tigers is Bruce Fein, who has already diagnosed President Obama's faults, perhaps on grounds of consistency, given his attacks on Presidents Clinton and Bush.