Comment With...barry Speker

As British politics and the Brexit impasse plumb new depths, there emerged the specious Labour suggestion that there be cross party support for Jeremy Corbyn to be appointed as interim Prime Minister (for how long?) as a way to stop a No Deal Brexit. Such a ludicrous proposal was no doubt cynically suggested by Corbyn's inner cabal, desperate to get the keys of No.10 by any ruse. It involves McDonnell sending the Labour leader in an Uber to Buckingham Palace to demand that the Queen asks Corbyn to form a government.

You could not make it up. This is the Jeremy Corbyn who between 1997 and 2010 was the Labour MP who voted against his party whip(even three-line whips) the most times; the most rebellious Labour MP of all time; who has voted numerous times for Brexit and against the EU; voted against the Good Friday Agreement; has presided over his party in such a way that seven high profile MPs left Labour in protest over his failure to tackle anti-semitism and his lack of a policy on Brexit.

The idea that he could be entrusted as PM for even a day is a truly appalling prospect. The term ‘not fit for purpose’ applies, if not yet outlawed. The 40th anniversary of the North East Chinese Association was celebrated by a memorable night at the Civic Centre. Chairman Jimmy Tsang and his Committee put on a great evening including renowned entertainers from Hong Kong and the stunning local dance troupe choreographed by Sisi.

Inevitably I was able to give a fulsome speech in my best Cantonese as Hon. Chair of NECA and DL. A particular honour was to participate in the spotting ceremony of a new ceremonial lion. Should we be concerned about the increasing and unregulated usage of face recognition technology? There has been outcry at its use by the Chinese government for surveillance in Xinjiang. Last year Chinese police used it to locate and arrest a man wanted for ‘economic crimes’ among a crowd of 60,000 concert-goers. There are concerns being voiced in the freedomloving West where a high value is placed on civil liberties. It has emerged that the owner of London’s King’s Cross development has been operating face recognition technology to scan the faces of visitors. Canary Wharf are in talks to introduce facial recognition. It has been used at Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield and by South Wales Police more than 50 times at sporting events.

Big Brother Watch expresses concern at face recognition in shopping centres , museums, conference centres and casinos. London is ripe for this having the second highest number of CCTV cameras of any city in the world after Beijing.

Should we accept this on the basis of providing protection to the public enabling the Police to quickly identify individuals at risk or those linked with criminal activity? Or should there be legal safeguards to control how Police set up and use watchlists to avoid the serious privacy issues such arose from the use of data by social media giants? If not look out for dramatic increase in the sales of masks and balaclavas.

I recently purchased (as a present) James O’Brien’s book ‘How to be Right…in a World Gone Wrong’. This is high in the best sellers list and promoted as a great summer read – Waterstones’ book of the month.

Having listened to O’Brien on his daily hit LBC radio programme, his brand of haranguing and opinionated self-righteousness might entertain or irritate. He tends to categorise those who disagree with him as being morally and intellectually defective. He describes those who protest about state intervention on personal choices as ‘borderline sociopaths and self-obsessed weirdos’. Some may prefer to have reasoned argument with intellectual response.

O’Brien’s style might be described as a poor man’s Clarkson. As he says of the nanny state, ‘I hope I’m wrong, but it doesn’t happen that often’. Some pleasure may be derived from totally disagreeing with him or rather more from watching on YouTube interviews where he is taken down by the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg.

2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the film noir ‘The Third Man’. This atmospheric thriller made in post-War Vienna, directed by Carol Reed and starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton, was named by the BFI as the greatest British film ever made. Martin Scorsese wrote his thesis on it at film school (but he only got a B+).

The theme music, all played on a zither, featured the Harry Lime theme, one of the first pieces I mastered on my guitar. For a real treat listen to the rendition by TUOUK, The Ukelele Orchestra of the UK. The film remains an absolute classic.