Mrs Assad

There was a picture of Mrs Assad with her husband in the newspaper yesterday and very lovely she looked too. Not just good looking, but intelligent as well, judging by the copies of her emails released by a hacker  Of course she is a 'hate figure' for our 'right on' friends in our media and government but they ought to pause and think -where else in the Arab world can a woman be publicly photographed standing by her husband, in a dress with bare arms and a big smile on her face?  Certainly not in Saudi Arabia which, of course, is backing the Sunni rebels. Next to the picture there was another photograph of a pretty girl who is allegedly: 'a close adviser to Mr. Assad and who advises him how to present his brutal crackdown to the media in a positive light.'  Again I can't help wondering where else in the Middle East could a woman become head of media relations? 

Now I don't know what the future holds for Syria but if I was Syrian woman I know who I would be hoping would win the current Civil War, Mr Assad.  Meanwhile if Mr. Cameron is really so keen on democracy why doesn't he give the people of this country the chance to vote on - say - immigration - the continuing membership of the EU - or reform of that  Lawyers benefit- the  Human Rights Act - to name but three issues which if put to the people of this country would almost certainly produce results which go against what the cosy liberal London consensus believes in. A consensus which is every bit as Dictatorial in its way as that of Mr. Assad and has ruled this country ever since Margaret Thatcher left office.