A friend emails to tell me he has been invited to fill in an application to be part of the UK Delegation at next year's G8 Youth Summit, which will be in Milan. The organisation's web site explains that "The students are recruited from top universities in the G8 countries", but what it makes no mention of is the obvious political element to its selections.
The application form is clearly looking for an indication of applicants' politics, with questions including:
Give an example of when you have had to stand your ground whilst remaining sensitive to another party’s feelings. How did you get your point across without angering or upsetting those you were working with?
What do you think the role of the G8 should be? Should we be ever moving towards a more internationalist atmosphere, or should nation states be protecting their own interests and citizens?
These questions would be fine if the organisation made strenous efforts to put together a carefully balanced selection panel. Instead ... well, I'll let the friend explain:
First, Lord George Foulkes, MSP, former Development Minister, who now represents the Labour Party on the Executive of the Socialist International. Second, Ruth Cameron, Co-ordinator of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, a radical left-wing environmentalist group. Third, Wes Streeting, the President of the National Union of Students running on the Labour students ticket, and strong supporter of Gordon Brown. Finally, Simon Fraser (Sous-Sherpa to the British Government, G8 2009), about whom I could find no information.
According to its website, "The Mission and Vision of the Summit is to be recognized as a panel representing the Voice of the Youth to the Leaders of the G8". Looking at the selection panel for the British Delegation, it is unlikely that it will represent anything more than the voice of the Hard-Left.
Does the G8 Youth Summit have anything to do with the actual G8? If so, how can it justify such an obvious "summit of the left, by the left, for the left" attitude? How can it allow sponsorship by groups like Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, which appears to lead to seats on its selection panels in return?
If the group is not linked to the G8 in any way, perhaps we can see some action by the G8 itself. If it does not have a deliberate policy of excluding conservatives, the G8 should be very unhappy to see an organisation that does have such a policy trading on its good name, and presenting a holiday for the hard-left on their CVs as if it were some part of the official G8 summit.
