Just before David Miliband's speech to the Labour Party conference, a very brave and inspiring young Burmese democracy campaigner whose father is in prison delivered an incredible speech. Wai Hnin Pwint Thon spoke passionately about her father, Ko Mya Aye, serving a 65 year prison term for pro-democracy activities. One of over 2,100 political prisoners in Burma, Wai Hnin's father is in poor health and is denied the medical treatment he desperately needs.
Wai Hnin spoke about the Burmese regime's sham elections, and said that they were designed to keep the regime in power. The only change there would be, she said, would be a change of clothing from military uniforms to civilian suits. She also spoke of the regime's continuing attacks on ethnic civilians in eastern Burma. She received a well-deserved standing ovation, led by Ed Miliband.
The Labour Party's decision to invite Wai Hnin to speak from the main platform at the conference at which they elected their new leader was a very welcome one, and is evidence that Burma is now an issue that is high on the agenda of all three major political parties. At last week's Liberal Democrat conference, the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats awarded Burma's detained Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi honorary membership. And the Conservative Party has heard from Zoya Phan, International Co-ordinator at the Burma Campaign UK, from their main stage in 2006 and 2007. Burma is not a party-political issue in the UK - it is one which unites politicians of all parties, and rightly so.
Which is why David Miliband's remarks were so distasteful, inappropriate, profoundly ill-judged and just plain wrong. He accused the Conservatives of saying "not very much" on Burma. Excuse me?
In opposition, it was the Conservatives who for some years led the way in pushing Burma, at least until 2007. In addition to Zoya Phan's speeches to the Conservative Party Conference, David Cameron met another young activist from Burma, Charm Tong, in early 2006. William Hague shared a platform with Charm Tong, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission chose Burma as the subject for its very first hearing in 2006 and held a second Burma hearing at the beginning of this year, and when the Labour government dragged its feet over bringing Burma to the UN Security Council agenda, it was William Hague who pushed them to take action.
Several senior Conservative politicians have travelled to Burma and its borders, including the now Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell (who made an excellent youtube film about it) and the current Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow. Stephen Crabb is a passionate activist for Burma and chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma. Nigel Evans slept in a tent outside Parliament alongside Burmese exiles in protest at the regime's suppression of democracy. So don't tell me Conservatives have nothing to say on Burma, David Miliband.
The Conservatives supported the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity before the Labour government, pushed for stronger targeted sanctions and called for increased humanitarian aid, including cross-border assistance to the ethnic peoples. When Zoya Phan's excellent book Little Daughter was published, William Hague spoke at the launch despite having just flown in from New York that day. I have been told that he read the entire book on the plane - surely a sign of commitment? When a debate on Burma took place in 2007 in the aftermath of the regime's brutal suppression of peaceful protests in Burma, William Hague insisted on opening for the Opposition, even though David Miliband was on paternity leave and his then junior minister Meg Munn was deputed to speak for the government.
When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister he did, to his credit, display a strong personal interest in Burma, and he gave the issue pro-active personal leadership. We are all grateful to him for that. Other Labour politicians have an outstanding record of commitment on Burma, particularly Glenys Kinnock. But for David Miliband to hijack the issue of Burma and try to score party political points is sour and opportunistic. He only acted on Burma as Foreign Secretary because Gordon Brown and William Hague were pushing him to do so.
Since becoming Prime Minister, David Cameron has given a clear commitment to continue Gordon Brown's work on Burma. Pledging support, not just friendship to the Burmese democracy movement, the Prime Minister has written an open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi promising to do "everything we can" to help them. When Burma was raised at Prime Minister's Questions, David Cameron said:
When I was in India I raised the issue of Burma with the Indian Government, because I think it is important that we talk to the neighbouring states of those countries and make sure that they are campaigning in the same way. ... we should be absolutely clear that the situation in Burma is an affront to humanity. Aung San Suu Kyi's continued detention is an outrage. She has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest, and her example is deeply inspiring. All of us like to think that we give up something for democracy and politics; we do not. Compared with those people, we do nothing. They are an inspiration right across the world, and we should stand with them.
In contrast to David Miliband, I do not want to make this a partisan issue. I have worked closely with MPs of all parties on human rights issues and will go on doing so. I simply want to point out to Mr Miliband that his remarks were factually completely wrong and politically completely inappropriate. They showed a man who would use anything for personal political gain, even the suffering of the people of Burma and even having lost the leadership. Was he simply trying to outshine his younger brother who beat him in the leadership? If that is his mentality, he did not deserve to win the Labour leadership and we are all better off without him. Oh, and by the way, Wai Hnin is speaking at the Conservative Party conference next week, at a meeting organised by the Conservative Women's Organisation, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International. Would you like to come, David?