Benedict Rogers: David Cameron walks tall, but was failed by pygmies

Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist, a former Parliamentary Candidate, and is Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission.

Since Thursday night, I have felt a burning fury which I have seldom experienced before. Try as I might to put it out of my thoughts, it stayed with me. I found it hard to sleep. I hope Ed Miliband, and the Conservative MPs who rebelled, found it even harder. 

It is not fury at war being thwarted. It is fury at Parliament's unwillingness to even consider the possibility of action on Syria, fury at petty partisan behaviour from some, incompetence from others, at those who buried their heads in little Englander sands and in so doing have let Britain, the international community and most of all the ordinary suffering people of Syria down.

These are times for humility, because these are grave issues. So let me start by acknowledging some very real truths.

Benedict Rogers: Faith, music and poetry in politics: we need a narrative – a story to tell

Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist, a former Parliamentary Candidate, and is Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission.

Life is not easy. Faith is even less easy. And the job of Prime Minister is even more challenging still.

So when David Cameron declares, as he did yesterday and has done on several previous occasions, in a refreshingly honest way, that he is a Christian, that the teachings of Jesus Christ are a good guide for life for us all, but that he finds some of Christ's teachings difficult to live by, all of us - especially people of faith, of whatever brand - ought to cheer him on. Whether or not we have always agreed with everything he has done, we should find this declaration exciting. In this day and age, it is rare in Britain for a politician or public figure to profess such beliefs, with such simple, honesty clarity. Tony Blair, famously, did not 'do God' - and yet actually, he did, but didn't want to admit it too often in office. Cameron may appear to 'do God' less often or overtly, or in a less orthodox way, but he is more ready to talk about it, honestly and with humility.

Benedict Rogers: What Cameron and Hague should tell Burma's President tomorrow

Benedict Rogers is a human rights activist, a former Parliamentary Candidate, and is Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission.

Tomorrow, Burma’s President Thein Sein will arrive in London. Until a year ago, the idea of a Burmese General with blood on his hands making an official visit to the United Kingdom would have been inconceivable. His visit is a sign of how much and how fast not only Burma, but British Government attitudes towards Burma’s regime, have changed.

In the past two years, President Thein Sein’s Government has certainly introduced reforms that have changed the atmosphere and landscape significantly. A key turning-point came when he met Burma’s democracy leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw for the first time in 2011. That paved the way for a series of reforms, including the release of many political prisoners; increased space for political activists, civil society and the media; improvements in freedom of expression; and preliminary ceasefires with most of the ethnic armed resistance groups. In 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi and 42 of her colleagues from the National League for Democracy (NLD) were elected to Parliament. As Lord Alton and I wrote following our visit to Burma in March, we should be quick to welcome and encourage these changes.

Nevertheless, there is a risk of premature euphoria. Indeed, Burma Campaign UK accuses Foreign Secretary William Hague of viewing Burma through rose-tinted glasses. Thein Sein’s visit, therefore, must be used as an opportunity to deliver some very clear messages, rather than an occasion to fête a dictator, albeit one more subtle, mild-mannered and seemingly more reforming than his predecessors.

Lord Alton and Benedict Rogers: Yes, there's progress in Burma. But there's a very, very long way to go

Lord Alton of Liverpool is an independent cross-bench member of the House of Lords. Benedict Rogers is a human rights advocate with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and author of ‘Burma: A Nation at the Crossroads’.

 Today, the House of Lords will devote at least an hour to debating Burma. Some may ask why - when the prevailing narrative in the media, among some Government Ministers and among policy-makers would give you a sense that it is “problem solved”. Burma’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi now sits in parliament rather than under house arrest, hundreds of political prisoners have been released, ceasefires have been agreed with most of the country’s ethnic armed groups, space for media, civil society and political actors has increased significantly, trade and investment delegations are pouring in and, in two years’ time, Burma will have elections. Sanctions have been lifted and Burma’s President Thein Sein is travelling the world, feted by world leaders. Isn’t it all solved? Isn’t it time to move on, and focus on the world’s other problems?

There is a prevailing – but premature and misplaced – euphoria about Burma, which is profoundly dangerous. We visited the country together less than three months ago, and the picture we found was far more mixed than the one Burma’s Government and the international community present. Without doubt there are genuine causes for hope, and we should be quick to welcome the changes. That the two of us, known critics of successive regimes in Burma, could visit the country unhindered is a sign that the situation is different. Our meeting with Suu Kyi would have been difficult to imagine a couple of years ago. 

We addressed a gathering of activists, who included some of Burma’s most prominent dissidents (many of whom spent years in jail) Burmese exiles and foreign campaigners in a public meeting in the garden of a restaurant, on the subject of democracy and human rights - something that would have been inconceivable a short time ago. That the restaurant had once been the office of General Aung San, father of Suu Kyi and leader of Burma’s struggle for independence from British colonial rule, made the event even more incongruous. 

All these are signs of a change of atmosphere, which should be encouraged. The international community is right to respond to Thein Sein’s reforms positively. When dictators unclench their fists, they should be met with outstretched hands. However, that should not mean closed eyes and ears to anything negative. Burma is taking some initial, fragile steps on the path to freedom, but there is a very, very long way to go. As Suu Kyi told us, some countries are “going overboard with optimism, making the government think that it is getting everything right".