Walaa's Weekly Wrap-Up ~ June 1, 2013

Happy Summer!

It was a short but very full week and to some it was quite a memorable one. Early in the week Mark Bridger was giving a well-deserved life sentence for killing and disposing the body of April Jones. Her mother, Carol Jones gave a heart wrenching statement HERE. Unfortunately the Jones family might not have had their closure – Bridger has not revealed where young April’s body is buried – but he will be inside for the rest of his life and that is good news

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The week was also peculiar, in that I found myself agreeing not once but twice with none other than Mehdi Hassan whose political views are as far left as humanly possible from mine. But we both agree that western foreign policies (in particular ours and the US) have a lot to answer for with regards to the rise of Islamism and the radicalisation of young Muslim men predominantly converts to Islam in the west.

I also agreed with him that some politicians read history and events from a narrow prospective. They maybe do it for convenience or just out of habit. Either way, omitting the obvious is naive and can be dangerous. So when a politician, writes-off radicalised young people as disaffected youth when the result of that ‘disaffection’ is terrorism and murder in our streets, it is time they reassess their understanding and reading of history and events.

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The working week ended with cycling darling Sir Bradley Wiggins pulling out of the Tour De France due to injury after earlier withdrawing from the Giro d’ Italia. I wish him a speedy recovery and commiserations to his fans and the Sky Team. Should we maybe slow down the hype and ease the pressure a little.

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On Friday Patrick Mercer resigned the Tory whip. Apparently he got caught in a double sting operation, courtesy of the BBC (Panorama) and the Telegraph. He allegedly has broken Parliamentary rules, and is now taking legal advice in the matter after referring himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He resigned the Conservative Whip to save the party any embarrassment.

I meet Patrick in 2008, when I was shadowing Dominic Grieve for a few weeks, their two offices where next to each other separated by a shared central room for their staff. I found Patrick kind, witty and very hard working. He is the sort of good MP you want to represent you – always available and always ready. He is also the kind of guy you don’t mind having a drink and a good laugh with. To me personally, he was very generous with his time and help. Plus I also liked his straight talking, say it as it is attitude; I found it refreshing and brave. I am truly sad to see him go and wish him the very best for the future.

I also hope we all, wait for all the facts before jumping into any conclusions and by the way my wish goes to Tories and non-Tories alike.

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My blogging week was uberlight and I managed only one post but traffic was still good, thank you!

• Kneejerk reaction, empty hype and morality