A tale of negotiation and compromise…
In cases of political conflict, the most difficult task is often separating the good guys from the bad. This can seem impossible as, for one, there is never consensus on the definition of these two terms – it is usually a matter of one’s perspective. Furthermore, solutions cannot be reached simply by identifying an enemy and placing blame. Peaceful resolution of conflict is a product of negotiation and compromise. Continue reading “A tale of negotiation and compromise…”
There are two kinds of people on this Earth: those who find peace with themselves and those who do not. I watched Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain last week, motivated partly by the strong recommendation of friends and partly by the polemic that the last issue of King’s Bench had stirred. A tragic love story about two people deeply in love, but not at all at peace with themselves, Brokeback is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Being a big fan of independent cinema, I had encountered films with similar themes before, but still did not expect to be quite so shaken. 
Lord Goldsmith QC, PC was the longest serving Labour Attorney-General in history. Encouraged by his solicitor father, he studied law at Cambridge prior to his call to the Bar in 1972. Lord Goldsmith went on to develop a successful commercial, corporate and international litigation practice at Fountain Court Chambers, taking silk at the early age of 37. In 1995 he became the youngest ever Chairman of the Bar and in the subsequent year founded the Bar Pro Bono Unit (of which he remains President). Five years later, Lord Goldsmith became Tony Blair’s second Attorney-General. He resigned the appointment in June last year and now works with US firm Debevoise & Plimpton as head of its European litigation practice. He spoke to KB about some of the controversies and successes of his years in Government. 
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Imran Khan made his debut in first class cricket at the age of sixteen. He soon moved to England where he combined studying PPE at Oxford with his burgeoning international cricketing career. In 1992 his career reached its zenith when he led his country to victory in the Cricket World Cup. On retirement, he turned his focus to social work, establishing Pakistan’s first cancer hospital in the memory of his late mother and serving as a UNICEF Special Representative. In 1996 he entered the political fray, founding the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party, which he still leads. He is a fierce critic of the Musharraf regime and boycotted last month’s elections in protest at the declaration of emergency rule. KB caught up with him just before the elections. 
An international lawyer and currently a partner at DLA Piper in London, Miriam Gonzalez previously worked in the World Trade Organisation and the European Commission. A mother of two, she is married to the recently elected leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg. Her areas of expertise are the telecommunications industry and European competition and trade law and policy. 
I was astonished to open King’s Bench (“Homosexuality: The Big Debate”, Vol. 15, Issue 2, p. 26) and see a debate about whether or not the community to which I belong, the lesbian and gay minority, “pose[s] a threat to the human race”. In the United Kingdom? In 2008? “Basil Haady” (a King’s student who seems to have recently arrived from 1958, the year after the Wolfenden Report) concluded that I, other gay men, and lesbian women do pose a threat to the heterosexual majority (because we engage in sexual activity without procreative potential), and that scientists should search for a “cure” for our “abnormality”. He generously provided that we should not be forced to take this “cure”. Despite its voluntary and non-fatal nature (cf. the British National Party’s “system of voluntary resettlement”: “immigrants … will be afforded the opportunity to return to their lands of ethnic origin assisted by generous financial incentives”), Mr. Haady’s hypothetical “cure” bears a chilling resemblance to Nazi policy on discrimination: despised or misunderstood minorities should not enjoy legal protection against discrimination, but instead should be eliminated for the benefit of the majority. The most horrific example of this policy was the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”. Others included the killing of thousands of persons who had disabilities (their lives were deemed “not worth living”), or who were Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or gay (see the “Reich Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion”). 
Remember Sesame Street? You learnt your 123s and your ABCs along with your Zees (hopefully someone was there to inform you of the correct pronunciation). Well just when you thought you had outgrown that show… Avenue Q is the West End musical that will get you excited over puppets all over again! 
Sniffer dogs and detective bees have never been the conventional formula for a bestseller, but it is perhaps a fitting tribute to Amber Marks’ distinct life that her debut book, Headspace, provides an absurdly unique insight into a relatively unknown human rights issue. Despite its classification as ‘non-fiction’, Marks tells a story which would befit the bookshelves of even the most diehard novel enthusiast. Her charismatic, charming tone delivers what would otherwise be a linear and frankly dull subject, in a light-hearted, entertaining way.
Amber Marks was born in London and spent the first years of her life with her parents Howard and Judy Marks on the run from the law. After Howard’s time in Brixton prison in the late seventies and early eighties, they travelled round the world before settling in the Spanish island of Mallorca. When Amber was ten, Howard and Judy were incarcerated in the United States for cannabis importation. Amber won the Robert Graves Commemorative Poetry Prize in 1995. She studied law at the London School of Economics, where she edited the LSE law journal. She won a scholarship to attend Bar school and secured a pupillage at 3 Raymond Buildings, a leading criminal set of chambers. She practised at the criminal bar for three years before joining the Government Legal Service where she worked as a lawyer in the Criminal Appeal Office. She left the GLS after two years and is now a freelance journalist and academic. She has published articles on surveillance, police powers and the rule of law in Surveillance and Society, the Guardian and The Register. She has given lectures and speeches at charity events and academic conferences. She teaches law at King’s College London. 
This epic story predominantly follows the adventures of two hobbits, Frodo and Sam, who are entrusted with a seemingly impossible mission: the destruction of the Ring of power. Their perilous journey becomes a tale of hope and darkness, love and corruption, friend against foe, but above all – of good triumphing over evil.