Professor Lord David Alton of Liverpool: A statement of gratitude and appreciation
People suffering oppression across the world, often silenced and ignored, have a real friend
in Lord Alton.
A member of the House of Lords in the British Parliament, Lord Alton is probably the most
hard-working campaigner for human rights and fighting for all those who are discriminated
against, disenfranchised, abused and even killed.
Lord Alton recently won what must be the highest accolade – being sanctioned by the
Chinese government for his continued protests about their notorious policies towards the
Uighur Muslims.
In typical fashion, Lord Alton (together with the other politicians who were similarly
sanctioned) promised to “redouble” his efforts to fight for the Uighur. He is renowned for
his work on rights in Tibet, Myanmar and Rwanda, for which he was honoured by the
Catholic Church.
Lord Alton has been equally indefatigable in his pursuit of rights in the Horn of Africa. He
was one of the first Parliamentarians to visit Sudan’s Darfur genocide in the early 2000s and
been a voice for Sudanese in Parliament in the decades since. He has taken up the
oppression of Eritreans, the war in Tigray and rights of Ethiopians, with a tenacity and
energy that is hard to believe.
Lord Alton is the Vice-Chair of the APPG for Eritrea and has served in that role for several
years raising awareness of the gross human rights abuses perpetrated by the Eritrean
Government on its own people. David has taken a very active interest in Eritrea and its
people – inside and outside of Parliament.
It would not be far from the truth to say that there has hardly been a week when he was not
peppering British Ministers and the Foreign Office with questions and comments about the
tragic situation confronting men and women trapped in the Tigray war. And he never fails to
update the public on his work via his website – https://www.davidalton.net – truly modelling
what an open and transparent Parliament means in practice.
Yet Lord Alton has next to no help in fighting for these causes. As a ‘cross-bench’ member of
Britain’s upper house – the House of Lords – he is not aligned to any political party. This
allows Lord Alton the freedom to pursue the causes he supports, but he is effectively on his
own, though he would be the first to commend his colleagues and fellow fighters for human
rights from both Houses.
A brief biography
David Alton was born in London in 1951, in the working-class area of the city – the East End.
His father fought in the Second World War, serving with the Eighth Army in North Africa,
before going to work for Ford motors.
David won a scholarship to a Catholic church school and then studied to be a teacher in
Liverpool. He was elected as a Liberal to the Liverpool City Council and was, at the time,
Britain’s youngest city councillor.
In 1979 he was elected member of parliament for a Liverpool seat and went on to serve as
MP for eighteen years. He stood down in 1997 and was made a life peer (or Lord). Since
then, he has worked tirelessly on issues from North Korea to Eritrea.
We take this opportunity to recognise Lord Alton’s work and to simply say: “thank you” on
behalf of us all.
Subject: “Professor Lord David Alton of Liverpool: A statement of gratitude and appreciation – Eritrea Focus”
Humble Commentary,
1st. I have absolutely nothing to oppose or be critical about Professor Lord David Alton of Liverpool.
2nd. : Eritrea Focus, needless to say, is completely free to write about any personalities to its heart’s content. After all, are we not struggling for that noble cause?
3rd. I am writing ONLY to ask when will WE ERITREANS focus our attention to the crucial issue for THE LIBERATION OF ERITREA FROM AN ABSOLUTE DICTATOR, HIS EXCELLENCY, Self-Anointed PRESIDENT, MR ISSAYAS AFEWERKI ABRAHA MIRATCH ???.
4th. If the answer to the above is NEGATIVE — i.e. there is a change of heart among Eritreans about Issayas — I apologize and humbly STOP here.
Thank you all who are writing and fighting to stop Tigray Genocide!