The less you know about your victim the more you are able to dehumanise them. This is why terrorists try to avoid interacting with their hostages as much as possible.However, the other absolute law of hostage negotiation is you never ever rule out of court irrevocably the demands of hostage-takers – you play for time and keep saying that you are trying your best to give them what they want. The attempt to acknowledge that something has already been achieved is an exhortation to the gunmen that they don’t need to go further and actually harm their victim – they have already achieved a lot.The endeavour to pass a message to Ken Bigley through the hostage-takers – “They wish you to say to Ken that they love him dearly and are waiting for him to come home” – is a direct effort to promote interaction between the victim and the gunmen.Psychiatrists and psychologists who specialise in this area know well that the more interaction there is between victim and gunmen, the more a relationship of some kind is going to develop and the less likely those who have to do the killing will find themselves able to execute the final act of this tragedy. Rather than remonstrating with Mr Blair, there is an appeal for mercy and an incredible attempt to almost praise the hostage-takers for their resolve: “You have proved to the world that you are committed and determined.”In fact, an enormous amount of what is known about the psychology of hostage negotiation has been used in the design of this message, probably by Home Office experts. In their second statement the psychology is completely different: instead, Ken Bigley’s fate is now located firmly in the hands of the hostage-takers. Clearly the spin doctors understood rapidly the grave danger of a distraught family becoming a tool of the Iraqi insurgency.

For a remarkable moment it appeared that Iraqi insurgents and some ordinary people in Britain appear to be in a kind of rare dialogue with each other – mediated via press releases and videos sent through the international media.But then it seems the Home Office or some other government agency “goes” to the Bigley family and their second appeal appears remarkably changed in tone and psychology. Giving his extremely commonplace address of Walton, Liverpool, highlights he is just a regular citizen like you and me – raising the empathy of the British population with his plight. The inescapable conclusion at levels, perhaps below conscious awareness, is if Mr Blair does nothing, it is because he is too aloof and remote from his electorate.The statement is all the more psychologically powerful because it appears to be a direct response to Mr Bigley’s family’s initial statement, displaying anger and upset that Mr Blair was ignoring their plight, but instead continuing with everyday politics. In his heartfelt appeal, Mr Bigley emphasises his ordinariness and unimportance in the larger scheme of international politics. If you want to understand what is actually going on in the current volatile situation in Iraq, it is vital to read between the lines in the emotionally charged messages being sent by Ken Bigley and his desperate family.
Mr Bigley’s original statement, a personal and emotional appeal to Mr Blair, clearly orchestrated and cleverly directed by the hostage-takers, was designed to ensnare the Prime Minister.

So, let’s go out there and show it, as we go forward, together, to win our country’s freedom.. Terrorism, atrocities, hostage-taking, none of it makes much sense unless you take into account the element of psychological manipulation, which is often played out more covertly than most realise. Scotland doesn’t need more of the mind-numbing mediocrity that has been the stamp of the Labour-Liberal Scottish Executive for five long years. Scotland needs strong leadership and a clear vision for a better Scotland.Scotland is fed up of politicians who look and sound the same What they want is honesty, principle, passion, vision We have all these things. If it means breaking the cosy consensus that stifles Scotland’s potential, so be it.

And standing up for what I believe in, for the right of my country to be normal and hold its head high in the world, is what I’ll continue to do And if that means getting shouted down, so be it. I’ve been asked on countless occasions what made me join the Scottish National Party Was it an act of rebellion? Well, perhaps, up to a point. Rebellion, certainly, against the assumption of so many people where I came from that a working-class kid with an interest in politics and in the world around her would only ever consider joining the Labour Party; rebellion against the Labour Party itself and its inability – or, more accurately, its unwillingness – to protect Scotland from Thatcher’s relentless attacks on our values, our communities, our industries and our very sense of ourselves; rebellion against the feeling of despair that had become a way of life in Scotland back then – the hopelessness of so many of the people I went to school with, people with talent and ability but people who would go straight from school to the dole queue. Although the Conservatives fail to make headway, it is still possible they will gain a few seats at the next election rather than collapse entirely. The amount of political space for the Liberal Democrats is not as great as it sometimes seems. The serious tone of the conference and Mr Kennedy’s speech suggest that the Liberal Democrats are becoming a formidable political force, but they are still a long way from securing power at Westminster.. In spite of the calamitous war against Iraq, the Liberal Democrats will struggle to convince large swaths of Labour voters to desert a party in power for one that aspires to power.