Ronald Reagan's son Michael speaks out against 'The Butler' which 'wrongly portrays President as racist'

Ronald Reagan is played by Alan Rickman in new film The ButlerHe is shown opposing apartheid sanctions and patronising black employeePresident's son Michael says film implies he was racist and insists that this is completely untrue

By Hugo Gye

PUBLISHED: 13:11 GMT, 29 August 2013 | UPDATED: 20:55 GMT, 29 August 2013

Ronald Reagan's family has hit out at the producers of a new Hollywood film for allegedly portraying the former President as a racist.

The Republican icon is played by British actor Alan Rickman in The Butler, which tells the story of a black man who served in the White House for 34 years.

However, his son claims that the portrayal implies that Reagan was prejudiced against black people, when in fact he helped the cause of African-Americans and showed friendship to the real White House butler.

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Controversy: Jane Fonda and Alan Rickman playing Nancy and Ronald Reagan in The Butler, which allegedly portrays the former President as a racist

Real life: The President was in fact friendly towards White House butler Eugene Allen and many other African-Americans, according to his son Michael

The film, which was released in the U.S. two weeks ago, follows Cecil Gaines, played by Forest Whitaker, as he experiences decades of American history at the side of multiple Presidents.

It is based on the real-life story of Eugene Allen, who died in 2010 and served every President from Eisenhower to Reagan.

Mr Rickman, known for his roles in Die Hard and the Harry Potter series, plays Reagan, while anti-war activist Jane Fonda was controversially cast as his wife Nancy.

In the film - as in real life - Reagan invites the butler to attend a state dinner as a guest instead of an employee.

But Gaines is uncomfortable with the experience, and turns against the President over Reagan's move to lift sanctions against South Africa over the apartheid regime.

Blockbuster: The Butler, starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, covers decades of American history

The President's son Michael has launched a blistering attack on his father's portrayal, writing in Newsmax that the film should be called 'The Butler from Another Planet' because it is so historically inaccurate.

'Portraying Ronald Reagan as a racist because he was in favor of lifting economic sanctions against South Africa is simplistic and dishonest,' he wrote.

'If you knew my father, you'd know he was the last person on Earth you would call a racist.'

He pointed out that the leader had a record of friendship towards black people, having been close to a number of African-Americans during his college days.

When Reagan was governor of California, his son wrote, he more than doubled the number of black officials who had ever been appointed in the state's history.

Attack: Michael Reagan, pictured speaking at his father's funeral, is furious about the President's portrayal

Michael Reagan claimed that his parents 'treated Mr Allen with the utmost respect' - unlike in the film, where Cecil Gaines's invitation to the state dinner is implied to have been an act of tokenism.

When Allen was interviewed about his experiences in 2008, his only reminiscence of the evening was to smile as his wife recalled, 'Had champagne that night.'

The film culminated with the butler's resignation as a protest over Reagan's opposition to South African sanctions, though there is no evidence that this was the reason for Allen's retirement at the age of 67.

'The real story of the White House butler doesn’t imply racism at all,' Michael Reagan wrote. 'It's simply Hollywood liberals wanting to believe something about my father that was never there.'

He added: 'My father's position on lifting the South African sanctions in the 80s had nothing to do with the narrow issue of race. It had to do with the geopolitics of the Cold War.'

Allen told his interviewer in 2008 that he was 'especially fond of the Reagans', and resolutely refused to criticise any of the Presidents he worked for.

The Butler, directed by Lee Daniels, takes a number of liberties in adapting Allen's life story, most notably in inventing an episode in which his mother is raped and father killed by a plantation boss.

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Assad accused of moving human shields to key military targets as a defence against Western air strikes

The Syrian Coalition claims prisoners are being held in military loactions
Sources in Damascus report seeing inmates being loaded onto buses
David Cameron defeated in the Commons on plan to launch missile strikes
Obama advisers suggest he is prepared to intervene on his ownAssad says Syria would 'defend itself in the face of any aggression'UN inspectors prepare to examine sites were chemical rockets struck

By Daniel Miller

PUBLISHED: 01:31 GMT, 30 August 2013 | UPDATED: 01:31 GMT, 30 August 2013

President Assad has moved thousands of Syrian prisoners to key military targets to use as human shields against air strikes, opposition groups claimed last night.

Sources in the capital Damascus report inmates being led from their cells onto buses and being taken to sites the regime fears will be targeted by western forces.

As the international community continues to debate military intervention in the long-running civil war following the alleged use of chemical weapons, opposition groups opposed have accused the Assad regime of murdering and torturing political prisoners.

Crucial evidence: A U.N. chemical weapons expert inspects one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus

In a statement released last night, The Syrian Coalition in Istanbul said:  'Assad's fascist regime is amassing detained activists and civilians in prisons inside military locations that may be potential targets for foreign military forces.

'Using civilians as human shields is a blatant breach of International Humanitarian Law, and those responsible must be held accountable for crimes against humanity.

Tyrant: Syrian President Bashar Assad has been accused of moving political prisoners to key military sites as human shields against Western air strikes

'Assad has deployed a policy of arbitrary detention since the start of the revolution in March 2011 infringing on Syrian law, International Covenants on Human Rights, and International Conventions related to the prohibition of enforced disappearance.

'In Assad’s torturous prisons, thousands of detainees experience deplorable conditions. They are forced to live a life of pain, fear, and intimidation by Assad’s intelligence forces. The locations where prisoners are held, nearly in all cases, are not disclosed.

'Prisoners are often summarily executed, placed in sites where Assad forces carry out explosions and bombardments or are tortured to death. 

'The Syrian Coalition holds Assad and his accomplices accountable for crimes against activists and civilians detained in security centers, government institutions, and military installations.'

British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday suffered an embarrassing defeat in the Commons when MPs voted against air strikes.

Mr Cameron insisted it was 'beyond doubt' that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons against its own people.

And he claimed that if the West failed to act it was likely they would continue to be used against the civilian population.

In The U.S. government officials say they received 'intercepted communications from high-level Syrian officials' reporting personnel being moved around Damascus that indicated 'it was ready for something big like a chemical attack,'.

A British Typhoon fighter jet arrives at a British air base in Cyprus. The Ministry of Defense said it was deploying six Typhoons as a 'prudent and precautionary measure'

The Obama administration appeared undeterred by the British vote with advisers suggesting he would be willing to retaliate against Syria on his own. 

However President Obama has not yet  revealed definitive evidence to back claims that Assad used chemical weapons on Syrians.

Even before the vote in London, the U.S. was preparing to act without formal authorization from the United Nations, where Russia has blocked efforts to seek a resolution authorizing the use of force, or from Capitol Hill. But the U.S. had expected Britain, a major ally, to join in the effort.

France announced that its armed forces 'have been put in position to respond' if President Francois Hollande commits forces to intervention against Syria. Hollande does not need French parliamentary approval to launch military action that lasts less than four months.

Assad, who has denied using chemical weapons, vowed his country 'will defend itself against any aggression.'

Demonstrators take part in a protest calling for no military attack on Syria outside the White House yesterday

Defeat: Prime Minister David Cameron was outvoted in the Commons over plans to launch missile strikes against Syria however the Obama advisers suggest the U.S. would be willing to retaliate on its own

Some of the U.N. chemical weapons experts will travel directly from Syria on Saturday to different laboratories around Europe to deliver 'an extensive amount of material' gathered, U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.

While the mandate of the U.N. team is to determine whether chemical agents were used in the attack, not who was responsible, Haq suggested the evidence - which includes biological samples and witness interviews - might give an indication of who deployed gases.

U.S. officials say the intelligence assessments are no 'slam dunk,' with questions remaining about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the intelligence publicly.

Despite shortcomings in the intelligence, the White House signaled urgency in acting, a White House spokesman said the president believes there is a 'compressed time frame' for responding.

In safe hands: An Italian soldier gives water to a rescued girl aboard the Foscari ship near Sicily after recovering almost 200 people from a crippled fishing boat who are believed to have fled the violence in Syria

Desperate measures: Italy's coast guard and navy rescue about 350 people, mostly Syrians, off the coast of Sicily from a badly overcrowded and crippled fishing boat which they used to escape the civil war

Traumatic: Among those rescued from the boat were 48 children, including a four-day-old girl born on the crossing

He said: 'It is important for the Assad regime and other totalitarian dictators around the world to understand that the international community will not tolerate the indiscriminate, widespread use of chemical weapons, particularly against women and children as they're sleeping in their beds.

But many Congress members were pressing Obama to explain the need for military action and address fears that such a move might draw the U.S. deeper into the Syrian civil war.

Escape from Assad: Syrian refugees use containers to collect water at the Arbat refugee camp in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniya after fleeing the violence in their native country

Syrian children stand outside their tent at a temporary refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese town of Faour

Conflict rages: Free Syrian Army soldiers help their wounded fellow fighter in Al Rasheddin, Aleppo

Displaced: Chart shows the number of Syrian refugees who have fled to surrounding countries as of August 27

On Wednesday a Syrian army officer that Assad was considering using kamikaze pilots against Western forces.

In the event of an attack by the U.S. and Britain, the Syrian army had 8,000 'suicide martyrs' who would give their lives to bring down warplanes if necessary, the unnamed officer said.

He said: 'If (US and British) warplanes raid our skies they will face hell fire.

'If we are unable to shoot down their warplanes with artillery, we have military pilots who are ready to attack these foreign warplanes by their own warplanes and blow them up in the air.' 

The officer told The Guardian that 13 pilots had signed a pledge this week saying they would form 'a crew of suicide martyrs to foil the U.S. warplanes'.

He claimed: 'We have more than 8,000 suicide martyrs within the Syrian army, ready to carry out martyrdom operations at any moment to stop the Americans and the British.

'I myself am ready to blow myself up against U.S. aircraft carriers to stop them attacking Syria and its people.'

Mobilising: Israeli soldiers patrol near an Armored Personal carrier near the border with Syria after the Israeli cabinet authorised a call-up of army reservists amid growing expectations of a foreign military strike on Assad

Eyes on the skies: An 'Iron Dome' missile battery of the Israeli army in industrial area of Haifa

Building a case: A U.N. chemical weapons expert carries a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack

Hazardous: UN inspectors collect samples inside a house during their investigations at Zamalka, east of Damscus on Thursday

Will the results trigger a war? United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he is expecting a report on the chemical weapons investigation on Saturday

Meanwhile, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has pleaded for more time for diplomacy and to allow U.N. investigators to complete their work.

U.S. leaders, including Vice President Joe Biden, have charged that Assad's government was behind the August 21 attack that Doctors Without Borders says killed at least 355 people.

The White House says it's planning a possible military response while seeking support from international partners.

The U.S. has not presented concrete proof of Syrian regime involvement in the attack, and U.N. inspectors have not endorsed the allegations, although the U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said evidence suggests some kind of 'substance' was used that killed hundreds.

Gathering evidence: U.N. chemical weapons experts wearing gas masks carry samples from one of the sites of an alleged gas attack while escorted by Free Syrian Army fighters in the Ain Tarma district of Damascus

On the frontline: Members of a UN team of arms experts inspect the site where rockets fell in Damascus

Delicate operation: A member of a UN investigation team takes samples of sands near a part of a missile believed to be one of the chemical rockets fired at civilians in Damascus last week, killing hundreds

With many seeing Western intervention no longer a question of if but when, there were signs of growing fears across the wider region.

At least 6,000 Syrians crossed into Lebanon in a 24-hour period through the main Masnaa crossing, including an estimated 4,000 on Wednesday, according to Lebanese security officials in the country's Bekaa Valley near the border.

The normal daily influx is 500 to 1,000 refugees, depending on the level of fighting.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Long lines of packed cars - some with suitcases strapped to roofs - were backed up at the frontier post, witnesses said.

A security official said about 2,000 also crossed into Syria, but many of them said they were going in to evacuate relatives.

One woman, Um Ahmad, entered Lebanon with her five children, saying she fearing U.S. strikes on Damascus.

'Isn't it enough, all the violence and fighting that we already have in the country, now America wants to bomb us, too?' the 45-year-old said, declining to give her full name for security concerns. 

Enlarge   Gearing up for war: A graphic looking at the options open to the West if it were to launch strikes on Syria

Running gun battles: Free Syrian Army fighters run to take cover from snipers loyal to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad near Aleppo International airport

Nearly two million Syrians have fled the country since the crisis began in March 2011 and millions more are displaced inside Syria.

Effects were also evident in Israel, where large crowds lined up at gas-mask distribution centres.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government ordered a 'limited' call-up of reserve units to bolster civil defense preparations and to operate air-defense units near the border. Officials said the call-up is anticipated to bring in hundreds of troops.

While Israeli officials believe the chances of a Syrian strike remain slim, there are concerns that Damascus may respond to any U.S.-led military action by attacking the Jewish state, a close American ally.

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Syria conflict: Tory rebellion forces Prime Minister David Cameron to rule out military strike against country

PM's authority in Parliament and on world stage dealt unprecedented blow
Shouts of 'resign' from Labour benches as 285-272 vote was announcedLast time any PM was defeated over issue of war and peace was in 1782Downing Street source says David Cameron has no intention of resigningGove allegedly shouted at Tory rebels outside chamber: 'You're a disgrace'

By James Chapman

PUBLISHED: 23:30 GMT, 29 August 2013 | UPDATED: 02:59 GMT, 30 August 2013

David Cameron’s authority in Parliament and on the world stage was dealt an unprecedented blow last night as he faced a breathtaking Commons defeat  over plans for missile strikes on Syria.

In an extraordinary assault on the Prime Minister’s authority, 50 coalition MPs joined Labour in voting against a watered-down Government motion supporting the ‘principle’ of military action.

There were shouts of ‘resign’ from the Labour benches as the result – 285 votes to 272 – was announced to a shocked House of Commons.

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Chastened: British MPs voted by 272 votes to 285 to reject Prime Minister David Cameron's motion backing British intervention in principle

The last time a Prime Minister was defeated over an issue of war and peace was in 1782.

A Downing Street source said Mr Cameron had no intention of resigning, adding: ‘His colleagues support him on most things, but on this issue they disagreed.’

Education Secretary Michael Gove was said to have shouted at Tory rebels outside the  chamber: ‘You’re a disgrace, you’re a disgrace.’

Blast: People inspect the damage at a site hit by what activists say was a car bomb in Raqqa province, Syria

Conservatives
David Amess (Southend West)
Richard Bacon (Norfolk South)
Steven Baker (Wycombe)
John Baron (Basildon & Billericay)
Andrew Bingham (High Peak)
Crispin Blunt (Reigate)
Fiona Bruce (Congleton)
Tracey Crouch (Chatham & Aylesford)
David Davies (Monmouth)
Philip Davies (Shipley)
David Davis (Haltemprice & Howden)
Nick de Bois (Enfield North)
Richard Drax (Dorset South)
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne & Sheppey)
Philip Hollobone (Kettering)
Adam Holloway (Gravesham)
Phillip Lee (Bracknell)
Julian Lewis (New Forest East)
Jason McCartney (Colne Valley)
Stephen McPartland (Stevenage)
Nigel Mills (Amber Valley)
Anne-Marie Morris (Newton Abbot)
Andrew Percy (Brigg & Goole)
Sir Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills)
Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth & Horncastle)
Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight)
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes)
Charles Walker (Broxbourne)
Chris White (Warwick & Leamington)
DR SARAH WOLLASTON (Totnes)

Lib Dems
Gordon Birtwistle (Burnley)
Mike Crockart (Edinburgh West)
Andrew George (St Ives)
Mike Hancock (Portsmouth S)
Julian Huppert (Cambridge)
Ian swales (Redcar)
Sarah Teather (Brent Central)
Dan Rogerson  (North Cornwall)
Roger Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire)

Mr Cameron, who had made a passionate plea for support over proposals for targeted strikes on Damascus after a chemical weapons attack last week, was forced to issue a humiliating climbdown.

‘It is clear to me the British Parliament does not want to see British military action. I get that and the Government will act accordingly,’ he told MPs.

His decision to pledge to stand shoulder to shoulder with the US in a planned attack on Syria, and to recall Parliament from its summer recess for an emergency debate, backfired spectacularly.

Mr Cameron had been counting on Labour’s support to ensure he could win a Commons vote authorising strikes, despite the doubts of scores of Tory MPs.

Labour, however, refused to back the Government, prompting the angriest foreign policy row between the main parties since Suez in 1956.

The Tories accused Ed Miliband of giving ‘succour’ to President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: ‘I’m disappointed with Ed Miliband’s behaviour, frankly. Anything that stops this from giving a clear, united view of the British Parliament will give some succour to the regime.’

After the vote, Mr Hammond said: ‘I hope Britain isn’t going to retreat into being the sort of nation that isn’t going to act to uphold international norms.’

Sir Gerald Howarth, a former defence minister who voted ‘reluctantly’ with the Government, accused Mr Cameron of rushing into the vote.

Reza Afshar, head of the Syria team at the Foreign Office, tweeted simply: ‘Disaster.’

Senior US officials said President Obama was prepared to move ahead with a limited military strike despite last night’s vote.

Two Tory ministers, International Development Secretary Justine Greening and Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds, apparently missed the vote after not hearing a division bell.

Debate: A chastened Mr Cameron was forced by Labour leader Ed Miliband to pledge not to deploy any UK military forces without first staging another Commons vote

Dusty landscape: Free Syrian Army fighters drive a military tank that belonged to forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after they seized it, in Aleppo's town of Khanasir

An earlier Labour motion, demanding further conditions before Britain could be involved in any military action, was defeated by 332 votes to 220. In other developments:

A letter published by Britain’s intelligence chiefs said it was ‘highly likely’ the Syrian regime carried out last week’s attack, but US officials suggested the evidence was ‘not a slam dunk’;The Government insisted military action would be legal on humanitarian grounds even without the backing of the UN Security Council;Russia, a belligerent supporter of Assad’s regime, deployed war ships in the eastern Mediterranean;Military chiefs prepared for the possibility that the Assad regime might retaliate to an attack with a strike on the UK’s sovereign base at Akrotiri on Cyprus;The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby warned intervening in Syria could lead to an ‘open season’ on Christians in the region;The Syrian regime accused Mr Cameron of ‘communicating through a monologue of blood and fire’. Moment: MPs last night dramatically voted against David Cameron's plea to take military action against Syria

Recall: Mr Cameron told a packed House of Commons that Britain had to decide how to respond to 'one of the most abhorrent uses of chemical weapons in a century'

Demonstrate: Protesters speaking out against military action in Syria stand outside the Houses of Parliament

Last night’s vote is a grave humiliation for Mr Cameron and will also raise doubts about the future of the ‘Special Relationship’ between Britain and the US.

One Whitehall source said Britain was ‘handing back its deputy sheriff’s badge’ to Washington.

The shadow of Tony Blair loomed large over yesterday’s proceedings, with speaker after speaker referring to the mistakes and misinformation of the Iraq War.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that Iraq had ‘truly poisoned the well of public opinion’ on military intervention.

Prudent: An RAF Typhoon jet comes in to land at Akrotiri in Cyprus yesterday as a 'prudent and precautionary measure', the Ministry of Defence said

Target: Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (centre left) pictured yesterday during a meeting with a Yemeni delegation in Damascus

He admitted there was not ‘one smoking piece of intelligence’ but insisted it was ‘beyond doubt’ that Assad’s regime was responsible for a chemical attack that killed at least 350 civilians.

Mr Miliband insisted he was not ruling out backing military strikes at some point, but presented his own ‘sequential roadmap’ before he thought Britain should take such a step.

Asked if Mr Miliband was giving comfort to Assad, a Downing Street spokesman said: ‘Yes. The fact is that a lot of the arguments over this could give succour to the regime.’

No ?10 also accused Mr Miliband of ‘flipping and flopping’ and having privately indicated his party would back military intervention before moving the goalposts at the last minute.

Making their point: Protesters demonstrating against military action in Syria stand outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, central London

Placards: A protester demonstrating against military action in Syria outside the Houses of Parliament in London

Opposition: As MPs debated the UK response to the Syria crisis, protestors gathered outside the Commons

Anger: Anti-war protesters have staged a number of demonstrations in Westminster this week

Labour said the suggestion it was giving succour to Assad was ‘frankly insulting’.

Mr Cameron acknowledged voters were sceptical about getting into ‘another war in the Middle East’ but insisted he was not proposing a long-running campaign to dislodge Assad – rather a strike on ‘command and control’ assets to try to reduce the chances of another chemical weapons attack.

A string of senior Conservatives, however, expressed doubts about the wisdom of intervention and Mr Cameron’s rush to join the US.

Former Tory leadership contender David Davis said: ‘It’s very simple – when you are going to do things which will lead to the death of people, civilians in particular, you should get your facts right first.’

Campaign: UKIP leader Nigel Farage (left) and his deputy Paul Nuttall launched this poster opposing Britain intervention in Syria

Condemnation: Mr Farage said David Cameron's policy on Syria was his 'gravest misjudgment yet'

Lord Dannatt, former head of the British Army, said he did not support military intervention in Syria in any shape.

He said: ‘The drums of war were banging very loudly two or three days ago. The people didn’t like it.’

But Dr Liam Fox, former Conservative defence secretary, said: ‘Appeasement has never worked to further the cause of peace. It will not now and it will not in the future.’

Lord Howard, the former Conservative leader, said: ‘We are in danger of allowing the United States and France to act as the conscience of the world while the United Kingdom stands on the sidelines wringing its hands.’

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