The Worst Part of Us

We've been here before of course.
In September 2000, large, loud-mouthed truckers set up blockades preventing fuel deliveries and set in chain a mass hysteria from the car-driving public.
This time a potential strike by Unite tanker drivers has spooked Government Ministers to play Corporal Jones and actively encourage drivers to start hoarding petrol.
I rather agree with Ed Balls (for once) when he said the Government was having such a rotten week they needed a bogeyman to focus the nation away from their failings over budget and donors paying for access to the PM. It might have worked too if a strike had been called but without pickets, banners and braziers there are no 'militants' to focus the nation's ire on.
Frankie Maude made a right arse of himself suggesting drivers should peer into the far reaches of their "garage" and look for Gerry cans. It may be news to Maude but not everyone lives on Acacia Avenue and drives a Rover.
The panic twelve years ago showed a particularly foul side of the British character, which was irredeeably selfish and paranoid. But Tories had clearly not learnt from it and are still talking up "bringing in the army" as if the military can be deployed as some economic panacea to all industrial crises. The clear inference would be that any strlking union member would be up against our brave lads and so were by defintion unpatriotic if not actual traitors.
A footnote in the news coverage: OECD figures show UK is offically back in reession.

Any More for Any More?

David Cameron's political judgement has been twice called into question since the release of the tape showing Tory Party Treasurer, Peter Crudas, offering access and policy leverage for £250k a pop.

First, for hosting these dinners for donors at No.10, although such grandstanding to big business is rather in the Conservative DNA. But secondly, to try and fob off the media and the opposition these were entirely "private" affairs and we should all just cut along and mind our own business.

Does he need reminding he is in public office and No.10 is a public building? When he did take advice and shoe-horned a confession into a speech to a dementia charity later, he played it as if they were three dinners for some old friends. Then refused all questions. These old chums are all immensely wealthy and between them have shoved £10m to the party. A very bad stink, by any measure.

He had not the balls to face the House and flicked the ear of (millionaire) Francis Maude to defend the indefensible. It was Maude who seven hours earlier, on R4's Today, had dismissed the issue as "nonsense" despite the implication from Cruddas he was able to break the law and accept foreign donations. This picture does not quite capture how sick Francis looked at the dispatch box. A lamentable performance, where he spent nearly all of the time talking about Labour in spite of gentle reminders from the Speaker the purpose of a Ministerial Statement was to set out Government policy and answer questions on it.

Milliband annoyed him thoroughly following on from his successful attack on Osborne and his inequitous budget. He is building a theme here and an old familiar one at that: Conservatives can't help protecting the privileged and the powerful.

These Foolish Things

Budgets are always political but the specifics are usually only realised much later.
When Nigel Lawson knocked two points off interest rates in 1987 he fuelled an expanding economy into an overheated one, culminating in the 1990-2 recession.
The impact of George Osborne's big decision on tax rates will be felt much more immediately. It seems, from the leaked briefings, he intends to gift those earning in excess of £150k a tax cut taking the upper rate from 50 to 45p in the pound. This would be an 'adjustment' which can only benefit the wealthy and risks retoxifying the party as protecting the interests of the privileged. It hardly helps the front rank are well represented by Etonian millionaires, although I understand 'Oik' Osborne went to Westminster (his wealth notwithstanding) .
The Lib Dems have tried to temper the obvious iniquity by ensuring higher allowances before tax is paid for the poor (and the rich) and contributing to so much hot air about clamping down on tax avoidance. You would have thought we've all heard that one so many times.
The budget is likely to be remembered for this one tax break until the election and cannot be remotely justified in times of desperate austerity. Put it against the fact that about half of all young black men are without a job. The Government are also considering introducing regional pay deals which can only mean pay cuts in the north.
There goes 'One Nation' Conservativism at a stroke.

Carry on Dick

Dick Fedorcio was Director of Public Affairs for the Met for 14 years and his evidence yesterday to the Leveson Inquiry could be summarised as a 'comedy of errors'.

In spite of his proximity to sophisticated media operators, Dick came across as far from astute about the degree of ethics which was apt when engaging informally with journalists. Nor did he appear as well briefed on how to cope with the impending cross examination at Leveson as Yates or Hayman.

He struggled not to squirm over his son gaining a job at MPS (having previously been employed by News International at the Sun). But was thoroughly banjaxed by questions over his awarding a £1k a day contract to NOTW's Deputy Editor, Neil Wallis, throughout reports of phone hacking by that paper and an investigation by his own force into those charges.

He also had Friday meetings with NI journalists about stories, allowed one, Lucy Paton, to use an office computer to file a story.

Judge Brian Leveson's regular interjections on the critical issue of "reputational risk" became increasingly exasperated as the court's mind moved to the obvious conclusion the Wallis contract was "set up to get a result." Dick's furtive looks gauging Brian's reactions to his answers betrayed someone uncertain of their own evidence.

For all of Dick's attempts to portray this 'glad handing' as normal business he couldn't convince the court he was playing a straight bat. The tendering process included Wallis as a one man band and the huge PR firm, Bell Pottinger - hardly an equivalent outfit.

Leveson had to remind him his role was also to advise senior officers if their actions risked being perceived as acting in the interests of News International editors. At times his only defence was his amateurism. He appeared as the epitome of the 'old boy's network'. He hosted the meeting with DSI Dave Cook and Rebekah Wade in 2003 but claimed his memory was clouded by newspaper reports he had since read. Eh? His testimony showed he sat on his hands unwilling to moderate the unjustifiable behaviour of the NOTW intruding into the private life of one his fellow officers. For someone whose role was to network and intervene with the media, he appeared throughly passive, lacking curiosity and only waiting to be asked before lifting a finger.

His most oft use phrase was "what I know now." He repeatedly implied that the ensuing time meant his poor judgement at the time could be excused. After so many, too many, years of experience in that post one would have expected his judgement.to have become more acute. The questioning suggested it was swayed by complicity.

You Do the Math

This is the current rolling stock of the East Anglian line into Liverpool Street I am compelled to endure. It dates back to the late 70s when Jimmy Saville was suggesting it was the "age of the train".
They are slow, dirty and uncomfortable. There is no ticket office or machine at my station. The price of a peak return to London is £73.30.
Last year, the operating company increased its profits to over £43m.
The previous Transport Secretary, Philp Hammond announced a review of cost and revenues for the British railways. He said the choice was stark; either increase taxpayer's contribution to the subsidy or put up fares. He neglected to focus on the hundreds of millions paid out to the 28 operating companies. For example East Coast Line profits last year leapt to £182m and First Great Western scooped £127.8m for their directors and shareholders, an increase of 56%.
The current Sos, Justine Greening, will today be backing the findings of a DfT report which will suggest wacking the subsidy and so letting communters be skinned again and do nothing about the profiteering from our public services. Although the McNulty report recognises our fares are about a third higher than (state owned) European counterparts, he favours introducing airline style structure where peak prices will rocket. Many commuters coming in from the West of London pay thousands a year for the prvilege of standing in a packed train - a particularly loathsome experience in the warm weather.
It reads as a very partial report. When considering the efficiency of the old British rail it comes up with this civil service classic "results [were] inconclusive, with studies ranking British Rail as the most efficient, others as the least efficient, and some about average." Presumably the same can be said for the private companies although they could not argue the current fractured structure could offer equivalent economies of scale.
We should not be altogther surprised, the Conservatives have always been in thrall to business and relish selling the state's assets for large corporations at the cost to the individual.

The Good Old Days

The Leveson Inquiry has summoned all the Met's retired senior plod as his Lordship (left) ploughs into the relationship between police and media.
Step forward Sir Paul Condon (Commissioner 1993-2000), who came across as an avuncular, if slightly florid, Rotarian from the pre-digital age.
He evoked a slightly more innocent era and his evidence showed an emminently straightforward outlook to media relations. For example, he endeavoured, whenever possible, to hold briefings with the press at NSY or some other police premises always with a press officer present. He only had a handful outside and happily withstood the editors' constant griping about the quality of grub in the police canteen. He referred to accepting hospitality as part of a journalist's "grooming process." For all Sir Paul Stephenson's clamour about his own "integrity" Condon clearly has it, self evidently.
How this approach contrasted with John Yates and Andy Hayman who were cross examined last week about a succession of press dinners, lunches and drinks where the company credit card took a right hammering. Hayman wacked a bottle of champers on it in a wine bar in Chelsea during a meeting with a hack whose identity he couldn't even recall. But at least Hayman, was willing to accept mistakes and found that, by his actions, had risked the reputataion of the force "persuasive".
Not so Yates who was grilled for over three hours without barely accepting any error, however minor, had been made. All the coppers are castng the shadow of the terrorist threat as their let-off for not doing their jobs on phone hacking. But that does still could not permit what appears actual obfuscation with sharing information with known victims including the Deputy Prime Minister of the time.

Judge Thee Not

David cameron doesn't get everything wrong. So he should at least be applauded for doing the right thing which is for once, actually "bold and fair". Allowing gay couples to marry only adjusts citizens' rights to be accessible to all and makes up for long standing historical discrimination.
Surely no-one could begrudge gay couples their happiness and public commitment to each other?
Step forward Cardinal Keith O'Brien pouring out a stream of hateful bile where he made comparisons to "slavery" concluding with the words " if the UK does go for same sex marriage it is indeed shaming our country."
Well, shame on you, your Eminence.
He relied heavily for his thesis on the 2,000 years of prejudice and the "natural" law. There was precious little logic and his suggestion that gay marraige violated others' human rights was perverse indeed. The Catholic church, of which I am a member, has an unhappy history based on its failure to adapt to even old ideas of marraige. Many of the abuses of that church can be traced back to extreme views contrary to "nature" such celibacy in priests.
Another promnent catholic, Rick Santorum, fighting to be Republican candidate, has said his first action as President would be to anull every same sex marriage. What an extra-ordinary message to give to the people. Where there is harmony, let us bring discord.

Horse Immaterial

I was never a big fan of Crimewatch. The reconstruction of violent attacks in regional jewellers was not very compulsive viewing for me. But it served a valuable purpose and was successful in nabbing several serial offenders and even a few murderers. One of its earlier presenters, Jacqui Hames (left), a serving police officer, found herself under surveillance by the NOTW following an appeal in the murder case of PI Daniel Morgan. Two of the suspects were other PIs and the evidence given to Leveson this week indicated some collusion by the suspects and the newspaper to undermine the murder inquiry. The treatment of stars like Sienna Miller and Charlotte Church has been shown to be remorseless and despicable - but this is on another scale entirely. 

Rebekka Brooks was invited to the Yard at the time to explain her editorial practice. She apparently defended her paper's actions, saying she suspected Ms Hames was having an affar with co-presenter DCS Dave Cook. A poor defence, you might say: they were a married couple.

The bizarre revelation of the Met loaning out a retired police horse to Brooks showed, if it still needed showing, a far too cosy relationship at the the top of NOTW and the MPS. It is also prompted one of the most toe-curling statements from the Met about its arrangements for geriatric horses.

Much of the recent damning evidence concerns Brooks's tenure and I look forward to her testimony. Just a few days in and Murdoch Jnr has felt compelled to resign from News International.

Today the senior plod Stephenson, Yeats and Hayman give evidence on their failure to investigate phone-hacking and inform the victims. The toe-curling has yet to begin.