The Quality of Mercy

Some five years or so ago the Beeb canvassed the public's views of various BBC interviewers. The survey included a question on which news presenters were deemed rudest and unsuprisingly Jeremy Paxman and John Humphries were top of the heap. It was instructive about the British character to learn Pax and Humph were simultaneously considered the most popular at their craft.

We, as a country, tend to take this journalistic tenacity for granted but it is a vital element to the modern British democracy. In many countries, such as Spain, there isn't anything like this level of news analysis. In the US, there are no interviewers on the main channels who would dare to savage politicians like Jezza did to William Hague last night. Hague is one of Parliament's more formidable performers, usually light on his feet and quite witty*. But he looked lead-booted and punch-drunk as Paxman turned on a vintage performance over the mighty Lord Ashcroft's tax liability.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8080379.stm

The clip does not show the first part of the interview when Pax pummelled Hague over the Conservatives' perverse position on the Lisbon Treaty (a referendum is promised unless the Irish vote yes to ratify, which they will). He also made as mincemeat, the Tories' bizarre re-alignment from the mainstream Conservative group in the Euro Parliament to join with parties of homophobes, quasi-racists and climate change deniers.

But it was high time the Conservatives were grilled about the status of their main benefactor. In the current climate, the Ashcroft funding issue has the potential to hole the good ship Cameron below the water line. The questions about Lord A's tax position have been around for more than ten years - the Times tried to reveal some murky dealings but were hit with injunctions and writs for libel. Ashcroft used his vast wealth to fight the Thunderer into a very expensive stalemate; no other media group has dared cross swords with him since. He never gives interviews and cuts such a mysterious figure, he could be viewed as the Ernst Blofeld of the Conservative Party.

It is, of course, asking too much for the feeble Government to hold the Opposition to account on the legality of its funding - they have their own Civil War breaking out. But at least we have merciless interviewers like Pax challenge politicians' complacency and to tear down the arrogant facade.

* Hague has a comic's timing. He was to be interviewed by Matthew Parris in C4's old Charlotte Street studios. There was no dressing room and both had to share the one set of make-up in the loos. Hague turned to Parris and offering him use of the foundation said, "Well, who would have thought it, Matthew? You and I in a Gentleman's lavatory with just one puff between us."

Expletive Deleted

"It wasn't a racist murder, there's no doubt about that," said BNP leader Nick Griffin last week of the obviously racist murder of Anthony Walker in Liverpool in 2005. Griffin had posted this message on Youtube and was pictured standing shamelessly at the spot where Anthony Walker was killed by a blow to the head with an ice axe.

Although the police, jury and judge all agreed this act of vicious brutality was driven by racial hate, Griffin chose the testimony of a couple of local BNP supporters or "patriots" as all the evidence he needed.

His intention is clearly to incense the 'liberal elite" and he succeeds often, particularly when he describes black England players like Rio Ferdinand as, "not English" or calls Gurkhas, "mercenaries".

But his video was a bit more than just infuriating; it amounted to a criminal attempt to stir up racial hatred. The clip has now been withdrawn 'by the user' presumably on legal advice, as Griffin could face a prison sentence after his last conviction for circulating leaflets which denied the Jewish holocaust.

The Observer 'revealed' yesterday the thoughts and words of a few of the foul-mouthed and violent yobs who support Griffin's organisation; they may deny him the goal of respectability but also help attract many more tiny-minded and bitter hooligans to the cause.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/31/bnp-european-elections-facebook-expose

The BNP's party political broadcast for the European Parliament leant heavily on nostalgia for a white Britain of 60 years ago. There were long references to the WWII which was reported as simply stopping Hitler from forming a European superstate. There was, naturally, no acknowledgement of our desire as a country to defeat Nazism itself, borne out of our utter rejection of the cruel discrimination, persecution and murder of minorities. Griffin did not honour the dead; he insulted them.

So many of Griffin's words are patently hypocritical and perverse. He protested outside Coventry Cathedral in 1996 describing the RAF pilots as, "mass murderers". Griffin is no patriot; if he had been alive in 1940 he, alongside the traitors Moseley and Joyce, would clearly have welcomed a German victory.

The BNP are showing on 5%, according to the latest Telegraph opinion polls and it is likely they will win one or two seats next week. For the voters who are drawn to the extreme agenda, one can only hope they spend at least five minutes reflecting whether their anger is so boundless they really belong with this band of bigots and thugs.

A Proportionate Response

When Tony Blair as PM, commissioned Lord 'Woy' Jenkins* to investigate options for Proportional Representation in 1999, the objective was to effectively "lock out" the Conservatives by a leftist alliance of Labour and Lib-Dems. That estimable goal is not remotely achievable at present, as any electoral system would, based on opinion polls, still make the Tories the largest party and David Cameron the PM.

It is astonishing PR has risen from the bottom of the political pile to the top in just three weeks. Or perhaps not. However, no-one seems to be speaking much to the traditional custodians of the issue, the Lib-Dems - the media are much more interested in the views of the two main parties which will determine whether radical electoral reform will ever happen.

Labour progressives like Health Sec, Alan 'the Rocker' Johnson have been making the case for some while but without threatening to make an impact. Other heavyweights like Blunkett and Hain have recently taken a more pragmatic and opportunist view rather than Johnson's principled stance. Hain made a cogent case last week for moving to the Alternative Vote system (used for electing London Mayors) which also has the advantage of being able to be enacted in a matter of months.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/28/electoralreform-constitution

Cameron made clear in his long essay for the Guardian's New Politics this week; he considers PR to be contrary to the ideal of "redistributing power and control from the powerful to the powerless". How's that Dave? Labour's majority of 66 in 2005 was derived from just 36% of the vote. Cameron continued most unconvincingly, "PR would actually move us in the opposite direction ... [it] takes power away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the political elites. Instead of voters choosing their government on the basis of the manifestos put before them in an election, party managers would choose a government on the basis of secret backroom deals".

Political horse-trading in smokey rooms is more akin to hung Parliaments in a first-past-the-post set-up, when Governments (like Wilson's in '74) have half an eye on calling another election to get an outright majority. It is elementary to read Cameron's sub-plot, "I would hardly abandon an electoral system which is about to deliver me colossal power." He also praised the values of "strong government," which could also be translated as "a tyranny determined by a few dozen marginals."

Brown, during his eccentric performance on the Andrew Marr Show (grimace, smile, grimace) said, he had, "always been very interested in PR," despite all evidence to the contrary. The Constitution Renewal Bill, still before Parliament, will allow all MPs to display their reforming zeal before a thoroughly sickened public. The legislation promises to be so amended as to be unrecognisable from the original.

The last word on the case for far-reaching electoral reform was put by the Scotland First Minister, Alex Salmond. He told Radio 4, he was amazed by MPs and commentators arguing the case for and against publishing expenses on-line, fixed term Parliaments and PR: "up here in Scotland we've got all that already; if it's good enough for us, why not Westminster?" Things must be worse then we thought when the, thoroughly pompous, Salmond starts sounding sensible.

* On a lighter note. Brussels bureaucrats in the late 70s, were often puzzled why the British diplomats were forever referring to King John XV. Eventually they realised 'Roi Jean Quinze' was in fact the President of the European Commission, Roy Jenkins.

Enduring Images

The sight of David Cameron's former PPS Andrew MacKay's sweaty, panicked, fake-tanned face, as he unsuccessfully claimed constituents' support, is another memorable image from the expenses scandal. Having emerged from a sultry, bad-tempered public meeting on Friday evening, MacKay tried to brazen it out by telling huge porkies before the very people who had witnessed his vilification. The British, once roused, are not so easily cowed. They turned on him and eloquently killed his political career. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8064642.stm

Cameron has 'wacked' several senior figures of the party over the last few days in a ruthless but necessary display of his political leadership. The pattern emerging is more widespread abuse and more ridiculous claims by Conservative members than Labour. The public are not finding it hard to find symbols of greed which typify the MPs' sense of invulnerability and aloofness: first, dog food, then moat cleaning and now an island for ducks.

Cameron knows each laughable yet still outrageous example threatens to re-toxify the party's 'green and socially responsible' brand. But a major cull would only confirm the old suspicions of a party dominated by Tory toffs living in another world by different rules. It's a tightrope moment for Dave.

Antony Steen's (Totnes) interview on World at One must have made Cameron erupt. Although, his deputy, William Hague made a penitent performance on Question Time saying, "we get it now," Steen ripped off this veneer by declaring his behaviour (expenses on the forestry on his estate) as "impeccable". He also broke the No.1 rule in politics - never insult your electorate. By reducing the public's motivation as purely driven by "jealousy", he signed his own political death warrant. He's not deselected yet but he has no hope of being an MP beyond next year.

Cams has proven to be more adept than Brown or Clegg at getting positive messages out throughout this Parliamentary cataclysm. He could seize the initiative again by throwing his weight behind big reforms like fixed-term Parliaments and a more elected second chamber. But more grandees' unapolagetic largesse at our expense threatens to curtail all the gains he has made with the public. And we've got a long memory down our way.

Now Hang on a Minute

There is worrying news filtering through the media today - Esther Rantzen is intending to stand as a Parliamentary candidate; this is perhaps the most disturbing development yet in the entire MPs expenses calamity.

Lynn Faulds-Wood of BBC's 'Wotch-Daaawg' has threatened similar intervention for the sake of the nation. Neither of them would seem, at first sight, to have the required patience for a 70-hour plus weekly workload, dealing with constituents' thoroughly mundane problems.

The obvious danger of a backlash against 'professional politicians' is adopting a US style admiration for candidates 'untainted by experience.' Looking on the bright side, Rantzen has said she wishes only to stand against Margaret 'dry-rot' Moran at the next election. The constituents of Luton South and the wider world need not fear the prospect of Esther's debut performance on the green benches just yet; Ms Moran is political toast. Mags's deselection is as imminent as another clutch of revelations of crimes and misdemenours by MPs in Aunty Telegraph.

Judging by today's 'scoops' the utterly knackered DT hacks seem to be running out of big front pagers. The stories on Bill Wiggin and James Purnell don't appear very robust. Many commentators have been journalistically blitzed by these abuses of power and have found it hard to respond with a strong coherent message for change. Even the Observer's formidable Andrew Rawnsley has struggled to narrow his aim with his usual eloquence, given so many targets worthy of scorn.

But the Guardian's Commentisfree editors made a worthy effort today to delineate the scope of issues needing radical reform if we, as a country, are to embrace a 'New Politics'. They have recruited an army of columnists, each assigned a huge subject such as PR, an elected second chamber or the small matter of a written constitution.

This is the arena where the public should derive a more workable and representative democracy from this chaos. Presenters of TV magazine programmes may be genuinely incensed by this scandal but restoring public trust in Parliamentary is a more complex process than exposing errant double-glazing salesmen.

Speak to Me

The only way MPs may address the chair of the Commons directly is through a POO or a Point of Order. Yesterday afternoon the chamber was knee-deep in POOs, Michael Martin must have been able to smell his moment in history, as the first deposed Speaker in 300 years.

Speaker Martin had lost his touch, such as it was and found himself making the speech he should have made last week including words of profound regret addressed to the whole country. He called Douglas 'Khazi' Carswell, the member who looks like a spitting image puppet and who had campaigned against the Speaker's tenure for some months. They argued on the technical point of whether his no confidence motion was substantive, requiring debate or merely an Early Day Motion which is simply a list of names supporting any subject under the sun.

Speaker Martin had to refer to the Clerk for clarification. He looked like an amateur, ill-prepared and bumbling. Disgruntled members now felt confident enough to heckle Martin like he was a dissolute magician whose every trick ending in confused failure.

David Winnick, with his unkempt white hair resembled a retired Hogwarts Professor, he repeatedly addressed Speaker as 'Sir' as he put the knife in. The actorial Richard Shepherd rose looking like a skeleton in a suit and was a lot more direct with his advice to the Speaker to depart forthwith.

Sir Patrick 'Paddy' Cormack made a slightly obscure reference to the Norway Debate which heralded the end of Chamberlain in 1940. In effect, it was an echo of an echo of Cromwell, "in the name of God, Go!"

So he took the hint and resigned today. There has already been a suggestion of Ann Widdecombe as an interim. There could not be a worse candidate in the whole House. It is time they gave it to a Lib-Dem so Minging Campbell would be the choice (please not Alan Beith). If it is Tory I would bet on Deputy Speaker Michael Lord. The job needs a huge amount of knowledge on procedure so often goes to a Deputy. Whoever it is I doubt we will miss much the plaintive Glaswegian call for 'Order' from soon to be plain old Mr Martin.

Ps and Qs at PQs

So farewell then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith. She held her final Departmental questions yesterday before facing the inevitable boot down to Work and Pensions or Communities next month.

It was a strangely muted and rather empty session of HO questions, rather like an end of season match between two mid-division teams. No-one could get much of a steam up as the major event, the Speaker's statement, was to follow immediately after.

John Gummer, looking more and more like his own ghost, asked Home Sec why our signs at the borders were the "rudest" he had ever seen. Apparently immigration officials have seen fit to remove 'please' and 'thank you' from notices for those entering the country, obviously in line with our 'no-nonsense-tough-talking-approach' to keeping the buggers out.

Jacqui said, without irony, "the right hon. Gentleman makes an important point," and then went on to justify, in purely emotional terms, the decision to ban US 'shock jock' Michael Savage from UK.

The apt named Mr Savage incidentally has never expressed any desire to travel to the UK; to ban him from the country is like a spoilt girl at school, running round the playground, telling kids she doesn't know, they're not invited to her party.

John Stewart's Daily Show dealt with this official idiocy last week. Gets a bit silly.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=226609&title=Battle-of-the-Banned

At times Jacqui seemed to be affecting a 'posh' accent, surely not preparing herself for elevation to the Lords? No, it was her trying out a new idiom.

She was never going to be much of a Home Secretary. Her decision to wear all black, today, was particularly apposite.