Across the Line

When interviewing a public figure, anything said "off the record" should be dealt with the utmost care by the journalist. Whatever follows can inform future articles, give another better context or corrrect false impressions. What is clear at the time is there is a contract of understanding between the politician and the writer.

Not so at the Daily Telegraph who sent undercover reporters to entrap various Lib-Dem ministers to complain about their end of the Coalition deal. Vince Cable disclosed most and rather rashly, to what he thought were young mums from his constituency. Even so he asked them not to repeat his words "outside."

Revealing his zeal to declare a "war on Murdoch" necessitated removing media regulation from his portfolio and would in any other case have deservedly earned a thorough sacking.

However it was not the Telegraph who broke the story but Robert Peston of the Beeb who had been gifted the scoop by someone at the paper who thought the corporate media group was determining editorial decisions. It is easy to see how that impression was made. It looks more like the Torygraph did not lead with this explosive quote about BSkyB takeover because it did not suit their wider interests for Vince to hand the decision to a more lassez faire Tory like Jeremy Hunt.

Perhaps the paper will learn its lesson about undercover reporting. It is totally proportionate when exposing criminal behaviour or corruption. But if it amounts to bugging in person to embarrass then it is shabby, disreputable and threatens future frank disclosure which until now made the worlds of politics and journalism go round.

Also when you deceive you can't manage what information comes out and it may not, like this case, be in your own interests.

Anyhow, without lifting a finger, Murdoch, as ever, is the winner.

You Know that I Know that You Know

It fell to Home Office Minister, Julia Goldsworthy (left) to do the press on the Government's Equality Bill. You would have thought under a female Home Secretary in Theresa May, it was a good opportunity for the Coalition Government to show their committment to equal pay in the workplace.

Unfortunately, the resultant media release was a new low in transparent nonsense from a Lib-Dem Minister where she appeared to convince herself of the entire opposite of her lifelong views. The policy measure actually belonged to Labour. It was a power in the old Equality Bill which forced companies to publish their emloyees pay rates if it had been shown they had perpetuated gaps in salary between the sexes.

During the Bill's passage Ms Goldsworthy lobbied Labour to expose those negligent companies, arguing, quite rightly, a "voluntary audit is hardly worth the paper it is printed on." Now in Government and following intense lobbying from City businesses, Julia has decided to not commence section 78 of the Act although it had already received Royal Assent.

She said in a rather supine press release it was now "arrogant" to think "Government knows best" and it was "absolutely the right time to make voluntary pay reporting work." In defence she claimed, contrary to all evidence, "we live in a differnt world from two years ago." Yes, a fantasy world in your case. She knew before what a farce such a voluntary scheme is and how business will flick two fingers at such futile gestures to equality.

It actually is a different world in the public sector. The vertitable Eric Pickles, SoS for Local Government, is forcing all Councils to reveal senior officers pay, setting a limit, tied for arbitrary reasons, to the PM's salary. Pickles lambasted CEOs for their pay rates describing it as a "football transfer market."

Not only does this policy expose the Tories traditional hypocrisy over public and private earning, it will only encourage the best public administrators to join the private sector where their higher earnings can remain a secret.

And I Don't Commend it to the House

Vince 'Vinny' Cable has had to perform some extra-ordinary political backflips in order to maintain his status as Secretary of State for Business. But the latest volte face, U-turn, flip-flop call it what you will, could be something of a first in British political history.

Vince's department has a policy to ramp up student tuition fees and the Tories have graciously allowed them to abstain given that every Lib-Dem MP signed a pledge to do so over their dead body. Conservatives could see an interesting dilemma occuring where whatever way Lib-Dem Ministers voted make them appear mad, bad or sad.

Clegg must have taken the political gamble that the students would swallow their medicine just like before as British young people are apolitical and apathetic. And yet they are not. The eruption of anger from the campuses has taken everyone by surprise not least the hapless NUS president, Aaron Porter who tied himself in knots and didn't even attend the last protest.

The control freakery of the police is fuelling the anger as is the cutting of the £30 a week allowance for poor sixth formers, a needless and pernicious 'saving'.

The Scottish and Welsh Parliaments are ensuring their countries' students are not exposed to such huge liabilities which just underlines how avoidable the policy is.

Vince may end up not supporting his own bill, but in any event Lib-Dem support among students is below sea level.

You're an Embarrassment

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter (left), did not feel moved to open any level of inquiry when the BBC Panorama team made allegations of corruption by senior board members.

Blatter answers to no-one. To be FIFA President is to be annointed into business royalty where usual business standards do not apply.

FIFA Vice-President, Jack Warner had already been caught flogging $1m worth of tickets to agencies and touts in 2006. His punishment was to be asked to repay the money. It would appear being caught did not deter him from doing it again this year.

Putting to one side these grave allegations, Andy Anson head of 'our' bid committtee called Panorama "an embarrassment to the BBC."

The wrath of many media organisations, particularly owned by Rupert Murdoch has been to lay into the Beeb accusing them of "sabotage" just before the decision on whether Britain should host 2018 World Cup. Was it not the Sunday Times who first revelead delegates taking 'sweeteners'?. Anyway, it would hardly be in the BBC's interests as they would get to broadcast the World Cup where Sky would not. In any case it was good to see old-fashioned investigative journalism infuriating these remote sporting despots.

The conditions set by FIFA on any World Cup bid are sickenly restrictive. The host country must agree to allow FIFA to protect its Amazonian like revenue stream by making temporary changes to tax and commercial law. We saw this in South Africa where all street sellers were cleared out within a mile of the stadia. During wet matches fans were only allowed to use FIFA umbrellas and not their own.

Suddenly our bid looks less favourable then the Russians. FIFA may yet regret getting into bed with Putin et al who are not so pliant as we would have been. To Sepp it is a mere detail.

Too Much Too Young

David (Lord) Young's indiscreet restaurant burbling about the "so-called" recession sounded rather like some Harry Enfield character or at least a scene from 'Yes, Minister.'

Amid the reassuring sound of fish knives on fine porcelain and claret glasses nudging together, Young poured out classic Tory indifference to the hard-pressed and unemployed.

As an adviser to the PM on business, he felt he did not have to accede to the Coalition's transparently false mantra of "we're all in this together." He scoffed at rising unemployment and cuts in public services as a lot of "fuss."

His best line was probably when he compared the level of public spending for 2010 being broadly similar to 2007, omitting to mention the tens of billions sucked out to support irresponsible banks. "Now I don't remember being short of money in 2007". Young wasn't short of money even in 1957, he was born into wealth and was able to thrive unlike "most people".

Once exposed, by the Telegraph of all papers, he immediately began distancing himself from his own remarks, like a footballer who has just been sent off, decrying needless fouling. Cameron had shown ruthless qualities previously and should have sacked him on the spot but instead showed he was really jolly angry at the old fool. Young did better by resigning a few hours later.

Labour frontbenchers could hardly contain their delight in having so many lines gifted to them which they can quote back to Cameron ad nauseam. The old image of Tory complacent aloofness is starting to return because the old detachment from the common man's plight had never really gone away.

Breeding Contempt

I am not sure I would agree with David Cameron the announcement of a Royal wedding in a few months amounted to, "a great day for Britain."

But Republican tendencies to one side, the new focus on the Royal family was a great day for tabloid editors and semi-redundant society watchers.

Prince William comes across as an amiable chap and Katherine Middleton seems a canny lass herself but their obvious difference in class will be exploited by the media with relish. There are few articles more nauseating than the adopted superiority of society commentators making terse remarks about perceived lapses in protocol.

Ms Middleton, unlike William, struggles to trace her family back to Edward II. Like practically all of Britons she only has to go back a maximum of four generations to find working class roots. To some of us, it is a source of reassurance of our equality and shared national heritage. To the snobby hacks, it will be a rich vein of bile and viciousness which will be mined to exhaustion.

It is beyond doubt her family will have pure lies told about them. Every relative looking a bit blurry-eyed in the back of a taxi will be presented as a huge story with a 'screamer' headline. Some will sue for damages and win. They will be compelled to take on heightened security and will wonder whether it was all worth it.

The first to be attacked looks to be Katherine's mother, Carole, who according to the gossip columns, works for a living, chews gum and uses the word 'toilet.'

It would be appropriate to offer the young couple every happiness yet the misery has hardly begun.

Just Read the Book

George Bush Jnr, or good ol 'W', once bet his political strategist, Karl Rove he could read more books in a year.

This detail emerged from Bush's autobio published last week. I think Rove won the bet but W still consumed almost 100 himself. That would not really matter if he hadn't been President at the time and not a first year undergraduate.

Surprisingly some were rather intellectual, which reminded me of that line from the film 'A Fish Called Wanda,'

"Monkeys don't read philosophy."

"Yes they do. They just don't understand what it means."

As expected, in Bush's memoirs we have the justification of Iraq war as well as torture through water-boarding. He rather glibly said it was perfectly alright as he had checked with lawyers and delivered the line as if we all knew the high levels of virtue advocates work under. These lawyers would also have had some encouragement from Veep Cheney to provide 'suitable' advice.

On the rounds of interviews for his book, one brave journo dared press him on the issue by asking the simple question (in so many words), "Ok, Bud, if this is not torture, are we OK about foreign police or army doing this to American personnel?" Bush shifted in his seat and gave his universal answer: "Just read the book."

But since then, some poor commentators have ploughed through this simplistic, Texan drivel they have found lots of false and proxy memories. I guess the editors did not dare to cross check if Bush was always there to witness all the conversations he had detailed. But it seems he has probably inadvertantly lifted sections frm other books (like Bob Woodward's). So he comes across as a rather dim, confused, self-conscious, adolescent who just used to be President.