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Saturday, January 31, 2004

William and Ellen Craft

William and Ellen were two slaves who fled to Britain from the US in the mid 19th. Century. They wrote their story called ‘Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom’ and toured the UK lecturing on the evils of slavery.

They were known to the anti slavery organisations here and I think to William Wilberforce. I believe the Quakers might also have known them.

They lived for a while in Hammersmith where there is a blue plaque on the office that stands on the site where they lived.

I recently picked up a contact in the US who was trying to find out more about their time in Britain. Anyone harbouring a relative out there? Or any special knowledge?

Hutton

The devastating effect of the Hutton Report on the BBC was an accident waiting to happen. I am a strong supporter of the BBC and I didn’t want Greg Dyke to go. The problem is though that the BBC had in recent years been moving into the print media role of campaigning journalism which inevitably becomes political campaigning.

It is bad enough that the press choose to do this but for a public broadcasting organisation to do it must be a serious mistake. The press looks for sensational headlines to boost flagging sales. This leads them to focus on individuals in Government in order to gain another scalp. This is fine if the stories are true but if they are not it simply undermines the democratic process.

The Hutton Report gives both politicians and media an opportunity to start again. We need to stop substituting insults for arguments. So no more ‘liar, liar pants on fire’ headlines or accusations unless well substantiated. No more cynical assumptions that everyone who enters politics is in it for personal gain. Far more openness within the political process would also help. This is easy to ask for but difficult to deliver. Only the wildest optimist would hope that politicians wont brief against each other or present their own story in the best light possible. That happens in every job but is more intense in politics.

Spinning is not new. It has been with us since the beginning of human society but it has got out of control in the last twenty years and none of us in politics or media are free of blame. The press attacks on Labour in the 1980’s were savage and highly spun. Our response was understandable at first but became institutionalised and outlived both its justification and its usefulness.

Look at the headlines today however. If Hutton had criticised politicians as strongly as he has the BBC every paper would be praising him and calling for resignations. Because he criticised the media they are attacking him for a “whitewash”. This reinforces the point I make about the media becoming like a political party. They take sides more strongly then the conventional parties.

One of the problems is that apart from blogging there is no way in which the media can be challenged. If they don’t think your views are worth publishing they don’t publish them. As they have their own agenda this is particularly destructive and is in itself a form of censorship.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Tuition fees

Well, tuition fees scraped through by just 5 votes. I believe the policy is right (see my earlier entries).

Tony Blair and the Labour Government have been damaged by this row. There are two lessons to be learnt. The first is that the Prime Minister must develop some of these more contentious policies through the Party and wider public discussion. That way some of the disputes can be dealt with without going up to the wire.

Secondly the Parliamentary Labour Party has to realise who gains from these splits. It is always the main opposition Party that gains. That is why Michael Howard was so delighted to have Labour MP’s joining him in the lobby.

Today we took a dangerously long step away from Government and towards opposition. All the people who have benefited from the Governments reforming policies will not easily forgive us if we don’t learn that lesson.

Saturday, January 24, 2004

This week - next week

Jenny Tonge MP

If I had been born and brought up in East Belfast or West Belfast I could understand how someone might want to join the paramilitary groups there. I would hope that, like the majority of people who do live there, I would have had the strength of character to resist the temptation.

Trying to understand a person’s motivation is a necessary part of finding out what troubles them. Saying you would be tempted to join them is a step too far.

I doubt that Jenny Tonge MP would get on a bus and blow herself up just as I doubt she would shoot a Palestinian child in order to understand why an Israeli soldier might do that.

Outsiders do need to try and understand but supporting this form of violence is and must be unacceptable. That is why I think she was wrong.

Tony's difficult week

The next week in the House of Commons will be a real cliffhanger. So two predictions with my fingers firmly crossed!

1. The Government will win the tuition fees vote but it will be close and that means it will be damaging.

2. The Hutton Report will not conclude that Tony Blair lied. It will show that the Government should have made a clear decision early on to identify Dr. Kelly as the source. He should have been called in and offered support while also being told that he needed to be absolutely clear in telling the Minister who he had spoken to and what had been said.

In a democracy you cannot conceal this type of information nor should you try. Once they had come to a muddled conclusion that they couldn’t name him but neither could they deny that they knew the source the outcome was bound to be messy and unfair.

I’m not taking large bets on these two predictions but plenty of grovelling if I’m wildly wrong!

Equipment in the Gulf

Before the Iraq conflict I did a tour of British military bases in the area. I often asked about the quality and quantity of equipment. Mostly it was well regarded but some troops did complain that our desert boots were not as good as US ones. I was then told that British body armour was superior to the US type and that sales and exchanges were happening.

I do not for one moment suggest that the 200,000 sets of body armour that were not available when they should have been were caused by trading of this type. Neither do I suggest that the soldier who died for lack of it was a victim of this activity.

I mention it because having served in the forces myself I do have some idea of what happens in the confusion of operations although I was fortunate enough not to have been involved in conflict. I also remember the quite intense competition that went on about equipment and international comparisons when serving with troops from other countries.

It is a different world out there!

Friday, January 16, 2004

Further responses

Ingrid Jones responded to my question about the role of the press. I share her hope that blogging will help redress the balance and I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t.

My main point however was that the press use to be referred to as the fourth estate, after Parliament, Monarchy and Church. Those concepts are largely meaningless now. The press now act like political parties. They have their own agenda and their own views. That means the elected representatives are increasingly marginalized. The media also focuses on one or two high profile individuals thus personalising politics even more. Meanwhile much of the real news goes unreported.

That is what I mean when I say the press has become the second estate.

Simon made an interesting point on tuition fees pointing out that given the time lag in repayment by graduate’s the universities will have to ask the Government to find the extra cash in the short term.

I think he may be right and perhaps this is becoming more like a graduate tax. I still think the policy is right but it may take longer to work then hoped.

That’s politics for you!

Thursday, January 15, 2004

News International and tape recording

On the 7th January I referred to a point of order on tape recording. The Speaker wrote to me yesterday confirming that no one in the House of Commons should tape record a conversation without the consent of the person concerned.

I have already written to the Press Complaints Commission asking them to include a clear statement in their code as well. I await a reply.

CAFCASS and Privilege

Last Tuesday the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee decided to ask the House to refer a case to the Committee of Privileges in the House of Commons. It concerned a report the Committee had done on CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service). The report had been very critical of the effectiveness of the organisation.

The work of CAFCASS is important because it deals with some very vulnerable children caught up in court cases usually around family breakdown.

One member of the Board was being disciplined partly because she had given evidence to the Committee. On the face of it, this is a breach of privilege because every citizen has a right and a duty to give evidence to the House without fear or favour. It is an important right which can affect all of us.

The short debate in the House resulted in the case being referred to the Committee of Privileges. They will look into the matter and report back to the House. For more details see Hansard for Thursday 15th January 2004 at www.Parliament.uk

Tuition Fees

The Parliamentary Labour Party had a packed and vociferous meeting on Wednesday. The issue was student finance and the Secretary of State for Education was speaking. The abolition of up-front fees for all students, the additional help for low income families and the guarantee of no repayment until you have graduated and are earning over £15,000 has taken a lot of heat out of the argument.

There is still opposition to variable fees but the whole debate has got skewed because some people are using it as a way of getting at Tony Blair. Whatever your views on Tony, putting at risk a necessary and in my view, good policy on student finance and university funding because you don’t like the Prime Minister is bad politics.

What alternative is there? The Tory’s say reduce the number going to university and the Liberals say fund it all out of taxation. How many people believe that there will be a queue of parents saying “I don’t want my child to have a place in university”? And how many times have the Liberals promised to spend that extra tax on pensions, education, and health?

The sad truth is that the Liberals could have replaced the Tories as the major second Party when Ian Duncan Smith was the Tory Leader. They failed because the Tory votes they needed to attract and who they rely on in their constituencies were never likely to vote for a tax and spend policy.

Now Michael Howard is the Tory leader he will attract back many of those disconsolate Tory’s who have been flirting with the Liberals for the past few years. Don’t underestimate Michael Howard – he is bright!

Clare Short MP and the Sun

My thanks to Bloggerheads.com for drawing my attention to the nasty and juvenile attack on Clare Short MP by the Sun.

I don’t agree with Clare in her criticism of Page three in the Sun because I am not too concerned with what people read or do as long as consent is involved. I am also worried about censorship if we try and ban or control such publications.

Whether you agree or not it is pathetic and offensive to launch the type of attack the Sun has. Most intelligent people will treat it with the contempt it deserves but sadly people go on buying the paper.

It is a good idea to make your views known in whatever way you can. Maybe we ought to swallow hard, buy some voting shares in News International and start a shareholders pressure group within this rather sad organisation. Any one willing to organise this?

Monday, January 12, 2004

The Guardian and the fourth estate

Media – The Guardian.

It is not easy for people to get their general views into the newspapers so I was pleased to see a whole page in the Guardian quoting the views of a panel of voters chosen by them at the last General Election.

Why though, did the Guardian spoil the exercise by printing a picture of Tony Blair with the long nose of a liar? No one in the survey accused him of lying and I thought the critics were more thoughtful then that. We still have this problem in the media of editorial policy slanting the news. Pictures do tell a story and if there had been people in the survey accusing him of lying it would have been fair but that picture under a quote saying ‘This is not the government I voted for’ implies that the critics in their survey are claiming he’s a liar which they weren’t.

The fact that a range of views was printed in this form is good policy for a newspaper and the nearest they get to blogging! It compares well with some other papers who come from the ‘all the news that fits the print’ school of journalism!

I remember some years ago when the Evening Standard ran a story about London MP’s not being present in sufficient numbers in the chamber of the House under a picture of nearly empty House. The picture cut off at precisely that point which would have shown the press gallery to be completely empty!

I wrote to the Editor saying the Standard could help hold MP’s to account by publishing a weekly page with short statements by MP’s about current events. Answer came there none!

The media used to be the fourth estate with Parliament, Monarchy and Church in first three places. Has the media replaced the Monarchy in second place and has that helped push Britain into a more presidential form? Discuss!

Further Response - tuition fees

Further response – tuition fees.

Hamish Harvey makes one of the main arguments against tuition fees and I suspect I can’t add much that I haven’t already said. It is true that if you earn more you pay more tax but if university education is not going to be available to everyone then I think there is a case for paying over and above the norm.

Hamish then spells out a brutal truth – those of us who went to university in the past didn’t have to pay but now we are legislating to pull up the drawbridge! True but there are a couple of important points. Firstly we are looking at close to 50% going to university in the near future compared to about 8% when I went. Secondly the interesting point to me is that those MP’s who didn’t go to university are often very vociferous about the advantages it gives and that students should pay.

I think of one Glasgow MP who said it was a class issue for him. If he tried to sell free tuition on the doorstep in his area he would get short shrift! His constituents had different priorities. Students make good scapegoats!

Saturday, January 10, 2004

Kilroy and responses

Kilroy.
I agree with Tom Watson on Kilroy. There has always been a bit of barely hidden hatred in some of the programmes. Don't go there!

Blogging.
Thanks for all the information on blogging for my talk to the Hansard Society - it has been helpful.

Internet.
Thanks also for the correction on the invention of the Internet. The finer points of the technology sometimes escape me! (quite frequently actually!)

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

news International and tape recording

I raised a point of order in the House of Commons yesterday. It was a continuation of my investigation of News International.

This time the point concerned taping telephone conversations without the knowledge of the other person. Most journalists use shorthand but some use a tape recorder to assist them. I don’t have any objection to that and when I’m asked I nearly always give my consent. However consent should not be assumed and there is the important point of why the conversation is being recorded.

The Speaker will look into the question of unauthorised tape recording and give his views to the House. Watch this space!

Meanwhile I await an answer from Rupert Murdoch about the sexual harassment at News International. I wrote to him before Christmas.

For the full point of order go to www.publications.parliament.uk and follow the links to Hansard for the 6th. January 04.

Friday, January 02, 2004

New Years Honours and Scientists

I’m sure the New Years Honours list needs modernising especially to make it more transparent but I was very pleased to see that Tim Berners-Lee was knighted. I suspect many people in Britain won’t know who he is but anyone who types in the magic www sign to access the Internet ought to because he invented it!

When I was in New York I noticed a public memorial to many great scientists throughout history and one of them was Tim – or Sir Tim, as we must now call him. Anyway we all owe him a great debt. He has put far more power into the hands of the people then I ever have despite all my best efforts. So, if you want to change the world – be a scientist!

While I’m at it let’s give a quiet thought to the Beagle somewhere on Mars. That also was a great effort even if it has done a runner! A prize to the cartoonist as well who showed it following a Martian child back to his crater somewhere on Mars and saying to his mother “I don’t know where it came from - it just followed me home”!