11th March 2013
Before 7am this morning I heard on Today that the Minister for Security at the Home Office and member of the National Security Council, James Brokenshire, visited Jordan last week in relation to our Abu Qatada extraction procedings. In chapter 5 of my book I also record that Ken Clarke, then Justice Minister, visited America in the week beginning 21st February 2011 to speak to the US Attorney General about the UK Bribery Act. I didn’t go into any further detail in print but my belief is that Mr Cameron wished Mr Clarke to take a message to the Americans in 2011 and it was thought the safest way to do that was in person. Similarly I think it probable the main reason for Mr Brokenshire going to Amman was to assist in the release of the UN peacekeepers as I noted in my diary yesterday. If I am right it is a bit worrying that a courier had to be used to pass a message securely but the end result was good so I suppose I musn’t be too negative.
A large part of the Sunday Programme yesterday on Radio 4 was on the current state of the Catholic Church. The consensus was that it’s leaders have lost their moral authority. One contributor said the best way forward would be for the new Pope to hold the power to tell the truth. That of course means that his past must be completely untainted. Then in the Sunday Telegraph 43 Church of England bishops, led by the Arbishop of Canterbury, wrote a letter to all politicians asking them to do their best to protect our underprivileged children and families in the ongoing spending cuts. Their particular concern is the Government’s Welfare Bill which will restrict rises in welfare payments for the next three years. The bishops intend to table an amendment in the Lords to exclude child related benefits from it’s provisions.
It is amazing how something can be common knowledge in certain circles but we the public are the last ones to know. The Scottish Sunday Mail reported yesterday that the Scottish food standards authority has tested 129 lamb curry dishes in Indian restaurants and takeaways north of the border and found 33 to only contain cheap beef. 13 had a mixture of lamb and beef. A professor at Aberdeen University has told the BBC he has been aware of the issue for years and believes the practice has long been widespread. Unlike the horsemeat scandal, which was about duped retailers, this story of course reveals blatant dishonesty between restaurateur and diner.
I had never realised it but Mothers Day is more correctly called Mothering Sunday. It is an English religous festival and is always the fourth Sunday of Lent. In olden times villagers used to move around for work but were encouraged to return to their home mother church to worship once a year. A lot of children went into service so that return became a time of family reunion and celebration. It became traditional for servants to be given the day off to travel home for the occasion. As youngsters walked back along the country lanes they would often pick wild flowers to put in their mother church or give to their Mums when they arrived at their destination. What a lovely story.
We are slowly getting there. Politicians are become more aware of their power and exercising it responsibly. A BBC webpage informed me yesterday that the Bank of Ireland, owners of Bristol and West, is increasing it’s mortgage lending rate for existing borrowers. By the autumn residential mortgagees will see their interest rate increase by 2.25% even though the bank’s own borrowing costs will not have altered. That has prompted Anrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee, to write to their regulator, the Financial Services Authority, with specific questions to establish why the FSA think such action should be allowed.
Yesterday media coverage was given to a report by the Centre for Social Justice saying we have effective slavery in this country and should do something about it. Although that will not be by the Gang directly, bad people soon pick up the rules of the game, and as they can get away with inhumane treatment that is how they conduct themselves. It seems vunerable people, especially immigrants, are taken advantage of most on construction sites and in the sex trade. The Immigration Minister says he thinks the authorities are gradually getting on top of the problem.
The centre of the Sikh religion is in Amritsar in India. In 2007 the governing body there advised that Sikh temples, called Gurdwaras, should only conduct all Sikh weddings. I think Sikhism is essentially liberal so there is no compulsion but it has allowed some youngsters to get hot and bothered about it. Before 7am this morning Today had a report on the rising number of protests against local worshippers who are allowing mixed faith marriages in their Gurdwaras, of which there are 300 in this country. People are becoming afraid. Some temples are refusing to allow mixed marriages or, if they do, insist that they must be conducted in conditions of secrecy. The troubles have been referred to the English governing body who are following the Amritsar line.
The programme included a local BBC Nigerian reporter telling us about the Ansaru group who have just killed their western hostages. He says they are a splinter group of Boko Haram. The latter’s grievances however are Nigerian based whereast Ansaru have an al-Qaeda global perspective. They have very little public support but anyone who gives information to the authorities about them seems to get killed. Consequently they are surrounded by a climate of fear and are pretty much allowed to do what they want.
I have written about our problem with antibiotics before and it seems that as soon as a new one is introduced the disease it fights starts to become resistance to it through natural mutation. The more the medicine is used the more resistant the bug becomes. We have not had a new antibiotic cultered since the 1980’s. The government’s chief medical officer was on the broadcast and she contrasts the situation to a ticking time bomb, comparable to terrorism by humans. Unless we do something, in 20 years times we will not have the ability to stop a septic cut from killing us. The trouble apparently is that pharmaceutical companies do not have any financial incentive to produce new antibiotics. Best practice means they should only be used infrequently, producing a low royalty stream, and the medicine’s lifespan is limited. The lady said the research and development process needs to be made profitable for the companies.
I wrote a note about the Business Secretary on 7th March 2013. He was on the programme this morning explaining his views on moving the economy forward. I noticed he clearly used the phrase my colleagues in government.
Liam Fox gave a speech this morning, in the week before the already decided budget, calling for the government to reduce taxes and freeze spending for the next five years. He gave an interview on the World at One to Martha Kearney and when asked about the coincidential timing of his remarks he said he thought they were very helpful in promoting a policy debate. Doctor Fox says Mr Cameron should lead the Conservatives into the next election.
The Gangmasters Licensing Authority regulates the supply of workers to the agricultural, forestry, horticultural and shellfish industries. The chairman of the Tribune Group of left wing Labour MPs, Michael Connarty, has suggested businesses should be made responsible for scrutinising their suppliers’ employment policies. That has led Justin King, the chief executive of Sainsburys for whom one of my sons works, to write to Mr Connarty. He does not think it would be a good idea, and criticises government plans generally to lessen the GLA’s responsibilities in the food industry. A copy of Mr King’s letter has been shown to the World at One, which covered the story today, presumably by Mr King himself. The Environment Minister, David Heath, disagreed with Mr King saying he thought more protection in the industry would apply. Gangmasters would be able to concentrate limited resources in areas where they had intelligence vunerable workers were being exploited. In that way better results would be achieved.
A diary note I have never referred to before, in my book or otherwise, is dated 20th November 2009 about a concerned Sir Hugh Orde appearing on the Today programme that day. I suspected his appearance was all about a politician first approaching a policeman, amongst others; the policeman replying and then material being produced for presentation to the public. I think what was worrying Mr Orde at the time was that he could see a hidden hand in the background directing events for the purpose of producing a particular desired result.
12th March 2013
Sometimes it’s difficult to work out what it is with the Gang and their orbit. I think it must run along the lines that because we have to remain hidden we hate everybody who has the freedom to conduct their lives out in the open as they wish. A BBC Newsbeat webpage reports this morning that a whole swathe of well know people in The States have had details of their private finances published, including social security numbers, on a particular unnamed website. Some unflattering photos have been posted. Affected names are Joe Biden, Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin, the director of the FBI, a Los Angeles police chief, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Mel Gibson. The policeman has called the situation creepy. It may only be a small sign but I wonder if it shows the discipline imposed by the Gang’s top team is beginning to crack. Whoever did it believed they could do so without having their head lopped off.
1517 Falkland Islanders voted over the weekend, in a 92% turnout, that thay wanted to stay British. 3 said they did not. Argentina says it does nor recognise the majority view as valid. Which means of course that if we did ever let the Islands go Argentina would have to occupy them with military force.
There has been a lot of snow in Sussex and Kent overnight. My garden might be a picture but it is completely ridiculous twelve days into March. Some motorists had to sleep overnight in their cars on the A23 south of Crrawly after it became impassable on a hill. You could see from the Met Office radar yesterday that south of us it was worse. The Channel Islands have had a rough time as has northern France.
I haven’t mentioned it before but Labour have been running a clever political ploy by proposing a mansion tax on properties worth over £2 million. It is a Lib Dem policy originally adopted at the time of their 2009 Party conference. Labour were against it when in government. Conservatives have never been in favour. There will be a Commons vote on Labour’s initiative today. The Business Secretay, Vince Cable on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, says they will not vote for it. They don’t play Labour’s cynical games. Instead the Lib Dems and Conservatives are putting forward a joint amendment stating the position of their two groups on taxation policy options.
From the first Newspaper Review on Today this morning I know there is a small report on the front page of the current edition of The Independent saying that it, The Guardian and the Financial Times are urging fellow newspaper editors to accept a Royal Charter backed by law under the Leveson proposals for future regulation of the press. It seems the three are worried that talks between the three political parties have broken down.
There has been a HM Inspectorate of Constabulary report out this morning on the Jimmy Savile affair, critical of the police. It seems they started receiving reports of Mr Savile’s activities in the 1960s. Mike Barton, chief constable of Durham Police and ACPO lead on intelligence matters, was on Today earlier and readily admitted people were not talking to each other properly in past years. However he reassuringly said everything now is much more joined up and he is confident nothing similar could happen again. Later a more politically motivated colleague perhaps, Peter Fahy the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, said it might. In his view it is difficult to achieve consistent national standards with 43 police forces in England and Wales. He thinks there should be far less.
Jeremy Bowen reported from Syria on the progamme, the second anniversay date of the start of demonstrations there. With the Assad regime being American Gang influenced, in my view, it could never give an inch to it’s opponents. So the violence has just got worse and worse. Jeremy spoke to a representative from the Free Syrian Army and you can see why things are so difficult. He likewise is not prepared to budge. As long as Assad is there his side will fight to the bitter end. Besides being dim, I trust that it completely unrealistic. People looking from outside must not let it happen. I cannot see that FSA man having any future involvement in the governance of his country. That would only be right. Such things however are the same wherever you look. In this country I notice Mr Nigel Farage says Ukip couldn’t contemplate an electoral pact with the Tories, under any circumstances, so long as David Cameron is their leader.
In his second In Defence of Democracy Radio 4 programme today Gus O’Donnel was talking to John Major. Sir John thinks a lot of blame about how we view government and politicians generally can be laid at the door of Special Advisers who have been around since the 1960’s. As temporary Civil Servants they should be impartial, just providing specialist advice to their minister to assist him or her in their job. However as the years have gone by they have become more and more political until they wished to create stories themselves, to further their minister’s cause. All that tended to do, when their tactics often went wrong, was to bring their man into disrepute in the eyes of the public: not them of course, as they are hidden away in the background. Physical yarn spinning is good, political spinning is not.
Prince Charles was guest editor of, and appeared on, Countryfile on BBC 1 on Sunday evening to celebrate it’s 25th anniversary. I wrote about a past part presenter of the programme on 21st February 2013. What struck me was how the Prince and the presenters were determined to be relaxed and enjoy themselves. That is what life should be all about. Then the Prince also wanted to tell you and me that he is just the same as us. He greatly looks forward to the birth of his first grandchild and wants us to prepare the best of worlds for the child, when it is young and old.
A BBC webpage has been published this afternoon saying the government proposed minimum alchohol price of 45 pence per unit might be dropped. Scotland is going ahead with it’s legislation for a 50 pence minimum. It seems there is disagreement within Cabinet on the suggestion with Theresa May, Michael Gove and Andrew Lansley stated as being against. Mr Lansley is Leader of the Commons and a past Health Secretary until the September 2012 Cabinet shuffle. No statements of the virtues of dropping the intention have been made known as far as I am aware.
I see from last Thursday’s FT that Nicolas Sarkozy has criticised Francois Holland’s military action in Mali on the basis that you don’t intervene in a county’s affairs unless it has a proper government. Four French soldiers have now lost their lives there apparently. It seems Mr Sarkozy is thinking about returning to politics.
I see from Wikipedia that Vaclav Klaus has been in Czech politics for over 20 years first as Prime Minister and then, after a break of six years, President. He has just left office under the constitution, having served two consecutive terms in the latter office. He now plans, I understand, to set up his own Czech institute co-financed by reputedly the country’s richest man, Petr Kellner and to work with the American libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, based in Washington DC.
He does seem to have a history of upsetting people, as reported in last Thursday’s FT. He is a eurosceptic, refused to sign the Lisbon Treaty, is a denier of global warming and is against gay rights. Just before leaving his post he signed an amnesty for 7000 prisoners and halted hundreds of corruption trials. The Czech senate has ruled that Mr Klaus has violated the constitution and he now faces charges of treason.
I wrote about Sulaiman Abu Ghaith last week, on 8th March. I have now read last Friday’s FT. It says Mr Abu Ghaith was apprehended in Turkey and then taken to Jordan for US detention. It also makes the pont that where the gentleman is tried is essentially a political decision. If those with the power want to send him to Guantanamo Bay then there is no one to stop them doing it.
That paper reports that the recent UN Security Council vote against North Korea was US led and took three weeks of talking with China to achieve. The worry now is that China will backslide and not actually implement the sanctions against it’s neighbour to which it has agreed.
The edition remarks that the new Mexican president, Pena Nieto, has just completed 100 days in office and has got off to a flying start. He seems to be a skilled politician and has people on his side.
The editorial there revisited it’s previous criticism of American drones. It makes the point that their use is outside the rule of law and as such, especially with things now getting quieter, their hidden operation should not be tolerated indefinitely by a civilised country. It is generous towards President Obama. The author accepts he carefully assesses each instance before authorising operation. However the next President might not be so diligent.
Philip Stephens writes about Nato in that issue. America has been the paymaster of the organisation in the recent past. But in times of sequestration that may not last. Britain and France are willing to look past our borders in fighting terms but most European military budgets are heading down towards 1% of GDP (ours is due to fall to 2.2% of GDP). Germany’s constitution does not allow it to send troops outside Europe. All in all Nato is losing it’s direction but the world is still an unpredictable place. If we want to become pacifist at least we should not sleepwalk into it.
Earlier today I read a BBC webpage saying that a political settlement on the Leveson Report was near. Apparently there were two meetings yesterday between Culture Secretary Maria Miller, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman and Lib Dem peer Jim Wallace to pave the way for a concluding meeting of the three party leaders. Some thought that would happen today but it has not.
Then Lionel Barber, the editor of the Financial Times, was on PM this afternoon on the subject. No mention was made of any political moves. Mr Barber confirmed my note from earlier today that he and the other two editors have written an open letter to the Trinity Mirror Group coordinator urging editors to accept a Royal Charter bringing in new regulation backed by statute. I am not sure everyone in his camp would go along with that but Mr Barber sounded confident. He said big and small cats had now been herded into a unified position. It was clear however that the press still don’t see things in exactly the same way as the politicians.
13th March 2013
An example of different specialisations working for altruistic common aims I feel is in Monday’s FT. Coordinated by Save the Children 27 executives from large companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline, BP, BT, Vodaphone, Waitrose and William Morrison wrote a letter to the paper that day asking the Prime Minister to stick to his pledge of spending no less than 0.7% of our GDP on foreign aid. They see that as a way of creating soft power for us, increasing our influence in the world. It is a long term strategy yes, but it is undoubtedly the humanitarian thing to do. With all our economic woes we are still a rich country.
There was an interesting article in that edition, by an external contributor, on Iran. He said that beneath the surface America is waging sabotage and cyber warfare to keep Iran in check. As long as that is a stable picture the US prefers it that way. There are no really difficult decisions to make. He also suggests Israel and Saudi Arabia don’t mind too much either. Rather the devil you know than the uncertainty you don’t.
Besides bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan’s south western border is with Iran and the paper reports that their two presidents have just announced a deal costing $1.5 billion for Iran to supply Pakistan with natural gas going through a new pipeline to be built linking the two countries.
Besides appearing on the radio yesterday Mr Barber, I imagine, also wrote the editorial in that day’s FT on Leveson. He makes it clear he is asking his colleagues to stretch out a hand of compromise. He suggests Mr Cameron has done his best for them but has effectively lost the argument. Some form of legislation will be required to obtain agreement. He suggests that a majority of both houses of parliament should be required before any statutory changes to ongoing press regulation could be made. I don’t wish to sound flippant but I did think that was what democracy is all about. The politicians are meant to be in charge. Half of those legislators we can vote out. We cannot do the same for any newspaper editors or proprietors.
Gideon Rachman writes there that China feels paralysed as far as North Korea is concerned. They are pertified that if they allow reunification of North and South the new creation will turn on them and ally itself with America. If he is right it does seem a bit small minded to me. We do all live in the same world. There are millions of innocent civilians suffering in North Korea through no fault of their own.
A BBC webpage today says the horsemeat scandal is changing our food shopping habits. A survey by Which of 2000 adults showed that 60% are buying less processed meat. 50% do not trust what is written on the label.
I saw a report on Newsnight last night which came from Maiduguri in northern Nigeria, a city of just over 1 million. It is in the heartland of the militant jihadist group Boko Haram which in Nigerian means Western Education is Forbidden. The group started terrorising the area two and a half years ago. The government has hit back by creating an elite military and intelligence force supported by the Pakistanis, the Americans and the Israelis. It tries to deal with the causes by having a hearts and minds programme but is also strong on the effects by taking people off the streets into detention centres. That is outside the law so almost inevitably stories abound of inhame treatment by the authorites, extra judicial killings and the like. Soon the trust of the people will be gone. The Gang will be licking their lips.
Channel 4 News were reporting on the Jimmy Savile story last night. Krishan Guru-Murthy went to Scotland Yard where he was granted an interview with Commander Peter Spindle about it.
I did not think it good news when I saw a video clip of Mr Cameron before a Commons committee yesterday saying we would be willing to break any future EU embargo against arming Syrian rebels if we thought that was the right thing to do. Nevertheless it was extemely disappointing to hear Mr Lavrov speak so negatively on his visit to London today. I hope the British and Russian Defence Ministers had more productive discussions. I do wish Mr Lavrov would stop repeating that any settlement must be left to the Syrians. For a country that is being ravaged by barbaric civil war that really isn’t a very helpful thing to say. It would be far more honest if he simply said he does not want to get involved. Anyway I am grateful to Mr Hague for being so up front about the situation. Britain and Russia are agreeing to disagree. They will try and move forward in areas of common interest. At least we are talking to each other I suppose.
I suspect it was hoped the visit to Jordan by the Duchess of Cornwall and the Prince of Wales might be a jigsaw piece to fit it. They arrived the day before yesterday I think but we do not know what their initial itinerary has been. Today they have visited a small Syrian refugee camp where Save the Children are involved, just over the border into Jordan. I heard the BBC’s Wyre Davies say that was a political action. I am sure non of us mind at all. His Mum will be proud of him. It is the motive which is important and whether you feel you are doing any good.
I have now heard that the arguments against a minimum price for alcohol are that it removes freedom of choice and will make liquor more expensive for responsible drinkers. The story itself has also moved on. Last spring David Cameron was sure it would be introduced. Now it isn’t. The hidden forces against him, in my view, have been too great. He has made a tactical retreat. However even in those circumstances you can still remain determined. He said in the Commons today that his government will deal with excessively cheap alchohol sales.
The radio news this morning was giving prominence to a Save the Children report on the Syria conflict saying that in total 2 million little ones have been displaced or affected.
David Cameron has appointed the American Don Berwick to lead a review into patient safety in the NHS. He has been speaking to the BBC about that and sounds a very nice man.
The Director of Public Prosecutions was on Today this morning expanding on his earlier remarks that victims of sexual abuse should be more readily believed by the authorities. Nevertheless he was making the point that for false rape allegations, over a period of 17 months only 35 of those prosecution types were made as against 5,600 of believed allegations. With figures like those policemen should not be afraid of believing victims. In the Gang context he does seem to be implying there has been a culture of misogny within parts of prosecution bodies and the police in the past.
Two Conservative MPs, Doctor Sarah Wollaston and David Davis, were guests of the programme. She was for a minimum alcohol price, him against. Although his colleague is one I was suprised to hear Mr Davis being disrespectful towards medical practictioners and quite so dogmatic generally. He said those specialists should confine themselves to medical matters. He was talking about a social policy issue to be decided by politicians. He had no interest in listening to doctors about the subject. It was almost as though he knew his argument had already been won and couldn’t stop himself gloating.
Towards the end of the broadcast I learnt that although the number of road accidents are falling whiplash claims have risen 25% in the last four years adding, it is estimated, £90 to the average motorist’s insurance premium. In France 3% of motoring insurance claims are for whiplash, in the UK it is 70%. In future the Association of British Insurers will be employing medical specialists to examine all whiplash complainants.
The fog on the Leveson discussions continues. No agreement was reached by the three party leaders this afternoon but we do not know why. We are now told there will be a Commons debate on the subject next Monday.
14th March 2013
Ukip are a one issue party. Because of that, it seems to me, it will always be difficult for them to gain broad electoral support at a general election. Last weekend’s FT magazine had a feature on it’s leader, Nigel Farage, a very engaging man in my opinion. His party however does seem to have some unusual friends and members. The article contains quotes from some of them. Italy’s Northern League are an ally. One of their members says he admires some of Anders Breivik’s excellent ideas. The leader of Ukip’s Slovak allies says it is best to deal with his country’s Roma population by using a long whip in a small yard. And the Ukip MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire says no employer with a brain would employ a young, single, free woaman. Having written that I am sure there are some balanced pragmatic individuals in Ukip. Perhaps they should speak up more.
What should suddenly pop up on the BBC website just before 9am this morning but a page telling us that a new coalition government has now been formed in Israel. It will comprise four parties, the alliance made last year by Likud and Yisrael Beitenu, Yesh Atid, Hatnua and Jewish Home. The ultra-Orthodox religious parties Shas and United Torah Judaism will no longer be part of the coalition scene. The government will have 68 seats in a parliamentary total of 120. Mr Netanyahu as prime minister is from Likud, the leader of the the election surprise Yesh Atid – former televison presenter Yair Lapid – will be finance minister. Jewish Home head Naftali Bennett will take economics and trade. Hatnua chief Tzipi Livni will be justice minister and chief negotiator in talks with the Palestinians. The total number of ministers is 21, considerably less than normal apparently. I see President Obama’s visit is due to start next Wednesday.
After many hours of party talks yesterday, making over 100 in all on the subject, the Prime Minister rang the other two party leaders at 9.45 this morning to say he thought the gap between them was too large to reach a compromise agreement on the Leveson proposals. He was not comfortable moving any further. The issues will now come before the Commons on Monday. On the face of it the differences do not seem great. It is agreed that a truly independent regulator of the press is required. As I understand it no one wishes to force the newspapers to sign up to anything if they don’t want to. Ultimately they must obey the law like the rest of us. The only sticking point, as far as I can see, are the rules for the regulator itself. Mr Cameron thinks they can solely be written in a Royal Charter granted by the Queen. Mr Clegg and Mr Miliband believe the words of authority must be in a statute. The enmity between the groupings is palpable. The newspapers distrust the power of the politicians. The victims distrust the power of the newspapers. The politicians distrust each other. I can only think the newspapers believe that if they agree to the politicians legislating once that will be the thin end of the wedge. They will legislate again whenever they are upset about something and legislate again, and again and again. The Lib Dems and Labour point out that a non-statutory Royal Charter can be changed by ministers without effectively asking anyone. They want any changes to be made out in the open by the House of Commons. And so it goes round and round.
I heard Alex Thomson on Channel 4 News this evening, when talking to a Labour politician from the Iraq war era, refer to rendition as politicians’ speak for kidnapping. The dictionary definition I see is to take someone away illegally by force.
As reported on Today this morning Jeremy Hunt has said that in principle he wishes to see an end to confidentiality or gagging clauses in severance agreements between the NHS and their staff when they leave in unusual circumstances. I think those situations must be difficult for the individual. With the large pay offs which go with the agreements effectively you are being bribed to keep quiet. Most people quite understandably will find that too easy an offer to refuse.
Another subject highlighted by the programme is an AA survey of 23,000 drivers, 33% who have said they have suffered damage to their vehicles by driving over potholes during the last two years. That has provided the Asphalt Industry Alliance with a nice opportunity to suggest that government should be spending £10.5 billion to bring our roads up to scratch. Lots of work for their members. Queue the Local Transport Minister who later appeared to say he thought it was all a storm in a tea cup. The government provide perfectly adequate funding to councils for road repairs.
Lots of excitement, and genuine anticipation I would say because it was unexpected, about new Pope Francis the first from outside Europe for over 1000 years. From his appearance on the Vatican balcony last night he seems a very nice man. He is a Jesuit Argentinian who is liberal in some respects and conservative in others. 40% of the world’s Catholics apparently live in the Americas.
Perhaps Newsnight’s Tim Hewell passed Mr Lavrov in the airport. Tim has been to Moscow to interview the Chairman of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee. That gentleman on last night’s programme said Russia see the Syrian situation as a struggle of order against chaos as much as anything else. They have told Mr Assad he cannot win militarily. He was very generous towards Mr Cameron whom he sees as completely independent of the Americans.
15th March 2013
Something about next Monday’s debate and votes on the Leveson proposals, it seems to me, is that it should increase the confidence of our elected representatives. They will be talking about important issues which are close to the hearts of many. That makes them important people.
Wednesday’s FT had a front page article with the heading, to mark the tenth anninversary of the Iraq war, the US won the war, Iran won the peace and Turkey won the contracts. In fact it doesn’t say anything about America or Iran but records that, although political relations between Turkey and it’s south eastern neighbour are poor, over the last ten years Iraq has become it’s second most important market. At £10.8 billion in 2012 the value of transactions is second only to Germany.
Inside the paper is a piece about French company EDF Energy’s plan to build a new nuclear reactor at the Hinkley Point power plant on the North Somerset coast. Planning permission is just about to be granted for the £14 billion project, to employ up to 5,600 people on a 175 hectare site. When finished it will supply 5% of our electricity to 5 million homes. However, as you would expect in a Gang influenced world, EDF are playing hardball. They are threatening to down tools unless they get the guaranteed price for their electricity that they want.
The issue also reports that France has decided not to try and hit it’s previously made commitment to reduce it’s 2013 budget deficit to 3% of GDP. Instead it is likely to be 3.7%. It seems Mr Hollande is afraid of upsetting his voters further. Germany however is on course to deliver a balanced budget in 2015 with no net borrowing requirement at all.
Fortunately power can be benevolent, say to guide a wayward child onto the correct path. Neil Buckley, on the same page, flags up some potential problems in south eastern Europe. He points out that Romania’s government fell last year, Bulgaria’s has this and Hungary is currently taking away it’s citizens’ human rights. He suggests the EU should concentrate on building long term secure civic institutions in such countries.
I think I am correct in saying that Mr Putin is popular with his citizens. That then will put him in a position to exercise benevolent power. There is an article in that edition written by an academic at Moscow State University. In his view Mr Putin is a conservative man which means, I suppose, that when he is ready to move forward, it will be slowly. The author points out that Russia is a society in transition. When you have been brought up in a totalitarian state I think it must be difficult to look at the world in different ways.
It would be really good to think that Mexico has turned a corner. The paper remarks that there seems to be an unexpected political consensus across Parties which is allowing the new president, Mr Pena Nieto, to challenge the power of the corporate tycoons and duopolies in his country.
The Syrian confict is so difficult. I was a bit down hearted when I heard Mr Cameron talk about unilaterally arming the rebels in the Commons committee room earlier in the week. However all of a sudden we do seem we have a depth of understanding with the Russians. If that applies you can have differences of opinion with your friends and not fall with them. Yesterday’s FT editorial I think sees it in that way. It looks upon the Prime Minister’s words as just trying to rachet up the pressure a bit. If it helps to save innocent lives no one can argue with that.
John Gapper’s article in that edition is entitled, drinking yourself to death is not a human right. Hear, hear to that. Unfortunately I fear some in the drinks industry would like it to be. Many in the US also think you have an inalienable right to have a deadly weapon in your pocket.
Three supermarket bosses, of Morrisons, Asda and Waitrose have been on the business section of Today over the last two days. They all sounded remarkably upbeat. Their horsemeat difficulties are behind them. It was almost as though they have all seen the light as to how they can move forward in positive, not negative, competition. And that is based on giving their customers what they really want instead of what powerful retailers think we should have.
One of those cultural, or as I would say Gang influenced, stories here. A gathering of 18 councils, a protest group, residents’ associations and a golf club were in the High Court today hearing the outcome of their judicial review applications against the High Speed 2 rail project. They lost on 19 counts and won on one which will not delay the timetable. However from the radio news this morning it seems they are quite open on what they are about. They wish to pick holes to delay the works as long as they can. They immediately said they would appeal. How wonderfully positive. I noted on 4th March 2013 that that was how the Viet Cong finally helped to beat the Americans in the 1960’s.
Douglas Alexander the shadow Foreign Secretary was on Today this morning sceptical of arming the Syrian rebels. He feels it likely there will be a post Assad civil war so the less weapons floating around the better. He suggests a better bet might be to tighten sanctions such as for the Lebanese to stop finances flowing through their country to Syria as they have officially signed up to do at the United Nations.
Messrs Cameron and Hollande have been in Brussels today both arguing for the EU to drop it’s Syrian arms embargo. Mr Hollande is stronger about that than Mr Cameron. To be cynical I suspect he remembers how popular his Mali military action was in France as I mentioned in my note of 30th January 2013.
Yesterday the police arrested four current or former high ranking journalists of Mirror Group newspapers under phone hacking allegations. It is rumoured their information came from an insider conversant with how such things have operated in tabloids.
16th March 2013
I understand the police initially thought their Operation Weeting investigations into phone hacking would be concluded this year. However a newspaper review on Today this morning informed me The Guardian say that will now be 2015. It seems 600 more lines of inquiry have arisen to investigate, based on activities at the features desk of the former News of the World and within the Trinity Mirror Group.
Merryn Somerset Webb was writing in the Money section of last weekend’s FT that in the US 1% of the population own 35% of the nation’s wealth and 20% own nearly 90%. Before you start smirking, in Britain the figures are 1% own 20% and 10% own 50% of wealth.
I heard on the radio news yesterday that the North Island of New Zealand is experiencing it’s worst drought for 30 years. New Zealand of course is where lambs are reared for our shops. Because agriculture is so important to the country the dryness will take 1% off it’s economic growth.
Since writing my note on Thursday about implementation of the Leveson proposals I have read today’s FT and, thanks to their clarification, there is a crucial additional element to add. The statutory framework Labour and the Lib Dems are suggesting is that of a single statutory clause, saying that any later change to the agreed Royal Charter approach must be approved by a two thirds majority of both Houses of Parliament. That seems to me like a cast iron guarantee to the press that future gerrymandering of their right to free speech, which they themselves agree should be adequately regulated, will not happen unless we all become bonkers. As far as the Prime Minister is concerned I can only think that in the best interests of his Party he feels he cannot at this stage go as far as the other two political leaders. To an extent perhaps he wishes for all MPs as a group, to cover his back. He has said he will accept the decision of Parliament.
Pope Francis seems to have a deep sense of confidence which no doubt he believes has been granted to him by the Lord. He has given a press conferenece today and was completely at ease in a totally novel environment. He said he wished the Church could be poor again. I think that is a lovely thought.
Britain has been unhappy with Zimbabwe since they unilaterally delared independence from us in 1964. Then around the time of Zimbabwe’s 2002 presidential election I recall Tony Blair, as our Prime Minister, seemed to get a real bee in his bonnet about Mr Mugabe and his political party. He appeared to feel it unacceptable that Zimbabweans might vote for a man he thought an inappropriate leader. He did not hide his poor feelings for Mr Mugabe. When the Patriotic Front won, in disputed circumstances, and that outcome was never overturned I felt Mr Blair was shown to be impotent. Perhaps he was using the wrong approach. Today had a report from the country this morning. In today’s new world I have a hunch the message has been passed to Mr Mugabe, now 89 and president since 1980, that we don’t mind too much if he remains in office for one more term, should he win July’s election. I think Mr Mugabe looks upon himself as a generous man and as such he has agreed to the referendum now taking place to bring in a proper constitution. One provision is that no individual can be president for more that 10 years. Thankfully things have been looking up for the country for a few years now. Hyperinflation has disappeared, goods are in the shops, schools are open and the communual violence has stopped.
I am old enough to remember when a lot of people used to rent their televisions. The suggestion was made on the programme that renting might also be a good idea for washing machines made of steel, not so much for us but for the good of the planet. A good quality machine lasts five times longer than a cheap one. If we rented one of those we would not be throwing away good metal all the time and the rental company would ensure it was always in good working order for us.
The Doctor Foster research body was set up in 2001 for the purpose of publishing publicly available data about our health. One of it’s founders was on the broadcast saying that for the last ten years their figures showed some four hospitals had continuously high death rates. However it seemed to him that no one was particularly interested in their findings. It is possible to argue that 20,000 people needlessly died as a result of that inaction. For a lot of that time the Labour Government was in power and in his contribution Andy Burnham, the former Health Minister, said it was the Doctor Foster figures which did ultimately trigger the investigation into the workings of North Staffordshire hospital.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lib Dem Danny Alexander, was on the transmission talking about closing tax loopholes in next week’s budget. He wanted to tell John Humprys that he and his colleagues are grateful when tax malfeasance issues and the like are brought to their attention by members of the public.
The programme used the opportunity of this afternoon’s stressful Wales versus England rugby match to speak to the Team GB sports psychiatrist for last summer’s Olmpic Games. For illustrative purposes he splits your brain into the three parts of thinking, emotional and intuitive, and instinctive. He was saying your thinking lobe does have to manage your emotional lobe. In my own way that was a point I was making in the email published in appendix 11/4 of my book.
The team had a slight problem with the line during that interview. It is something that happens a lot. It must be very wearing for them. However what I found interesting was that, although there was no way it could have been his fault, the psychiatrist instinctively apoligised when he could not hear the studio. That is something I could never have done. As I have heard one of my daughters say of me I am far too competitive for that.
At the end of last year the Essex chief constable announced he would be retiring early, this spring. I suspect that might have given him more freedom of expression and action than he otherwise would have had. No internal politics to worry about. Three of his officers recently attended a house burglary. The burglar or burglars were apprehended but not charged. They were just cautioned. The chief constable has said he finds that decision staggering and has referred his officers to his professional standards department to investigate whether they have misconducted themselves.
One of the cardinals, from South Africa, who voted for Pope Francis has suggested it might be more productive for us if we could think of paedophilia as a psychological illness not a criminal condition. It might helps us not to get quite so worked up about it. Exactly the same type of argument applies, it seems to me, about the taking of illegal drugs.
I wrote quite a supportive paragraph about Richard Nixon in chapter 7 of my book. I am now having doubts whether that was appropriate. The reason is a Radio 4 programme broadcast tonight based on recordings of conversations President Lyndon Johnson took of himself when US president in 1968. It was the time of an upcoming presidential election and peace talks in Paris to end the Vietnam war were about to be sucessfully concluded. The Republican presidential candiadate was Richard Nixon and he secretly sent a message to the South Veitnamese that if they withdrew from the talks he would give them a better deal should he became president. Withdraw they did. Mr Nixon won too by a narrow margin. However to compound his trickery he then escalated the American’s war into Laos and Cambodia before finally settling the Vietnam war in 1973 after another 22,000 American lives had been lost.
I thought it was a nice phrase when David Cameron said in his speech to his party activists today that he had never been more up to the task of turning our country around.
Eurozone finance ministers have today agreed a £8.7 billion bailout package with the IMF to save Cyprus’ finance system. As I have noted before a lot of money from Russia is deposited in Cypriot banks and there is a novel feature in this rescue. Anyone with deposits of less than 100,000 euros will have to contribute 6.75% of their balance towards the package, higher depositors will have to pay 9.9%. Arrangements were made before the announcement that savers would continue to have full access to their funds except for those ring fenced percentages. The Cypriot parliament will vote on the package tomorrow. As it was unexpected Cypriots’ first reaction quite naturally was to be pretty upset. However I would have thought it is much better to lose under 10% of your money rather than all of it. And that 90% plus bailout has come through supportive action of governments where they do not live.
From a detached perspective the plan clearly deals with the issue of moral hazzard. If you are reckless with your money you cannot expect others to sort everything out for you when things go wrong. I think I might also see a hand of Russian government cooperation there as well. If they are asked it seems possible they might be willing to grant new financial alleviation to the island. The Cypriot Finance Minister is travelling to Moscow on Monday.
On Wednesday a British man was arrested in Alancak on the Turkish Cypriot side of the island. He was awaiting trial on a murder charge in 2010 when he escaped from a prison van in Worcestershire on it’s way to court. He was deported back to the UK today.
This morning a BBC webpage told me the Americans are increasing their missile defences on their west coast in light of the North Korean’s recent threat to attack them. Then the page goes onto explain that that deployment will partly be funded by cancelling the final phase of their Missile Defence programme in Europe to deal with any possible Russian strike in that part of the world. I imagine the Russians will be pleased about that.
This evening a BBC webpage reports that a senior Syrian army general has defected to the opposition. He has passed through the Jordanian border. There has been no comment from the Syrian government.
17th March 2013
There was crowd disorder yesterday afternoon before Nuneaton Town played York City at home. Sixty two were held for violent disorder. They were no injuries. Officers from three other forces helped out Warwickshire Police with their operation which started at 10.30am. The Chief Inspector in charge said it was unacceptable for strangers to enter his patch and make life difficult for his public. Those intent on trouble should be aware they would be treated robustly. Fortunately for all concerned prior intelligence was obviously good. I make a connection with my diary note from yesterday about a man charged with the murder of another in Lichfield in 2010 being flown into Heathrow from Northern Cyprus. Nuneaton is 20 miles from Lichfield. The Gang are a nasty lot.
BP is going to appeal in court over some claims agreed by the lawyer administering it’s compensation fund for those affected by it’s Deepwater Hosizon oil rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. A rice mill 40 miles from the coast is currently due to receive $21 million and a construction company 200 miles inland, $9.7 million. BP has called some of the payments as absurd and recompensing losses which do not in reality exist.
There is a BBC webpage up this afternoon reporting that Big Brother Watch have made FoI requests elucidating that 29 public bodies have employed outside companies to carry out surveillance operations for them in the last two years. Four councils used private investigators to monitor their own staff. It is estimated that the cost of all that private snooping was £3.9 million. Whether the operations are justified I do not know but BBW sugget the situation is very nearly out of control.
I know you shoudn’t compare the new Pope with the new Chinese President but they do both seem nice straightforward men who want to connect with ordinary people. I have just watched a video clip of Xi Jinping, in office for the next ten years. He said he fully recognises his responsibilities and would be loyal to his citizens. He will do his best and work hard to serve his country.
Another man of the people I hope, will be the new Archbishop of Canterbury. During the week he let it be known that he does not feel comfortable drinking on his own after growing up with his alcoholic father, who no doubt used to do that a lot.