Richard Willis and Mark Thompson have both written up a story about sleaze in government, referencing a Sunday Times investigation.
-
Firstly, Cllr Willis claims that the sums of £1-3,000 taken in the 'Cash for Questions' scandal are "very small" (even discounting the effects of inflation since the early 1990's!), before attempting to sidestep the issue of exactly how widespread the practice was in the Conservative party at the time.
Far be it from me to point out to Cllr Willis that the Sunday Times' claim that the four Labour peers 'fees' of £1-5,000 per day are not so dissimilar to those requested byConservative MPs in the Thatcher-Major years, but his article does take on the appearance of trying to make a partisan point at the expense of several vital facts.
Cllr Willis completely neglects any idea of how the practice subverts parliamentary democracy, by whoring the duty of MPs to represent their constituents and breaking the oath of alleigence to uphold the law, made when an MP or Peer enters the Houses of Parliament for the first time.
He then attempts to contrast the 'Cash for Questions Affair' with Tony Blair's 'Bernie Ecclestone Affair', commenting:
"This is very serious for Labour. It has the smell of a decaying administration about it but also the sight of Labour politicians profiteering at a time when the country is in dire straight is potentially deadly."
Cllr Willis also neglects to mention the Cash for Influence Affair'', which, while less famous actually did most to expose how the system of government under Labour was able to be perverted for private interests.
Surely the most important question is, however, were the Peers implicated by the Sunday Times also guilty of buying their titles in the 'Cash for Honours Affair'? If this is the case, then the stench is not of a decaying administration, but of one which was rotten from the start.
Oranjepan asks:
Is Cllr Willis striking a blow in a personal campaign against corruption in politics, or is he explaining to us that he knows how to take advantage of the system?
-
Mark Thompson takes a slightly different approach to the issue, actually defending the vast majority of politicians in the system.
He expresses the scepticism about politics he has personally faced and considers whether there is a connection between apathy and corruption.
He states that it is "clear that they [Labour, ed.] [are] as bad if not worse than the [previous] Tory government," adding, "I am sure most of the people in the Blair government wanted to do the right thing, as was undoubtedly the case with the Tories that went before them."
He argues passionately: "Something will have to change and soon, otherwise I will eventually come to the conclusion that the politicians in power actually want the system that we currently have."
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
▼
2009
(449)
-
▼
January
(51)
- The Busy-ness Stakes: January
- Recommended Reading List #2
- Picture: From the Muddy Banks of the Thames
- 30 More Children at Risk in Reading?
- Recommended Reading List #1
- Thames Water: 300 Jobs Down the Drain
- Meet the Mayor!
- Third Runway Plans Gets Go-ahead
- More on the Council Meeting
- Martin Salter and Money
- Children's Services - Higher Standards Now?
- Heavy Workload at Council Meeting
- Portfolio Shake-up follows Children's Services Sca...
- Have Your Say on Housing
- Extreme Pornography Law Change Takes Effect
- More comment on those Acolaid figures
- Welcome to the new Bloggers
- Tony Jones: Labour are Bullies
- Where does this bias come from?
- Letters to the Editor
- Editorial: Good for Readers, Good for Reading
- Apologies & Corrections: Apology #1
- Now Here's a First
- The Inside View: More on Reading's Children's Serv...
- How to Stop Bureaucratic Prejudice and Official In...
- Bigging Hisself Up
- The Aftermath of the Scandal
- Rubbish - stat of the day
- Yes, but is strong leadership good leadership?
- Good Luck to Him
- Barack's Berkshire Link
- Valuing People - New Inquiry into Local Social Ser...
- Communications Debate Heats Up
- Reaction: Blogs respond to resignaton
- Breaking News: Ruhemann Resigns
- Online maps for local crime statistics
- Editorial: Isn't it amazing...
- Acolaid: deeper analysis
- Acolaid: The analysis
- Roundup: Childrens Services Report Joint Area Review
- Acolaid: the statistics
- The Heathrow debate (before the McDonnell debacle)
- Going Global
- Two Reading bloggers of repute
- Acolaid: The rebuttal
- That Heathrow decision
- The Entertainer
- Explaining those Acolaid figures
- Reading List Blog Survey
- Winslet: Two Golden Globes
- Editorial: The Usual Suspects
-
▼
January
(51)
- On The Eclectica Trail
- On The Election Trail
- Who Is Your Hardest Working Local Politician?
- The Expenses Scandal
- Berkshire Council Taxes
- Reading Budget 2010/11
- Reading Budget 2009/10
- Reading Civic Status
- Reading Festival
- Reading University in Transition
- Reading Buses
- Transport Matters
- Local Crime Issues
- Sport & Leisure Stories
- Children's Services in Reading
- Housing in Reading
- Local Media & Communications
- Weather Issues
- King's Meadow Campaign
- Bath Rd Reservoir
- Pincent's Hill & White Hart Meadow Campaigns
- Save Our Pubs!
- Heathrow Expansion
- AWE Aldermaston
- Berkshire Jobs
- BBC Berkshire
- ITV Local - Meridian
- Teletext Thames Valley
- BBC Radio Berkshire
- Heart Berkshire Radio
- Reading4u 87.9fm
- Reading 107fm
- Radio Bracknell Forest
- Asian Star 101.6fm
- Local Berkshire
- City Local - Reading
- Berkshire Life
- Reading Post
- Newbury.net
- NDS - South East
- Google News - Reading, Berkshire
- Topix News - Reading
- About My Area - Reading News
- Spark
- Reading Forum
Berkshire Campaign Links
- Action For Market Towns
- Amnesty Reading
- Berkshire Nature Conservation Forum
- Bring It Back
- Campaign Against Living Miserably
- Campaign Alliance For Lifelong Learning
- Campaign For The Reform Of Council Tax
- Econet Berkshire
- Greenham & Cookham Commons Commission
- Gurkha Justice
- Jubilee Debt Campaign
- Keep Trade Local
- Kennet Valley Ark
- Living With Fibromyalgia
- Loddon Valley Action Group
- National Playing Fields Association
- NO2ID
- RACE
- Re-Open The Jolly Anglers
- Reading Area Charities Together
- Reading CAMRA
- Reading Civic Society
- Reading Cycle Campaign
- Reading Friends of the Earth
- Reading Pride
- Reading Refugee Support Group
- Reading Single Homeless Project
- Reading Trade Justice Group
- Reading Voluntary Action Directory
- RISC
- Rising Tide
- Save Calcot Fields
- Save King's Meadow Baths
- Save Pincent's Hill
- Save Slough Town Hall
- Save The Bath Road Reservoir
- Save Windsor Fire Station
- SkyScreamers
- SOS Reading
- Stop Heathrow Expansion
- UK Missing Kids
- White Hart Meadow - Have Your Say
- Whiteknights Studio Trail
Reading List Politics
Political Information
- - Public Resources - -
- AboutMyVote - register to vote
- votewise.co.uk - compare the candidates
- TheyWorkForYou
- The Public Whip - MP voting records
- HearFromYourMP
- WriteToThem
- r8yourpolitician
- WhatDoTheyKnow - Freedom of Information requests
- iPetitions
- E-Petitions - No10 Downing St
- parliament.uk
- The Electoral Commission
- The Stationary Office
- The Hansard Society
- Political Studies Association
- Do Politics
- Get Elected
- The Straight Choice
- Democracy Club
- Be A Councillor
- I'm A Councillor
- Contact your councillor
- RBC Complaints Department
- Planning Portal
- Planning Alerts
- Report A Crime - Thames Valley Police
- Report Empty Homes
- FixMyStreet
- FillThatHole
- ClearThatTrail
- Scenic Or Not?
- The Best Of... Reading
- Touch Local - Reading
- info4local
- OnePlace - South East England
- UpMyStreet
- AboutYourArea
- GroupsNearYou
- ONS - Reading Statistics
- DirectGov
- NHS Direct
- NHS Choices
- Consumer Direct
- Connexions Direct
- jobcentre plus
- Tax Credits Helpline
- RecyclingNearYou
Help, Advice & Support
- Age Concern Berkshire
- Alcohol Help
- Berkshire Disability Information Network
- Berkshire Family Mediation
- Berkshire Lowland Search & Rescue
- Berkshire MS Therapy
- Berkshire NHS Drug & Alcohol Specialist Services
- Berkshire SAR Dogs
- Berkshire Women's Aid
- beYou
- Child Support Agency
- Childline
- Children's Information Centre
- Communicare
- Connexions Berkshire
- Daisy's Dream
- Divorce Aid
- Fatherhood Institute
- FRANK
- Gingerbread - single parents
- Heartbeats
- Help the Aged
- learndirect
- Life Story Theapeutic Centre - Psychological and Therapeutic Care
- links
- Living Reading
- National Debtline
- No5 - Youth Counselling & Info
- Parent Partnership Reading
- Princess Trust Carers Service (Berkshire)
- Readibus
- Reading & District Hospital Charity
- Reading Citizen's Advice Bureau
- Reading Community Welfare Rights Unit
- Reading Credit Union
- Reading Refugee Support Group
- Reading Samaritans
- Thames Valley Crimestoppers
- The Edge
- The Pension Service
- There4U - Berkshire
- Tilehurst Poor's
- Victim Support
- West Berkshire Buddies
"Reading List... is fantastic, it could help revolutinise politics in Reading"
Matt Blackall
"Prolific"
Matt Brady
"Irrelevant"
Adrian Windisch
"Bizarre"
Reading Geek Night
"A bloggers digest of the Berkshire blogosphere"
DMOZ
"An easily accessible collection of Berkshire's excellent blogs"
The Cookham Blogger
"An excellent digest of the thoughts of local bloggers"
Reading Guide
Matt Blackall
"Prolific"
Matt Brady
"Irrelevant"
Adrian Windisch
"Bizarre"
Reading Geek Night
"A bloggers digest of the Berkshire blogosphere"
DMOZ
"An easily accessible collection of Berkshire's excellent blogs"
The Cookham Blogger
"An excellent digest of the thoughts of local bloggers"
Reading Guide
No comments:
Post a Comment