An intelligent World is no longer fooled by G20 Summit Theatre

Another thought provoking article by Mark Jago - Republished here with permission:

Most people are already aware of five point plan that is the substance of the Thursday event, as it has been made available to the media prior to the G20 summit. What remains is choreographed theatre that political leaders feel obliged to participate in as a PR exercise for consumption by their respective home audiences. For an increasingly isolated Gordon Brown it's likely one of his last opportunities to strut on the world stage in a vain attempt to cast him as a savoir rather than a central contributor to the financial crisis.

The governments of United States and the United Kingdom have yet to formally admit that it was their political leadership that was complicit in allowing state run institutions to be active partners with rogue financial institutions in the perpetration systemic fraud that created the credit crisis and global recession. It will be interesting to hear what the individual G20 leaders have to say beyond the confines of the carefully scripted summit media statements.

President Obama and his team in the just over sixty days since he became president has done a stunning job in putting in place measures to turn the US economy around. While it’s is too early to expect not to have additional economic bad news, for the US spring is bringing with it signs of a bottom and turn around with new hope of an economic recovery towards the end of this year. Corrective measures to “market to market” accounting and modifications to the stock market up-tick rule and government money to help home owners, tax cuts and funding for public infrastructure projects all helping to create renewed economic growth. Government regulators and the corporate managements have been brought before congress to account for their actions and there will be people that will eventually be held responsible and go to jail.

As Gordon Brown prepares to chair the G20 summit hoping to gain additional stimulus package funding, the outlook of the UK stands in stark contrast to that of the US. Changes in the US have been ongoing over the past 16 months, with the lowering of US interest rates, improvements in exports, home foreclosure measures and tax rebate cheque stimulus. The election of a new president has brought about the replacement of the previous governments powerful Washington State Department heads and a new approach to US policy.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown who presided over the unfettered excesses of the UK's financial service industry, sold the UK gold reserves at fire sale prices, and treated essential industries like the North Sea energy and tax payers as his personal piggy bank in order to pay for his profligate political agenda. Facing catastrophe has pumped billions of pounds into failed banking system and taken a 16 billion pound hit with an in effective 1 percent cut of the VAT tax. In recent weeks it's become apparent that tax payers will be paying billions of pounds to replace public sector pension money losses which will presumably include the cost of the now disgraced RBS chairman's pension. A man who it is reported that the Prime Minister used to invite to his weekend parties along with the others of the UK Banking fraternity. In addition to having to pay back over many decades the money borrowed to bail out the banks and for the stimulus package.

The Prime Minister will tell G20 leaders that a clampdown is necessary to curb tax havens by individuals and companies, is obviously desperate to raise money from any source that he can find. His Energy Minister Mike O'Brien last week said that the Government was looking at securing funds from the European Investment Banks and admitted that the North Sea is unlikely to meet production targets for 2010. This after the Government sat idly by and failed to act to prevent RBS from pulling a line of credit from major North Sea driller Oilexco. For which Canadian management and shareholders paid last week the ultimate price for putting their trust in a partnership with the UK Government and its Banks. O'Brian also said that he is waiting to hear back from the EIB and North Sea Energy Companies that may be experiencing difficulties. Could it be that these mostly foreign companies think that better odds can be had by teaming up with the mafia?

The Prime Minister who has continued to insist that the UK is "better placed" than others to weather the crisis was told last week by the Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King that the Country had reached its limit on money it can borrow to spend its way out of the crisis. Former labour Lord Owen the put UK situation in to accurate prospective saying that "There is an air of breathtaking unreality in Westminster and Whitehall that reminds me of 1975," he wrote. "Hard choices need to be taken now, not postponed until after an election in 2010."

Many people would like to hear what is said behind closed doors at Thursdays G20 meeting. Could it be that the UK's next "special relationship" will be with the IMF? The world is quickly losing patience with this feckless selfish government.

Agreeing and Disagreeing with Hazel Blears

The Rt Hon Hazel Blears Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has for a variety of reasons started to move from the fuzzy edges of the Idle Man's Political Radar to being further into focus.

So I started to do a smidgen of research on the Lady and came across a BBC Headline: Blears attacks political bloggers. Oh Sigh! - Hazel Blears having a swipe at the nasty little bloggers.

Fortunately I did take the time to actually read the BBC Article, as this led me to a speech she gave to the Hansard Society in November 2008, snappily entitled Tackling Political Disengagement (in PDF Format) - This I suggest is worth reading, and not just to ensure this nasty little blogger isn't taking elements out of context.

Whilst as previously stated the speech is worth reading in its own right, this post is concerned with:
The Mainstream Media, Political Bloggers and Political People:

The Mainstream Media
The following is an extract from the speech:
Famously, Tony Blair called the media a ‘feral beast’ in one of his last speeches as Prime Minister.
But behind the eye-catching phrase was a serious and helpful analysis of a 24-hour broadcast media and shrinking and increasingly competitive newspaper market which demands more ‘impact’ from its reporting – not the reporting of facts to enable citizens to make sense of the world, but the translation of every political discussion into a row, every difficulty a crisis, every rocky patch for the Prime Minister the ‘worst week ever.’

The changing structure of the media is what drives this desire for ‘impact’ and the retreat from dispassionate reporting. And I would single out the rise of the commentariat as especially noteworthy.

It is within living memory that journalists’ names started to appear in newspapers; before then, no name was attached to articles. And in recent years commentary has taken over from investigation or news reporting, to the point where commentators are viewed by some as every bit as important as elected politicians, with views as valid as Cabinet Ministers. And if you can wield influence and even power, without ever standing for office or being held to account by an electorate, it further undermines our democracy.

The commentariat operates without scrutiny or redress. They cannot be held to account for their views, even when they perform the most athletic and acrobatic of flip-flops in the space of a few weeks. I can understand when commentators disagree with each other; it’s when they disagree with themselves we should worry.

There will always be a role for political commentary, providing perspective, illumination and explanation. But editors need to do more to disentangle it from news reporting, and to allow elected politicians the same kind of space and prominence for comment as people who have never stood for office.
I to some extent agree with Hazel Blears' about lack of separation between reporting and opinion, not just in Political reporting, but across the entire spectrum of news items.
As for the specifics of Political reporting three factors come to mind:

• The public tend to trust the commentators more than the politicians on whom they report/comment.
• Politicians like their Celebrity (sic) Counterparts have embraced the Media in a ways that is sometimes sickening to watch. But unlike those celebrities who fall foul of the Media, their publicists aren't in the same league as Max Clifford!
• The decline in Respect - 30 Years ago you might not respect the holder of public office, but you did respect the office they held. Today (and once again I blame the politician themselves for this), this is no longer the case. So a politician regardless of the office held, is as much fair game as a drug abusing pop star and has as many come-backs!

Political Bloggers
The following is an extract from the speech:
This brings me to the role of political bloggers. Perhaps because of the nature of the technology, there is a tendency for political blogs to have a ‘Samizdat’ style. The most popular blogs are right-wing, ranging from the considered Tory views of Iain Dale, to the vicious nihilism of Guido Fawkes.

Perhaps this is simply anti-establishment. Blogs have only existed under a Labour Government. Perhaps if there was a Tory Government, all the leading blogs would be left-of-centre?

There are some informative and entertaining political blogs, including those written by elected councillors. But mostly, political blogs are written by people with a disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy.

Unless and until political blogging ‘adds value’ to our political culture, by allowing new and disparate voices, ideas and legitimate protest and challenge, and until the mainstream media reports politics in a calmer, more responsible manner, it will continue to fuel a culture of cynicism and despair.

I am strangely proud that she says most political blogs are Samizdat Style (the clandestine copying and distribution of government-suppressed literature or other media), as it shows free speech is alive and well. Unfortunately this blog is not able to make this claim - Sigh!

I haven't done enough research to say whether I agree with the statement there are more right-wing blogs than left wing ones, but I would say that whatever party was in power, would attract criticism from the blogger community. Some of which would be anti-establishment, rather than simply against a specific policy. As for the blogs mentioned by name: Iain Dale's Diary and the obviously disliked Guido Fawkes (the name tends to indicate the viewpoint) well, have a read and make up your own minds.

As for entertaining blogs written by local Councillors, well from the small sample I have bothered to read, they fall into three categories: Self-serving, Concentrating so much on the minutiae they are Anally retentive, or worst of all Self-Serving and Anally retentive!

But moving on to the major criticism:
political blogs are written by people with a disdain for the political system and politicians, who see their function as unearthing scandals, conspiracies and perceived hypocrisy.
Hmm. The Political Blogs I read are:

• Written by people who are extremely worried about protecting democracy, but I agree in many blogs there is a general disdain for Politicians (which as for those of you who have read the Political Postings in this blog, know I share).
• I don't think bloggers have to unearth scandals, it is more a case of picking which of the many there are, to write about.
• Conspiracies: Yes, some see conspiracy everywhere, including those apparently being hatched by the Government, but many more actually complain about what they see as incompetance in Government, both by Politicians and Officials.
• Perceived Hypocrisy: A lot of it is not perceived, it is Hypocrisy!
• I am a cynic, but it has taken this Government to push me to near despair. I am sorry Hazel, but that wasn't achieved by the Mainstream Media, or Bloggers but by the behaviour and political ineptness of the Government, MPs - mainly Labour, but not exclusively, the rise of Spin, the politicising of some Senior Civil Servants and a decline in Standards of Public Life.
  

Political People
Again extract from the speech:
Secondly, let me look at the people in politics. Politicians must not live on ‘Planet Politics’ and behave in ways which are alien and strange to the electorate.
This happens partly because there is a trend towards politics being seen as a career move rather than call to public service. Increasingly we have seen a ‘transmission belt’ from university activist, MPs’ researcher, think-tank staffer, Special Adviser, to Member of Parliament, and ultimately to the front bench.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of those jobs, but it is deeply unhealthy for our political class to be drawn from narrowing social base and range of experience.
We need people from a range of backgrounds – business, the armed forces, scientists, teachers, the NHS, shopworkers – to make good laws.
And we need more MPs in Parliament from a wider pool of backgrounds: people who know what it is to worry about the rent collector’s knock, or the fear of lay-off, so that the decisions we take reflect the realities people face. In short, we need more Dennis Skinners, more David Davises, more David Blunketts in the front line of politics. Or if you prefer, more MPs who read the Mirror or Sun, and fewer who write for the Guardian or Telegraph.
The political parties, and the trade unions, need to actively recruit, mentor and support working class people into political life, and offer ways into the hermetically-sealed world of politics for people who have never been an MP’s researcher or worked for a think-tank. Just as we have programmes to encourage women and people from ethnic minorities, so we need an ‘Emily’s List’ style programme for people attracted from across the world of work. This would provide practical support for people wanting to get involved, who do not have the unfair advantages of the political elites.
Other than not wanting MPs who read the Sun amd Mirror as their view on the world and being extremely distrustful of Trade Union Activism, I find myself agreeing with Hazel Blears on most of what she said! After all in this blog I posted: Mainly a Rant on 'Careerist Politicians'

There are other parts of the speech which are worthy of consideration and are thought provoking, but they might add value to the 'political culture' and obviously this is not what a blog is supposed to do.

In her speech Hazel Blears mentions a paper by:
Gerry Stoker, Colin Hay and Andy Williamson: - Revitalizing Politics: Have We Lost the Plot?.
This is worth reading and if I can rise above my deep pool of Political Cynicism, Apathy and Despair, I may even write a post about it!

Finally a well respected, well balanced Political Blog that even Hazel Belars would have to admit adds to our political culture:
BBC - Nick Robinson's Newslog

The Idle Man,
P.S. Note to Tom Bradby at ITN - Why haven't you got a Blog, or has ITN said you can't?

Taliban - Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul FIG

Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul FIG (Former Inmate Guantanamo) and now using the nom de guerre Mullah Abdullah Zakir, has been identified as the Taliban's Chief of Operations in Southern Afghanistan. His stated mission is to step up Taliban Operations to Counter the US Surge.

Whilst the Idle Man has long suspected that being a FIG would become a 'badge of honour', like JBB (Jailed By the British) was in the 1950's and 1960's and that a proportion of the former Guantanamo detainees would join/rejoin either Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban after their release (see below).

But the surfacing of Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul was a surprise, because he wasn't released, but transferred into the custody of the Afghan Governemnt in December 2007 (along with 12 others). Why the Afghan Government released him is a mystery, but a decision that will be paid for by the lives of Afghan and Coalition Service Personnel.

As for other FIGs resurfacing as Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban Terrorists this is a quote from an Associated Press Article:
The officials, who spoke anonymously because they are not authorized to release the information, said Rasoul has joined a growing faction of former Guantanamo prisoners who have rejoined militant groups and taken action against U.S. interests. Pentagon officials have said that as many as 60 former detainees have resurfaced on foreign battlefields.
So it appears the Idle Man's suspicions are confirmed. Another occasion when being correct gives no pleasure at all.

Also see: Afghan Taliban Leader Was At Gitmo

Attack in Sri Lankan Cricket Team -Six Police Die in the line of Duty

There has been a lot of criticism over the measures taken by Pakistan to secure the safety of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team.

Well six Policemen Died in the Line of Duty as part of that security failure!

Ambushed and Outgunned the Police did not really stand much chance, but their deaths along with the quick actions of the Driver of the Team Coach saved the Cricketers lives.

Already their deaths and those of the two civilians also killed are footnotes in todays stories in the media. But the Idle Man hopes that the Lahore Police Force buried their dead with Honour and Ceremony due to those who died in the line of duty and will help their families through this time of their grief and into the future.

Moving on to the overall security arrangements, well much better qualified people than I, have stated these were less than adequate, and therefore must have been privy to these arrangements prior to the attack. If this is so, did they raise these concerns before the attack?

Sorry I am being ironic, the people commenting of the security arrangements in the media wouldn't have been briefed and as usual are being wise after the event.

The primary failure as in all highly successful terrorist attacks is in Intelligence. If you don't have prior knowledge of at least the general plan then you cannot quantify the action needed to either arrest those planning to take part, or provide the correct security needed to thwart the attack if it occurs.

That does not mean there were not failures in security on the ground. Mention has been made that the Team Coach took the same route each day. The small scale map of the area I have seen, seems to indicate that the Liberty Roundabout, scene of the attack was going to be part of any route to the ground. Commonsense dictates that if this is a 'choke point' on the route it is where security needs to be at its highest. But the level of security like any insurance is based on risk assessment, which brings us back to the failure in Intelligence.

Every successful Terrorist attack is a failure in Intelligence and Security. But to paraphrase an IRA Terrorist 'you can stop us 9 times out 10, but we only need that one success'.

I am extremely pleased that the casualties to the Sri Lankan Sportsmen and the Officials were limited to minor wounds and also laud the efforts of the Coach Driver to save himself and his passengers.

But my sympathies lie with the families of the two civilians and six policemen who died and the Men and Women of the Lahore police force who lost six colleagues, but today have to carry on policing the city.

External Links:
BBC - How the attack on cricketers happened

40th Anniversary of Concorde's First Flight:

Today the 2nd March 2009 is the 40th Anniversary of Concorde's First Flight on the 2nd March 1968 and the Fleet was withdrawn from service 34 Years later on the 24th October 2003.

The following YouTube movie (one of the many of Concorde) makes a fitting tribute to this great aircraft:

Concorde: First Flight