Democracy Unaffordable

Photo Montage : Peter Kennard

This BAE business stinks. Cuts right to the heart of a government's genuine desire to “export democracy”. And now the US are really gonna fuck things up.

It’s inconceivable that a UK or US minister of defence would get a kickback to the tune of £100m a year for awarding a military contract. Granted, times have changed, but even in the petro-dollar 70’s morality such behaviour would be seen as a gross breach of public trust and basic democratic principles. The government is supposed to act in the name of and interests of the people – difficult to believe when your minister of defence has just splashed out on a Gulfstream jet (actually a 747 – Ed).

Was there ever a time government policy of “exporting” democracy was thrown into sharper relief ? So long as you’re a pal, so long as we get paid, we don’t mind you screwing your people, in fact we’re happy to help.

Naive ? This Al Yamaneh bizniz is gonna come back to bite us in the arse - in the shape of the US investigation. You gotta wonder if Gordon will stick to the terms of our extradition treaty when they come knocking on BAE directors’ doors (probably the best hope for the Nat West 3).

The Misrepresentation of the People's Act ? - might as well give up.

With this deal, the Saudi’s priced democracy out of business. The thousands of jobs, the treasury contribution – who was gonna say no ? We couldn't afford it. And Bandar’s bung was almost certainly priced into the margin anyway.

The SFO and Goldsmith decided it wasn’t in the UK's interest to continue the investigation. For once, maybe the US and it's investigation is actually acting on behalf of the Saudi people ?

No doubt they’ll get their come-uppence soon enough. Maybe in Diego Garcia.

Harman, "No more spin". Blair, "What spin ?"

Yesterday, Minister for Justice, Harriet Harman was lamenting the press and the government’s approach to it, "We have to do our politics differently, the old embedded habits of briefing the press has got to change and we have to be very open, stop the spin, stop the briefing and respect Parliament."

Meanwhile, across the way, Blair was berating the state of political reporting - the closest he got to admitting “spin” may have something to do with it was, “I first acknowledge my own complicity. We paid inordinate attention in the early days of New Labour to courting, assuaging, and persuading the media”

Amazingly, he blames the simplification and exaggeration of today's press on technology, the speed of communications and the need for “impact”. He says things have got to change. No mention of the words “we'll change", or "we'll stop our institutionalised lying to the press”.

Bear this in mind when you read the full speech to really appreciate how persuasive the man is. You almost feel like he's fessed up, when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Cabinet Office fails Standards in Public Life Test

You’d have expected the Ministry of Defence to come out pretty badly in any review of disclosure and “whistle-blowing” policies. What you wouldn’t expect is the Cabinet Office, the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Treasury to come out even worse.

The Cabinet Office actually only scored 3 out of a possible 28 points when measured against good practice criteria endorsed by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

Public Concern at Work (the guys that ran the review) said: "As there are no sanctions in government for such a woeful performance, it is now down to incoming prime minister Gordon Brown and civil service chief Sir Gus O'Donnell to insist that the Cabinet Office practices what it preaches if it is to earn its place at the heart of government."