Watching an hour in the Commons today and hours of select committee yesterday, not one mention of Sean Hoare and his eyewitness evidence of Coulson’s direct involvement in phone hacking. The whistleblower has been wished out of existence.
For all those complaining that the Murdochs had been carefully coached in presentation before the Select Committee, I say this is much worse. You do have to watch to the end to understand what I mean:
The inordinately stupid Lola Karimova has just lost a libel case against a French newspaper for calling her a “Dictator’s daughter”. The French court decided that her father, Islam Karimov, undeniably is dictator of Uzbekistan. As the OSCE has ruled all of Uzbekistan’s elections as sham, and as Uzbekistan features in every list of the world’s worst human rights abusers, the outcome of the trial was never in doubt. So why did Lola do it?
The answer is a misunderstanding of French, and western, society. In Uzbekistan there is absolutely no notion of judicial independence. Every case goes the way the government wants. Criminal cases in Uzbekistan, for example, have a conviction rate of over 99%.
European Union governments have been falling over themselves to fawn on Lola’s dictator father. Recently, for example, the European Council voted to increase tariff free access for Uzbek cotton to EU markets, despite the fact that millions of child slaves are used to hand pick that cotton. The situation is so notorious that Tesco, Walmart, Marks and Spencer and many other retailers boycott Uzbek cotton and have systems to check there is no Uzbek cotton fibre in their lines. Yet the EU governments accepted an incredible assurance from the EU Commission that there is no serious problem.
The Karimovs believed that if this kind of surreal denial of the facts was practised by EU governments, it would be practised by the French court as well. Fortunately they were wrong.
Most European governments are obsequious to Karimov because of their desire to get hold of Central Asian natural gas through the Nabucco pipeline scheme. For the British government, they will do anything Karimov says as long as he keeps the supply lines to NATO troops in Afghanistan open through the Northern Distribution Network. This year saw the first official visit by the Uzbek foreign minister to the UK – a visit conducted in total secrecy by the FCO to avoid human rights protest.
There is a very revealing recent interview here with Laurie Bristow, a senior FCO official visiting Uzbekistan, in which he lists UK priorities for Uzbekistan and makes not one single mention of human rights, democracy, good governance, corruption or child slavery. It rather upsets me that this clueless disgrace is actually standing in my old office in this video!
But even worse is the British government’s failure to react to the Uzbek government’s conviction of a member of Embassy staff, Leonid Kudryavtsev. Leonid’s crime was organising meetings inside the Embassy with Uzbek human rights groups.
All Embassies have some local staff, and in British and most western embassies they are often engaged in quite sensitive work. They have no diplomatic immunity, and their position is legally rather anomalous. In practice they depend for protection on the prestige of the country which employs them and its willingness to make waves to protect them. If you read Murder in Samarkand there is a great deal about my local staff – Leonid is there under a false name – and certainly while I was Ambassador to Uzbekistan the Uzbek government did not dare touch them. I even was able to give effective protection to some human rights activists by giving them cards for honorary positions advising the Embassy. It worked.
Leonid Kudryavtsev was convicted for just doing his job inside the Embassy. What he was doing was also in itself a human right – organising meetings. The meetings were about human rights. But in Uzbekistan, any meeting involving NGOs to be lawful must have permission of government – which will of course never come. It will not be refused, but you just will not get the permission. It is impossible for genuine NGOs to operate in Uzbekistan (and indeed over 700 western NGOs have been banned, including every one you have ever heard of).
To apply such a law to meetings on Embassy premises and to the local staff of the Embassy is unheard of. I have consulted seven other former Ambassadors and we could not think of a case. But the FCO reaction to this attack on our Embassy in Uzbekistan is disgraceful. We are actually going to do nothing at all in retaliation. We are going to stop inviting human rights activists to the Embassy. A junior FCO minister had voiced “serious concern” adding – and this is the punchline – “They were also entirely in line with President Karimov’s expressed wish to create an improved awareness of human rights in Uzbekistan.”
This about the man whose opponents are regularly tortured to death and who has some 10,000 political prisoners, and profits massively from child slavery.
I honestly do not know how they can do it, which of course is why I am now unemployed and they have the chauffeur driven cars. But I really just cannot comprehend how people can do it. It is utterly sickening.
Is it any wonder that Lola believed the court would ignore reality, and rule her father is not a dictator?
By their own admission, the Murdochs’ media empire is too large for effective corporate governance. The fact that Rupert, James and Rebekah claim they had no idea who authorised thousands of illegal phone hacks, and had no idea who authorised tens of thousands of pounds of bribes to policemen, and still say they have no idea even after all the hullabaloo, is positive proof that such concentrations of media ownership become unaccountable and should be banned by law.
They are condemned from their own mouths, by the line of defence they have chosen. Whether it is true or not doesn’t matter in terms of the policy that must be adopted – the prevention of multiple media ownerships.
Hertfordshire Police have issued a statement on the preliminary post mortem results:
There is no evidence of third party involvement and the death is non suspicious. Further toxicology results are now awaited and there is an on-going examination of health problems identified at the post mortem.
Please note, toxicology reports can take some weeks and we cannot make any further comments at on the post mortem, including the problems at this time
If I was the family I would call in an independent pathologist quickly. We all remember the first pathology report on Ian Tomlinson. Sean Hoare may indeed have died from natural causes, though it is unusual with modern communications for someone in their forties to do that with a suddenness that precludes a call for assistance. But unfortunately, the lies police told about Jean Charles De Menezes, the far too convenient first post mortem on Ian Tomlinson, and the lack of any inquest on David Kelly, means that it is no longer possible in this country simply to accept the word of the authorities on such things.
If ever proof were needed that our political system is a pretend democracy, the abysmal performance of today’s select committees should remove any doubt. The lack of any tenacious or forensic questioning on just what people knew and just when they knew it, was startling. Rebecca Brooks apparently very seldom visited the paper she edited and had no idea what happened there. Nobody had any idea why they might be meeting the legal costs of assorted criminals. Nobody asked Brooks straight out exactly how much she knew about payments to coppers.
Most sycophantic of all was Louise Mensch, in her helpful attempts to ask questions revealing that all the News of the World did was the same as the rest of Fleet Street, and it had some good effects, like combating paedophiles. I lost count of mentions of Sara’s Law and paedophiles – no mention of the mob they incited to attack a paediatrician, though. These MPs are so used to asking servile questions at Prime Minister’s Question Time, they don’t seem to realise how they look to the rest of us.
If anybody had any doubt that most MP’s, News International and the top people at the Met are all part of the same corrupt governing political class, the scales must surely have dropped from the eyes now. What a pathetic bunch of parasites.
Pretty stupid and unhelpful. But Murdoch’s wife may be the only realistic challenger for the Klitschko brothers…
I find it hard to believe that anybody can watch today’s clutch of Select Committee hearings without coming away with one overwhelming impression; the extraordinarily low quality of the UK’s Members of Parliament. With the noble exception of Tom Watson, I don’t think anyone has enhanced their reputation today. I have often blogged about the fact that for centuries Parliament contained many of the intellectually brilliant, of a whole variety of political persuasions, but beyond doubt amongst the most outstanding minds and extraordinary people of their generation. This was still true in my earlier lifetime.
Parliament nowadays is full of dull party hacks of a middle management mentality. The number of parliamentarians I would enjoy sitting next to at dinner, is tiny. How many parliamentarians would you enjoy a dinner with? Most of them are in it, not to serve their country, but as a career. What really agitates them is anything affecting their expenses and their pensions.
The Murdochs could bat away these pompous blunderers all day. Even the dull transatlantic management speak of James Murdoch baffles them. It is humiliating for this country that these dullards are our representatives.
The continuing hubris of the News International lot is really quite astonishing. These people do not seem to have realised they no longer have the world in their pocket. I thought this one really took the biscuit; Rebekah Brooks’ lawyer complains that the police have damaged her reputation. To which the reply is, what reputation?
When you consider how Hayman, Coulson and Brooks conspired to trash the reputation of newly murdered Jean Charles De Menezes by publishing deliberate lies about him, that is sick. Even more sick when you consider that Cressida Dick, who orchestrated Menezes’ murder, is now in charge of the anti-terrorist squad as a result of all the resignations.
It is particularly fascinating that the squad of police in direct charge of pumping out years of lies to bolster the “War on Terror”, in close collusion with Brooks and Coulson, was put in charge of the investigation into those two. I have yet to see a convincing explanation of why the News of the World investigation was given to the anti-terrorist squad, as opposed to any of the Met’s many thousands of other detectives. Was this Ian Blair keeping it in politicially safe hands who would not progress it? Almost certainly yes, I would say.
The most obnoxious policeman of all time has not yet come under the spotlight in all this. He will.
The best whistleblower so far from inside News International has just been found dead. Hertfordshire Police, either incredibly stupid or incredibly corrupt, have just been quoted on Sky News as saying there are “No suspicious circumstances”.
Whaether this is a convenient heart attack or a Kelly type “suicide” remains to be seen. Maybe the Met mistook him for a suicide bomber and pumped several shots into his head. With the exception of Kelly, this is possibly the most suspicious death of my lifetime. “No suspicious circumstances”. WTF!!
Sean Hoare’s testimony that Andy Coulson knew of individual phone hacking operations is pretty well certain to be true. I have written many times for national newspapers, and wherever I have written disparagingly about anybody, I have had to give my evidence. I have even, for example, been called in actually to meet the legal advisers at the Mail and discuss my evidence. The idea that journalists were not telling Coulson where they got their stories, or for what purpose they were laying out tens of thousands of pounds, is simply not practically possible. Same goes for the period when Rebekah was editor.
Sean Hoare’s testimony was plainly, absolutely true. His death discourages other whistleblowers a bit, doesn’t it? If the inquiries into News International are going to have any credibility, they are going to need a witness protection programme – from which the Met are totally excluded.
Very rarely, Sky News let a normal person be interviewed. There was a policeman representing Met beat bobbies on this morning who was great – I caught his name as Paul Blecksley, but perhaps misheard as I couldn’t turn him up on google. He had some brilliant one liners, of which my favourite was “If senior officers did less dining and less politicking and more detecting, the taxpayer would be better served.” He also asked why on earth policemen needed a spin doctor anyway, and pointed out that if a normal cop accepts a thank you bag of chips from the local chippie, let alone a £12,000 holiday, he is for the high jump.
This was refreshing as he came immediately after New Labour’s shadow minister for policing (sic) – a name I am not bothered I didn’t catch – who said Stephenson was a man of great integrity blah blah blah.
It is quite wrong to believe that the well-connected bent cops like Hayman and Yates are supported by the average cop. They are rather detested, as was “Lord” Ian Blair. If anyone can find that straight talking interview, let me know. We won’t be seeing him again on mainstream media.
Cameron attempted to make out, in his press conference in South Africa, that the only difference on Libya between Zuma and Cameron was over whether Gadaffi should leave at the beignning or end of a new political process. Zuma then flatly contradicted him by stating unequivocally that the NATO bpmbing should stop.
The US’ decision to recognise the Benghazi regime (which, remember, nobody has elected either) as the government of Libya is purely about removing legal obstacles to huge sums of cash being spread round ruling elites and arms industries. In fact, it is still the case that less than half the population of Libya are under rebel control. Gadaffi has been able in the last fortnight to mobilise much larger mass rallies of supporters than he could in the months before the start of the bombing campaign. There is strong empirical evidence that, exactly as I predicted it would, the effect of the NATO bombing campaign has been to shore up Gadaffi’s popularity and entrench him more firmly into power than when he faced a purely internal rebellion.
What a terrible mess, and terrible loss of life.
A few bungs down police trousers and an extraordinary two way relationship that made New Scotland Yard an annex of the Murdoch empire, have done for Sir Paul Stephenson. A moment’s reflection that the callous killing of an innocent Brazilian man was not considered worth the resignation of anybody. And on the phone hacking scandal, while Stephenson was as enthusiastic an establishment schmoozer as any, it was his predecessor Blair with whom most of the guilt lies. Like Brooks, at the most charitable possible interpretation Blair was a lousy manager who had no idea what was happening.
I am however rather suspicious that Brooks’ arrest comes just in time to avoid any questions about her relationship with Cameron and others at the select committee – or indeed why she was a facebook friend of the committee chairman.
I am still rather puzzled by why the police have not informed approximately 3,750 of the over 4,000 potential phone hacking victims that their names are on the list. By not informing the victims, of course, the police have so far limited the number of civil suits against News International.
It is hard to recall, (and nowadays I try not to recall it) but there was a period of a few weeks back in 2003 and 2004 when I was front page news, and there were a good few tabloid stories about Nadira’s belly dancing past. Now I wonder….
Unfortunately my plans for a weekend of drinking and watching golf were foiled on Friday by a really acute attack of illness, which by 3am Sunday morning had become quite alarming. Happily I feel a good bit stronger now. I did watch the golf all day yesterday, but I felt so unwell that when I awoke this morning I could not recollect any of it.
I am much cheered to learn that Sheikh Raed Saleh was released from jail on Friday. It is quite incredible that he could be imprisoned on the word of the Home Secretary – as grubby third rate politician – for his political opinions, but without clearly definable cause, and after he had already given on this visit a couple of public speeches in which he had said not one word which anyone claimed as constituting an offence.
Both the UK and US governments encouraged the Greeks to prevent the Gaza peace convoy from sailing. This from the invaluable Mary, who should take over writing this blog:
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow Central, Labour)
.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Greek Government on the Gaza Aid flotilla.
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Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 13 July 2011, c385W)
.
David Lidington (Minister of State (Europe and NATO), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Aylesbury, Conservative)
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Officials from our embassy in Athens have discussed the matter of the Gaza flotilla with the Greek authorities and have relayed to them the United Kingdom’s position on this. Our travel advice for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories gives clear guidance against any attempt to enter Gaza by sea. We continue to advise against participating in flotillas or overland convoys to Gaza because of the risks involved.
So between Saleh and that, it seems any attempt to support Palestine is simply to be blocked by the force of the state. What astonishes me is that so few people seem to care about this growing fascism.
When you have a fever, thoughts run though your head insistently, in a different pattern of thinking to the normal. Anyone know why this is? While I was ill this morning, I kept remembering one incident. When I stood as an independent anti-war candidate against Jack Straw in Blackburn, the large body of New Labour supporters inside the count booed and jeered me like a football crowd when my result was read out. The BNP candidate – who had been booed a little – turned to me in some astonishment and said “They hate you more than they hate me.”
I did record that in Murder in Samarkand, but had only ever thought of it as an amusing incident. While I was sweating last night, it kept hammering at my brain as important. Now I feel a bit better, it still seems important.
After five years of heated blogging, I take a couple of days off to watch golf and down many a litre of pinot grigio, while sticking up some wind-up posts about abolishing the BBC and Jane Goody accents. The result? Rebekah Brooks falls, Murdoch teeters and the horrid nest of corrupt cop liars are in trouble.
This was a two bottle day. For tomorrow’s third round I shall drink three bottles of pinot grigio (or probably a nice burgundy, given the weather forecast). That should bring down Cameron.
Who said alcohol isn’t good for you? It has wonderful results.
I have managed to cause a stir with my dismissive comments on estuary english on the BBC in my last post. I do not think the estuary english phenomenon should be confused with a regional accent. I have absolutely no prejudice against regional accent. I sport the remnants of one myself. The genuine regional accent of Essex is very pleasant, and not too dissimilar to that of Suffolk. It is not a bastardized version of cockney adopted by the weak-minded because it is redolent of a set of identifiable and fashionable cultural attitudes, of which materialism and anti-intellectualism are the most prominent.
Is it snobbery to despise estuary english and those who speak it? No. It is something called taste.
I am trying to watch the Open on TV, but for some reason the BBC feel the need to interpose some fool with an estuary accent, who has no apparent connection to the sport. We missed Tom Watson’s second to the second because this idiot was interviewing somebody from Celebrity Come Dancing.
It reminds me of the ruining of Panorama by populism, exemplified by it being fronted by the deeply unpleasant Jeremy Vine, who has also been introduced to election coverage, just in case we miss estuary accents there also.
If the BBC exists in a popular culture where current affairs must be explained not by intellectuals but by diamond geezers, and golf presented by unqualified chirpy chappies, it really no longer does anything that the private sector cannot do. It is time to close down BBC Television and abolish the license fee. Radio three, four and the World Service are genuine public services, and could be funded by a small sum from general taxation. A small grant from general taxation should be given to producers of highest quality TV drama. The rest of the populist rubbish should be cut adrift into the private sector, and 97% of the vastly expensive bureaucracy sacked.
I am having a day off to watch the Open on TV. Which is a choice, as I can see the course from my bedroom window across the bay, about five miles as the crow flies. Feel free to talk among yourselves. Here is an excellent article by my friend Stephen Grey, if you want something to read.
In the First Afghan war (1839-42) British India sought to extend its influence by displacing the ruler of Kabul, Dost Mohammed, and replacing him with a puppet ruler, Shah Shujah, who had been deposed by Dost Mohammed in a lengthy civil war some thirty years previously. Both were Dourrani chiefs.
The British also wished to extend their rule by enforcing the sovereignty of Shah Shujah over bits of the old Dourrani Empire that had not been subject to Kabul for many years. To this end they deposed and killed the Khan of Kelat, Mehrab Khan. Here again there was a puppet ruler in our baggage, Nawaz Khan, whose line of the Kelat royal family had been deposed four generations previously.
But Nawaz Khan was soon driven out by popular insurrection led by Mehrab Khan’s 14 year old son, Nusseer Khan. He fought a guerilla campaign in the hills against British occupation for over a year. Finally the British, having spent a huge amount of money on pouring in reinforcements, cornered young Nusseer Khan and about 1200 followers at the head of the valley of Kotra. Colonel Marshall’s Brigade consisted of the 25th N.I> with detachments of the 21st N.I. and second grenadier regiment, plus horse artillery and irregular cavalry.
On 26 November 1840 Marshall caught up with Nusseer Khan and gave him one hour to surrender. Just as the hour elapsed an envoy appeared under a flag of truce and terms were agreed. Nusseer Khan was given three days to disperse his forces, and would then travel to Quetta to submit to Captain Bean, the political officer. As Nusseer Khan was broke, Colonel Marshall advanced him £200 to pay off his men and travel to Quetta. Marshall then retired back down to the mouth of the valley.
The next day, Marshall received this order from his superior, General Brooks:
Sir,—I am directed by Major-General Brooks, commanding the Field Army, to acquaint you that, by information received from Sehun Lal, the native agent at Kotria, it appears that a body of insurgent Brahoes, amounting to about 1200 men, located at the entrance of this Pass not more than 8 miles from your post, have been lulled into fancied security by our apparent inactivity.
2. This state of affairs leads the Major-General, in communication with the Political Agent, to consider that an attack judiciously planned, and with the utmost secresy and caution, will enable you, without fail, to cut up and destroy this body ; and with this view I am to give you the following information.
3. The enclosed Persian letter from Mr. Ross Bell to Sehun Lal, contains that gentleman’s instructions to him to place himself under your orders, for the purpose above mentioned, to furnish you with guides, to accompany you in person, and to procure and furnish you the most specific information as to the position occupied by the Brahoes,—whether on the height, in the hollow, or in the defile, and their state and numbers ; in order to enable you to concoct your plans for surprising them.
4. You will send for Sehun Lal, and deliver the enclosed letter to him—no other person being present, directing him, after he has read and made known its contents to you, to deliver it into your keeping : you will then arrange your plans with him—placing the most implicit reliance on his good faith.
5. You are not to communicate the subject of this letter to any one, as the whole success of the plan depends on the most profound secresy being observed ; and you will endeavour, in preparing your troops, to do so in such manner as to give rise to no suspicions of your objects.
6. You will leave 200 men, under the command of a steady intelligent officer, in your camp ; and you will take with you the remainder of your infantry, and all your cavalry ; and so arrange your march as to fall on the enemy at day-break.
7. You will take no tentt or baggage of any kind : the men to carry one meal in their havresacks, and to fill their canteens ; their pouches are to be well supplied with cartridges.
8. You are on no account to advance more than one day’s march from your camp : you will pay particular attention to the guides ; they are to be well treated, but closely watched, and in case of treachery put to death on the spot ; and you will take care that, if there is the least cause for suspicion, they shall not escape you.
9. In conclusion, I am directed to repeat, that nothing but the most complete secresy, as to your plans and intentions, can give you success,—and the Major General enjoins this above all things: even your officers should not know your intentions till you are close to the Pass. You will, of course, grant quarter to those who surrender.
(Signed) James Holland, Major,
Dep. Qr.-Mr. Genl. of the Army
On the morning of 29 November 1840 Colonel Marshall’s force, quietly and under cover of darkness, surrounded Nusseer Khan’s camp, sleeping peacefully under truce. At daybreak they opened fire. About 500 were killed in the massacre, and many more wounded. Young Nusseer Khan remarkably managed to escape over the mountain with a handful of supporters.
General Brooks argued later that he did not know the terms of the truce when he wrote his order. Nonetheless the massacre took place under truce. It is a breach of faith to rank with Glencoe, and a much bigger massacre, and 150 years more recent. These things help explain why our troops now are so resented in Afghanistan.
The great airline bomb plot was a totally impractical idea in the minds of a very small number (four) of isolated extremists, penetrated from the start by the state, who never did make their liquid bomb cocktail work, never did blow anything up, never did buy plane tickets and for the most part hadn’t actually got round to applying for passports yet. However, these deluded fantasists provided the excuse for billions of taxpayers’ money to be pumped to the security industry, and made air travel even more annoying with the crazy war on shampoo.
They also proved an invaluable bogeyman of last resort for bent Met cops, who could not chase real harmful monsters like Rupert Murdoch because they were too busy colluding with Murdoch in pumping out propaganda about the fantasy monsters – sorry, saving us all from terrorists.
An invaluable analysis on the bent cops from Nick Davies here – although even he feels he has to genuflect to “the terrorist threat”.
Aren’t members of parliament amazing? Suddenly they all have noticed that the Murdoch influence is a cancer in society, which is something the rest of us have known for 30 years. Equally suddenly they have noticed that Andy Hayman is a lying buffoon, whereas before they took him as a great bastion against terrorism whose every word must be treated with respect. This blog and other blogs have been telling them he was a lying buffoon for years, most indisputably over the appalling lies he spread in the media about Jean Charles De Menezes.
Good work on Hayman here. I had missed the fact that Murdoch employed him after he left the cops.