A Brief Word

On a personal note this time, as we welcome a new member of the family to the blogging community. Make sure you all have room in your reading schedules for my little sister, who comes to us from strange and faraway places to give her own unique take on the world around her.

So sit back and read Dark Realm, as written by Luce (otherwise known as Atom Onyx). You can do so here http://atomonyx.blogspot.co.uk

Sometimes Too Hot the Eye of the Public Shines

Roll up, roll up! See the greatest show in town; it'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry and here's your host -- Lord Justice Levity! (surely Leveson?)

Yes I do mean Leveson and in fact I make reference to the Leveson Inquiry at which Rupert Murdoch made his appearance today. I have to admit I was only catching bits and pieces in various snatches off my Sky News app, but from what I gather the old boy gave a good account of himself. He'd better, that awful squit of a son of his is up tomorrow as well, although sadly not as a double act. There might be a kind of adaptation in there somewhere a la that great classic Steptoe and Son. Earlier this evening I did actually watch Hacks, a very good take on the whole phone hacking affair done very well by Channel 4. I was minded to write here anyway, I thought watching that would be a nice little starter on the whole inspiration front. And so here goes. 

So, I have already given you something of a premise, now I shall launch full tilt, after all, much else has gone on which is relevant to the whole story. Don't worry, there will be a second bit, always is. So the inquiry is back from its Easter recess, much like Parliament, and proceedings are going well. As I said, old Pa Murdoch is up first in bat (no sign of Mrs M, though, in her -- quite literally -- killer heels). He discussed at length his relationships with Lady T, T Blair, Gordon B and DC. No surprises came from that; he was warm about Lady T, a little sharper about Blair, sad about Gordon and philosophical about our Dave. Anyone who has seen anything of the proceedings or picked up on the bulletins will know this anyway and if I'm honest the lines really did play well. He asked for no favours and garnered none. 

What the hawks and hacks are going to focus on, of course, is what went on around this entire fiasco. That dinner at which the BSkyB bid was allegedly discussed for the briefest of moments, the e-mails sent to Jeremy Hunt, Vince Cable's "war" on the Murdoch empire. The whole politicisation of bidding procedures and who owes what to which editor and owner is frankly debilitating. Let's grow up and get some things into perspective. Firstly, though I am rapidly losing the will to stick up for the PM these days on domestic issues, which invitations to dinners he accepts are a matter for him and the various secretaries his office employs. What is discussed there, while of some public interest, is ultimately nobody's business. Certainly things I've heard and seen around dinner tables would cause media frenzies for a few hours if I spoke to a few journos. Secondly, Jeremy Hunt's statement to the Commons following the resignation of his adviser Adam Smith ought to show that the government is trying to send out the right message and that ministers are not directly responsible for their advisers' actions and will take the correct punitive steps. 

It may also serve to shut Labour up with their yammering. It was Blair who got very close to Murdoch and it was the Conservatives who sought to court him in the run-up to the 2010 election, which I believe was the right move, but ultimately the Sun will always shine on the inside of Murdoch's head and not help guide the people in understanding government policy. 

Now with any luck we can draw a line under the whole sorry mess and move on from this. The inquiry will have its findings and the relevant details will be published. In honesty there is a greater crisis still to be addressed, namely how we continue to grow our economy and recover from the economic disaster besetting the world. 

Which brings me on to our next topic. The Euro; that great binding influence over western Europe, which is further underlining the dysfunction bubbling below the surface in our continental family. The Dutch have lost a government because Brussels has imposed strict spending limits for eurozone members to which it cannot adhere, not for rebelliousness, but because its commitments are too great. While it was a coalition government, it was still eurosceptic and represented a bastion against Bruxellian-led EU tyranny. I realise I may be sounding a little like a middle-brow tabloid, but when one considers this latest event and now the French are undergoing a presidential election which may see a re-alignment and possible diplomatic shift at the core of the EU, it is all bound up to mean that we could be in for another interesting few months as far as EU affairs are concerned. 

I hope that the Dutch have the sense to remember what 2005 means to them and what the current global economic situation will continue to mean for them. The Netherlands are by no means global big hitters, but they are still a highly developed nation with all the incumbent necessities thereof. It is therefore in their interests to ensure that come their own elections later this year that they return a eurosceptic party to their parliament. 

It Ain't All It's Cracked Up to Be

So there's the seasonal concession out of the way, now on to the serious business. It might be a little stale in places, but I've finally been moved to speak on another issue as well, so I think I can safely separate the two.

First off is the crisis sparked off by a few ill-chosen words spoken by Francis Maude concerning the proposed fuel haulers' strike. I'll not speak to much to that, it's been done to death; I will instead focus on the apparent weaknesses alleged to be plaguing the Cabinet. There is a link between this and Francis Maude in that he should be kicked upstairs and left there while someone else takes his post. The partnership of Cameron-Osborne should remain, but I do wonder how long we ought to endure having a part-time Chancellor who also has a hand on the wheel of the party.  Said wheel is also in the semi-tenuous joint grip of Baroness Warsi and Lord Feldman. This should not continue either; purely for the reason that Feldman seems to be terminally camera-shy and Warsi's best talents are not among the society hitters but where she's needed most, the great Tory desert of the north. What is needed is someone who can fully devote every working hour to listening to the parliamentary and grassroots elements of the party with good media-savvy and the freedom to speak frankly to the Prime Minister on the important issues solely affecting the party. Two part-time peers and the Chancellor are not the best way for us to achieve this.

So to another part of the news and this from my ever-reliable Telegraph which (shock!) dared to criticise government policy on cutting housing benefit. After a lengthy Facebook discussion on the issue and hopefully making my position clear, I hit upon an interesting idea. You might have to bear with me, as it might seem it flies in the face of my deeply-held principles of not having a centralised economy, but it's a fuzzy area. Here it is.

Now, we are contributors of aid to all parts of the world. Coming from the government, this largely means that it is donated in cash terms. I remember reading an idea that really resounded well -- giving aid in kind. We stop giving the cash directly and instead produce useful equipment to send abroad all tied up with cast-iron guarantees that ultimately renders the African dictator we're dealing with responsible for its whereabouts once it hits the tarmac at the other end. We can do this by offering British companies the chance to bid for bespoke contracts for each recipient country we deal with. As an additional incentive, wherever a factory is built, the government can then offer to build housing for each worker in those factories. At a stroke huge numbers of jobs are created and with enough industrial land going spare, we should be able to find sites for this to happen.

But how does this solve our housing crisis and relieve us of the housing benefit problem? Simple. The housing that is built for factory workers means fewer people on benefits and paying to live in their own house with the salary they earn from the government-contracted factory. This then fuels the growth of communities, as services will need to be provided for the workers in the factories. If it could work in Port Sunlight and Bourneville over a century ago, why could it not work now?

I admit it seems a bit far-fetched and simplistic, but why could it not work, with a bit of tweaking? For any government to do this would ensure their party's re-election for a long while after. It may happen, it certainly should happen.