Has Anyone Seen Any News?

Although I'm not ill I've decided that part of the reason for getting ill was that I was working far too hard. Therefore I've decided to compensate by being as lazy as humanly possible without actually forgetting to breathe. As such I've not really been paying much attention to the goings on in the world. Even so it was hard not to notice the conclusion of the inquiry to the crash of an RAF Nimrod.

This inquiry relates to an incident in 2006 when an RAF Nimrod crashed in Iraq killing all on board. The inquiry firmly placed the blame for the loss of the 40 year old aircraft on the Ministry of Defence - who operated the aircraft, BaE systems who built the plane and Qintec - the BaE subsidiary who were supposed to be keeping the plane airworthy. As the crash occurred in the same year that the Bristol Abuse Case (BAC) began the noise around the announcement was meant to convince the world that the Brits had accepted the whole thing was a moral failure and are now looking for the appropriate people to punish. In reality the story represents the Brits accepting that the BAC was a practical failure and are looking for the cause of that failure so in the future they can behave as badly as they like without fear of consequence. You'll excuse me if I don't assist in this ongoing process. The announcement yesterday also helped soften the blow for the announcement today that BaE systems is being forced to close a factory and lay off 200+ staff. You see it's not that the Brits can no longer protect their own it's just the Queen striking a blow for the members of the armed services who were killed by BaE incompetence.

Yesterday (29/10) also saw a leaked preview of changes that are to be made to the system for paying MP's expenses. While the full report isn't out for another month you don't need to read it to tell that it's just a knee-jerk reaction that will do nothing to improve Parliament and will probably end up costing the taxpayer even more money. The Labour party decided to leak the preview yesterday to coincide with the first episode of the BBC2 documentary series; "Andrew Marr's the Making of Modern Britain." This series is attempting to tell the story of the myriad of social, political and economic upheavals that Britain underwent between 1901 and 1945 in just six, one hour episodes. The first episode featured the shift from so-called "Country House government" where only 1 in 4 men were allowed to vote and all Britain's MP's were landed gentry who thought the poor deserved to be poor because they were genetically inferior to the upper classes towards a fairer society where working class men were allowed to sit in the House of Commons for the first time. The next episode will feature, amongst other things, universal suffrage for men, the suffragette movement for women's rights and the entire first world war. I recommend that you watch this series because it represents the BBC at its fair and balanced best even if it's pace makes me seem coherent and organised.

Today, being Thursday, is the day the dreaded cleaner comes round so obviously the news is packed with stories designed to stir the pot. This includes further developments in the Plymouth/Bristol Child Abuse Case and the conviction of some Scottish paedophiles. Of course that latter story also represents a rather crude attempt by the Brits to get the Indian Commonwealth Games delegation who are currently in London to take and obstructive position at the Copenhagen summit. Croydon has held a parade welcoming the local TA regiment home from Afghanistan. This is meant to be viewed as the Crown getting tough with Croydon Council by putting them face to face with the soldiers who are prepared to sacrifice everything for their country and announcing that they're sending in the army to sort them out is quite a strong statement for a government to make. In reality the whole thing, like the Mandelson visit, is just an attempt to further stress me out by putting all the people around me on edge. Besides if the Crown was serious about getting tough with Croydon Council they would simply fulfill their legal obligation and issue an arrest warrant. After all that is the minimum price.

The other big story of the last few days is the British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates. The total lack of spin and the fact the MoD have appointed a Captain Harbour as spokesman suggest to me that the pirates are just pirates and the Brits haven't got a clue what's going on. That said the ITN news network have made contact with the pirates and provided the Foreign Office negotiating team with proof of life. That means that in the next couple of days there will either be a special forces raid that the pirates will lose or the Foreign Office will take over the negotiations and the corpses of the hostages should be repatriated by 2011 at the latest