JohnBM:Liberal

The Tories are shouting about Gordon’s plans to consult on election reform. They are accusing Brown of engineering the system to a lesser form of proportional representation to prevent a Tory landslide. This  should not worry Tories as much as another less reported reform – Freedom of Information.

Gordon Brown announced today a pledge to consult on extending Freedom of Information laws. This would include a reduction of the “thirty year” rule on secrecy of cabinet papers to twenty years (GOOD) and a tightening up of FOI under twenty years (BAD).

This would open up the cabinet papers of the Thatcher government to scrutiny and reduce access to the Blair/Brown years.

In the run up to a 2010 election the opening up of the Westland / Miner’s Strike / Belgrano papers would be gold dust for Labour whilst Iraq / Weapons of Mass Destruction / Dr.Kelly would be protected.

Gordon only believes in Freedom for Information for other people’s governments.

For the last month something hasn’t seemed quite right about politics in the UK. For a while I have struggled to put my finger on what is out of place.

It started with the expenses row and crescendoed during the McBride smear e-mail story.

It was not until I saw the distorted image of  “Uncle Joe” Brown on the Number10 website, that it began to dawn on me what had been niggling in the back of my mind.

Whilst Uncle Joe was telling the amassed peoples of the world how he was going to completely reform politics with his previously undiscussed “pay-as-you-go” expenses scheme (RIP silly scheme), I cruelly chuckled at his forced grimaces. It was at this point that the penny dropped.

What I was witnessing were the last gasps of the New Labour machine trying to circumvent the old media and set the news agenda through the Number10 website.

Labour had lost control of the media and there was no going back.

Since the early 1990s the Labour Party had attempted to morph the news agenda through Mandelson, Campbell et al. Of course this had not always been fully successful but at least there was a feeling that there was someone behind the scenes massaging the shoulders of hacks, editors and producers or sticking the knife in.

On Tuesday evening last week I realised that Gordon’s grimace was a symptom of the death of the New Labour media machine. There was no longer anybody in the government or party able to tell the Dear Leader that what he was doing  was “a very bad idea”.

At no point on Budget Day did Captain Darling and the Government control “the message”. All day the “invest today” and “tax the rich” message was drowned out by the “huge debt” and “tax hikes tomorrow” story.

For about a month now, the Government has failed to seize the news agenda at any point, either in relation to the budget or any other policy announcement.

There is only one point in recent political history can I remember this occurring to the same extent.

1997 and the last days of the Major Government.

We’re in the end game and I can smell the stench of death.

Something happens

The tabloids cry: “Something must be done!”

The Ministers shout: “We must do something!”

A Special Advisor holds aloft a piece of paper: “This is something!”

The Prime Minister sighs: “We have done something!”

This month the something has been MP’s expenses.

Started by a plethora of ministers claiming second home expenses for sleeping at their mum’s house or for the house where their whole family live, rising to a crescendo of pay-per-view porn on expenses. Everybody shouting: “Something must be done!”.

Gordon Brown announces today that he wants a vote in Parliament next week replacing second homes allowance with a “turning up to work bonus” – little discussion, three line whip, something done.

Gordon needs to learn not to equate “doing something” with “doing the right thing”.