Events | 2009.05.23
Diary: Hugh Muir
They see everything and yet, we fear, they see nothing. Should have gone to Specsavers
Another day, another set of revelations and it\'s bye bye, Michael Martin. Proof if it were needed that fire is not best fought with petrol. Bye too to Douglas Hogg, aka Lord Moat. Tumultuous events, all of which inevitably lead one to ask: didn\'t anyone see it coming? Certainly there are a few who, like the Speaker, will want to reflect. Sir Patrick Cormack, in that stately way of his, helped pull the rug from under the Speaker during Monday\'s debate in the Commons; but last year when the House discussed the suggestion that receipts should be submitted for all expenditure, the grandee said: "I am told by people in the House\'s own accounts department that requiring a receipt for everything – be it £1, £2 or 7/3d – will cause enormous and disproportionate cost. Why was that recommendation made?" Another member also claimed the new monitoring regime would be far too pricey. "I am sure that this will cost the taxpayer millions. Does not the Members Estimate Committee have a responsibility not to waste public money?" he said. That was Don Touhig, the Labour backbencher selected by Gordon to chair the committee that will recommend changes in the expenses and allowances regime. Doubtless they have all wised up since.
Now we know that eight officers, a police dog and several forensic specialists investigated the attack on the home of Fred "The Shred" Goodwin, it seems timely to ask a few more questions about that uber-pension. Not that anyone would wish to deny him the money. Monaco is, as we know, quite expensive. We would just like to know how much money it is. But the veil may never be lifted on this matter, for we see that the Treasury has just rejected a Freedom of Information request from our resident bloodhound, Dr David Lowry. If we told you, officials said, companies in trouble would not level with us and then we would be unable to bail them out. "Such discussions are essential to the economic wellbeing of the country and any disclosure that jeopardises any existing or future bailout could cause very significant harm," they advised him. They are keeping it secret. For all our sakes. We can only say, thank you.
Pondering, as we do, the plight in this recession of our local newspapers, we bump into James Cox, the former BBC correspondent and long-time presenter of Radio 4\'s The World This Weekend. He puts us right about a few things. "Local papers might like to portray themselves as \'the last bastion of democratic accountability\', but my reaction is \'phooey!\'" he says. "Most of them are lazy, incurious and uncritical. Their version of reporting is a bald recital of facts, and any criticism, even of the local dramatic society, is frowned upon for fear of upsetting the cosy local consensus. Most modern local papers are mere money-making machines run by remote accountants and staffed by poorly paid and underperforming hacks." This is a little unhelpful in the circumstances. Can\'t someone mollify him with a column?
So keen was the Diary to credit the embattled post office minister Pat McFadden with a special delivery that last week we erroneously reported the arrival of his infant son. In the event, Conor James finally joined us all on Saturday morning at University College Hospital after 34 hours of gallant labour on the part his mum, Marianna. Conor weighed 3.54kg or just under 8lbs. By the Diary\'s calculation that means he would cost £17 to post home when the medics give the all clear. At the moment he\'s a bit poorly and staying put. Best wishes to McFadden and all concerned, but how to explain our previous announcement? Doctors call it premature congratulation. We await a cure.
Finally, having noted with disdain his predilection for booze and fags, we receive an invitation to lunch from Godfrey "I never drink less than eight pints in any one session" Bloom, the MEP for Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. The prospect is frightening but we are minded to take him on, and we will if you deem it OK. Both of us serve the people.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/19/politics-diary-hugh-muir
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