WHOSE FAULT IS THE DEFICIT INCREASE?

When yesterday's figures on the progress, or otherwise, of Mr Osborne's deficit reduction scheme were announced, the usual culprits got the blame.

There has been, it was reported, a reduction in tax intake and an increase in benefits paid. 

I accept that companies may be cutting prices to encourage sales and as a result making smaller profits and paying less tax. 

But an increase in benefits? How could that be?

Is it possible that there was a massive increase in the number of unemployed? Surely not. According to the figures from the DWP unemployment has been coming down apace, and employment has been increasing. No, it can't be that.

It could hardly be an increase in benefits for the sick because we all know from 'Panorama' and 'Despatches' programmes that 88% of sick people are being taken off Incapacity Benefits and put on to cheaper JSA-type benefits, and, even if large numbers of them are returned to Incapacity by English Ministry of Justice tribunals, the numbers, and the cost, must still be reducing as they weed out the chancers, and of course those who are too sick and too alone to fight. So it can't be that.

We heard that the government had been anticipating a reduction in the deficit of around half a billion, and instead found itself with an increase of 2.5 billion. That's an error of some £3 billion in one short month. Now we know that they aren't overly competent, but you'd think that that kind of mistake would be unlikely if the problem were due to something foreseeable, such as an increase in the number of pensioners. 

Does anyone have any idea which particular benefits increase could have caused such an huge upset in Gideon's calculations?

On the subject of the deficit I noticed something interesting. At a time when the UK is struggling with such a massive deficit it is strange that the part of the government that could be called English as opposed to UK, ie the Department for Education, seems happy to give away nearly £10 billion of state assets.

According to this article, nearly 2,000 schools, and their playing fields, have been transferred to private organisations, for free, in some cases against the wishes of the local community. (What say you to that Mr Pickles? Localism being your watchword!)

Interestingly some of the beneficiaries of this Tory largesse have been:

Phil Harris, a Tory peer and the owner of Carpetright and the Harris Foundation;

ARK Academies, whose board includes Paul Marshall, a Lib-Dem bigwig and Stanley Fink,  Tory party treasurer and donor of £2.62 million to the Conservatives.

Frankly I don't give a stuff about whether or not the Olympics has a legacy, other than having made its sponsors an indecent sum of money. But Cameron seems to care; he bangs on and on about it enough. So why has he  allowed the sale of these playing fields, the result of which will be to reduce the sports facilities available to kids at such an early stage?

And why is it that benefit claimants get the blame for the worsening financial situation when the government appears to have given away billions in state owned property, completely coincidentally, I'm sure, to some of its biggest backers, and all indicators seem to point in the direction of reducing benefits costs?

PHONE HACKING IS SO 2010

No, don't worry, Rupert hasn't taken us over, yet.

The phone hacking scandal isn’t going away anytime soon.

That is one of the messages from this programme (which I think can only be seen in the UK).

I’d recommend you watch this if you can find the time. The unpalatable truth it uncovers, not just on the News of the World or indeed, News International, but a wide range of other organisations, including the police and the prime minister, is worth knowing.

It seems, as Munguin’s Republic has been saying for some time, that there are far too many people who are scared of Rupert Murdoch. People didn’t like to admit it, indeed Alistair Campbell denied it, but big John Prescott admitted that they were very wary of taking on the Sun or the News of the World. On all four occasions when MPs on the Cross Bench Media group asked Rebekah Wade (senior manager of NI) to testify before them, she declined. An option to ask the Serjeant at Arms to issue a warrant for her was dismissed because (it is alleged) they were afraid that their personal lives would be put under the microscope by the paper.

The police certainly seem dislike investigating any accusations levelled against News International and the programme looks at the reasons behind this. Could it be that they fear over cautious scrutiny of their personal affairs? Or could it be that Murdoch has the power to offer a career change? Certainly the officer in charge of the original enquiries into phone hacking which saw a royal correspondent and a freelance detective imprisoned, and was then dropped for supposed lack of evidence, now strangely works as a columnist for a Murdoch newspaper. A well paying, and relatively easy job (after all Coleen Rooney can do it). And him just a simple bobby!

Cameron’s judgment must come into question. Why did he employ Coulson? The NoTW editor was hands on to the point of micro management, but didn’t know his journalists were phone tapping? He was also accused of bullying his staff at the paper, and yet he was employed by Cameron at the very heart of government. Did Cameron ask any questions about his part in the phone tapping? After all he resigned over it. Did he ask about the bullying? If so, did Coulson lie, or did Cameron just take him on anyway? Or did Rupert make it a condition of his support. Was it the Sun what done it?

We also have to doubt the wisdom of the prime minister while his government was discussing the News International deal with BskyB, having dinner with Rebekah Wade, and passing it off as a meeting with a constituent (which she is), but neglecting to admit that James Murdoch (who is not) was also at the dinner. As Ms Wade is married, it’s unlikely that he was only there as a partner on a constituency matter. In any case, does the prime minister have the time to have dinner with all his constituents?

He should have been anywhere but near either of them while these matters were being examined.

The final part on this story looks to the future in the tabloid world. Phone hacking is now ‘stone age’ (and in any case most celebrities are wise to it anyway), but to replace it we now have wifi hacking where a journalist will hack into the wifi systems in, say, an hotel lobby where meetings are going on. (S)he will then feed spyware into the computers of the users in the lobby and be able to hack into documents, downloads, emails etc....

It’s worrying. And because the government and the police are afraid of the press, it’s not about to stop.

One cheering note. It appears with the information that is coming to light, that friend Coulson may have lied at the trial of Tommy Sheridan, as a result of which, he may be joining the tan man in the pokey in the not too distant future.

Pics: You can't really blame them. He is, after all scary! Bet that suit cost more than my house!! Dave "over my shoulder go 500 cares" Cameron. Rebekah sweetie, be careful with that phone. Maybe someone will play you at your own game. Wouldn't it just be the jam on the toast if someone wiped the supercilious grin off this one's face by putting him in the same cell as Tommy?

Patricia the door opener to whom doors may yet be closed

Lobbydog’s blog picked up on the fact that his readers have been writing to say that Patricia Hewitt should not be rewarded by being invited to take a seat on any more boards of directors.

The latest to be considering her for a directorship is Eurotunnel. I said the other day on this blog that, if she gets her directorship then I will never use Eurotunnel again.

It appears that The Independent has also reported on this subject that a growing band of people have said that they will blacklist companies of which this woman is a director.

Brilliant!

I doubt in truth if there is much that she can offer a company now. She has been suspended from the Labour Party in disgrace. She is standing down from parliament and hasn't the remotest chance of a peerage. She's a figure of fun because of her daft coup attempt with that other trougher Hoon the Horrible, not to mention her gullibility for falling for the sting operation set up by the Sunday Times/Despatches team. She is unlikely to be able to wield any influence with government or with senior civil servants. She is persona non grata. To be seen with her, or having to do with her may tar one with the same brush.... dangerous.

I wouldn't touch her with a tarry pole. It's only a matter of time before the greedy old fool will get caught out with some more horribly misjudged actions.... you know, like the coup that couldn't even topple Gordon Brown.... lol .... eejit!

I imagine the only way that this woman could open any doors would be if they gave her a job as a doorman, err woman... err person on the Eurostar. (Sorry Harriet.)

Can you imagine "The next train is leaving for Paris from platform 3 ... Le prochain train part pour Paris du quai numéro 3", said in that mock Thatcherite voice?

BUFF HOON THE GOON GETS THE BOOT FROM NATO COMMITTEE

Well, poor old Geoff Hoon has cooked his goose well and truly this time.

It seems that he has been dismissed from a high level group of NATO personnel chaired by ex-Secretary of State Madeline Albright and tasked with studying new strategic concepts for the alliance (whatever that may be, and indeed whatever use he would have been to them).

He was caught on camera for a Channel Four Despatches programme bragging that a recent tax-payer funded trip to Washington DC, had involved “three days work for NATO followed by ‘a couple of days of Hoon work’”. He shouted his mouth off about the role that “provided him with commercially lucrative insights which could be useful to the arms industry”. He now wanted to turn his contacts and into “something that, bluntly, makes money”. Nice one Buster, we pay for you to go there (first class, I have no doubt, and pay for your hotel and food and you spend the time working for your greedy little self to make money in the arms trade. What kind of pond life are you?)

Anyway, his butt must be well sore because as a result of this piece of bragging to a young female journalist posing as a businesswoman, he has been tossed out of the Labour party and had his ass sacked from the NATO job that he was getting all these contacts from.

As my dear friend Spook would have said if he were writing this.....”wee shame”.

It appears that Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary-general of NATO, asked him to leave when Gordon Brown made clear that he did not wish the former chief whip to remain a member of the committee.

So there you go you wee tube....... That’s what you get for trying to impress the ladies that despite your thinning hair, double chin and lined face you are still a force to be reckoned with. A word to the wise..... It’s probably best to remember that if a young lady is showing interest in you of any sort at all, there’s probably an ulterior motive, so watch out for the hidden camera, and mic, and keep your silly fat gob shut.

To think we once entrusted the lives of our troops to this fool.


Pictured: NATO summit and The Right Dishonourable Geoff Hoon, MP

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