Plots And Missing Weapons

When Britain went to war with Iraq it was on the basis of their being Weapons of Mass Destruction that could be utilised within forty-five minutes. Those that voted for the war did so they tell us on the basis of accepting this evidence. Yet, many of us presented with pretty much the same evidence thought it unreliable at best, and a pretext at worst. There were no WMD. Yesterday, the BBC and other News organisations came out with their own version of the “Dodgy Dossier”, and asked us, indeed continue to ask us to believe, that Hoon and Hewitt had their own Weapons of Mass Destruction, in the form of six Cabinet Ministers who were prepared to join them in a rebellion against Gordon Brown. For anyone with an ounce of political common sense this made no sense. No Cabinet Minister is going to jump ship or join a rebellion against Brown at this stage of proceedings, especially as Labour has been climbing back in the polls. It would have been as much an act of political suicide as would have been the use of WMD by Iraq against any Western power. Yet, the BBC, in particular has persisted with this nonsense. In fact, rather like Tony Blair’s insistence that he knew something the rest of us did not know, the BBC and other news organisations use the method of the nod and the wink to suggest, that whatever the politicians actually say, they know a greater hidden truth. But, in fact, it reminds me not just of the dodgy dossiers, but simply of the methods used by teachers at school.

If teachers feel that something is going on that they don’t know about they call in one or two students, and make vague statements to the effect that someone has made a complaint against them followed by, “You know what I’m talking about don’t you?” The pupil then blurts out some series of events or details that they think might be why they have been carpeted. In politics its called a “fishing expedition”. The BBC was guilty of a similar thing last year in relation to another supposed plot against Brown, when they claimed to have had sight of an anonymous e-mail that was going round asking people to sign up to challenge him. But, of course anyone including the Tories or the BBC itself could circulate an ANONYMOUS e-mail! Just like the teachers fishing expedition, the purpose is to flush out anyone who might harbour some desire to rebel. What was so significant about the e-mail rebellion, and yesterday’s damp squib is the fact that next to no Labour MP’s were foolhardy enough to sign up to it!

The BBC simply repeated the rumour put out by Hoon and Hewitt that there were six Ministers prepared to back them, and failed to verify that with any of the named Ministers, some of whom even a casual political observer would realise would never be in such a camp. Apparently, Nick Robinson has already sent an apology to Jack Straw for naming him without checking first. But, the BBC’s line basically remains, “Well they would say that wouldn’t they”, backed up by the ex Tory MP, Matthew Parrish. And then they go on to infer that there is something sinister or significant about Labour Ministers not coming out to support Brown immediately. They also claim that David Miliband did not give his support to Brown only to supporting Labour’s election campaign. Yet I heard Miliband do precisely that in one interview where he talked about supporting Brown who would be leading that very campaign. Yet, that part of his comments was cut out of further reports!

In fact, it was clear why Ministers did not respond to Hoon and Hewitt’s pissing in the wind. It was precisely that. Had they come out immediately to disown them they would have given Hoon and Hewitt far more credibility than they deserved. That, in fact, is precisely what Mandelson had said early in the day, and other Ministers followed his lead. The other other tack the media have taken is to say, look Hoon and Hewitt are experienced politicians, they wouldn’t do this or say they had the support of six Ministers unless there was some substance to it. Of course, they would! Hewitt is not even standing at the next election, and Hoon ought not to be standing if his CLP have anything about them. If Hoon and Hewitt really wanted to test MP’s feelings, if they really thought they had the support of Ministers then their course of action was obvious. Rather than launching a media circus focussed around their own sad egos they could have simply put their proposal behind closed doors to the next meeting of the PLP! They didn’t because they knew what the reaction would be. Its hard to see their actions as being anything other than that of two has-beens (or more like never- weres) who seeing the end of their own political careers have decided to bring Brown and the LP down with them.

Why is there this biased reporting? Well one BBC newsreader, when questioned during the expenses scandal, told us that she earned £92,000 a year. Some BBC News presenters we know get much more. The figures put out by the BBC show its top bosses earning huge salaries, and we know that the BBC vets new reporters to ensure that their views are acceptable. Given all that, and the educational and social backgrounds of such people its unlikely that they have any great love of Labour, certainly not of any radical Labour alternative. They may have been swayed by the approaches of New Labour, who themselves came from similar backgrounds, especially at a time when the Tories wee in complete disarray, but its likely that the kind of comments made by the uber Blairites attacking Brown’s “class war” (what a joke) politics, finds a resonance amongst such an elite. Its one reason that the opening up of bourgeois democracy that began after the expenses scandal has to be extended into an opening of the books on these news organisations whether they are in the public or private sectors. We need to have full disclosure of the salaries, expenses, and contacts of all these journalists and their bosses, all their connections with other rich and powerful people and organisations. See: Open The Books On Bourgeois democracy.

But, there is also likely to be another reason alluded to yesterday in my blog about media hyperbole. More Hyperbole. The same reasons that explain why they have to hype up weather conditions in order to make a more sensational story, also explain why they have to hype up non-events like yesterday. It might be devastating for Britain’s economy to blow up the kind of antics of yesterday – the pound fell on the currency markets on fear of a Brown deselection – but so long as the News organisations can sell papers or get their viewer numbers up by creating a story, or sensationalising it out of proportion they are not bothered.

Whatever, it highlights the pressing need for the Labour Movement to have its own media organisation. The development of technology means that is now highly achievable. TV is increasingly a thing of the past let alone the print media. Interactive media, and online webcasting is the future, and one that the Labour Movement could develop at relatively small cost. Moreover, it is one that could be developed on the basis of a Workers Co-operative owned and controlled by workers themselves, and thereby providing a powerful example of how a Co-operative, socialist society could function.