Arrogant elitism has led to a a disdainful breaking of the law by senior politicians who had just set the very rules they broke. Some think that the media is doing us a disservice by reporting these stories. “Shameful” wrote one commentator. But the “shame” is solely with the perpetrators not those who broke the stories. These stories were not “created”, as some also charge, but they were real and have at least been reported as such – very belatedly as it happens ( grounds for further investigation there surely).
An effective working democracy relies on honesty and its destruction comes not from truth-telling but from lies. One of the learnings from this sorry affair is that the checks and balances on the governing class are inadequate. Every day Number 10 and its tenant’s senior ministers tell us more untruths and every day some of our popular press duly and sycophantically reports them as facts.
The Augean stables are foul and fetid and we need more not less investigative reporting. We deserve to be governed by people who tell us the truth and who have our best interests genuinely at heart. It’s not time for Spring cleaning. It’s time to throw the current mobsters out and to start again.
Paddy’s Blogs in a crazy world 