It’s Just One Depressing Scandal After Another

There seems to have been an incredible amount going on in the news, politics especially, in the last few months, which has made it difficult for me to keep up blogging wise. Usually because I see a story that I’m interested in, think ‘oh I’ll write about that when I get time’ and by the time I actually have the time another scandal has erupted gloriously across the online media world.

Just recently we have gone from celebrities avoiding tax, to potential O-level re-introduction, children abandoned in pubs, EU referendum talk, Libor scandal, police cuts, people setting themselves on fire outside the Job Centre, the Queen meeting Martin McGuinness, Lords reform, Chloe Smith getting offered up as a human sacrifice, ongoing Leveson enquiry et al

In simple terms, ‘it’s all kicking off’. I can’t help that remember when Brown was PM the lead story for days was that he called a woman a ‘bit bigoted’, actually Gillian Duffy seems to have cropped up in the news too recently, add immigration to the list of recent stories. Whilst we’re on that subject can we just get over that remark? I noted that as Gillian Duffy’s name began trending on Twitter recently several people furiously took to their keyboards to express how the incident was a perfect reminder of how much contempt Brown had for ordinary people and his supporters. Umm.. musing that you think somebody seemed a tad bigoted isn’t that bad, nor is it contemptuous, it’s not like he got in the car and ranted that she was a ‘fucking bitch’ or anything really offensive. He apologised, job done.

What was probably the most entertaining moment, in a depressing batch of news stories and example after example of government incompetence, was when David Cameron went to town on Jimmy Carr over his tax avoidance, practically falling over himself to have a go at the comedian and denounce his actions as ‘morally wrong’. Then promptly shutting up when it emerged that Tory-supporting chums like Gary (Fat Boy) Barlow, Tory-donor Lord Ashcroft and the PM’s own father-in-law Lord Astor had used tax havens. Presumable tax-avoidance is only immoral if you’re not a fully devoted member, supporter or donor of the Conservative Party. Glad we cleared that up. The exceptional mismanagement of the situation only served to make Carr, who apologised and came out to take the flak, look sympathetic and Cameron to look incredibly stupid. He must be paying his PR chaps a fortune…

Right now I’m looking at the political headlines and we’re still on the Libor scandal and Bob Diamond’s resignation, as if we needed reassuring that the bankers were a bad lot, they’ve not exactly done themselves a lot of favours in the last few years. Maybe they’re using the same PR people as Cameron? Good old Tony Robinson has come to the conclusion that bankers are not human, which might explain something, worth a watch here, the best rant I’ve seen in recent times.

Back to the headlines and Ken Clarke seems to be banging on about how we’re ‘losing the war on drugs’. I wasn’t aware that we had declared a war, nor am I really convinced that Ken Clarke has any idea what he is saying on this issue.

Other headlines seem to concern what has become the standard of late: cuts, ‘reforms’, cuts, EU, cuts, banks. All rather depressing really and by the time I hit publish no doubt a new demoralising scandal will have emerged.