Should Scotland Have Its Own Honours System?

Last week the false indignation from the various political parties about Alex Salmond's association with News International was entertaining.  Johann Lamont in Newsnight Scotland gave a excruciating performance when attempting to defile the First Minister's association with Rupert Murdoch and Willie Rennie was no better.

All credit to the SNP for making public the list of all the First Minister's meetings with members of News International along with copies of correspondence with Rupert Murdoch.  I could see nothing in the letters denoting impropriety, on the contrary, the FM shows his determination to talk up and for Scotland.  The prompt publications rather took the opposition parties by surprise and left them floundering around in a desperate attempt to score a hit on Alex Salmond.  Their plans backfired.

The accusation that the First Minister was involved in the nomination of the Stagecoach owner Brian Souter - the SNP's biggest financial backer - is more serious. Mr Souter was given his award for services to transport and the voluntary sector in June following a request from the Edinburgh administration the UK Cabinet Office stated.

The Labour MP, Cathy Jamieson, investigated the nomination through UK government channels and the response she received last week stated the nomination 'came from the Scottish Government'. A spokesman for the First Minister said the SNP ministers had nothing to do with the nomination, saying the process had been handled by non-political officials. A spokesman stated:

"When nominations are received by the Scottish Government, the honours group in our civil service supports the permanent secretary in putting forward nominations to the UK Cabinet Office Honours Committee.

"Under this system, honours announced in June would have been submitted six months in advance.

"Ministers make no nominations, and are only told of honours shortly before they are announced, so they can welcome those being recognised."

The UK peerage system is distasteful in its present form. Currently the Scottish government has an Independent Honours Committee which consists of civil servants led by the permanent secretary and it makes recommendations to the UK Cabinet Office Honours Committee.  Is it necessary to have such a committee in Holyrood? Why do nominations need to pass through Holyrood?

If Scotland wants to honour citizens who have acted for the good of their fellow man then let us have our own system for acknowledging their contributions. The prize, instead of a seat in the House of Lords, could be the freedom of their town/city. Any other suggestions will be welcomed.

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Hypocrisy

The Sun broke the story of Fraser Brown's cystic fibrosis shortly after he was born in 2006.

This week in parliament, the soap opera continued when Gordon Brown vented his much-delayed fury on News International for publishing the story, 'reducing the family to tears' and intruding on their private grief. Rupert Murdoch's organisation was part of a 'criminal media nexus' Brown ranted in a performance which confirmed he should never have held the post of Prime Minister.

Back in 2006 the Browns were good friends with Rupert Murdoch and his family. Any normal person would have contacted their friend and let them know how unhappy they were about having a private matter exposed, but not Gordon Brown.  He said nothing.  His distress was so great he continued to invite the Murdochs to his private parties and neither Gordon or Sarah looked unhappy being photographed with Wendi and Rupert Murdoch at Mr Murdoch's annual summer party in London in 2007 (picture).

Rupert Murdoch has refuted Brown's allegations and intends to use his appearance before MPs next week to address the 'total lies' told in parliament.  He will appear alongside his son James and News International CEO Rebekah Brooks.

It's been interesting to watch the game play between senior Westminster politicians and News International the past few days. Every politician cosied up to Murdoch and his senior employees yet it's now clear they've known for years what was going on at NI - an organisation which had become part of the government. Who was responsible for NI gaining so much power?  Our politicians.  They're to blame for this mess, much more than Murdoch.

When Rupert Murdoch entered the British media scene in the 60s, he was welcomed as a force for good. He alone took on the print unions, which were crippling the industry, and won. He introduced a choice of broadcasters for us and the BBC wasn't happy when Sky appeared on our screens. By courting Murdoch our politicians bestowed more and more power upon him.

Let's look at the behaviour of our leaders in the past few days.  Cameron and Clegg weren't prepared to move from their position on the fence until Ed Miliband, who had nothing to lose since Murdoch withdrew his support for the Labour party at the last general election, decided to condemn the actions of NI employees. Suddenly Cameron and Clegg, noting the approval of the public, jumped on the bandwagon. It was only this solidarity which gave Brown the platform to vent his spleen against Murdoch for what he saw as his betrayal at the general election.

We now have political coherence against News International's dubious professional practices but will our leaders be so unrestrained in their criticism of Murdoch after he challenges the 'total lies'?

I have little doubt grubby - and probably illegal - practices occur in other parts of the MSM and I wasn't in the least surprised to learn about the police corruption. The old adage 'everyone has their price' is as true today as it was a hundred years ago. We can only hope that the inquiry instigated by David Cameron will look very closely at other media organisations.

Next Tuesday will be interesting.  Murdoch is a clever man and he knows where the bodies are buried. Thanks to the stupidity of our feeble, inadequate and spineless leaders stuck in their Westminster bubble.

Update 10.20am:  Rebekah Brooks has resigned. Will that make any difference?  Only to David Cameron's house party guest list.

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