Cash for honours
On a damp Sunday afternoon whilst waiting for something interesting to happen at the SNP Conference, I caught up on the Public Accounts Committee meeting, which I had avoided this week as it looked and smelt like a very slow car crash, and I wasn't going to rubber-neck.
Angus MacNeil 29/3/06: After the meeting the Scottish Nationalist MP Angus MacNeil said: "The police are interested in crime. They are not interested in which party committed it ... After meeting people at Scotland Yard I would say anyone who has been involved in the selling of peerages should be shaking in their shoes."
Angus MacNeil 20/4/07: "When I lodged the complaint, it was said that the police would turn a blind eye, but what we have had is a meticulous investigation."
Angus MacNeil 23/7/07: Scottish National Party MP Angus MacNeil, whose complaint triggered the investigation, last night predicted that the next few weeks would be "extremely interesting" because Mr Yates had promised that full details of the police inquiry would be provided to the House of Commons Public Administration Committee.
Tony Wright 23/10/07: According to Mr Wright, Yates always had far too little evidence to go on: "You had a letter from an SNP MP [Angus MacNeil] and you had some press cuttings."
Guardian 24/10/07: Mr Yates claimed at one point that the lack of cooperation may have not been deliberate, but stemmed from a belief in parts of No 10 that his inquiry was a political rather than criminal problem.
And after 16 months and £1m in costs, what do we have? Nothing. Nada. Nul Points. A damp squib. Everyone exonerated, except the poor Plod who is being lambasted for not catching anyone - when everyone knew what was going on. And being excoriated for having the temerity to investigate politicians and being part of a 'party political' investigation.
The end result is even more disillusionment with the entire process, and politicians who believe that they won't be held to account for their sins.
The winners are those on the inside - in every party - and we, the public, are the losers.
Angus MacNeil 29/3/06: After the meeting the Scottish Nationalist MP Angus MacNeil said: "The police are interested in crime. They are not interested in which party committed it ... After meeting people at Scotland Yard I would say anyone who has been involved in the selling of peerages should be shaking in their shoes."
Angus MacNeil 20/4/07: "When I lodged the complaint, it was said that the police would turn a blind eye, but what we have had is a meticulous investigation."
Angus MacNeil 23/7/07: Scottish National Party MP Angus MacNeil, whose complaint triggered the investigation, last night predicted that the next few weeks would be "extremely interesting" because Mr Yates had promised that full details of the police inquiry would be provided to the House of Commons Public Administration Committee.
Tony Wright 23/10/07: According to Mr Wright, Yates always had far too little evidence to go on: "You had a letter from an SNP MP [Angus MacNeil] and you had some press cuttings."
Guardian 24/10/07: Mr Yates claimed at one point that the lack of cooperation may have not been deliberate, but stemmed from a belief in parts of No 10 that his inquiry was a political rather than criminal problem.
And after 16 months and £1m in costs, what do we have? Nothing. Nada. Nul Points. A damp squib. Everyone exonerated, except the poor Plod who is being lambasted for not catching anyone - when everyone knew what was going on. And being excoriated for having the temerity to investigate politicians and being part of a 'party political' investigation.
The end result is even more disillusionment with the entire process, and politicians who believe that they won't be held to account for their sins.
The winners are those on the inside - in every party - and we, the public, are the losers.
3 comments:
A little birdy tells me that the local SNP branch / affiliation / clique have been banned from posting comments on your blog.
This seems to be backed up by the lack of constructive jibes on this posting....
No-one, and I mean no-one, has come out of this looking good.
Plod has large amounts of egg on face - highly deserved since they were plainly stupid to pick up and run with this case in the first place.
MacNeil's tacky and near-actionable comments throughout the investigation still leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.
I doubt anyone really, honestly, truly believes the case was brought for anything other than cynical political motives.
However, on a positive note, it should hopefully have shaken up the political establishment enough to make them think twice before 'flexing' rules in future.
What are the chances, eh?
Nah read the Freedom rhetoric in the West lothian question post, they are still getting through the net.
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