Jack's right

Much as I hate to say it Jack Straw is right to block the early publication of the minutes from the cabinet meeting on the discussion on going to war with Iraq.

Its tempting to get on the band wagon for freedom of information here, and I suspect Labour have some very dirty linen they don't want washing in public. But there is a key issue about the form of government we want to have.

If cabinet minutes are freely available before the usual period of time then people will be guarded about their contribution. Some will grandstand, other will keep quiet, and - and this is the main point - the real meeting and decision will take place else where. That alternative decision making will probably be ad hock, and probably won't involve all the people who are cabinet ministers, but other who are "press advisers" etc.

So instead of freedom of information we would loose cabinet government. ( Okay I know Labour effectively operated from a Sofa for ten years, but that their sloppy shameless style of government. )

None of this means that Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Jack Straw etc aren't war criminals - its just that cabinet minutes shouldn't be used to prove ( or disprove ) it.

The latest spin: Straw 'admits' the Tories resonate

When Jack Straw is one of the few too class actors Labour has left. He's also taken over the John Reid role as the minster of last resort for a desperate government. This is the context that his pronouncements today have to be seen in.

Labour is unpopular - really unpopular. How do they deal with this ? Not in the open and honest way that say Margaret Thatcher would have approached the problem by restating why what they are doing is necessary, but with the slippery sub-concious technique of New Labour spin.

Step 1 - empathise with what ever is going on. When your as shameless as the current Labour leadership this even with the general public preferring another party.

Step 2 - admit nothing or as little as possible. "The only problem is that we haven't quite delivered yet" and the underlying problem is with people not perceiving how wonderful the New Labour government has been.

Step 3 - make some vague promise about the future as a gentle reminder that your actually in government, unlike the other lot.

This lack of courage perhaps comes form a lack of conviction, or perhaps from the absence of it. They have a magician's set of spin tricks that worked so well for them when the campaigned as an opposition ( for about the first 7 years in government ), but they are incompetent in the business of government.

Remember if Jack Straw shakes your hand you should count your fingers when you get it back and when Jack Straw appears to suggest the Conservatives have been doing a better job than Labour its time to look carefully at what he's up to.

Jack - 99.9% recurring of the Labour party can't be honest as New Labour was not an honest project

Jack Straw has apparently tried to claim that"99.9 per cent recurring" of the party were "completely straight and upstanding". ( See here in the Daily Telegraph ).,

Well Jack - we know that can't be right don't we? You all went along with the New Labour project which has deceit as its basis, and getting elected as its reason d'etre. You can hardly complain when individuals behave the way the party has. Okay with the individuals the issue has been money - with the party it was principles, honesty and courage.

You are all reaping what you sowed. What is unforgivable is that you are greatly damaging our country in the basis. Its time you all went...

Jack Straw uses Britishness for electioneering

Lets face it with only 3 days to go till the local elections - there is nothing random coming out NuLabour at this time.

Jack Star is now talking (R4 Today prog) about only 0.2% of the population being immigrant in the 1940s. 1 in 4 in London now ! (Let us not forget the rank hypocrisy of Straw here given all his party has done to dismember Britain, allow a flood of immigration and dismember ancient freedoms.)

Man in a Shed's translation - NuLabour are very worried about its white working class vote collapsing. And so they should be.

NuLabour have dominated the news agenda on R4 this morning (Tess Jowell says no leadership contender etc). So NuLabour press releases strangle the news again. Of course it takes 2 to tango - and BBC journalists and editors are only too happy to help.

No mention of the electoral fraud operation being carried out in Leeds by the Labour party. Think about it - if they covered this they might help prevent more fraud, but the BBC doesn't seem to worry about its public service duty - only supporting the Labour party.

Still there will still be jobs in the Labour party for BBC staff in the future !