It really is World Toilet day, which means surely it will be a flushing success? Anyhow, the business of toilets is one that comes to mind when we think of politicians. The best political scandal I have seen of late is in Brazil. Brazil, as a any passing reading of an article will tell you, is at the endemic end of political corruption. Something indeed that all the 'BRIC' countries seem to be world leading experts in.
Of particular note is this Mensalao scandal that afflicted the Brazilian Labour party. Though taking place in 2005 the fast movement of Brazilian courts has meant that the trails are stil on-going and indeed have made the news again this weekend as one of the defendants has managed to abscond to Italy to receive a 'fair' trail.
(Italy, that well known home of politically-independent judges and lack of graft....hmm, I guess with only an Italian passport he had no other option!)
The core of the scandal was a nice little merry-go round of public money which ended up in the hands of Left-leaning Brazilian MP's. An advertising company was used as a front and the plan was all the MP's would get a nice £12,000 a month in return for voting with there, er, party and also with the, err, Government of the Left that was in power and led by Lula Da Silva (who is not implicated as this was a party issue in a Presidential system).
So what am I telling you all of this? Well Mr Guido Fawkes has had a rather good run of late exposing our own MP's humble efforts to fill their coffers and that of their party. The expenses claimed for offices rented from Unions is a prime example. The who Grangemouth incident where the plant was nearly closed on the back of Unite Union causing a fight over their rep who was allegedly trying to fix a Parliamentary seat up in Scotland for their candidate. Indeed, Unite having a whole slew of MP's whom it funds directly and even calls Unite MP's.
In Brazil finally, the perpetrators are in court and each getting 10 years each. All complaining of the political motivations, which will be inevitable in any political scandal that mud will be flung at the other side no matter what the truth is. However, our own World Toilet Day Hero, a certain Len McCluskey, remains a free man his union-funding of the Labour party is of course 100% legal.
9 comments:
Will the toilet be celebrated at a special ceremony in Flushing Meadows?
Is this article a tissue of lies?
Corruption is systernmic! (Hmm)
Anyone in the Scots domain?
The refinery story had a very short life in the London press. But I can't believe such a momentously incompetent, deceitful and ultimately damaging story hasn't had wider repercussions in Scotland.
Well BQ the Falkirk rigging that set it all off is still ongoing. The Blairites in Labour have begun to realise that effectively Ed had agreed to Len's manipulations as it would put more Milliband supporters in the party. So I think this will be a running sore within Labour for quite soem time.
The really sordid details will no doubt be kept in the [water] closet. These days, though, some of the important facts may float to the surface. I have no doubt that what you can find online is streaks ahead of what has been reported in the papers.
I really hope that Ed Miliband is not able to wash his hands of the Unite affair. Maybe if it rumbles along long enough it will become a political nine-wiper.
the Falkirk thing is where you thank the Lord for Guido, who can keep these things simmering where no-one else will
the London press, still less the Beeb, cannot be relied upon in these matters, there is some kind of professional etiquette towards politicians in general and Mili-Lab in particular
(though to be fair Dan Hodges in the DTel is having fairly persistent crack at it: but he is viewed even by DTel commenters as a monomaniac obsessive, and his editor presumably has only so much tolerance)
and how much sticks anyway ? I have long expounded the view that the public memory is that of an amnesiac goldfish
there is McShane and the Mad Gay Crackhead Methodist Coop Banking Chairman, both clearly stated to be Labour but does anyone care ?
BE - fantastic, just the sort of gushy post I was hoping would pop out.
Oddly enough, after all the panic-ridden stories about Grangemouth closing down, other than a follow-up when our man Stevie Deans resigned (due to having made a spectacular cluster-fark of the whole thing), it has pretty much disappeared off the radar here, so far as I can see.
Mind you, I tend to shy away from the traditional MSM these days, as most of the blatant spin & lies just makes my blood boil, so perhaps it is still being reported in some minor manner.
Post a Comment