deception and lies

One of my ex-employees came in to see me at the weekend. He was on his way back to London after spending a few days with his parents and popped in to say hello. After completing his degree he started working for a think tank, even though he isn't actually allowed to do any of the thinking, somewhere within the Westminster bubble.

We chatted for a while about the upcoming election and politics in general and, even though he's a signed up member of the Labour Party, we still managed to have a bit of a laugh. We talked about the inevitable post election defeat leadership challenge and, while giving absolutely no specifics at all, he indicated that pre-planning for a defeat was already at an advanced stage in the machine of his party.

We started talking about spin, the media, Caroline Flint's breasts (he's a big fan of them apparently), and the expense scandal. It was at that point that he told me something about the expenses claims, and the reporting of them, that stopped me in my tracks.

I went back to the coverage of the particular claim and re-read the interviews with the parties involved. I remember at the time that their language was very precise, and rather odd, and armed with this new revelation it all seems to make complete sense now.

The difficult thing, as explained to me by someone, is that exposing the truth would gain nothing and that the lie that was told was the proper thing to do. The media got to kick big chunks out of the MP, the public got to see the sacrificial lamb slaughtered, the 'independent freethinking bloggers' had their opportunity to rip the piss endlessly based on the media's deliberately untruthful reporting of the facts of the story.

The claim in question was undoubtedly wrong. If I'm honest though I would have also taken the action that the MP did and given the media the same target had I been in their shoes once the dodgy claim had been revealed.

So as I'm not going to name the MP or reveal the allegation behind their claim what is the point of this post? I'm angry that the media put the boot into someone who they knew to be innocent of wrongdoing just so they could have their circus. They might have disliked their target and wanted to attack them but this was not the reason to do it. I'm angry that they all played along, left wing and right wing, knowing that they were peddling a lie and directing public anger at a person who was chosen to take the fall for someone else.

I'm angry that some of the most influential British political bloggers joined in attacking the placebo target. Either they knew and it was just a show and didn't care or they didn't know and they are as blind as those that follow them slavishly.

I feel dirty, used, and manipulated.


And not in a good way either.