-Caveat Lector- http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=1368602002&tid=427
print close Mon 9 Dec 2002 ANALYSIS - Trust is victim of the spin machine ALISON HARDIE POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT NEW Labour came into government five years ago on a wave of public indignation over Tory sleaze. Tony Blair was personally in the vanguard of branding John Major’s government corrupt and untrustworthy. He even went as far as to promise his newly-branded red rose party would be "whiter than white" in power. Yet if one changes the names and political persuasions of the lead characters in the current political scandal - Cheriegate - one simply turns back the clock to the dog days of the Major government. It is all there. A dodgy businessman, dubious financial transactions, property acquisition. All that is missing is an off-shore bank account. However, it became apparent yesterday there is one glaring and important difference between the calamities the Conservatives inflicted upon themselves in the early Nineties and the political denouement Cherie Blair has gifted her husband thanks to her links to Peter Foster, a convicted conman. During the period Mr Major was prime minister, and Margaret Thatcher before him, the Downing Street operation was never viewed by the lobby - the cabal of Westminster political journalists - with the same degree of distrust the Alastair Campbell-led operation has inspired. The reputation for veracity of Mr Campbell’s press and propaganda machine is now rapidly diminishing in inverse proportion to the way it has been expanded by the Blair administration. The lies and "misleading" statements and retractions issued last week in response to media questioning about Mrs Blair’s links to the Australian conman has thrown into stark relief the central issue of trust. It has also inspired the most vicious encounter to date with sections of the media incredibly hostile to the Blairs. We are now told the Prime Minister’s wife has allegedly taken naked showers with Carole Caplin, Mrs Blair’s personal "guru" and the lover of Mr Foster, in order to "wash away toxins". It has also been alleged that Mrs Blair and her family have unwittingly become clothes-horses for high street brands thanks again to Ms Caplin’s involvement. More seriously still, it is claimed, Mrs Blair was warned by Mr Campbell and his partner, Fiona Millar, the chief adviser to the Prime Minister’s wife, that Mr Foster was, in essence, very bad news. It was never meant to be this way. New Labour once could control a compliant media and had a slick communications strategy that gave it ultimate supremacy over its rivals. But Mr Blair, who used to be an enthusiastic proponent of "spin", has latterly recognised the art of media manipulation that helped propel him into power was becoming a cancer at the heart of his government. Together with Mr Campbell, his director of strategy and communications, the Prime Minister has encouraged a strategy designed to show how "open" the government is by downgrading the exclusive right of the lobby to question it and inviting more journalists to briefings. Yet this new era of transparency is still characterised by the previous era of "secrecy". The way the so-called Cheriegate affair has been handled bears all the hallmarks of a typical Campbell spin exercise. And it has again left Downing Street looking shabby and, more damagingly, untrustworthy. When a politically sensitive or embarrassing story breaks, the standard response is to first deny it. As in so many occasions before, a grudging admission has only been forthcoming on the presentation of a smoking gun. The government has previous form for behaving like this. Remember Mr Blair’s injured performance when challenged about his role in Bernie Ecclestone’s £1 million donation? "I’m a pretty straight sort of guy", he innocently protested. Those on the outside of the Labour regime are ruthlessly excluded by the Campbell spin machine. The reward to those on the inside are "exclusives" - generally advance briefings on a government initiative or announcement. It is a policy that has led to much grumbling by the opposition parties that Mr Blair has little respect for parliament and even less for MPs. But on this occasion, everyone was lied to on the main allegation: that the wife of the Prime Minister, a senior QC and a part-time judge, should have sought the assistance of such a dubious personality in a property deal. Last night, the government was not in full retreat but spokesmen for the Blairs were actively engaged in trying to shut the whole affair down. That might be difficult because, after nearly a week of silence, the Conservatives emerged yesterday to claim the moral high ground as their own and criticise Mr Blair and question his reputation. That Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, could appear on television and upbraid a Labour prime minister for sleaze marks a remarkable reversal of fortunes and underlines the gravity of the situation Mr Blair finds himself in. This article: http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?id=1368602002 More Cherie Blair: http://www.news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=427 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
