For the neo-cons, concern about 'liberty' extends only to the powerful

There is an interesting video of Michael Gove - the right-winger currently shaping the school curriculum around his own brand of patriotic, traditionalist, Eton-influenced conservatism - at the Leveson Inquiry.

In it, in his usual mix of self-satisfaction and condescension, Gove airily glosses over the staggering list of appalling behaviour that the inquiry has heard about - from the hacking of a murdered girl's phone, to the tapping of the phones of grieving relatives of the dead - in order to highlight his supposedly noble commitment to 'liberty' and therefore aversion to press regulation.

Apparently, for a man shaping the way in which British children will be educated for years to come, none of these events appears to warrant any major changes to the system of media regulation.

Gove at Leveson - click for video

Now, for Gove, the Leveson Inquiry is awkward. He is a tireless defender of News Corporation and a former employee of one of Rupert Murdoch's flagship papers. The two also share the same neo-conservative world outlook.

But there is something deeper here, that connects Gove to the multitude of think tanks across the UK and in particular the US, that profess to love 'liberty' and 'freedom', from the Heritage Foundation to the Taxpayer's Alliance. This shared commitment is to defend the freedom of the richest corporations to act and operate as they see fit, regardless of the consequences for the public at large.

So, US right-wing campaign groups endlessly attempt to undermine any efforts to defend the world's natural environment from being blighted by corporate decisions based on short-term greed. At the same time, neo-conservatives have actively resisted attempts to bring legislate to protect people from injury or worse at work through corporate malpractice or negligence.

This concept of liberty is therefore a one way street. And so, for Michael Gove and his ideological bedfellows, 'freedom' in the context of the media is the right of rich and powerful men to use their organisations to ruin the lives of ordinary people, without sanction.

How very noble.

Ken's farewell speech

Boris and News International

Boris got very upset about this story here (original video half way down the page) about Boris' close links to Murdoch's News International.

What happened next:

Why Cameron, Osborne and Lansley are so desperate for a Boris victory in London

An earlier post highlighted just how symbolically important the Mayoral election is on the national stage - the reactions of David Cameron and Andy Coulson sum up how much Tory candidate Boris Johnson's victory in 2008 meant to them

Well, this time, it means even more. The Conservative Party are currently trailing badly in the polls. They are lurching from one crisis to another. And, in between the staggeringly incompetent reforms to higher education and the jaw-dropping right-wing reforms to the NHS - of which voters where given no warning prior to the 2010 election - the Government are well on their way to alienating many of the key professions.

It is almost certain that the Conservative Party will get bruised at the local elections on 3 May. It is also likely that they will continue to suffer badly from the fall-out from Osborne's disastrous economic strategy, from the unravelling of Andrew Lansley's NHS reforms and from the aftershocks of years of Cameron's cosying up to the Murdoch empire now coming back to haunt the Party.

However, there is one chink of light, one symbolic contest, on which all Conservative hopes are pinned - on the contest for Mayor of London. This high-profile contest would give senior Tories enough of a victory to allow them to press on unhindered with their programme of government.

In policy terms, the two main candidates for Mayor are in fact fairly traditionally split between left and right, with Ken Livingstone focussed on housing, public transport, education (and in particularly the EMA) and energy bills; Boris, meanwhile, has a limited manifesto reflecting his right-wing small-government outlook, with his most noticeable policy being more public spending cuts (as if Osborne's strategy needs accelerating).

For these reasons, an awful lot rides on Tory Mayor Boris winning to protect Cameron, Osborne, Lansley and colleagues from further pain. Don't want to take my word for it? Then how about the press:

City AM: "Defeat for Boris 'would be lethal' for Cameron and Osborne"


Daily Mail: "A Boris victory is the only thing that can save the Tories now"


Evening Standard: "Conservative ministers desperately need a Johnson victory in London"


Guardian: "If the London Mayor wins again, it will be hailed as a triumph for the Conservative Party"


Political Betting: "The big hope for the Tories now is that Boris hangs on in London"


Telegraph: "If Boris loses it will become Cameron’s Black Friday... Johnson is the final bulwark between his party and a complete rout"

Daily Mail: "Boris is out to win, and he could just save Dave's bacon"


Guardian: "Johnson's London Plan is the vision of a complete and utter1 Conservative... Boris is a facilitator of Tory policies in housing, welfare, transport and crime that are worsening London's woes" 

What a Boris win means for Cameron, Osborne and Lansley

If there is any doubt at all about what a win for Boris Johnson means for the Tory Party, take a look at the images and videos below.

They show David Cameron, George Osborne and Cameron's then right-hand man, the now-disgraced Andy Coulson, watching with mounting satisfaction as Tory candidate Boris Johnson wins the 2008 Mayoral Election.

This is what a Boris win means - success for the Conservative Party and vindication for David Cameron, George Osborne, Andrew Lansley and Michael Gove.

It means a tacit endorsement of the assault on comprehensive education and of the trebling of tuition fees.

It means endorsing the massive reorganisation and privatisation of the NHS, of the privatisation of the police force and of the fire service - of which Tory Mayor Boris Johnson is a driving force.

It means an endorsement of consecutive budgets that have shifted resources from the poorest in society to the very richest, whilst withdrawing support from the sick and disabled.

And, for Londoners, it will mean a rapid shift towards an every more unequal city, as the social mix that has made London such a unique - and liberal - city is replaced by homogeneity and ghettoisation.

Andy Coulson and David Cameron awaiting the result

Osborne and Cameron awaiting the announcement

Coulson and Cameron celebrate as Boris' win is announced [Click for Video]

Click here to link to video - if you can bear it. 


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UPDATE:

On a lighter note, Cameron does produce an unfortunate David Brent impression towards the end, by trying to high-five a colleague at 1 min.53 whilst the latter merely sticks out his hand for a conventional handshake.

Cameron definitely not looking silly [Click for video]

For Cameron to listen on the NHS, Londoners need to send him a message and kick Boris out of City Hall

As the Health and Social Care Bill passes its final hurdle, it's clear that David Cameron is happy to ignore the thousands of health care professionals, the academic experts and hundreds of thousands of members of the public that have opposed the introduction of a set of reforms that no-one voted for.

Today cabinet members banged the table in delight at forcing the law through, thanks in part to a House of Lords with a number of members (one in four of Tory peers) with vested interests in passing a law that will lead to the inexorable privatisation of the National Health Service.

There is one opportunity for at least one part of the country to demonstrate to the Prime Minister their strength of feeling, and that is in London. In Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party have a talismanic figure that they are desperate to see returned to City Hall. On 3 May, voters in the capital go to the polls.

If voters in London signal their opposition to the dismantling of the NHS by kicking Mayor Johnson out of power, they will send a message to David Cameron more powerful than any petition or protest march. It is the best chance of making the voices of the public on this crucial issue heard.

In three minutes, Cameron demonstrates that he doesn't understand his own Health & Social Care Bill

For those that missed it, a few weeks ago the Prime Minister stood up in the Commons and answered a couple of questions from Ed Miliband on commissioning.

His answer demonstrated that not only does he not understand his own Health & Social Care Bill, but he doesn't even understand the difference between commissioning of health services and delivery. Another demonstration as to why the Government is now in the position it is in.

 
n.b questions start at c.9 mins onwards.