Andy Coulson
There is a story eddying round this man. What did he know about phone tapping when he was Editor of the News of the World? He says nothing. Few now believe him. Not many care. This blog does.
On the narrow question of whether he should carry on at Number Ten, the answer is no, of course not. He was too damaged to remain as editor at the N.O.W. and thus he is not of the standard required at the epicentre of power. He should never have gone there in the first place and he cannot stay.
But there is more. As a voter I am very disappointed that we find ourselves, once again, discussing quasi officials, paid out of the public purse, who are not elected politicians, nor professional civil servants, many of whom are either the cronies or toadies of the ministers who appoint them. Such people should not be there in the first place. I am very uncomfortable about the need for ‘communications’ from the government in an open and free democracy in peacetime (not withstanding misguided overseas wars) being ‘directed’.
We live in a Monarchy which exercises all power through a Parliamentary democracy and appoints the government from members of either one or other House of Parliament, of which at present only the Commons is of entirely elected members. The Crown employs a vast army of officials known as Civil Servants, those at the top having the highest academic qualifications from the best universities and a wide range of skills and experience. We call this a Constitutional Monarchy. As part of the settlement within the Constitution (an opaque instrument, unwritten, with many tentacles and understood by very few) the Government is the executive, Parliament is the legislature and the Civil Service makes it all work with impartiality.
Any extension of these arrangements by appointment rather than election is counter democratic. It is especially alarming if the purpose is to doctor, filter or otherwise dress up what we , the people are being told about what our government is doing, planning or enacting. This information must be a statement of fact and the facts must stand on their merit. To tinker and embellish (or dumb down) is to move from bare truth to propaganda.
Underpinning the whole structure and the reason it does not fall, are the Statutes, collectively known as the laws of the land. It is alleged Mr Coulson may have transgressed one of these. It is irrelevant whether he did or he did not. A member of the organisation of which he was the head, did, on his watch and under his nose. He surely knew, but if he did not, he should have. This is why he left the News of the World. This is why he must leave Downing Street. When he does, he must be replaced not by another toady, but by a professional civil servant appointed by the Cabinet Secretary.
‘But that will cramp our style!’ will cry the ministers. That, my friends, is the whole idea.