Communicator (communicator) wrote,
Communicator
communicator

What really matters

I think staged formal events like the light grilling of Rupert Murdoch yesterday by the Culture Select Committee are relatively insignificant. MPs who were interviewed afterwards were triumphant - 'he said it was the most humble day of his life' - well, he would, wouldn't he? It was a pantomime. Murdoch will fake anything, Alzheimer's or despair next, if he thinks it will get him through this crisis. He conceded nothing, and I may be wrong but I don't think he's said anything which will increase the vulnerability of his holdings in America.

I think the last few days have been quite frustrating. Yes, a lot of senior people have resigned, but if they are simple replaced by other people occupying the same niche within the same overall ecosystem, this is a meaningless change. The ecosystem itself needs to alter, and that will only happen if there are changes in the controls or limits on the system.

People are interested in people - that's the way our brains work - but it's the overall system which is significant, and that is harder to see. I still think there's a chance that Cameron will go, but ultimately, as the law is being changed to prevent the Tories facing election, the loss of a single spiv is relatively insignificant.

For example, I tell you what is significant that happened this week: The NHS is to be opened up to competition from private firms. And Eric Pickles has announced changes to local government finance which will massively increase inequality between the British regions (with Nick Clegg's personal support incidentally). I know - local government finance - what a bore. But the Poll Tax was local government finance. Those two changes are dry and abstract not personal, much less interesting than Wendi Deng slapping that guy in the face, but in the long run this is what is changing the lives of British people, covertly, and for the majority much to the worse. Much to the worse, really things are going to get bloody awful in England.
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