Cameron's vanity waste

 From Tomorrow's Mail

David Cameron has defied his government's austerity regime by getting his personal photographer a job on the public payroll.

The Prime Minister's 'vanity photographer', Andrew Parsons, has been found a job at the Cabinet Office, where he will receive an estimated £35,000 to take flattering pictures of him and other ministers.

There was widespread anger at the move, coming so soon after last month's draconian spending review which will see half a million public servants losing their jobs and millions of hard-working families facing cuts.

Unique access: Andrew Parsons took this image of David Cameron just days into his new job as Prime Minister. The decision to give the 'vanity photographer' a publicly-funded job has sparked anger

Critics said the PR-obsessed prime minister should start worrying less about his own image, and more about how it appears to the public when a photographer is employed by what they are repeatedly told is a cash-strapped public sector.

The news comes on top of the recent revelation that Mr Cameron's wife Samantha's personal assistant is also paid for by the taxpayer.

Isabel Spearman works four days a week, and looks after Sam Cam's diary, correspondence and clothes. However, Gordon Brown's wife Sarah had three full-time staff. 

Andrew Parsons courted controversy last year when he organised a carefully-choreographed photoshoot for Mr Cameron, the then opposition leader, at Westminster Abbey's Field of Remembrance.

Veterans said he was using the Armistice Day commemorations for political gain by holding the 20-minute shoot.

Last night Labour MP Paul Flynn said: 'There are no shortage of pictures of politicians.

'Photographers fall over themselves, climb up step ladders and get their telephoto lens out to grab a picture of every pore on the Prime Minister's beautiful face.

'So why on earth do we need to pay a photographer out of public funds to take pictures of him? It's indefensible.

'This is a sinful waste of money at a time when the spending review imposed real cuts on real people, many of whom are struggling on limited incomes.

'People will see it as grotesque and unfair that at a time when the government is cutting services to the bone and throwing half a million people out of work, they are wasting this money just to flatter the prime minister.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1325959/David-Camerons-personal-photographer-handed-job-government-payroll.html#ixzz14AQC5pPT

 

Blair's gets point - 7 years late

This week when terror alerts dominated the headlines Tony Blair called for a "revolution in thinking” in the fight against terrorism. He stressed that the achievement of a peace settlement between Israel and Palestine would remove 'much of the poison which the extremists use.' The former British Prime Minister has warned that a failure to challenge the "narrative" that Muslims are oppressed by the west was fuelling extremism around the world.

 Mr Blair made it clear what he thinks this narrative is; It is that Islam is basically oppressed by the west; disrespected and treated unfairly; that the military action we took post-9/11 was against countries because they are Muslim; and that in the Middle East we ignore the injustice done to the Palestinians in our desire to support Israel.

In late March 2003, I wrote to Tony about Iraq: Our involvement in Bush’s war will increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks. Attacking a Muslim state without achieving a fair settlement of the Palestine–Israeli situation is an affront to Muslims, from our local mosques to the far-flung corners of the world. A pre-emptive attack of the kind we have made on Iraq will only deepen the sense of grievance among Muslims that the Western/Christian/Jewish world is out to oppress them.

This will provide a propaganda victory to Osama Bin Laden and can only increase his support and the likelihood of more acts of terrorism. In the Commons you repeated that it is an article of faith to you that Britain and the USA should have a common foreign policy. Fine when there is an American President such as Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Carter or Clinton: disastrous when it is a right wing fundamentalist Republican such as Bush.

 

Rare event

The first meeting of the Welsh Parliamentary Party since 1995 takes place in the House of Commons tommorrow. As secretary I shall not spend too much time on the minutes of the previous meeting. They have lost some of their topicality.

The video shows the wide enthusiastic support for the re-establishment of the party. At least one Tory will attend plus the majority of MPs from all other parties.

Anger was expressed in the video below at the plan to cut ten Welsh constituencies. The meeting was told that cutting 50 seats is designed to damage Labour. 'The 50 seats will be in Wales, Scotland, Manchester and other Labour areas. Cutting 25, 75, or 100 seats would spread the cuts more equally between the parties. 50 was chosen as a piece of cynical despicable gerrymandering.'

Comments

[DG]

I doubt this will cheer you up I'm afraid, Huw

Some bright spark thinks the solution to "clogged-up courts" is not more resources or more efficient procedures, but abolishing the right of trial by jury for "minor" offences. No matter that a conviction for a "minor" offence could ruin a person's life.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/03/scrap-right-to-jury-trial

[HuwOS]

I for one, could care less about whether the government employs a photographer or not, except to note that with this government it may well be one of only a handful of jobs to be created rather than destroyed.
But it seriously does not matter, at all.

I found it much more concerning that our PM DC was said to be "exasperated and furious" at having to ditch the UK's 140-year-old blanket ban on prisoner voting.
Of course, the ruling requiring this came in 2004 so New Labour rather unsurprisingly ducked their responsibility there but the right to vote has to be the very foundation of a democracy and there is nothing that justifies the removal of that right from any individual citizen and anyone who doesn't get that point doesn't get democracy at all.

That New Labour did not get it was hardly surprising, that the Tories don't get it to the extent of being furious about it is sad.

I suppose it could be said they are playing it that way for the sake of their tabloid reading supporters who tend to howl at the concept of rights for anyone but themselves.
But it's still sad.

[DG]

The Guardian reports today that "Lib Dem sources said that government ministers were considering introducing the [increase in tuition fees] measures via other routes than legislation, which could avert the flashpoint of a vote."

This seems profoundly anti-democratic.

[Kay Tie]

I'd have thought any photographer would be happy to be given the chance to photograph the Prime Minister without needing payment.