For centuries it has been a standard procedure for circumstances surrounding an unexpected death to be examined in public at an open inquest, culminating in a verdict.
In this way bereaved families have at least been allowed some peace of mind, hopefully bringing some form of closure on the death of a loved one.
Well, this small comfort is by no means guaranteed for the future – thanks to Justice Secretary Jack Straw who was in the House of Commons on Monday night to witness the Government narrowly win a vote (the majority was eight) forcing through plans for secret inquiries into controversial deaths.
This will give Ministers carte blanche to order an inquest to be replaced by a secret inquiry behind closed doors, barring the bereaved from proceedings.
And while Mr Straw insists that these powers will only be used in a minority of cases, the legislation – in the form an additional clause in the Coroners and Justice Bill, allowing an inquiry run by a judge to replace a jury inquest if sensitive intelligence information forms part of the evidence – is clearly open to abuse.
By this I mean that no two people think alike – and that includes Government Ministers. It’s human nature, after all. So, what is perceived as sensitive information by one may not be by another, and so on. Therefore conflict exists even before this unnecessary piece of legislation swings into ‘real life’ action – action that will inevitably lead to public suspicion that someone, somewhere wants to ‘hide’ something. A very unhealthy situation, indeed.
Little wonder then that the move has come under attack. As Labour MP John McDonnell said in an interview: “Our laws should not allow the state to hide information at the expense of scrutiny and accountability, shielding embarrassing information from the public gaze.”
He was backed up by Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve, who is quoted as saying that the proposals were unsatisfactory and should be referred back to the House of Lords, and Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty (The National Council for Civil Liberties), who added: “The British public has no taste for secret justice, particularly when the rights of grieving families are at stake.”
Maybe we should demand a public inquest into the whole issue, which is a blow to civil rights and democracy – if we are allowed to, that is!
LUCKY BANKERS
Hands up any hard working journo who would just love to swap a whopping great annual bonus (Ha! Ha! Ha!) for a whopping great pay rise (All together, again: Ha! Ha! Ha!) this year!
OK, you can all put your hands down now, it just ain’t gonna happen – unless, that is, you chuck in your job, press a magic button and become a banker.
Yes! Spare a thought – shed a tear, even – for staff at Barclays, who could find themselves in line for massive pay rises in lieu of massive payouts, thus dodging the global crackdown on bonuses.
Apparently, it would be one way round a G20 nations agreement, which requires banks to pay out more bonuses in shares, rather than cash, and for a greater proportion to be deferred and linked to long-term performance, according to Barclays.
Oh, well. Good luck everyone. If you have any spare cash, I know a wonderful charity you could make a modest six figure donation to!
SPIN ON IT
Just when you think politics couldn’t get much worse comes news that ‘Mandy’ – OK officially known as Lord Peter Mandelson, the First Secretary of State – is in the running to become Labour’s ‘minister for spin’!
In a Downing Street media briefing shake-up, one possibility under consideration is for the silver-tongued politician to hold a personal press conference – possibly televised and streamed on the Internet – every Monday to outline government policy. Lucky us!
Apparently, Lord Mandelson is seen as a better communicator than Gordon Brown (surely not!) and is likely to relish the chance to take on the media (you bet he is!).
I just hope the poor fella’s got enough spin left!
WINE NOT?
Would-be yummy mummies all over the country will no doubt be abandoning their diets of red wine (plus the occasional and obligatory meal) for vodka (plus the occasional obligatory meal) in their droves!
Not surprisingly, really, considering that’s the path svelte actress/model Liz Hurley says she took to keep her figure in tip top condition.
The 44-year-old, who lives in Gloucestershire with husband Arun Nayar, and son Damian, seven, says in an interview that apart from enjoying a glass of red wine at social gatherings she used to drink a lot of coffee.
“I was told after the age of 40 you have to be careful with coffee and wine. Apparently, that can be one of the reasons older women get bloated around their stomach.”
Of her switch from red wine, Miss Hurley adds: “I don’t really like vodka that much but if I’m at a party I have a small one with a lot of fizzy water and a huge squeeze of lime. Initially it’s like medicine but I’ve got used to it now.”
Far be it for me to give any advice, Liz, but I would cut out the fizzy water for a start, up the vodka content and whack in loads of ice! Maybe not quite so good for the figure – but a real drink with a feelgood factor to be proud of!
Actually, I might even try that myself – sounds much better than my boring old lager diet!
CHOC TACTICS
Stress is another occupational hazard these days, so it is good to learn that eating a small bar of dark chocolate may be the answer.
And how do we know this? Well, Sunil Kochhar, who works for – wait for it – Nestle (erm, don’t they make chocolate?) announced that a study by Dutch and Swiss scientists gave strong evidence that ‘a daily consumption of 40g is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy volunteers’.
The study, reported in the Journal of Proteome Research, involved a group of men and women who ate 20g of dark chocolate morning and evening while scientists monitored their stress hormone production. Apparently, after two weeks, the highest hormone levels in those under the most pressure, fell.
So there you have it. QED!
FERRETING OUT THE TRUTH
Finally, I must share these couple of paragraphs with you from the Horsham-based West Sussex County Times (out each Friday, price 52p), where I worked for 20 long (and weary) years:
‘Police are asking the public to report any sightings of a black BMW 318 saloon registration YF09 UAE.
‘A statement from police said: “On November 9 two smartly dressed male occupants have been viewed in suspicious circumstances in Storrington Road, Washington, after they entered the rear of a property and asked if the owner required any ferreting services….’
WHAT? Ferreting services? That’s a great line! Now that definitely would not happen in the middle of London! Anyway, given the rural setting I suppose the obvious response would have been: “No thanks mate. I’ve already got two down my trousers!” Old country customs, eh….
Have a good weekend.
