The Fanblade

It is rather embarrassing when Gordon Brown lies to the United States, traditionally the UK’s closest ally and friend, about the release of the Lockerbie bomber. The spin culture that started in 1997 with New Labour, Blair and his spin-doctor Alastair Campbell has ballooned rather than abating with Brown taking over. The UK has a culture of lies and deceit for personal gain, whether political or financial. You see it the way lawyers really behave (if the truth was known, which it rarely is); you see it in the way tradesmen rip people off, tell them their boilers or cars are worse than they are. Regulations and laws are codes which are there to be adhered to and if the general attitude of citizens is not to be law abiding, all will be lost. Because the enforcement mechanisms in society are only meant to deal with a certain amount, the theory being that the rest are deterred by the punishment of the few. Lawyers work against that, and should be brought into line with the codes and rules they pretend to observe; the same goes for bankers, and will go for bankers if they are further regulated, as looks likely. The mantra of lawyers is ‘it’s all about the evidence’, which means false evidence is OK by them, as long as it is convincing enough to trump any real evidence – such as memories, circumstantial evidence and even written records – which if they are discovered late may not beat the false evidence. Thus lawyer seek to cover evidence up, and do not disclose it despite an obligation to do so – and they have developed an armoury of ‘wording tricks’ that will enable them to wriggle out of anything if found out. And if at the same time the courts are being influenced by propaganda, which is not disclosed to the other side, this further tips the balance – one that could well be in their favour already via the Old Boys Network. It is interesting to note that many politicians are lawyers. They do get caught out but lots gets through the net. Journalists that go the extra mile and push and push are a rare thing nowadays – the skills to persevere are on the wane as publishers fail to invest in good news gathering. The result is that Britain has turned into a society of people who care only about themselves, with little notion of shame when they lie or cheat. With lawyers, it would not be surprising to find out that the secrets of litigation in common law courts is regarded by senior lawyers as a set of tools worthy of protection, rather than exposure – perhaps through collusion among the senior ranks. After all, if they came clear a multi-billion pound business would suddenly be one-tenth the size. If I can do my bit to make that happen, then so be it. I just need Parliament to listen, and an MP to sponsor a private members bill – the Litigation Reform Bill 2010.