Double-speak comments as Brown and Obama condemn violence against Iranian protesters

Either with a momentary lapse of memory or a member of the secret service interfering with his autocue, Barack Obama today stated, 'When I see violence directed at peaceful protesters, when I see peaceful dissent being suppressed, wherever that takes place, it is of concern to me, and it's of concern to the American people'

Omitting any reference to events in London during the G20 summitGordon Brown commented, 'There must be no violence in response to peaceful protests.'

We don't like oppressive regimes in our country...

We don't like oppressive regimes in our country...

Iraq War Inquiry to be held in secret - what is the point?

Gordon Brown's announcement that there will be an inquiry into the war in Iraq but the further news that it will be held in private begs the question, what is the point? If it is not held in public, it will be little more than a theatrical performance to reassure the credulous that everything was above board but a few minor mistakes were made along the way. One or two wrists will be slapped but the wrist owners will inexplicably find themselves promoted or otherwise doing very well, thank you. No writs. No arrests. No Problem.

In his claim that the inquiry will be independent, with no apparent awareness of his Orwellian double-speak, Brown clarified this by saying that the board of the inquiry will either be appointed members of the Privy Council or will be made members of the Privy Council. Whilst the Privy Council may sound a little English and twee, it is in fact little more than a tier of authoritarianism wrapped in a gown of traditionalism. The word 'Privy' is surely a dead giveaway! That it will be necessary to elevate any non-members to this position before they can serve on the board of inquiry is an indication of the true level of secrecy that can be expected.

All the talk of politicians being servants and not rulers has now wrapped the chips. This is the just kind of bullshit that we would have expected from an Eastern Bloc totalitarian dictatorship or, indeed, the likes of Robert Mugabe.

A month or so on from the pledge of more transparent government and scrutiny and we find that the transparency is on par with the opaque glass in a toilet window. Everybody knows what is going on in there and that there will be a substantial sanitisation operation before the door is unlocked.