Placards and protests welcome Blair to Iraq inquiry

Stop the War campaigners today dusted down their grim reaper costumes and picked up their 'witty' B-LIAR placards to welcome the arrival of Tony Blair to the Iraq War Inquiry.

For those interested - or merely unemployed - the whole day's events were broadcast on BBC News with a one-minute delay, to avoid the disclosure of national secrets. Sound exciting? Well not exactly.

The former prime minister arrived through a side entrance early this morning to avoid protestors and take up his seat as the star witness of the inquiry, which has been set-up to identify lessons that can be learned from the Iraq conflict.

For your benefit, I disciplined myself to watch all six hours - yes, six whole bloody hours - of proceedings.

Sitting in front of a five-member panel constituting senior civil servants, academics and lawyers - and with his back to families of servicemen and women killed in the conflict, the day promised to be tense.

However, those expecting a televised Judge Judy-style bashing will have been disappointed with the tone of the proceedings. Demonstrating the statesmanship that swept him to three consecutive election victories, Blair remained relatively unruffled throughout, fixed with the facial expression of a schoolchild being reprimanded by his headmaster for a minor playground discretion.

The inquest was a very English affair. All polite questions, pleases, thanks yous and knowing glances. Blair received more of a grilling last month from that famous in-depth investigative political correspondent Fern Britton, who - on her day off from hosting the drab ITV show All Star Mr and Mrs - managed to get him to admit that he would have still invaded Iraq if Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction.

Despite Blair's absence from politics for the best part of two years, he displayed the primary skill essential for any politician worth his tax-dodging salary - the ability to duck interviewers' questions.

Looking like a man who has spent too much time sun-bathing in the Middle East, rather than solving the region's political crises, Blair defended his decision to go to war, denied placing pressure on the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith to legalise the conflict and downplayed any agreement with US president George Bush at a private meeting in 2002

But this isn't a hatchet job on the former Labour Party leader. He did, throughout the six hours make some valid points, despite his failure to offer any humility or an apology, which drew wide-spread anger inside the inquiry.

"This isn't about a lie or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception. It's a decision," he said.

"And the decision I had to take was, given Saddam's history, given his use of chemical weapons, given the over one million people whose deaths he had caused, given ten years of breaking UN resolutions, could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his weapons programmes or is that a risk that it would be irresponsible to take?"

The consequences of his decision are still apparent in Iraqi's blood-soaked marketplaces and the 150,000 grieving mothers and fathers that litter the country - with or without this pointless exercise.

Whether it managed to distract the nation's sofa-stricken population from Murder She Wrote, Loose Women or Cash in the Attic is questionable, but the BBC's decision to broadcast it should be applauded. Politics is an issue that affects us all, so we should take a more active role in it.

"A lie screamed loudly will trump a truth spoken quietly"

For me America is a strange and distant land. For a country so interlinked politically and historically with our own there are many things about the good-ol US of A that I will never understand - American football, thanksgiving, Dog the Bounty Hunter, David Hasselhoff's continuing existence and, most confusingly of all, the popularity of Fox News.

Rupert Murdoch's purveyor of "partisan news" has today been voted the most trustworthy source of information in America by US citizens. In a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, almost half of respondents said they trusted Fox News, compared to 39 per cent who have confidence in the channel's rival CNN.

However, Fox News is a news channel in name only. Relying on the network as your only source of information is more stupid than thinking Eastenders is a gritty documentary of modern-day London life.

For those who are not aware of Fox News let me educate you. Established by Australian media-mogul Murdoch in 1996 to counter a media that, in his opinion, was dominated by liberals - it has since been accused of bias towards rightwing politicians and causes. Widely described as an extension of the US Republican Party, the rolling news channel has been caught in a succession of controversies, including allegations of distributing propaganda, manipulating photos and executives influencing editorial output.

Fox has removed its coverage so far from objective journalism that it has become a running commentary on news rather than a traditional output for reporting. The two stars of this new type of channel are undoubtedly Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly.

Beck is a manic, doom-prophesying patriot, who - like many Americans - has an almost psychotic fear of socialism. Described by a prominent American journalist as "Satan's mentally-challenged younger brother", Beck is most widely know for his rant earlier this year describing Barack Obama a racist who has a "deep-seated hatred of white people or the white culture". Click here for a montage of his finest moments.

O-Reilly, on the other hand, is even more offensive. The former semi-professional baseball player has hosted The O'Reilly Factor, which is the most watched cable programme in America, since 1996 and has spent the majority of the last decade with his foot permanently in his mouth.

Renowned for his popular catchphrase "Shut up!", O'Reilly is a man who appears to be in a perpetual state of mental constipation, while at the same time suffering from verbal diarrhoea.

Responding to Michelle Obama's comment on her husband's campaign trail early last year that she is finally proud of her country, O'Reilly said: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle unless there's evidence that say this is how the woman really feels.

"If that's how she really feels – that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever – then that's legit. We'll track it down."

For more along the same lines, click here

Dean Denham, president of Public Policy Polling, emphasised the implications that the rise of Fox-esque news providers could have on journalism in America

He said: "That people see the network as trustworthy is worrying in terms of the future of reasoned debate in America.

"A lie screamed loudly will trump a truth ¬spoken quietly."

You may be thinking - how does this affect me? Well, Murdoch has already expressed wishes for his UK ventures to become more like Fox. So if in five years time Jim Davidson is calling Gordon Brown a one-eyed, haggis-eating jock whilst anchoring Sky News don't say I didn't warn you.

Titchmarsh is a Turnip

Alan Titchmarsh is many things. TV host, novelist, horticulturist and sex symbol for the nation's toothless Countdown watchers I can just about accept. Last time I checked, however, the Yorkshire-born, ex-Songs of Praise presenter was not an environmental scientist.

Despite this, the Daily Express today decided that Titchmarsh's calls for the public to be given the "whole picture" on climate change is worthy of a half-page item in the news section of its esteemed publication.

Sounding suspiciously like a man who huddles in corners whispering conspiracy theories, the BBC Radio 2 fixture has offered his views on the 'great global warming swindle'.

Referring to the fact that there has been 30 ice ages interspersed with warm periods in the Earth's history, Titchmarsh said: "There is a denial that this has ever happened before, as if we are children who cannot be told the full story.

"These facts are almost swept under the carpet because they are inconvenient truths".

Far from being denied as Titchmarsh claims, the International Panel on Climate Change acknowledged the role that natural events play in global warming in its fourth assessment report in 2007.

However, the study disclosed that the geological record has shown that nature's timetable of climate change is very different from the current warming cycle and that our planet has never warmed at this quick a pace before.

Now, I will admit that I have limited national newspaper editing experience - precisely none actually - but what senior editor in his right mind would define Titchmarsh's vague mutterings about "facts being swept under the carpet" and people being treated like grown-ups as news? Step forward Mr John Ingham - the paper's environment editor.

Ingham has been steadfastly flying against all rational logic and scientific evidence in his current post and would have played a part in the newspaper's outlandishly stupid Snow Chaos: And They Still Claim Its Global Warming story earlier this month.

What's next? Piers Morgan discussing the consequences of sea level rises on the world's biodiversity? Jordan and Peter Andre debating the implications of climate change on future water resources for the Indian sub-continent across competing ITV4 reality shows? Jedward hypothesising about the role that peatlands play in global carbon dioxide emissions in a GMTV special hosted by Lorraine Kelly?

Please stop it Ingham - for all of our sakes.

Blood, Bombs and boys' talk

The cost of war is usually counted in fallen soldiers. Afghanistan - like Iraq before it - is no different. Last week, the number of British personnel to die in the perpetually war-torn country reached the symbolic figure of 100.

Three-quarters of these deaths are believed to have been caused by improvised explosive devices (IED). But often left unreported are the lives of those severely wounded by this ugly icon of modern warfare.

An article in the Sunday Times, written by Miles Amoore, has attempted to readdress the balance. Blood, bombs and boys' talk tells the story of the military inhabitants of Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham, where bloodied soldiers still carrying the scent of battle are taken to begin their rehabilitations.

The author's 24-year-old brother James - a second lieutenant with 2nd Battalion, the Rifles – was himself hit by an IED while serving in the sprawling maze of alleyways in Helmand province, losing seven pints of blood, his sight in one eye and large chunks of flesh in both legs.

Describing the operations, flashbacks, raw memories and phantom pains of disabled soldiers facing up to their life-changing wounds, the article is well worth a read.

Daily Express screams "conspiracy!"

With world leaders potentially deciding mankind's fate at the Copenhagen summit this December, the Daily Express has continued its brave campaign to uncover the great climate change conspiracy.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary - from pretty much the entire scientific community - some crackpots continue to peddle the myth that global warming is not man-made. Unfortunately for us, a number of this group are newspaper editors. Today's Daily Express carries the entirely misleading and sensationalist front page story 100 REASONS WHY GLOBAL WARMING IS NATURAL – No proof that human activity is to blame.

The self-styled 'World's Greatest Newspaper' - a slogan that may well breach the trading standard's act - has published the rantings of the 'respected' European Foundation; a glorified lobbying group created by the types of Tories David Cameron is hiding in his attic until the end of the next general election.

The foundation was created in 1992 in opposition to the formation of a European government and actively lobbies against the unification of the EU on trade, labour market and economic issues. It has not previously engaged in any scientific debate, but the make-up of its UK advisory board explains why it has chosen to do so now. The business leaders represented by the foundation include Roger Brooke, life president of the private equity house Candover, which currently has £141 million invested into Wellstream – a manufacturer of flexible pipeline systems for the oil and gas industries.

The report, I write this term very loosely, was written by Jim McConalogue, editor of the right-wing propaganda pamphlet the European Journal. A respected climate change scientist you might think? Alas no. Mr McConalogue received a degree in social and political theory from Birbeck University and has no background in science at all.

The 'evidence' gathered to back-up the foundation's claims that global warming is not man-made includes out-right lies, statistical misinterpretations and baseless statements that have no relevance to the issue at all.

Coming in at number 14 in the top 100 is the 'astounding' revelation that Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden Peter Lilley doesn't think climate change is man-made, which sounds like irrefutable evidence to me. Number 15 is the completely irrelevant suggestion that wind farms do nothing to reduce CO2 emissions, while at 37 the sound of McConalogue desperately clutching at straws can be heard with the statement that an increase in CO2 has probably helped lengthen human life-spans since the industrial revolution.

Now you might think that the Daily Express has every right to report the views of climate change sceptics. Editors often repeat the mantra that it is essential for the objectivity of journalism to publish both sides of the story. However, objectivity in journalism is a myth. It is the role of a reporter and newspaper to make a judgement on a particular issue and present the language and angle they deem most important to the public.

In this case, a brief look at the report and a Google search would have told journalists working at the 'World's Greatest Newspaper' that it should be binned. Global warming is an issue that will affect us all and recycling is an important part of the solution, but regurgitating shit like this will not help anyone.

Bitter Mandy blows off Murdoch

One of the 21st century's great unrequited love affairs has simmered to the boil again this week. Drawing comparisons with Brad and Jennifer, Clinton and Lewinsky and perhaps even Peter and Jordan, Peter Mandelson has passionately criticised one of his most famous exes, Aussie press baron Rupert Murdoch.

The courtship rituals of these two timeless hate figures are more complex than -- and have more than a little in common with -- the penis jousting contests practiced by hermaphroditic flatworms.

In a tale fit for a Hollywood rom-com -- starring Ian Beale and Marlon Brando in the lead roles -- the couple began their love-hate relationship in the mid-1990s.

Mandy, then sporting a rather dashing moustache, wined and dined Rupert alongside soon-to-be prime minister Tony Blair in the hope that the Sun would express support for the Labour Party in the run-up to the 1997 elections.

The relationship was consumated with New Labour's victory and remained relatively stable until Rupert filed for divorce in September this year, citing a new partnership with David Cameron's Tories.

Mandy removed any prospect of love rekindling earlier this week by suggesting that Murdoch's News Corp International is "imperilling the traditions" of British broadcasting and journalism.

Speaking at a reading of the government's upcoming Digital Britain Bill, Mandy said: "They believe that profit alone should drive the gathering and circulation of news rather than allowing a role for what they call 'state-sponsored journalism'."

While I agree with Mandy's argument about the importance of the BBC, it does seem a little rich coming from a man who has faced more than a few accusations of cuddling-up a little too tight to Rupert.

Whatever happens next, I eagerly anticipate the inevitable competing OK! and Hello interview spreads that have become synonymous with very public break-ups.

*Incidentally, the BBC Trust sensibly ruled earlier this week that an analogy used by the political correspondent Nick Robinson comparing Mandy's political career with manure was an "accurate assessment", which seems fair.

Death came out of a clear sky

Twenty-five years ago yesterday (December 3rd) a catastrophic gas leak in the Indian sub-continent killed 20,000 people.

The release, which was caused by the failings of the multi-national chemical firm Union Carbide, continues to pollute ground water in Bhopal -- affecting thousands of residents two decades on.

To highlight the pain and problems still affecting communities in Bhopal, Indra Sinha has written a moving article, published in today's Guardian, asking why the Indian government has still not made the area safe.

Read it. It's important and it illustrates the power that journalism can have.