Quelle Surprise

Following the 'revelation' that MI5 are "devious, dishonest and complicit in torture", what never ceases to amaze me is that people are still surprised when these stories are uncovered.

One of those "champions of the people", a judge no less, described MI5 as complicit in the torture of a UK citizen, of having a "culture of supression", of not respecting human rights and of misleading MPs who were supposed to scrutinise their work. It's a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.

I would hazard a pretty safe guess that MI5 are exactly like the police when it comes to 'getting a result' and we all know what their track record is like. For as long as I can remember there have been miscarriages of justice perpetrated by the police, subsequently investigated by the police and then exonerated by, you guessed it, the police. Recent examples include Ian Tomlinson and Jean-Charles De Menezes but those are only the recent blights on a path stretching back to the Birmingham Six, the Guildford Four and, if only the evidence had stuck, the Secret Seven.

Not only are those MPs not keeping MI5 in check but the governments top lawyer wrote to the judges asking them to tone down their criticism, which they duly did. It was only when the newspapers (the ones that still actually carry news that is) kicked off that the comments were published. And now they have, we are getting the all-so-typical calls for an inquiry. Ye, thats just what we need. Another fucking inquiry. Like Chilcot, I shouldn't wonder, it'll really get to the root of the problem. A massive spend fest for the lawyers while everyone gets ready to cover their arses. And everybody gets off with a slap on the wrist.

As if further proof were needed what a crooked bunch the whole lot of them are (like I said, quelle surprise), a different bunch of expenses-claiming MPs had the cheek to bollock another copper. What for? For not giving detailed enough evidence into the whole sorry News Of The World 'phone hacking saga. He forgot the details when he was stood in front of the Common's select committee but it all came back to him when he got the FOI request. The MPs have been investigating press freedom, privacy and libel but that wasn't important enough for News International's chief executive to get out of bed. Rebekah (her spelling, not mine) Brooks asserted that it would be a 'waste of time' to give evidence on something so trivial. Clearly she understands the game - judges, coppers, MPs, security services and the gutter press. Is there a bed big enough to take them all?