And in the Blue Corner...

The question of sleazy behaviour by MPs, including Ministers, has been big in the news in recent months, mainly on the Labour benches. Now, with the Derek Conway revelations, we have something in the same broad category on the opposition side of Parliament.

There are also rumblings about possible LibDem dodgy behaviour in Scotland, but that is yet to come fully enough into the public domain to be able to be included as yet (unless I've missed something). Therefore, for today, I am going to stick to the cases that are sufficiently known about to draw a few (hopefully useful) inferences.

Now, predictably enough, numerous supporters of one or other of the two main political parties so far involved have taken their pops at the other party when one of these matters has come to public light. Some of us have been more restrained. There have also been a lot of Labour "trolls" trying to divert attention from their own Party's woes by flinging mud in other directions -- generally unsuccessfully, I have noticed...

Another tack has been for each side to claim that the other's misdeeds are more serious than those on their own side. This needs looking at logically, so that perhaps a more rational and reasoned view can be taken of what is either known or alleged to have occurred, what might arise (or be revealed) in future, and what if anything can and/or should be changed in "the system" (a broad term there) to improve the standards of political life in this country.

I have produced a kind of Truth Table below, in which I seek to cut out the claims and counter-claims such as those I have read around the blogosphere and elsewhere, and simply log the base facts, their nature and implications, and possible consequences of each. I am sure it is not perfect, but I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else, so I feel it is worth the attempt. I am not counting the London Mayor situation here, though I am taking cognisance of the cash-for-honours issue as it is still current.

See what you think of this:

Subject // Party -->	Labour Alexander, Hain, Harman	Conservative Conway
Public Money Involved	-	Yes
Affects Governance	Yes	-
Widespread / Institutionalised	Yes	-
Front Organisation(s) / Laundering	Yes	-
Party Leader Failed to Take Decisive Action	Yes	-

I make that four-to-one; but it shows that neither party can be allowed to get off the hook lightly. What action(s) need to be taken for the future I cannot say with any certainty, except that State funding of political parties definitely is not the way to go. Yet more rules and regulations are unlikely to produce any genuine benefits either: it has been clear that the rules already in place are being ignored by some, so what's the point of merely creating more? That would be nothing more than cosmetic.