Old age does not give you wisdom

  - contrary to traditional belief. After all, one loses bits of knowledge as even the best of memories fail to some degree. However, it does give one perspective.

Lech Walesa is 80

 The old fighter for civil liberties and Nobel prize-winner is still protesting against authoritarian government. Happy birthday, sir!

William Windom, the personification of Thurber

  - would have been 100 today. 

The New York-born actor is probably best known (certainly on this side of the pond where the series is on constant repeat on at least two of the digital channels) as Murder, She Wrote's world-weary GP, Dr Seth Hazlitt. 

However, he has a long string of credits and first made an impact as "John Monroe" in My World and Welcome to it, inspired by the writings of James Thurber. So close was the inspiration in fact that one took Monroe to be an idealised version of Thurber himself.

Labour and the private sector

 The i newspaper earlier this week warned that Labour's plan to enlist private sector support for the NHS may not be the shot in the arm it seems. 

James Ball wrote:

Labour's plan to make more use of the private sector to tackle ballooning NHS waiting lists stands out as one of the most eye-catching policies from an often risk-averse party.

The idea may alarm those who fear it will be a thin end of a wedge leading to NHS privatisation. But the shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting's strategy could also be seen as a smart move for a party that wants to show it is up for doing whatever it takes to tackle one of the country's biggest problems.

However, independent experts have expressed major doubts about whether Mr Streeting's solution can actually cut waiting lists. They are warning that the use of  private hospitals to take on routine operations could cost the NHS too much. 

The experts argue that Mr Streeting's scheme would have to rely on paying private providers more than the NHS receives for exactly the same work.

It has already been noted by Private Eye that the Priory Health Group has sponsored a couple of Labour events, and it s probably significant that in a recent interview the CEO stated that 

Out of all the mental health beds in the country, both NHS and independent sector, Priory accounts for 10% of inpatient beds already, so we are a big and trusted provider. [...] I do see Priory as a key partner to the NHS and as someone who has worked in the NHS, I am passionate about meeting the needs of people in the UK and delivering high quality services and support.

Open Democracy lists a number of policy changes and shadow cabinet appointments linked to donations from commercial organisations. The article is clearly partial, but it does cite facts which can be checked. 

It all points to a putative future Starmer government being, like Blair-Brown, little more than a continuation of the previous Tory administration. 

Reith would not put up with Brand

 There is news today that at last the police are formally investigating the claims of molestation and worse by Russell Brand. 

I must admit that his act, which presumably got him noticed by BBC executives in the first place, and his radio show passed me by. His occasional appearances on the media more broadly repulsed me, but I thought perhaps he had something to offer his new employers which I had not seen. The nasty stunt involving the innocent Andrew Sachs confirmed me in my dislike, though. One did not need to say anything on that occasion as the BBC (rather too slowly) dispensed with his services as a result. 

I cannot claim to have spotted him as a wrong 'un, but surely executives closer to him must have been aware that his sexual behaviour went beyond the norms. Just as with Jimmy Savile, they turned a deaf ear to complaints and rumours. Were they part of his in-group, or did they just tolerate him in the mistaken belief that the laddish element among his listeners was more significant than it actually is?

At a time when BBC Radio is awash with repeats as it clearly cannot afford as much original material as it used to produce, and TV's Newsnight is facing cuts to its journalism, savings should rather be made in the ranks of out-of-touch executives.

Turning points

 Steve Richards is on a tour promoting his latest book. He fetched up on Sunday Supplement yesterday and he and Vaughan Roderick had an interesting chat about turning-points in political history. Clearly both the Labour 1945 election win and that of Thatcher in 1979 stood out as such. However, both men in my opinion understated the effect that Thatcher-Major had. It not only shattered the post-war party consensus, undoing all the reforms of the 1945-1951 parliaments (apart from the NHS), but it went further back. It abolished practically all the wages councils initiated by Churchill in 1909, municipal housing initiatives (1919), bus regulation (1930) and trustee savings banks whose roots went back to the early 19th century. The Blair-Brown landslide of 1997 was hardly a turning-point because New Labour accepted so many of the tenets of Thatcherism.

Remarkably, this Conservative government is going back to the future on municipal responsibility for public transport by allowing Greater Manchester to take control of bus regulation again. 

Belgian Minister for Justice's disgrace

 In case you missed it, the story of "pipigate" is here.

An investigation for "insulting behavior" was opened after guests at Belgian Justice Minister's birthday party were accused of urinating on a police car

The Belgian Minister of Justice will surely remember his 50th birthday. Three of his guests are accused of urinating on a police car parked outside his home on the night of 14 to 15 August.

Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne appeared before Parliament on Thursday following the opening of an investigation on 23 August. He told the Belgian parliament that he had not seen three guests at his birthday party urinate on a police van outside his home and apologised for the scandalous incident.

It couldn't happen to one of our ministries ... could it?

 

Murdoch: from dictator to grey eminence?

 From a rival Australian newspaper chain:

After seven decades of building an empire, Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as the head of Fox and News Corp. The Australian-born media mogul announced that he will transition from his roles as chair of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp in November. His son Lachlan, pictured left, will become the sole chairman of both companies, while Rupert Murdoch will become “chairman emeritus”.

The 92-year-old informed staff of his decision in a letter that stated he was still in good health but “the time is right to take on different roles”. He added that he would continue to “be involved every day in the contest of ideas” and warned that the “battle for the freedom of speech and, ultimately, the freedom of thought, has never been more intense”. Murdoch’s departure follows a tumultuous period at Fox. In April, the company agreed to pay $US787.5 million ($1.17 billion) to settle a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems after the cable TV network accused Dominion of rigging its voting machines against former president Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

While the matter never made it to trial, Murdoch made stunning admissions in earlier depositions, including the fact that presenters had “endorsed” Donald Trump’s lies of a stolen election knowing they weren’t true. Murdoch is a particularly influential figure in Republican Party politics, and his decision to step down could have ripple effects as the US heads towards a presidential election next year. Murdoch’s influence has also been widely criticised. Angelo Carusone, President of Media Matters for America, said “no one should sugarcoat the damage he caused. Making matters worse, his parting act – handing the reins to Lachlan Murdoch – is akin to tossing a match onto the kindling he stacked.”

It is widely suspected that Murdoch senior will remain the power behind the throne, though one industry insider told the BBC that Lachlan is by no means the dimbo he is reported to be.

Murdoch is seen as a monster and he is certainly not a liberal. (Sun front page attacks of 1992 killed off Liberal Democrat chances of making headway in the general election of that year. They included an accusation of Liberal Democrats being no more than a Trojan horse for Labour, and this notorious one.) But otherwise his political philosophy does not go beyond backing winners, ensuring favourable treatment from any incoming government - witness the Sun's support for Blair in 1997. On the plus side, he has maintained The Times as a (mainly) independent newspaper of record. Nor has he ever resorted to the courts to defend his reputation as many lesser but equally rich public figures have done.

Chances are that Murdoch will be as good as his word and not a Sinatra--like farewell.