Frowning Street

Someone's not telling the truth.

"Levy said Blair had told him Brown could not win a general election, a statement rejected by Blair's office"

What hope do we have? Look at camera

Poor old Mr William Wales.

He uses service equipment just like loads of other people and gets into trouble...

"It's disgraceful, abusing his power like that"

"we've been crying out for more Chinooks for the war"

Or is it?

There's a lot going on here. William himself should certainly know that an A-list celebrity like himself has to behave much better than the average joe. He (or his advisers) should know better for starters.

The RAF should not have allowed it. William certainly didn't order it. He was given his orders and he obeyed.

But there's far worse.

The Daily Mail reported that Royal Air Force Chief Marshal Glenn Torpy "erupted with rage" after finding out that Prince William landed the Chinook helicopter assigned to him during a training flight on his girlfriend's yard.

So Mr Torpy didn't even know what the 2nd most important man in the country -- entrusted to his care -- was doing. And now argues that it wasn't his fault. Admitting this in public is frankly admitting he doesn't know what the R in the RAF stands for. Step forward Mr Reid, "Not fit for purpose" I believe is the appropriate phrase.

Oh yes, and the next time you fly a Chinook over central London, try and do it at a normal height, and without having the airspace around you cleared. From the south bank there was an obvious shot and an easy target for a well heeled terrorist -- who are everywhere aren't they?

This is what happens when we remove rubbish bins from public places. Things that might be bombs get put in plastic bags and left out anyway.

And nobody gives a damn.

This charming picture from a mainline tube station. Loads of police up top looking for people to stop-and-search.

This is disturbing. Not because we do. Of course we do! But the fact that the press seem to amazed that it has actually happened, and also the ludicrous idea the the Prime Minister himself should have a)known about it and b)authorised it.

There seems to be (at least) two questions here :

1.Why should MPs be bugged ?

And

2.Should there be special control and authorisation ?

Regarding (1), we should remember that MPs are public servants of high importance and position, paid for by the tax-payer. They are often privy to quite confidential information, and have a great deal of influence in general affairs. We may be concerned that they are abusing their power , or we may be concerned that they may be susceptible to blackmail. Performing these two roles is bread-and-butter work for our security agencies. Should we bug them all, all the time, probably not , that's not terribly efficient, but we should be prepared to move quickly if we think that National Security is at stake. That's what it's about.

(2) is somewhat trickier. The two more visible agencies in the UK are MI5 and MI6. In fact these aren't even their real names, just the media-labels for the "Security Service" and the "Secret Service". Of these two, MI5 has no direct executive authority, and reports to the Prime Minister. MI6 can act in its own interest.

So the answer to (2) is Yes and No! If the bugging was an MI6 operation, then it's quite possible that the PM would never hear about it. If it was MI5 then he ought to be in the loop. Somewhere.

Is it sensible having MI6 able to act with such freedom ? Well that's another issue. But it seems to be working rather well, and managing its power pretty well.

As a final thing to think about, it's highly likely that other nations are already bugging our MPs. It would silly to imagine that the CIA et al are not already doing it. We won't get PM authorisation over this either, so live with it.