I am sure the same applies to the media in Germany, France, Russia, China and the USA where the interviewee has a major interest in using the media as a channel to keep the gullible general public ‘baffled with science’ or, put more crudely, pure undiluted bullshit! It is a gift the interviewers must possess to get the job and, no doubt, having sat countless interviews for the position, have, mastered to a fine art the skill of not laughing. I wonder when they go for the interview do a load of funny men dance the fandango in the background in an attempt to make them laugh? If the job applicant succumbs to laughing, they fail the interview.
Is it a kind of test they sit at interview level? When the interviewee, usually though not exclusively, a government minister avoids the question(s) instead of the interviewer saying something along the lines of, ‘look, you people never, ever, answer questions why the fuck do you bother coming on the show’, they meekly say something like; “I’ll try again” or “let me put it another way”. Some are better than others and a few do actually try in a half-hearted way to procure an answer to their question. Laura Kuenssberg on her programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg does put her head a little higher over the parapet when she asks for a “yes or no answer” which the interviewee usually ignores and continues spouting verbal crap. Jeremy Paxman was another interviewer who put his interviewees on the spot. He was moved around a lot, a little awkward for his employers perhaps?
On Sunday 3rd December on the BBC Breakfast programme the crisis in the National Health Service (NHS) was discussed. A hitherto little-known man, Rory Deighton who is apparently the Chair of the NHS Confederation (whatever that is) told the viewers: “The NHS has made perhaps the best preparation and planning ever” for the coming winter months. The fact that 95% of all NHS capacity beds are already full appears to be part of this “best planning ever” seems to have eluded the man. Just as he avoided the question with such crass remarks as “we are well prepared” because what they are now offering instead of hospital treatment is DIY health. He went on to tell the viewers that they have now in place “virtual wards” which are basically consultation by mobile phone or laptop. Imagine telling somebody waiting for a hip replacement who are in one of these “virtual wards”, usually the patients living room, what they should be doing to relieve the pain while they wait for a place on an ‘actual ward’! What Mr Deighton did not tell the viewers, perhaps because he did not know or had been ordered to stay clear of the subject, was that a major reason for the bed shortage is, according to reporter John Pilger, they have cut back on beds from over “400,000 available beds when the NHS was formed in 1948 to around 120,000” in the present day. He did mention the figure 120,000 but not the figure set out for a smaller population back in 1948. Why would a man holding such a lofty position as Mr Deighton not mention that? Well, thereby hangs a question which will probably never be answered! So, how do interviewees like Rory Deighton and more to the point those interviewing him and people like him, manage to keep a straight face knowing they are, at best, telling half-truths and at worst a pack of lies? The interviewer knows what they are being told is a load of bollocks and manage to hold back their laughter, a gift from the heavens surely!! I would have to blurt out something like; “you are a prat and a lying prat at that but you get paid a fortune for bluffing your way through” I’d have to say that if I were interviewing. I suppose pulling the wool over people’s eyes is part and parcel of the job!
As I have alluded to many times in TPQ British politics after World War Two advanced greatly from the pre-war years into what became known as ‘the post-war consensus’ meaning a level of agreement was reached by the two main parties, Labour and Tory, not to undo too much of what the other had done. This worked for a time, certainly through the fifties and into the sixties at a time when Britain was rebuilding after the war. The cracks in this ‘consensual arrangement’ first appeared during the 1960s and particularly in the NHS. Harold Wilson was the unfortunate soul who was Prime Minister of the Labour government when the vagaries of capitalism came calling at his door. The economy, put bluntly those who own the economy, the very wealthy, demanded cuts in public services and health was to be the first casualty. The employers were now embarking on the road of technology and no longer needed such a large workforce fit and healthy. Therefore, there is no need for so many hospitals were the never spoken publicly arguments privately uttered in their ‘Gentlemen’s Clubs’ which were, of course, private and very expensive.
On Sunday 3rd December on the BBC Breakfast programme the crisis in the National Health Service (NHS) was discussed. A hitherto little-known man, Rory Deighton who is apparently the Chair of the NHS Confederation (whatever that is) told the viewers: “The NHS has made perhaps the best preparation and planning ever” for the coming winter months. The fact that 95% of all NHS capacity beds are already full appears to be part of this “best planning ever” seems to have eluded the man. Just as he avoided the question with such crass remarks as “we are well prepared” because what they are now offering instead of hospital treatment is DIY health. He went on to tell the viewers that they have now in place “virtual wards” which are basically consultation by mobile phone or laptop. Imagine telling somebody waiting for a hip replacement who are in one of these “virtual wards”, usually the patients living room, what they should be doing to relieve the pain while they wait for a place on an ‘actual ward’! What Mr Deighton did not tell the viewers, perhaps because he did not know or had been ordered to stay clear of the subject, was that a major reason for the bed shortage is, according to reporter John Pilger, they have cut back on beds from over “400,000 available beds when the NHS was formed in 1948 to around 120,000” in the present day. He did mention the figure 120,000 but not the figure set out for a smaller population back in 1948. Why would a man holding such a lofty position as Mr Deighton not mention that? Well, thereby hangs a question which will probably never be answered! So, how do interviewees like Rory Deighton and more to the point those interviewing him and people like him, manage to keep a straight face knowing they are, at best, telling half-truths and at worst a pack of lies? The interviewer knows what they are being told is a load of bollocks and manage to hold back their laughter, a gift from the heavens surely!! I would have to blurt out something like; “you are a prat and a lying prat at that but you get paid a fortune for bluffing your way through” I’d have to say that if I were interviewing. I suppose pulling the wool over people’s eyes is part and parcel of the job!
As I have alluded to many times in TPQ British politics after World War Two advanced greatly from the pre-war years into what became known as ‘the post-war consensus’ meaning a level of agreement was reached by the two main parties, Labour and Tory, not to undo too much of what the other had done. This worked for a time, certainly through the fifties and into the sixties at a time when Britain was rebuilding after the war. The cracks in this ‘consensual arrangement’ first appeared during the 1960s and particularly in the NHS. Harold Wilson was the unfortunate soul who was Prime Minister of the Labour government when the vagaries of capitalism came calling at his door. The economy, put bluntly those who own the economy, the very wealthy, demanded cuts in public services and health was to be the first casualty. The employers were now embarking on the road of technology and no longer needed such a large workforce fit and healthy. Therefore, there is no need for so many hospitals were the never spoken publicly arguments privately uttered in their ‘Gentlemen’s Clubs’ which were, of course, private and very expensive.
The first casualties were the old community and very much loved and needed by these communities Cottage Hospitals. These were small local health care establishments with three or four wards, an A/E department and small operating theatre. They suited local needs perfectly and generated a feeling of warmth and belonging to the patients. These buildings had to go and Wilson, privately reluctantly, was the man tasked with doing just that on behalf of the capitalist economy. If any reader has ever watched the TV Drama series, The Royal, set in the sixties they will note this small Cottage Hospital is under permanent threat of closure. This is perfectly in line with the political climate of the times, I remember well, as the first cracks in the ‘post war consensus’ appeared. Interviewing on the TV was not as regular in those days but I can remember a newscaster called Robert Dougal in Britain asking questions and getting no answers and my dad rearing up at the person being interviewed.
On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg again on 3rd December the new British Health Secretary, Victoria Atkins, said when asked about the “crisis” in the health service; “the industrial action by Junior Doctors is to blame for the crisis. Strikes are a big part of the problem like waiting lists”. The truth is somewhat different. This crisis in the NHS has been happening for as long as I can remember, dating back to the sixties and has little or nothing to do with strikes. This is just an excuse to mask the fact that various governments have been cutting back on the NHS to suit the needs of the British capitalist economy for decades.
On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg again on 3rd December the new British Health Secretary, Victoria Atkins, said when asked about the “crisis” in the health service; “the industrial action by Junior Doctors is to blame for the crisis. Strikes are a big part of the problem like waiting lists”. The truth is somewhat different. This crisis in the NHS has been happening for as long as I can remember, dating back to the sixties and has little or nothing to do with strikes. This is just an excuse to mask the fact that various governments have been cutting back on the NHS to suit the needs of the British capitalist economy for decades.
There are now more private health care companies whose sole interests are profits in Britain than ever before. Almost every other advertisement on TV is encouraging people to join Laya Health, or any other health care private concern. The aim here is to bait people away from the NHS into these private company’s hands then the government can say something along the lines of. The NHS is no longer needed, nobody uses it, could this be their ploy? If it is then it may be beginning to be bear fruit. One woman emailed in explaining she “could not take the pain any longer, therefore had to go private for a hip replacement, taking out a bank loan to pay for it”. She continues; “I now fear my right hip might need replacing and if so, I will have to remortgage my house”. The NHS is supposed to provide ‘treatment free at the point of need’. Yes, it does provide treatment free, well kind of, taxation is supposed to fund it, but at the ‘point of need?’ Not in this particular woman’s case who is quite plainly suffering trauma as to how she can pay for another “hip replacement.”
On the same programme Lord Andrew Roberts, one of those parasites over there who sit in a place called “The Lords”, when asked about Labours claim that the Conservatives are “planning to privatise the health service”. He replied, “labour are always claiming the conservatives are going to privatise the NHS. This is, of course, nonsense even Margaret Thatcher did not privatise the NHS.” This is true, she did not, but only because she ran out of time to do so in my view. She was kicked out as Tory leader by her own moderates in 1990.
In Britain the alternative to the Tory robber barons is Labour, or what was once the Labour Party. Will they make a difference? No, I have my doubts, they might slowdown the rate and pace of cutbacks in the NHS but no real change in direction. Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour opposition, recently said “Margaret Thatcher dragged Britain from its slumber”. Well, Keir, the same could be said of Benito Mussolini in Italy, who Mrs Thatcher shared much in common politically, or Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Thatcher also once said of Tony Blair’s “new Labour”; “new Labour is my greatest achievement” referring to how far to the right her, and her policies of the new right-wing consensus have pulled the Labour Party in Britain. This is the woman the present Labour leader appears to admire!
Over here in the twenty-six counties our own media, RTE, Virgin and the newspapers practice very similar methods of pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Like in Britain they are reasonably successful in their plight of keeping us all in ignorance of the truth. We have never had a fully tax funded National Health Service of the British model which was, at its inception a brilliant service. It did provide ‘treatment free at the point of need’ and the need for private health care, for a time, was minimal. The interviewers here are in possession of the same gift of not laughing as their British counterparts. Government Minister after Government Minister are interviewed by our equivalents of Laura Kuenssberg and lie through their teeth or just ignore the question. The opposition Sinn Fein party are somewhat better at answering questions than are the government spokespeople. SF party leader, Mary Lou McDonald tends to be fairly straight when answering most questions, providing such enquiries are not too probing! On RTEs The Week in Politics Aine Lawler asks awkward questions and keeps a straight face while crap is spued out of her guest mouths!!
On Sunday 3rd December Aine Lawler asked TDs about the 25 million euro earmarked at the COP (Conference of Parties) in Dubai which Ireland has pledged to help those countries suffering the effects of climate change the most. She compared this figure with the 95 million euro earmarked for the Horse and Greyhound Industries at home, asking if “Ireland had not got our priorities wrong”? TD, Michael McNamara replied, but certainly did not answer the question, “we need to decarbonate, last year Ireland did not even apply to the EU fund for assistance”. The TD totally avoided the question which appears to prioritise the Horse and Greyhound Industries, in other words gambling, over the crisis hit countries mostly sub-Saharan African lands. Why did the TD evade the question? Does he care less for human life in these countries than the Horse and Greyhound Industries here in Ireland? Or does he simply like a bet and fuck those who live in countries most affected by climate change, countries who have done the least to accelerate the rate of planetary vandalism? McNamara kept a straight face while not answering Aine Lawler’s question, quite amazing!
Sinn Fein are promising a “single tiered nationalised health service” if they are elected to government. A bold promise if they can pull it off, but do not hold your breath you may die. At their public meetings which I have attended they appear to be using the British model of 1948 as a blueprint, a good example providing we are talking of the 1948 NHS and not the 2023 version. Such a move will be novel in the twenty-six counties as we have never had such a service or, more to the point, a commitment by any party to such a health service. Perhaps the nearest we got was Dr Noel Browne’s Mother and Child scheme which was crushed by the Catholic Church which they branded as “communist”. So much for “suffer little children” and caring for their “flock” another fucking joke. Even interviewing liars from the clergy, the interviewers manage to keep tight lipped and straight faced, remarkable really.
Will Sinn Fein deliver, if elected, on their promise? Well, their track record is not great on sticking to their principles. The once spoke of thirty-two county democratic socialist republic has died a death, in fact a thirty-two county republic, minus the socialist bit, seems a million miles away. If they renege on their promise on health, which is likely, as they have on all their other pledges such a move would be in line with the party’s policy changes in recent years. Their commitment to abstentionism in line with the historic second Dail was kicked into touch in 1986. They swore to bring down Stormont, which they did (or the IRA did) and now they are the largest party in the Stormont Assembly, when it sits! So, why would their commitment to health care be any different? In fairness, they can justifiably say we have not been given a chance. This is perfectly true and one thing we do know and that is, the present cabal who call themselves a government are never going to prioritise the health of the majority, they have proved this beyond all ‘reasonable doubt’.
On the same programme Lord Andrew Roberts, one of those parasites over there who sit in a place called “The Lords”, when asked about Labours claim that the Conservatives are “planning to privatise the health service”. He replied, “labour are always claiming the conservatives are going to privatise the NHS. This is, of course, nonsense even Margaret Thatcher did not privatise the NHS.” This is true, she did not, but only because she ran out of time to do so in my view. She was kicked out as Tory leader by her own moderates in 1990.
In Britain the alternative to the Tory robber barons is Labour, or what was once the Labour Party. Will they make a difference? No, I have my doubts, they might slowdown the rate and pace of cutbacks in the NHS but no real change in direction. Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour opposition, recently said “Margaret Thatcher dragged Britain from its slumber”. Well, Keir, the same could be said of Benito Mussolini in Italy, who Mrs Thatcher shared much in common politically, or Augusto Pinochet in Chile. Thatcher also once said of Tony Blair’s “new Labour”; “new Labour is my greatest achievement” referring to how far to the right her, and her policies of the new right-wing consensus have pulled the Labour Party in Britain. This is the woman the present Labour leader appears to admire!
Over here in the twenty-six counties our own media, RTE, Virgin and the newspapers practice very similar methods of pulling the wool over people’s eyes. Like in Britain they are reasonably successful in their plight of keeping us all in ignorance of the truth. We have never had a fully tax funded National Health Service of the British model which was, at its inception a brilliant service. It did provide ‘treatment free at the point of need’ and the need for private health care, for a time, was minimal. The interviewers here are in possession of the same gift of not laughing as their British counterparts. Government Minister after Government Minister are interviewed by our equivalents of Laura Kuenssberg and lie through their teeth or just ignore the question. The opposition Sinn Fein party are somewhat better at answering questions than are the government spokespeople. SF party leader, Mary Lou McDonald tends to be fairly straight when answering most questions, providing such enquiries are not too probing! On RTEs The Week in Politics Aine Lawler asks awkward questions and keeps a straight face while crap is spued out of her guest mouths!!
On Sunday 3rd December Aine Lawler asked TDs about the 25 million euro earmarked at the COP (Conference of Parties) in Dubai which Ireland has pledged to help those countries suffering the effects of climate change the most. She compared this figure with the 95 million euro earmarked for the Horse and Greyhound Industries at home, asking if “Ireland had not got our priorities wrong”? TD, Michael McNamara replied, but certainly did not answer the question, “we need to decarbonate, last year Ireland did not even apply to the EU fund for assistance”. The TD totally avoided the question which appears to prioritise the Horse and Greyhound Industries, in other words gambling, over the crisis hit countries mostly sub-Saharan African lands. Why did the TD evade the question? Does he care less for human life in these countries than the Horse and Greyhound Industries here in Ireland? Or does he simply like a bet and fuck those who live in countries most affected by climate change, countries who have done the least to accelerate the rate of planetary vandalism? McNamara kept a straight face while not answering Aine Lawler’s question, quite amazing!
Sinn Fein are promising a “single tiered nationalised health service” if they are elected to government. A bold promise if they can pull it off, but do not hold your breath you may die. At their public meetings which I have attended they appear to be using the British model of 1948 as a blueprint, a good example providing we are talking of the 1948 NHS and not the 2023 version. Such a move will be novel in the twenty-six counties as we have never had such a service or, more to the point, a commitment by any party to such a health service. Perhaps the nearest we got was Dr Noel Browne’s Mother and Child scheme which was crushed by the Catholic Church which they branded as “communist”. So much for “suffer little children” and caring for their “flock” another fucking joke. Even interviewing liars from the clergy, the interviewers manage to keep tight lipped and straight faced, remarkable really.
Will Sinn Fein deliver, if elected, on their promise? Well, their track record is not great on sticking to their principles. The once spoke of thirty-two county democratic socialist republic has died a death, in fact a thirty-two county republic, minus the socialist bit, seems a million miles away. If they renege on their promise on health, which is likely, as they have on all their other pledges such a move would be in line with the party’s policy changes in recent years. Their commitment to abstentionism in line with the historic second Dail was kicked into touch in 1986. They swore to bring down Stormont, which they did (or the IRA did) and now they are the largest party in the Stormont Assembly, when it sits! So, why would their commitment to health care be any different? In fairness, they can justifiably say we have not been given a chance. This is perfectly true and one thing we do know and that is, the present cabal who call themselves a government are never going to prioritise the health of the majority, they have proved this beyond all ‘reasonable doubt’.
Perhaps Mary Lou can speak and speak very convincingly while she and Sinn Fein are in opposition. When she becomes Taoiseach the Sinn Fein leader will come up against the needs of Irish capitalism. Will she, like Harold Wilson all those years ago in Britain give way to the billionaire robber barons? If they say, “Taoiseach, we cannot afford your fully comprehensive health service” will she counter them with; “oh yes we can, and you lot are going to cough up a few more euro to help”, will she have the bottle to say this? Time will tell and meanwhile our interviewers can continue with their, what must be amusing job providing they can resist the temptation to burst out laughing!!
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
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