Friday, January 21, 2011

THE NEW SECRET POLICEMAN'S BALLS ? *

Before returning to the subject of Ed Balls' appointment as Shadow Chancellor, I would like to express gratitude for the resignation of Andy Coulson, the Prime Minister’s outgoing Head of Communications. However, on a day when Tony Blair made a further appearance at the Iraq Inquiry, I do wonder why the Coulson story has received so much media attention.

Alan Johnson’s resignation yesterday, we have subsequently learnt, appears to be the consequence of his wife having an affair with a police protection officer, or rather the forthcoming appearance of this story in the media. But is all as it appears?

This blog generally supports the cock-up theory of events rather than the conspiratorial one, although in the case of Alan Johnson’s resignation perhaps both theories are equally applicable. So let me give a little spin of my own to this story.

The present Government is presently engaged in cutting back the state, including the police state. Chief Constables and other senior officers may lose their jobs. There will be less money available for undercover surveillance operations of the kind instigated during the New Labour regime.

Then someone has a bright idea: “What we need is Ed “Big Spender” Balls in the role of Shadow Chancellor”. So the story of Mrs Alan Johnson’s liaison with a protection officer, apparently going back to the days when her husband was Home Secretary, conveniently comes out in the media. Gotcha!

* The original Secret Policeman's Balls were events in support of Amnesty International

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