Hutton Report

The European media have ran headline stories for weeks saying British PM Tony Blair would be dog tucker if the Hutton Report implicated him in the so-called “sexed-up” intelligence dossier scandal that he used to justify involvement in the Iraqi War.

“Blair...B Liar” ran the tabloid headlines. The suicide of intelligence analyst David Kelly added a human take to the drama and gave the conspiracy theorists plenty of ammunition. The media are like reef fish; they all swim in a common direction. They smelt blood and were drooling in anticipation that the Hutton Report would find against the PM. At the same time as Blair faced a “High Noon” vote on tertiary fees as up to 100 of his own MPs threatened to vote against his changes. If that vote and the Hutton Report had gone the other way, Blair opponents were ready to call for his head.

Across the Atlantic, the Bush Administration faced a similar crisis because David Kay, the chief US weapons inspector, admitting that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and that “we were almost all wrong”. He did however emphasise that Saddam Hussein representing “a grave and gathering threat” and that his removal prevented the development of an program to develop weapons of mass destruction. Here’s the top American in the hunt for WMD saying that Bush, Blair and the Coalition got it wrong.

I sat in my Geneva apartment flicking channels as a witness to history unfolding. At almost the same time, David Kay was cross examined by the Senate Armed Services Committee, and PM Blair addressed Parliament to respond to the Hutton Report. Blair had won the vote on University fees by just 5 votes. I marvelled at how modern communications has democratised information by allowing us to witness history without the filters of opinion leaders and self-important commentators. Here was Parliamentary democracy at its best – the effective scrutiny of the executive and the cleansing air of information blowing through the corridors of power. Both Bush and Blair will have inquiries as to how their intelligence services got it wrong.

It’s another reason why democracy trumps a closed society every time. In the Senate, they debated how to correct weaknesses in the intelligence system and how to ensure a better outcome next time. Witnesses confessed to overstating WMD in Iraq, while probably underestimating WMD programmes in North Korea, Iran and Libya. Freedom of information, an effective and a competitive political opposition that probes for weaknesses forces leaders to have an answer, especially in an election year. The more open the society, the better the result, the more responsive the Government must be.

Anyhow, back to London and Blair’s vindication. Lord Hutton declared that Blair had not lied, nor acted dishonourably. Hutton instead attacked the BBC, claiming it’s editorial system was “defective”. The Government had not “sexed up” the intelligence reports as it had repeatedly claimed. The Chairman of the BBC resigned, along with the Managing Director.
All this brings into focus the uneasy relationship between the government and media.

These conflicts of interest, ambitions and egos are even more difficult to manage in smaller countries like Australia and New Zealand. The politicians need the media and suck up to them. The media need politicians but generally despise them. Some journalists suspend ‘independence’ and become players. Some are convinced – and sometimes they are right – that they have the power to make and break careers and even governments. They become the story and cross-interview each other about the issues of the day as they define them. Politicians try to manipulate them, spin them around, to generate the most favourable possible coverage. None of this new.

A more modern development is the emergence of powerful celebrity journalists, and powerful talkback hosts. Parliamentary leaders now spend more time courting key media personalities and owners than their parties or the public. We have become a telecratic democracy where the 5 second TV grab or 15-second radio bites are fundamental to political success. Planet Canberra, where politicians, journalists and staffers live together, creates an inbred culture, and a false sense of reality. New Zealand suffers even more, which is partly a function of its size. A conspiracy theorist could construct a compelling chart to illustrate the number of journalists who have gone on to Minister’s officer, lobby firms and lucrative jobs with state owned enterprises. Its reasonable to question a journalist’s independence if their next career move is to work for politicians or powerful special interests.
Despite all these conflicts of interests and clashes of personalities, the system manages to work. Churchill said that democracy was the worst conceivable form of Government until you considered the alternatives. After losing my second election in New Zealand, I said that the people are always right, even when they are wrong. I still believe in democracy, despite what’s done to me.

A free and competitive press is a fundamental part of our democratic process. NZ and Australia have a free press, although I am not sure how competitive it is.