House of Commons moral hypocrisy

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Another bunch of self-righteous MPs on the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee will quiz the terrible trio of the moment from News International next week, Tuesday.

News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch, News Int senior executives Rebekah Brooks and Murdoch, James, the son, will face a grilling from them over hackgate that has literally been a "popcorn" rolling news story for more than a week now when news was broken that a dead girl's phone was allegedly hacked into and messages were disgustingly deleted.

And this intense onslaught on the Murdochs must be a fantastic restbite for Labour, who key players in the entire few days have been touring the studios pretending to take the moral highground, when yet some of their MPs have been less than whiter than white.

Although this event has been billed as an armchair gripper, with millions probably expected to tune into Sky News to see the Murdochs squirm in front of ten foaming at the mouth MPs, (some who probably can't wait to have their "five minutes" of fame - and let's face it, it's not often a media mogul drops into parliament and is forced to come clean about what has been going on,) they must think their Christmas's have come all at once.

REWIND THE CLOCK

Let's just remember a couple of years ago when the expenses scandal broke, and for near on a fortnight, people were salivating over the drip-fed content from the Daily Telegraph over whether another MP had billed the ever gullable taxpayer to clean out their moat, or indeed, have a duck house placed in their huge back garden, or whether it was a £700 food bill from Marks and Spencers, or whether someone had been charging Mr John Q Taxpayer for a phantom mortgage that never existed. Some MPs were banged to rights, and there's no doubt that this is a revenge dish best served cold for MPs to have a few hacks banged to rights - then, they're even?

I remember at the time, MPs acting ever so outrageously humble, "we need to learn the lessons from this," they said and not to let something like this ever happen again. And yet, the only proper reason why they were acting so disgusted, and, indeed, in some cases, so snivelly remorseful was because they were caught out - the piggies had been well and truely porkered. And while those involved in hackgate haven't yet had a snivel or indeed publically had a snivel, the MPs will probably not let them have a snivel at the hearing on Tuesday.

MORAL AUTHORITY HAS BEEN LOST IN THE UK

On a wider point, morals in the UK have slowly declined. MPs when they were creaming off the taxpayer never actually morally asked themselves whether what they were doing was wrong. They did of course, bleat on that it was the rules and they had all acted within the rules. And now, they are purporting to be in a so called position of so called moral authority passing judgement on something which, while absolutely disgusting in allegedly hacking a dead girl's phone, they are doubly asking where were News International's morals in the whole debacle?

MORAL ROLE MODELS

The problem is, and it's something I have always believed in sincerely, morals stem from the top down. If a government of the day lack morality, or lack in the will on laziness or burdening bodies with bureaucracy, then it filters down to everyone else.

Two examples of political moral hypocrisy:

1) Former Deputy Prime minister John Prescott.

While he's been touring studios having his pound of flesh, less we forget that he was exposed as an adulterer. OK, so the information may have been obtained illegally, but are we supposed to be taking lectures from him on this issue, when he was purporting to be a family man?

I could of course add former Tory PM John Major to that list. The "back to basics" man who was really gettng "back to basics" in the bedroom with someone else.

2) Labour's Chris "bare it all" Bryant....Interesting that no-one has actually dared mention his little antics of a few years ago....

MPs, (especially those appearing should think twice about making this a showboating media two hour double bill of polititainment) and concentrate on the more important issue of what to do with the media.Although the popcorn will be an unexpected treat for a Tuesday afternoon.

Revenge will definitely appear sweet for those ten MPs on the Committee next week...

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