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The Tommy Sheridan case reflects badly on all sides - whatever
the outcome
Editorial
Filed 03 Aug 06
©www.land-care.org.uk
For the past four weeks the populace has been
treated to daily accounts of the long running case at the Court
of Session in Edinburgh, brought by Tommy Sheridan MSP. He is suing
the News of the World for £200,000 for defamation.
He claims that his reputation, both as a man and
as a career politician, has been severely damaged by the publication
of his alleged extramarital activities whilst he was claiming to
the electorate that he cherished family values. He resented the
charge that he was a hypocrite.
While many of the multitude may have enjoyed mild
titillation from the public exposure of the alleged libidinous behaviour
of this macho charismatic figure, the whole affair has a sick ring
to it.
Tommy Sheridan was the one-time leader of the
political party known as the Scottish Socialist Party which currently
has six seats in the devolved Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. The
case opens up a can of worms as to how this political party apparently
operates. The impression given is of a political party that is seriously
disfunctional with a degree of infighting that might do credit to
a bunch of street rats.
As far as the public is concerned, goodness knows
who is committing perjury in court or who is just 'mistaken in their
recollection of events'. Irrespective of who wins the case the image
of what has been described as the 'Scottish Sex Party' is in tatters.
Or is it that the 'celebrity' status of the character in the title
role in this pathetic saga will be greatly enhanced, whatever the
outcome.
The modern fashion is to extol so-called celebrities
giving them credibility in areas where it does not exist, and where
'celebrity' status can be achieved by bad-boy behaviour rather than
by any valid contribution to society. Probably most people don't
care too much whether Tommy Sheridan did or did not frolic with
how many consenting adults in some sex dive be it in Machester of
the middle of Glasgow, but they do - or should - care about how
a political party operates that claims to represent the very real
needs of a section of the electorate.
The impression given is of a party where the more
serious form of corruption is in the behaviour of its party MSPs,
officials and certain supporters amongst and against themselves.
There can be little wonder that the electorate
has such a poor opinion of politicians. With devolution, Scottish
politicians have had a unique opportunity to get above the rabble
that characterises Westminster. They recently got their own parliament.
but the fancy building was poorly constructed at vast public expense,
largely due to political and executive mismanagement.
What also comes to mind is the jailing of Scottish
labour peer Lord Watson. Why on earth did he get a peerage in the
first place? In the absence of any apparent outstanding public service,
failure to keep his seat at the previous general election hardly
provides justificaiton. He deliberately set fire to the curtains
of a prestigious Edinburgh hotel following a Scottish Politician
of the Year Awards bash when people were asleep in the upper floors.
He was the promoter of the poorly conceived anti-hunting bill, seemingly
based on an ego trip rather than any knowledge of what was involved
or its implications (1).
Many folk would not be sorry if, in relation to
the present case, the News of the World was done for damages and
all the massive legal costs on account of their style of journalism.
There is little hope that national TV in Scotland
might take a more responsible stance when reporting Scottish politics.
When might they pay rather less attention to featuring charismatic
characters of minority parties rather than focussing on the issues?
In summary, this High Court case might best be
concluded by his Lordship handing down 'a plague on all the houses'
of the participants. But matters of principle are rarely what High
Courts bother too much about, but rather on points of law. To that
extent the case is of little interest, other than to titillate.
The News of the World will sell more copy, so it probably does not
matter too much to its proprietors what their come-uppance might
be.
The real loser will be the political system. The
general election for the next Scottish Parliament takes place in
May next year, in just nine months time. Through despair and increasing
lack of trust in politicians even fewer people may bother to vote.
©www.land-care.org.uk
References
1. Editorial (2005). The architect
of the anti-hunting (Scotland) Bill pleads guilty of being a drunken
wilful fire-raiser, endangering the lives of others as they slept
in a prestigious Edinburgh hotel.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 07 Sep 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
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