The Pricking of my Thumbs

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes” William Shakespeare – Macbeth Act IV scene 1

You would have thought that the Kelly affair taught the government a lesson. Well, you would if we were talking about reasonable people. People, that is, who care about their fellow man and take high office for altruistic reasons, rather than snivelling self-servitude. We are, however, talking about the mean-spirited, illiberal parasites usually found festering on the government front benches.

Simon Davies is an academic. In his role as an academic, he along with colleagues from the London School of Economics, produced a paper on the costs of the proposed ID Cards Bill, which was somewhat different to the home office costs. The government, not surprisingly was unhappy with the outcome; not least because it showed them up for the incompetent, numerically dyslexic liars that they are. So the gloves came off and it all got very personal – they lined up their sights on Simon Davies because he is also a director of Privacy International.

“Davies was one of a group of academics at the LSE whose investigation found the costs of the national identity card scheme would be as much as £19 billion — three times the government’s initial estimate.When the report was published, Clarke immediately launched a virulent attack on the report, its authors and on Davies personally. “

What arseholes these ministers are. Arrogant, self-obsessed, venal, vile, repulsive arseholes; the lot of them. They don’t like the report so they target one of the authors in an unforgivable personal attack that leads to personal loss:

“As a result, his income has halved and he has had to move from a rented house to a bedsit in London. The lack of space has meant he has even had to give away Buster, his german shepherd dog.”

They claim that he is partisan because of his role with Privacy International. Although as Sir Howard Davies, Director of the LSE points out:

“It is quite wrong to suggest he (Davies) is the sole author of the report,” he said. “I would also question the assumption that an interest in civil liberty necessarily means that one is biased when producing an estimate of costs.”

I agree with this point entirely, but even if it wasn’t the case, and Davies was being partisan, does that justify a personal attack deliberately designed to destroy him? What kind of worthless shit honourable gentleman does that?

Of course, you also have to question the feeble-mindedness of those people who will not employ Mr Davies as a consultant on the basis of the briefings being put out by ministers. Frankly, anyone who incurs their ire is someone whom I would seek to employ forthwith – clearly this is a person with scruples and judgement. Not a description that I would consider applying to government ministers. These people are morally bankrupt, without any means of salvation, the lowest of the low – and then downstairs a few more flights. Frankly, you would be better off doing business with your local drug baron than government ministers. Drug barons at least have some semblance of honour and provide a service for their clientele. Not qualities you will find on the government front benches. You’d also feel less inclined to scrub your hands with wire wool after shaking that of the local drug baron.

So, to McNulty, Burnham, Clarke, Brown and most of all, the nauseous, feculent, pustulant pox of a prime minister; Blair, I wish you only death and disease; may the latter be long and excruciating. You have demonstrated that you no longer have any remnants of humanity within your desiccated souls. Go, please, and wither away and die; it’s the one final human thing you can do.

I rarely use the words “evil” or “wicked” because they tend to over state reality. In this case, though such use is deserved; something wicked this way comes, indeed. And, to remain with the Shakespearean theme; There really is something rotten in the state of Denmark.