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What do you get if you put a dictator, a movie mogul and Lord Mandelson in the same room?

By Angela Harbutt
August 25th, 2009 at 3:14 pm | Comments Off on What do you get if you put a dictator, a movie mogul and Lord Mandelson in the same room? | Posted in UK Politics

Answer: Pretty much anything they want – it would seem.unelected Business Secretary

 

The latest loony suggestion from the Government, announced today, is to FORCE Internet Service Providers to suspend access to those internet users who illegally download music and films.

It’s a stupid suggestion – forcing ISPs to take action on offenders. If piracy is illegal its surely a police matter – not a matter for business. And who exactly is going to police the ISPs to ensure that they do as instructed, another quango? And in any event who’s to say that those most adept at piracy will not be able to evade ths ISPs ( i dont know how but I’m sure they do). All we are likely to see are the occassional offenders and the inept being caught in this particular trap. Wrong.Wrong.Wrong.

And talking of wrong..  How long can the unelected Business Secretary be allowed treat this country as his own personal fiefdom? He returns to the scene of last years crime (yachts, Russians, George Osborne) to holiday with the Rothschilds. He meets Gaddaffi’s son, and within days the whole Libyan bomber fiasco unfolds. On the same holiday he meets the billionaire producer David Geffen (who co-founded Dreamworks with Steven Speilberg) and before his Corfu tan has faded his department is announcing a major u-turn on illegal downloads.

Hollywood film companies are reportedly losing hundreds of millions of pounds from illegal downloads, and have launched a very active lobbying operation to change the law to make it harder. Coincidence?

Well I for one can imagine the conversation that Lord Rothschild has with his mates… “Fancy a few days in Corfu Mr Geffen? ” ….”No thanks Roths,bit busy”… “Did I mention that Nat is bringing along Mandy from the UK?” …” Really? Shall we say Friday 6pm – I’ll come in the yacht – no need to make up the beds”.

I am sure that the unelected Business Secretary will produce some sneary response and call any suggestion of a link between the meeting and the u-turn on policy as “insulting” “absurd” or some such thing.

But we will remember that he’s said all that before and not once but twice has been forced to quit from UK office (you remember the undisclosed home loan from Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson and the Hinduja passport affair). So here’s hoping his arrogance does for him again. In the meantime it will be well-worth watching where he spends his Christmas break. Ski-ing anyone?

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