Three issues have just come to light in the last couple of weeks which have an unrelated, but similarly, theme.   That is massaging of public statements which is deliberately designed to mislead, and in my view in the grossest cases should be made into a civil offence with penalties designed to deter.

First it was revealed that the scientists who drew up the key WHO guidelines advising governments to stockpile drugs in the event of a flu pandemic had previously been paid by drug companies that stood to profit. As a result Big Pharma, in particular Roche (Tamiflu) and GlaxoSmithKline (Relenza), made £4.8bn out of governments stockpiling drugs following panic predictions that didn’t come true.   The UK, where warnings were issued that 65,000 could die, spent £1bn.   The issue here is the lack of transparency in how decisions are made about pandemics and the concealment (or lack of prominence) given to a conflict of interest among scientists making the recommendations.

Another angle on this web of deception is the analysis by Spinwatch that no less than 1 in 7 new Tory and Labour MPs have previously been lobbyists.   Cameron of course was also previously in PR and Clegg a professional lobbyist.   When a lobbyist becomes an MP or a Minister, there is potentially a conflict of interest.   If a cooling off period applies when they leave, shouldn’t there also be one beforehand as well?   The Government is pledged to introduce a statutory register of lobbyists, and any such regulation should apply to MPs who were former lobbyists.

A third aspect of the spin mania is of course the government spin machine which has achieved more and more dominance not only in news management but also more insidiously in perspective control.     A good topical example is the BBC’s portrayal of the murderous Israeli assault on the unarmed flotilla carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza as a “potential public relations disaster for Israel” – a face-saving formula setting out the perspective of the attackers rather than a forthright condemnation of piracy in international waters.   This is is the most difficult area to deal with, requiring a right of prominent reply and a regulatory penalty for seriously damaging and dishonest propaganda.

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