2253 Birthday weekened 2012- 1

It is eight hours before my seventy third birthday and the day so far has been good. I am listening to Adele on the speaker system attached to the desk top via Deezer Music.

After the 11 hours of sleep overnight on Tuesday, yesterday it was eight hours but I am still feeling good. It has been a sort out day so far with continuing from yesterday the registration of some sixty new works sets for the month of March. I still have to list the recent completed Blogs before this aspect of my project is finished for the first third of the month.

Going to have modest treats tomorrow as will be having celebration meals later in the month. Bought some sprats which I will fry in batter naughty for lunch and then have some salami also naughty for evening meal as only concession to the day and perhaps a can of Pepsi but not the usual bottle of Champagne or Asti which usually marks Christmas, New Year and my birthday.

It is midday on my 73rd birthday and it is difficult grasp that sense of time this involves and also the rapidity of its passing. I did not sleep as long as intended because of staying up late to watch Question Time and This week following the death six soldiers five of them aged between 18 and 21 who had been about a month in Afghanistan and were being taken on a familiarization tour. It is not clear how the Taliban who claimed responsibility were able to blow an armoured vehicle built like a tank to pieces and to the extent that the soldiers have been declared missing rather than killed in action.

Three of the young men came from Huddersfield and were members of the Yorkshire Regiment whose base is at Warminster in Wiltshire while another was based at Catterick. This brings to over 400 the number of the soldier deaths over the ten years of involved in the country. It was understandable that the deaths would lead to the first Question of evening whether the withdrawal of forces should be brought forward from 2014. The position is bleak in terms the future of the country. The present government is corrupt and incompetent and those in the know predict it will collapse the moment the NATO forces leaves despite the training of the civilian and military to be able to manage their own internal security.

While there has been some improvement in the position of women who are now able to receive education including further education and to stand for Parliamentary office the President has signed a religious based law which makes them second class citizens unable to go out on their own. The economic structure is still based on the Poppy Drug culture which is as strong as ever and in addition to the various Taliban factions the warlords remain in control of various areas. However without the continuing training efforts and strikes against the warring extremists there is no prospect of stability and normality being achieved?

This was again the theme for this week although there were other subjects of interest on an evening which included the presence of Diane Abbott who had to relinquish her regular seat on the Sofa because of holding a position in the Shadow government following her good run for the Leadership. She was joined on the night by the awful Peter Stringfellow who launched into a tirade against the 50 pence tax rate and the proposed Mansion Tax and which the Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member Vince Cable said he would welcome as a replacement for the 50% rate if reduced as well as other steps to raising for the tax threshold to £10000 for everyone sooner than later.

As a bi-product of the subsequent discussion and the political take on the week the future of the Coalition came under discussion again as over the past three weeks at Prime Minister’s Question Time Conservative backbenchers have raised questions about the extent to which who the Liberal Democrats have been dictating policy particularly over the proposed changes to the National Health Services and taxation and with concerns on all sides about aspect of the Welfare Benefit changes which will into effect from April. Much the of the toing and froing is designed to exert pressure on the Chancellor coming up to the budget.

I managed to catch the tail end of Bargain Hunt yesterday so I then watched the final segment on the BBC I player as both teams did exceptionally well and with a record situation with a combined taking away of £545 and profits on all six items and the two bonus items. There was nothing in the preamble and discussion of the items to indicate the scale of the profit margins. The outstanding success came for the Red team who had a profit of £130 on an art nouveau mantle clock which appeared to me to be nothing special. This was followed closely by £125 on a claret jug with a silver top in the shape of a duck. The bonus item was a tiny pendant in the shape of book which contained photos related to the Great Exhibition in Scotland in Edinburgh in 1901. There was only £15 on a silver lipstick holder with attached mirror. The Blue team achieved £225 with over £100 on one items and profits on the others including the bonus.

I am going to watch a performance from Convent Garden of Madam Butterfly on Sunday which is their second production to be shown in 3D. This will involved using the Tyne Tunnel which is now full opened with both lanes working and checking the Internet site for the latest toll charges which have increased from £1.20 to £1.40 I noted it is possible to buy tickets in advance with a £10 discount. I had some difficulty registering and paying the starter price of £15. The pass did not arrive until this morning and involves a substantial disk which is attached to the inside of the Windscreen with sucker and a screw and this should turn the stop light from red to green and raise the barrier on approach. It is then possible to add to the “pass” paying cash, credit card, at the offices, by phone and on libe. However as I am unlikely to make more than a few journeys each year rather like the Oyster card in London it is a useful way of not having to struggle for the right change although there are better discounts for London card.

It has been a busy day because the 16 black printer cartridges arrived by post together with a USB store card with 4 GB content holding for less than he price which I pay for the same item at the local store. Delivery was also better than previously. However I had to rush to put the waste bun of fortunately hearing the arrival of the refuse collection vehicle.

I have probably seen about half the Wood Allen films in which he has Directed, Scripted written or appeared as an actor and sometimes undertaking all three Roles over the past 50 years. I have enjoyed several of his films although rarely appreciated the humour and in general have not been engaged by his movies for them to remain memorable and if pressed I would find it difficult to recall the story lines, including which have brought him Oscars with Annie Hall in 1978, Manhattan I980, Hannah and her sisters. The last offering to be enjoyed was Vickie Christina Barcelona and I have Midnight in Paris on my future view list. I cannot remember having come cross his other recent film You will meet a tall dark Stranger 2010 which has a number of English actors, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Gemma Jones in major roles also Anne Friel Pauline Collins, Celia Imrie and Philip Glennister plus Antonio Banderas in an English Language Spanish American co production.

The film was enjoyable rather than outstanding. Alfie played by Anthony Hopkins and a wealthy business man who as most old men do wake up in the middle of the night recognising the rapid approach of their mortality. His response is to go to the gym and hanker to be young again and to have a son replacing the one they lost. They have a daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) who is married to a one book published writer, (James Brolin) who trained to become a doctor but decided this was not something he wanted to do.

The films centre on these four lives. Alfie separates and then divorces, buying a sports car and encountering a common speaking young woman who appears to have operated a hostess/model in Los Vegas at one point in her young life. He buys them a modern Thames view apartment and buys her jewellery and furs and with viagra attempts to create the son. He finds keeping up with her high maintenance spending a problem and her lack of interests in those cultural things which interest him. He goes to a dance club with her and feels out of place and is jealous when she dances with great sexuality with a stranger,

The threat comes from one of the regulars at the gym where he takes he shows her off. Later he spots coming out of a hotel when travelling by Taxi and then when he goes to make inquiries at the hotel he sees one of the other men from the gym also leave and say that he lives nearby. When he challenges the wife she claims she was at the Gym and that the man he saw at the hotel would vouch for her. She is pregnant and he demands a DNA test when the child is born. Their relationship is never the same after that and he arranges to meet his ex wife and with a view to reconciliation. He admits to being afraid of being alone in his old age.

His wife had attempted to commit suicide with the departure of Alfie and had been found by her daughter. She then goes to a psychic played by Pauline Collins and who is skilled at giving desperate clients the kind of information which keeps them going. In this instance she combines the information that the ex wife will meet a tall dark stranger with the suggestion that we lead many lives and that in the past the ex wife was someone like Joan of Arc!

Her daughter had given up a promising career in the contemporary art world to find ways to support her one published novel success by her husband who now depends on financial support from his mother in law for them to survive in an apartment. The wife gains employment as a personal assistant to art gallery owner Antonio Banderas who discloses that he has problems with his bipolar wife. He takes here to a Bond Street Jewellers to help buy a pair of expensive earrings which cost several thousands pounds. As relations with her husband deteriorate and the prospect of starting a family recede begins to fall in love with her employer and this nearly ignites into something when he takes her to opera after his wife cannot attend and her husband is away. He drives her home but does not take up her invitation to come with her to the flat because he appears worse for alcohol.

She takes him to view the work of her art school day’s friend played by Anna Friel and he is impressed and proposes an exhibition. She becomes more drawn to her employer and then is shock to find Anne wearing the earrings she helped purchased and the girl admits she is having an affair with him. This causes the wife great disappointment and brings the flaky marriage to breaking point.

Meanwhile her husband has taken an interest in a guitar playing neighbour across the court yard. He is disappointed when he sees her being undressed by a young man but this does not prevent him inviting the young woman to lunch on a day pouring with rain. After that they have several meetings. The girl is engaged to a Brussels based diplomat but with the wedding only days away she calls it off much to the horror of both families with guests coming from various parts of the world at great expense.

She has introduced the writer to her father who is a translator and critic. During the first part of the film he awaits the response of his publishers to his latest offering and becomes tenser because of several delays. His mood is not helped by two developments. One of his Poker playing friends has written his first novel which he gives to him to read and he realises it is far better than anything he has written and is honest enough to admit this. The other is that his mother in law says she has consulted her psychic who says he should not be disappointed and that while he may have success as a writer perhaps in another life he should consider changing occupations.

Then he learns that his friend has been killed and that another of the Poker playing friends is in a coma. He breaks into the home of his friend and steals the lap top and his notes and then submits the novel to his publishers after getting his girl friend’s father to read and give his opinion. After me moves in with the girlfriend his publishers says the new work is his best yet and they plan to give it prominence. Then learns that it was the other man who died and it is the author of the work in a coma and could well recover with time and support. He visits and his friends believe the man is flickering in eyelids in recognition. They suggest that their successful writer friend reads his latest work to the bed bound man. While the film ends, as often those of Woody Allen do, without conclusions the suggestion is that he knows he will be found out as a fraud and the new successful life he was about to touch will be taken from him.
There are two development in the life of the daughter. The first is that another friend suggests that they open an art gallery together and her mother confirms the often promised willingness to put up half the capital required as has been promised in the past. When she tells her mother even more funds are likely to be needed her mother announces that she will provide no funds on the advice of the psychic and no amount of pleading will change the mother’s mind.

Previously her mother had suggested that she ought to tell her employer of her feelings for him and this she does when they are parting as she leaves to establish the new business with her friend. He gives no indication of ever having had similar feelings for her, emphasising that she was the best PA he has ever had and wishing her well as a rival gallery owner. When she presses him that if she had disclosed her feelings before he met Anna Friel it is evident from his response that he had never been drawn to her in the same way,

It is only the rejected wife who appears to have a happy ending of a kind. When visiting friends she meets a recent widower who runs a books shop specialising in spiritualism and the occult. He is far from being a talk dark stranger short and plump but the common interests drawn them together, He has attempted to gain contact with his wife through a medium and before he feels able to begin a marital relationship they two attend a session at which the wife appears but he is unable to seek approval for the new relationship. Helena, Gemma Jones leaves in distress realising that he is still married to the dead woman. She goes into despair again although is encouraged by her psychic to believe that she will experience happiness perhaps in a later life. However she is contacted by Jonathan the bookshop owner who has found the courage to ask the question and received a positive answer. The two appear well suited for each other.

Woody Allen who is now in his 77th years is married to his technically 5th wife although he lived with Mia Farrow and his present wife is her adopted daughter with Andre Previn. He married his first wife when he was 19 and she 16. His relationship with his fourth wife is said to have commenced when she was 17 and at High School. The relationship between Mia Farrow and Allen ended when she discovered nude photos of her adopted daughter. Then aged 20. Mia also accused him of sexual interference with their adopted daughter when she was seven years of age. The charges arose during a legal custody battle where the Judge said the evidence against Allen was inconclusive.

One evening earlier in the week as I was about to go to bed and flipped the sky channels to see what was on I came across a channel called Current which announced it was closing down and was showing some of its important documentaries before doing so, There were three being shown show which I stayed up to watch. All three concerned the vulnerability of children in poor countries to exploitation by adults and by other children. One featured children in the capital of India where there number of street children on their own is disturbingly high in the tens of thousands. The programme followed the life of one boy who had run away from home and became involved with a gang where later it emerged the older leader in his early teens was sexually abusing the young members. He was a found a place at a residential school. The programme also followed the life of a young girl who lived in a slum home with her grandmother after her father died and her mother walked out. She sold flowers to help the family income and had stopped going to school because of this need.

The second programme feature a child brother in Cambodia where a charitable organisation is now attempting to combat male paedophiles with the help of a team of police who use motorbikes in plain clothes to keep surveillance and attempt to gain the evidence for prosecutions. The programme followed one man who appeared to grooming a girl on the streets and also a man who claimed to have adopted two children.

The programme goes to the Kenyan Coast where local women are used to offer tourists children from villages arranged by male pimps where for a few dollars to the family children are purchased without the parents or the children appreciating the significance of what they are doing. There was also a situation where teenage girls appeared to open to being used for money as a way of improving their position. It was all depressing and alarming. A check when writing this and it appears the channel has ended without finding out what other subjects had been covered and why the channel had now been closed. I have checked on the Internet and the station closes in the UK on Sunday. Missed are a series of 50 documentaries to see before you die and a host of other programmes on various subjects which I would have liked to have experienced. It is not clear why the channel has ended in the UK, presumably from lack of financial sponsorship.

My evening viewing has posed a problem with priority going to Warrington’s visit to Leeds and there was also a live relay from the Royal Albert Hall of Aida, the result show for American Idol which I should also be able to view of the weekend and an episode from the ninth season of NCIS. My resolution of this conflict will be covered in Birth weekend 2012 parts 2 and 3.

2252 Montalbano, Blue Bloods, Luck and Spartacus.

An up date on my 73rd birthday on recent television series viewed, I could not remember the name of the fourth episode of Inspector Montalbano but it was the best yet and an outstanding crafted work. As soon as I came to remembering the finding a terracotta dog in the secret chamber of a cave I remembered the title, the Mystery of the Terracotta Dog.

The former Mafia boss of Sicily has been on the run for twenty five years protected by his former associates. Inspector Montalbano appears to lead a substantial force raiding where the man is hiding out although unbeknown to them Inspector Montalbano has already met the man who wishes to give himself up but needs to give the impression that has been discovered as part of major raid. The capture is a major coup and brings Montalbano to the fore in terms of publicity and acclaim by his superiors. Because what happened is not what it seems Montalbano is reluctant to face the cameras and becoming a celebrity cop or gaining promotion is not on his immediate agenda.

The new Criminal Order now in operation on the island quickly find out what has happened and the criminal is shot and badly wounded during a dubious transfer between prison establishments and Montalbano himself is placed under threat. Before the former crime boss dies he gives Montalbano a gift for his understanding towards him. This is information about a cave in the countryside which is located with great difficulty. Inside there are two discoveries, the first is a large cache of major weaponry plus police uniforms and this only adds to his standing with the force and community.

The second is that he spots that there is a false wall in the cave and here is discovered two bodies both shot lying side by side together with some coins in a dish and a stone carving of a dog. He is twice contacted by his former schoolmaster. The first occasion is to advise that cave was well know in the past and used during the war by those engaged in the black market and on the second the headmaster reveals that the coins went out of circulation just before the allied invasion and also the story of an event which had occurred before then. It is the kind of mystery which Montalbano finds difficult not to try and resolve and brings out his romantic streak.

However before then he works out that there is a connection between the robbing of a supermarket, the new mafia order and the cave. In previous episodes Montalbano has made use of his school friend contact that has become minor criminal running women and low level activity and a useful source of information when required.

He is able to establish that the vehicle making a delivery to the supermarket also delivered the weapons to the cave arriving early. This brought into the frame the provider of the goods to the supermarket and when the station chief ignored Montalbano’s plea not to take precipitive action this results in a contract being placed on Montalbano and his friend. The man is shot dead and Montalbano is also ly wounded but not before killing one of the assassins and wounding the other. He needs a long period of convalescence and his girlfriend takes time from her work and travels to the island to care for him. The man who took out the contract is killed by the new order who is horrified at the attention his actions are bringing.

Montalbano visits the mother of his friend and they reminisce about the old days. He is also able to discover something about the couple in the secret chamber. They were a pair of star crossed lovers, the Romeo and Juliet of the Island, The girl was a favourite relative of the man who owned the cave and the young man an Italian sailor from a visiting vessel, also a Muslim. They had been discovered together by a jealous relative and shot. The placing in the secret chamber was to enable the couple to love for eternity according to an ancient belief hence the money and the Terracotta Dog. The story has a Christian and a Muslim background involving young men who hide in a cave to escape an enemy and are then seen several hundred years later. It is the Muslim version of the tale that the young men are accompanied by a dog to keep watch.

According to the headmaster the home of the man who had owned the cave had been flattened by a bomb and he had been badly injured. His wife who had known the girl had received a photo card which had shown the couple in the USA but no message. Montalbano then gains publicity for the couple by hiring a small plane to trail a banner about the couple at an important ceremony on the island. I thought the ceremony involved the opening of a site to establish a tunnel link between Sicily and the Italian mainland however there are plans for a tunnel between Sicily and Tunisia and for a Bridge between the Island and the mainland.

The publicity is International as Montalbano had hoped and he stays by the telephone anticipate a telephone call. In due course he is rewarded as the owner of the Cave contacts and returns home admitting that he killed the man who had killed the young couple. He is therefore able to satisfy Montalbano’s desire to learn the truth. The episode is also important in redefining the relationship between the Inspector and his mistress who flies to his bedside when he appears to be mortally wounded and remains to care for him but then leaves having reached the point of understanding that despite their love he is someone who needs to be alone as he is also a creative detective working outside the mould and not someone to functions best within a team unless he is its leader and functioning in an active rather than bureaucratic way. If I have not mentioned before the original ten book series was written by a woman who explains the particular slant of his character ands approach to the stories.

The human side of the Police New York side is the subject of the latest episode of Blood Brothers: The Job. Son Danny is driving home with his wife and two sons when a man suddenly runs in front of vehicle, is knocked down and killed. A man in a mask is nearby with gun and orders Danny to leave the area. Danny is able to retrieve the gun he has strapped to his ankle and manages to wound the man in his lower arm but not before the man shoots at the car narrowly missing one of his sons.

The incident has a traumatic effect on his wife and his son. Relationships are strained even more when Danny tries to help his son recover after being sent home from school because his distressed condition by getting him to understand the reality of guns and the weapon that he keeps in the family home. The situation also boils up at the famous Sunday lunch which the whole family are expected to attend. His wife and one other member of the family are of the view that Danny has become obsessed with finding the man who pulled the gun on him and his family and should pass the case to someone else but other members of the family disagree and this leads to his wife leaving the dinner table.

Danny is able to establish that the man responsible is a hot tempered neighbour with whom he has fallen out in the past and who is leading a campaign against a half way house established in the area. The man who was knocked down after being chased for his life was a resident at the establishment. He has difficulty in gaining a DNA sample which could prove the link with the blood found from the wounding and he hits of the idea of raiding the trash when it is being deposited and getting hold of items which the man may have handled. He forces the man to show his arm which is bandaged. The episode ends with him handing a box to his wife who holds his badge indicating his willingness to leave the force if it was to be a direct choice between his wife and family and his work. She says that is not want she wants although she also appreciates the seriousness of his declaration.

The second story concerns the unusual behaviour of the Commissioner. He disappears one day from his office without his driver or telling his PA and in fact he attempts to mislead her saying he is visiting the Media Director who then comes to her office looking for Frank. He has taken time out to visit a Psychiatrist/Psychotherapist but is resistant to all the questions and walks out realising this are not the way for him. He does not disabuse the Media Director when he thinks Frank is having an affair with someone which he wants to keep confidential for the time being.

The reality is that Frank is being troubled by his 9/11 experience when he was in the North Tower and his closest associate and friend was by his side but later after he had left the building for safety the associate had been caught in the collapse and damaged his lungs so that he had developed severe bronchial problems and was dying. The guilt Frank experienced since that day had resulted in his failing to keep in contact with the former colleague as he feels he should which only adds to his sense of guilt. The man dies. He comforts his wife and family and speaks at the special service held in the Cathedral.

I have only a vague recollection now of the previous episode called the Uniform. A police assistant similar to the position in the UK visits his uncle who runs a dinner and discoverers the presence of two men who tell the nephew to leave. There is a shoot out with the outcome one of the two men is shot, the other man disappears and the uncle also disappears as does the other police assistant but the incident is observer by a delivery driver who is in his vehicle when the incident happens and calls the police.

It takes time for Danny and his partner to unravel the mystery which includes finding a lock up belonging to the Diner owner and a stash of weapons. The nephew is also traced and is prepared to take the wrap for the situation and only cones to his senses when he realises that his uncle is prepared to see him sacrifice his future to protect his criminal interests. They are able to capture the other man involved. The police Assistant had wanted to be a full policeman and Danny finds that among the information about the NYPD in the man’s apartment is a poster photo of his father. An offence as a juvenile prevented his being accepted but because of his cooperation Danny advises that he should give him as a reference if he applies again.

The other story line in the episode is that of the youngest son, Jamie takes a second job working as a painter with his Sergeant in on order to pay off the loans for the Harvard Law School degree. This leads to the recurring discussion about his decision to join the police following the death of the eldest son and to the issue of second jobs taken by police officers and which ties in with issues raised at Leveson over the past two weeks.

The third episode of Luck with Dustin Hoffman is slight in content. Hoffman arranges for his legal firm to commence to free $50 million from his firm to commence to purchase into the Race Track with his ambition to build a Casino within the grounds and to also get even with his former business associate. To enable this he offers a bright Derivatives Trader with his Company $1 million to work for him on a special project for a year. Hoffman encounters the female representative of an organisation concerned with the welfare of races horses and appears interested in her and the gambling syndicate of former race track bums but the horse thy were interested at the Sellers Plate for a premium roughly three times the value of the selling price which involves pay the trainer who purchased the horse $7500 for his barbecue as a sweetener. They have contact with a horse for the first time with different experience. This is a gesture of solidarity with their comrade who was badly injured escaping from the two insurance agents who planned to kill him and claim the insurance they had taken on him and who had wanted to buy the horse as gift to the syndicate. The author of the gambling formula has returned to gambling at Poker after his recent success clearing his debts. The owner/trainer of the horse with a pedigree background is persuaded to give a ride to a jockey with drunk and drug problems that breaks his collar bone for the fifth or sixth time on his first outing.

Spartacus continues with its graphic portrayal of violence and sex as the hero decides to try and rescue the three surviving captured gladiators who include his former rival and closest associate Crixus and the former Trainer/Doctore who are to be put to death in the arena. The man set to lead the execution by combat is the hero and freed gladiator Gannicus. The plan is to infiltrate the arena from their knowledge of having worked there so to speak setting fire to the under structure to cause the collapse of stands in balls of fire. This is effective with hundreds to Romans killed and the rescue of Crixus and Doctore.

He challenges his former closest friend and ally that the man had a relationship with his wife which Gannicus admits. Doctore is badly wounded and just about survives. The remaining Gladiators and their supporters manage to find refuge in an isolated Temple close to Mount Vesuvius and here they prepare to defend themselves from the onslaught from the might of Rome after their successful daring raid and destruction of the arena. Gannicus believes they are doomed and is only interested in women and drink and goes off on his own. Crixus is joined together with his “wife” who was sold into sexual slavery by the wife of Batiatus after she discovered that sexual slave Crixus and her personal slave had become lovers. She, Lucretia has become something of a seer and prophet although admits the Gods deserted over failing to warn of the attack on the arena. She pretends to continues to be a friend of Llithyia the wife of Glaber who was responsible for the enslavement of Spartacus and his wife.

Lucretia prevents Llithya aborting the child she carries as a consequence of being tricked by Lucretia to have sex with Spartacus both wearing masks when she wanted Crixus. Glaber is aware that Llithya is plotting with her father to divorce from Glaber and establish a more advantageous marriage. Glaber takes the opportunity of the raid on the arena to kill her father and then sets about killing everyone who threatens his ambitions. He allows his wife to live because she is carrying his child! In league with Lucretia is Ashur and who manages to ingratiate himself with Glaber Ashur is the former Gladiator who worked as the bookkeeper and fixer for Batiatus and who was responsible for deaths and much treachery and survived the blood bath at the end of the first series by pretending to be dead under the corpse of a soldier. He is tested by Glaber after claiming that ordinary Roman soldiers will not defeat trained Gladiators and although he has become disabled and long since given up fighting he is able to defeat and kill three of Glaber’s men. This leads Glaber to ask Ashur to recruit a band of like minded cut throats and street fighters to help in locating and defeating Spartacus.

I will write separately on the next three episodes of the Sopranos.

2251 Early March 2012 update

The continued disturbance of my sleeping pattern accompanied by good weight loss is the personal highlight of the past week. I write this restless after another topsy turvey sleep and waking cycle. During the past 10 days I have been so tired early evening that going to bed became an imperative with as early as 7 pm. yes day was such as day but instead of rising around midnight when I felt awake I stayed and although I had to rise several times for comfort breaks it was 06.16 when I got up and hopefully this will initiate a more normal cycle with the lesson that if I go to bed early I should remain if at all possible,

In contrast last Friday I held out until 20.30 and slept through until after 01, rising for a couple of hours but then sleeping through until 8 am, hoping that I was back to normal. Then I dozed off unintentionally during the last moment of the Rugby League Game between Warrington and Bradford at Bradford, and sufficient to create a problem in the night after going to bed I rose again at only 00.30, after experiencing discomfort in bed with indigestion and breathing difficulties, uncomfortable rather than frightening. The move was a good one because after a couple of hours I slept well and on Sunday evening went to bed around 23.30 and rose around 6.30.

My sleep pattern is being affected by undertaking the additional physical activity on most days and may be affected by the breathing problem at night which I have become aware of since the hospital visit in addition to the need for a comfort visit every time that I wake: Cause and effect still needs to be disentangled

The weight loss although good did not end the week as much as it had done earlier but remained below 17 stone and at least a quarter stone less that Christmas and New Year which is good given that January and February are bad months because of the weather and trying to avoid getting colds by remaining in doors and limiting contact with others. By the mid week the weight was again closer to sixteen three quarters than seventeen.

March is usually a good month as Spring approaches and in` the patio garage the containers are full of the then long stems of daffodils and tulips which were planted deep so that when the growth dies down it will be possible to use for the planned planting without lifting the and drying the bulbs which has been one of my least successful gardening tasks over the decades.

I have prepared the plastic vegetable planters under the window sills and the two long one should take a total of eight of the sixteen broad bean plants I have sown from seed. So far two seedlings have emerged from those in doors. The Cactus, the Peppers and Tomatoes have all made appropriate progress and I have commenced to transfer the germinated Busy Lizzies. Writing this over on Monday reminded me that I had not checked the need for water for the thirsty cactus seedling and this was timely so the past 45 mins have been expecting all the plantings which presently run to over 150 already transplanted germination into first stage pots and mini containers and compartmentalised trays. I am not happy with some of the growth so am keep close watch.

I completed the process of sorting through the remaining work boxes on the first and second floors. I have around 75 of the standard document or lever arch cardboard packing boxes which take about three volumes and a similar number of smaller boxes in various shapes and sizes plus around 20 lever arch files to be worked on together with seven large plastic containers.

My aim is work on these at the rate of at least one a week preferably quicker over the next two to thee years. One problem is that the boxes have become mixtures of items hastily packed or restored as part of my arrival here eight years this August. Part of the reason for going through the contents was to search for a couple of books which had become separated from the rest but the search proved fruitless although I have not been as thorough in the checking as I would have liked so perhaps they will turn up over the next couple of years.

Part of the work involved replacing crushed or damaged boxes and this resulted in my car being filled from top to toe with cardboard. It also involved several journeys into the loft for undamaged boxes. I have also brought down a dozen to the reorganised second floor storage box room for use for completed work. The activity helped to bring down with reinforcing the view that such activity is required if I am to change my body once and for all. Considerable self discipline will be required over the next year.

I defrosted the freezer which meant I roasted a full chicken for the third week in succession followed by not one but two curries and then roasted a pork chop to use with a stir fry which became my most unusual of Sunday lunches this weekend. A large salmon fish cake with the rest of the beans and tomatoes and some vegetables with rice mix was enjoyed on Saturday with no sprats and no pizza. I did have one potential contra weight reducing treat in half one of the £2 salami which Asda has taken to sell similarly to those at Morison’s which I have enjoyed over the years, otherwise the evening meals comprised the quiche, or smoked mackerel or prawns with a little lettuce, small sweet picked onions, olives and gherkins or small cucumbers plus about once a week a small tin of mixed beans divided into two portions. Some mornings I enjoyed either the nuts and dried fruit cereal or porridge with the tomato and mushrooms. The cheapest mushrooms are the closed one which are fiddly to prepare so over the past three weeks I have paid more about £1.20 for about three portions of the open variety which are easy to skin peel. The only sweet I enjoyed was a packet of caramel flavour whip divided into two portions otherwise there was no fresh fruit.

I did drink a can of Pepsi perhaps on five may even have been six of the seven days but with water in addition. The last can before the blood check for blood sugar next week on Sunday. This is going to be a great challenge. I have had more than a soup a cuppa soup a day overall. I commenced to restock of the Ainsley soups after the packet size was being sold for 50p again. I probably have 3 months supply compared to the six months bought previously concentrating on the favourites of Broccoli and Cheese, Chicken vegetable including and Scottish version, French Onion and wild Mushroom as I still have sufficient of the Thai Chicken. Yesterday I planned a pork curry, forgot after opening canned vegetables, so today will have a large fish cake with the rest of the veg and then initiate my birth celebration food programme.

To be covered under a television reporting will be the latest Inspector Montalbano, the best to date, Blue Bloods development in Sparta us, further episodes of the Sopranos and eliminating 25 American Idol contestants down to thirteen in a semi final spread over some six hours this past week. I have covered the first three episodes of Upstairs and Downstairs separately.

In films there has been three family films the 2012 Oscar animated film Rango which I found boring and unimaginative, Spy Kids 2 which was awful, and Despicable Me in 2 D which I thought excellent and amusing. In addition a curious film U Turn Sean Penn and Angelina Jolie which can be described a technicality noir comedy and a frustrating 1945 film Cornered with Dick Powell. There is the cricket and so much more on Leveson.

2250 Fictional and Factual events before World War II

The problem with the revival of the 1970’s Upstairs Downstairs in 2010 is that it lacked the interactions of the original cast and concentrated on trying to upstage the ITV’s successful Downton Abbey by introducing historical contemporary characters such as Wallis Simpson and the abdication crisis as well as her relationship with Von Ribbontrop. It also had the black sheep of the family, the sister in law Lady Persephone Towyn running off to Germany with her Nazi lover suggesting echoes of Diana Mitford and her relationship with Adolph Hitler.

I am not surprised that so little attention has been given in the media to the second new series and even Wikipedia has ignored the showing of the first three episodes. Could it be that there is displeasure being exerted from some quarters? If so I can well understand the reaction.

Eileen Atkins who helped to create the original series appeared briefly as the mother Maud, Lady Holland, but she departed said to be in huff over the first season’s script which in addition to the abdication crisis also included the more notorious of the Queen’s uncles, Prince George, The Duke of Kent.

In the second series Lady Holland continues to play a role in the Household from a position on the mantelpiece that is her ashes. Her loyal friend and factotum, Mr Amanjit played by Art Malik and her sister Dr Blanche Mottershead who works at the British Museum and whose forte is organising, cataloguing and systems has moved into 165 Eaton Place and starts to sort out her sisters papers apparently as a self appointed Executor or stake holder in the property.

The opening episode entitled A Faraway Country about which we know Nothing follows the National events leading to the signing of the Munich Agreement with Peace in Our Time. Sir Hallam Holland works at the Foreign Office and belongs to the Churchill Eden viewpoint, who wants the country to rearm and prepare for war with Germany because of Hitler’s ambitions and because of Nazi methods. His wife is among those who plead for compromise and a peaceful solution and is anxious about her sister who lives in Germany as the mistress of a married Nazi officer.

Sir Hallam continues to be friends with the Duke of Kent, Prince George as he was, fourth son of the then late King. The Duke was bi sexual and was known for a series of high profile sexual relationships which included the African-American cabaret singer Florence Mills; banking heiress Poppy Baring; socialite Margaret Whigham (later Duchess of Argyll and involved in a notoriously scandalous divorce case); Barbara Cartland, later known as a romantic novelist; and musical star Jessie Matthews. Claims that he had a 19-year affair with Noël Coward were denied by Coward's long-term partner, Graham Payn.Intimate letters from the Duke to Coward are believed to have been stolen from Coward’s house in 1942 and reminds of a similar situation which arose in Downton Abbey. He was also said to have been addicted to morphine and cocaine and reportedly was blackmailed by a male prostitute to whom he wrote intimate letters.

Another of his reported sexual liaisons was with his distant cousin Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia; art historian Anthony Blunt who was a Russian spy was reputedly another intimate. The Duke was known to have attempted to court Crown Princess Juliana of the Netherlands. She spurned the overture and married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld instead.

In addition to his legitimate children, the Duke is said to have had a son by Kiki Preston (née Alice Gwynne, 1898–1946), an American socialite whom he reportedly shared in a ménage à trois with Jorge Ferrara, the bisexual son of the Argentine ambassador to the Court of St. James's. Another reputed illegitimate lovechild was Raine McCorquodale, daughter of Barbara Cartland, whose step-granddaughter Diana Spencer married George's great-nephew Charles.

In the programme the Duke is portrayed as wanting to avoid War with Germany at any price with the thinly veiled suggestion that he was sympathetic to the regime and asks Hallam to take a letter with him to Germany for Hitler in secret when he is sent to Germany to try and stiffen the resolve of Chamberlain not to yield Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland or at least try and prevent the subsequent annexation of the rest of Czechoslovakia. The programme sees Hallam storm out of negotiations after Chamberlain refuses to include key sentences suggested by him

Meanwhile back at Eaton Place there are preparations for war with the allocation of the gas masks and with Pritchard the Butler becoming the local Air Raid warden. Lady Agnes has given birth to her first child by Caesarean and she had the child barely survived. She is warned that further pregnancy could see her demise and that she must advise her husband to take appropriate action to prevent this. Understandably she is concerned about the fact that everyone in the household is provided with a gas mask except the baby and Pritchard uses his influence to bring home an experimental baby respirator. This concerns the rescued from prison Johnny Proude who tests out the device by placing Mr Amanjit’s monkey and turning on the car in the garage with the consequence that it suffocates. Unfortunately the attempt to hide the death fails as it is discovered by the Sir Hallam’s sister (she with learning difficulties) who has returned to Eaton Place because the institution has closed from the threat of war. She contacts the police who investigate and then arrest Pritchard who has taken the blame to protect Proude only to find himself under attack by Amanjit, the Housekeeper Cook, Mrs Thackeray and the arresting officer when it is found that Pritchard served time as a Conscientious Objector during World War I.

The first episode also sees the arrival a Nursery Nurse Beryl Ballard who sparks off in mutual attraction with the Chauffer Harry Spargo. Beryl has to share a double bed with Maid Eunice McCabe which both find unsatisfactory.

In the second episode The Love that Pays the Price the centre of the attention is a dinner party given for the American Ambassador who brings along his son Jack Kennedy and a wealth American business man Caspar Landry who takes the mutual eye of her Ladyship. The episode has the hosts taking out Jack to sample London Night Life with a visit to a club and dancing.

Relationships between Pritchard. Mrs Thackeray and Amanjit reach boiling point. Amanjit who served in the Indian Army during World War I is provided with a family hand gun by Sir Hallam who is off to Germany in case there is an invasion while he is away or duty. Amanjit undertakes some target practice in the grounds in order to make a point to Pritchard and its Lady Agnes who insists on a working truce. Pritchard gets his own back on Mrs Thackeray who meets up with her nephew and his wife and children when they come to England from Ireland where the nephews has gained a job selling insurance. She makes for him some special macrons and Pritchard makes her pay for the ingredients used and for the tin. However when the home baked Florentines which Mrs Kennedy has requested are spoiled Pritchard uses most of the macrons for the dinner party with their coffee. This is the last straw and Mrs Pritchard who decides to walk out and go and live with her relatives much to the surprise and questioning of her niece in law.
In Germany Sir Hallam has encountered his sister in law who he has fancied and given the limitation now placed on marital relations with his wife he responds to the challenging interest shown by Lady Persephone, who also states that she is content with her life in Germany even as a kept woman.

Meanwhile back at Eaton Place there is another historical moment introduced when Amanjit represents Sir Hallam at the residential school where the Jewish daughter the family took in has been placed. The head mistress expresses concern about the plight of other Jewish children and her wish for the school to provide refuge for others.

Amanjit becomes involved with a Jewish organisation besieged by request for help in a situation where the British Government is applying strict and time consuming rules. He turns to Blanche who throws herself readily in the task of going through all the requests and from this they help mount a campaign with the support of Sir Hallam and his wife first to persuade the British Government to change the regulations and then to recruit foster families for a train load of several hundred Jewish children who were allowed out of Germany and to come to the UK, the aspect which is based on fact.

There are three main aspects to the third episode which was shown on Sunday A Perfect Specimen of Womanhood, The first is the changing relationship between households and their staff. The accommodation, hours of work and conditions of service had been worked out by the original housekeeper for the series Miss Rose Buck played by Jean Marsh one the 1970’s series creators and actors. Unfortunately she had a stroke but has sufficiently recovered to have a brief appearance during this episode when Lady Agnes visits her in a Nursing home to transfer responsibility for the ex Barnardo’s Maid she employed to herself.

The new nursery maid has proved herself such an asset that Lady Agnes decides that she should also act as her personal maid changing the duties of others. However the outcome is longer hours for no additional pay. The maid makes contact with her staff association and the premises are expected with several changes required if it is not to be blacklisted. The two maids are provided with single beds. They are to have an upgraded toilet and proper breaks during the day. There is to be a comfortable settee provided in the servant’s quarters.

Mrs Thackeray quickly overstayed her welcome by providing the same kind of meals she prepared at Eaton Place thus amassing a great bill for which she had to use her savings and disrupting the household and their way of life. In order to financially help out the son who is not selling as much insurance as before because the threat of war increases, she gains a contract for her macrons which in turn creates havoc in he kitchen. Meanwhile the household is facing problems because of the absence of the cook and while it is all hands to the pump they are unable to deliver meals to the usual standards. Pritchard is forced to go and make peace and Mrs Thackeray returns in time for the new staff regime.

The domestic revolution occurred because Lady Penelope decided to participate in the Women’s League of Health and Beauty which are to hold a Torchlight exhibition in Hyde Park on evening. She insists that the younger maids join her using their official time off. However after the revolution they volunteer and participate in the display intended to herald the role women are to play in the Second World War and that class distinctions were to become blurred, a questionable fact.

Lady Persephone, Persie contacts her brother in law for help after being thrown out by her lover and Sir Hallam has to pull strings to bring he destitute woman back. She discloses to her brother in law that she is pregnant and wants his help to gain an abortion which he refuses. She insists that her sister is not told adding to the pressure on him. On a visit to Germany he makes contact with the child’s father who shows no interest or concern giving the impression that his attitude is part of the new German morality. He has three children with his wife. Back hone Persie as she is called within the family takes matter into her own hands and arranges a back street abortion going to recover at the Dorchester hotel but is cling suffering after effects and the chauffer contacts his lordship who is on his way back from Germany and they cover the situation by claiming that the flight back was delayed.

The main story line of this episode is the resurrection of love relationship between Blanche and another aristocrat who has written a novel about the relationship and which the media identify as the relationship between the two. There is considerable publicity and gossip. However the family and household take this in their stride as yet another indication of changing times. The women recommence their relationship. One wonders what more is to come in the three episodes which end with World War II.

2249 Leveson 16- A week of important disclosures

It is possible that at the end of the first four day week of evidence to the Leveson Inquiry in Module 2 on the role of the Police to come to several conclusions.

The Metropolitan Police was in 2006 and 2007 justified in not embarking on the level of investigation presently being undertaken because of the Terrorist threat which the UK faced at that time but was not justified in restricting the prosecution to one Journalist when it had evidence that several others were involved and indeed notified Rebekah Wade and the Managing Editor of the Mail on Sunday of the position one in a recorded phone conversation and the other by email.

The Metropolitan Police was negligent in not notifying their original list of 418 victims compiled six days of the raid that their phones may have been hacked, taking account that the Police recorded in their official action log that this should be done.

The Metropolitan Police corporately misled the Metropolitan Police Authority, the House of Commons and the General Public about the extent of their knowledge for reasons which presently remain unclear. In particular the Metropolitan Police knew that News International and News Corporately repeatedly lied to Parliament and the General Public that one Journalist was involved when they knew this was not so and the Metropolitan Police protected that position for reasons which remain unclear.

There was an inappropriate relationship between individual senior officers of the Metropolitan Police and the News of the World, News International and News Corporation in particular.

The evidence confirmed that Senior News of the World and News International staff have lied about the nature and extent of their knowledge of illegal activity.
I remain uncertain whether there was deliberate cover up by the Metropolitan Police in 2009 and 2010 or the force was corporately incompetent and negligent.

Counsel for the Inquiry summarised the case as follows: Public concern may be expressed in just one sentence. The relationship between the Police and News International in particular, was at best inappropriately close and if not actually corrupt, very close to it; furthermore the nature of this relationship may explain why the Police did not properly investigate phone hacking in 2006 and subsequently in 2009 and 2010, preferring to finesse the issue on those mater occasions by less than frank public statements.

Lord Blair, the former Commissioner has submitted a statement in which he says, “I believe that where the problem may have become significant is that a very small number of relatively senior officers increasingly became too close to journalists, not I believe for financial gain but for the enhancement of their reputations and for the sheer enjoyment of being in a position to share and divulge confidences. It is a siren song. I also believe that they based their behaviour on how they saw politicians behave and that they lost sight of their professional obligations. The Metropolitan police did not have adequate defences against this behaviour and in previous decades would not have needed it.”

Counsel spelt out the risks and problems associated with this closeness:

“The acceptance of and conferring of inappropriate hospitality. The risks here are self evident.”

“The giving and receiving of off the record briefings. Again, the risks here are pretty much self explanatory, but apart from the obvious lack of transparency the person doing the briefing will often have an agenda and each party will be hoping for, if not expecting, future favours;”

“The problem of leaks putting to one side genuine whistle blowing;”

“The attribution of police sources to a story which is redolent of impropriety, or at least carries with it the possibility of inappropriate behaviour, either because the police officer has indulged in gossip or leaks, or because the term is in truth a cipher or fig leaf for an invented story because the source does not in fact exist;”

Sir Paul Stephenson makes explicitly in his statement that the so called police sources may not be a police officer but someone associated with the Police but from outside the Metropolitan Police.

“The last issue is the media turning up at an incident or at newsworthy occasions, because they have been tipped off by a police officer. Again, this is indicative of an unhealthy relationship existing between individual police officers and individual members of the press. Even if the ideal here is only the “sheer enjoyment” which Lord Blair refers to, and of course it might be more than that, we are talking about an inappropriate transaction.”

In the light of what Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ackers was to say, Mr Jay also pointed out that it would also be naive to ignore more sinister possibilities. “Corruption can of course occur in different ways,” he said.

There is the relatively straightforward case of a journalist paying a police officer whether or not using the of police source for the information which ought to be kept confidential and would not have been freely provided. Some commentators have observed that paying a police officer is not necessarily unlawful, for example, the consideration night be regarded as the reimbursement of expenses- but the breadth of the term any inducement or reward in the Prevention of Corruption Act and similar terminology in the Bribery Act would lead anyone minded to test the boundaries of the law to think again.

There is the less straightforward situation of police officers being employed by press organisations after leaving the force. This may be entirely above board but one can at least visualize the possibility that past favours are being called in.

Finally and perhaps the most sinister and certainly the most difficult to prove, is the suggestion that police turn a blind eye to known criminality on account of the unhealthy, over cosy relationship I have already mentioned. (There are two recent reports covering these issues and the Inquiry will hear from their authors).

Before the statement of Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ackers last Monday, Senior Counsel for the Inquiry presented an overview of Module 2 for Lord Justice Leveson, He explained that consideration needed to be given to the bigger picture and what should be the relationship between the Police and Media in democracy to which the present Commissioner has said in his statement that “Keeping the media properly informed about policing and criminal matters is critical to the functioning of the Metropolitan Police.”

First through the media, the organisation is able to communicate its key messages regarding prevention and detection of crime. Second, a healthy relationship with the media can serve to increase the public understanding of how the Metropolitan Police goes about its work in London. Third it provides an important means by which the Metropolitan Police can seek the assistance of the public in its work; maintaining a regular and professional dialogue with the media greatly assists in providing information to the public concerning crime appeals. Fourth contact with the media, properly handled, serves to increase public confidence in the police and to promote a greater understanding of the policies and initiatives and fifthly it provides the means by which the public can scrutinise police actions and policies. It also allows police to test the persuasiveness of their strategies, policies and tactics. It is important to keep the broad picture always in mind.

Counsel also explained as consequence of the Judicial Review brought by Brian Paddick John Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Chris Bryant the MP and others, a mass of relevant material was disclosed by the Metropolitan Police which has not been made available to the Inquiry and throws light on the contemporary thinking of the Metropolitan Police thinking and decision taking in relation to the original Goodman/Mulcaire prosecution and its aftermath.

I begin as did the Inquiry with Mr Paddick who was in several respects the ideal policeman which the Metropolitan Police wanted within its ranks. He joined in 1976 at 18 years working for four years in the Holloway area of London as a police Constable and then as a Sergeant and Inspector he was an operational officer in London. He then obtained a Police scholarship at an Oxford College gaining an honours degree and later obtained a Diploma in Applied Criminology and Policing at Cambridge University and a Master in Business Administration degree.

He was appointed as the Commander of the London Borough of Brixton with its proportionately high black population. He became a Deputy Assistant Commissioner and for time was an acting Assistant Commissioner and retired in 2007 with 30 years of service becoming the Mayoral Candidate for the Liberal Democrats in 2008 and is again standing for election this May with I would think an enhanced personal standing of doing better than before.

(It is because of the need to also call the previous and present Mayors because of their role accountable for Policing in London outside the City square mile and other politicians that the role of Politicians is being left until mid May after the local government Elections, the State opening of Parliament and the loyal addresses to mark the 60 years reign of Queen Elizabeth. There will then also be the 60th national celebrations in June and the Olympic games after which it is anticipated “all hell” will be let lose with the Publication of Iraq Inquiry as well as the Leveson Report 1, the prosecutions of arrested individuals can be expected to begin as well as the results of the Independent Police Commissions investigation into the Tottenham shooting and the elections for the new elected Police Commissioners and where in London the appointment will now be separate from that of the officer of the Mayor.)

Mr Paddick disclosed and was questioned about the extent of the hospitality he received. He lunched with a Sun Crime Reporter once and with the Crime reporter from the Financial Times and Guardian and attended one of the Guardian’s Editorial Lunches and a similar event held by the Daily Mirror. He explained how he came to establish a good relationship with the Times Crime Reporter because of a particular case and there was amusement over his lunch with Piers Morgan who guest included two Weather girls, and which he said consisted of listening to what Piers had to say for the greater part of the time on various matters. He thought this was a thank you for cooperating with Piers after a Sunday paper had printed a kiss and tell story about his private life.

Mr Paddick said that between 2002 and 2007 he had been subjected to a whole series of damaging articles, largely false, involving gross intrusion into his personal life but also attacking his professional reputation as a police officer. He said the failure of the Metropolitan Police to counter the false allegation against him demonstrated their lack of willingness to stand up to the media because of their closeness and wish to keep in their good books. He argued that there had developed the mentality of putting a positive spin on what the police did, covering up mistakes or matters which might bring criticism, including the differences of view and personal positioning within the force. This had arisen because of the development of investigate journalism and the public not accepting what the police said just because they were the police.

He said that several Police Commissioners had initiated charm offensives and when questioned he said that Sir John Stephens had been successful because he claimed according to a freelance journalist who he named that the Commissioner had wined and dined the media at a number of dinners, whereas Lord Blair had been the subject of adverse publicity because of his effort to change the culture in a way which did not go well with his senior colleagues and with a lot of right wing newspapers.

He claimed that Dick Fedorcio then head of the Metropolitan Police Press and Publication relations Department had campaign against Blair becoming the Commissioner on behalf of senior colleagues. There had been a lot of political in fighting between he senior officers at the Metropolitan Police which made Fedoricio’s position difficult as he was being pressed to brief against senior officers by others. Iain Blair had identified a culture of bullying by senior officers which he had been determined to put to an end, Mr Paddick disclosed that he had helped Ian Blair with his application to become the Commissioner and that following his successful appointment he had lunch with him at which he was invited to indicate what role he would like into new structure (presumably because of the help he had given)

Mr Paddick then gave a detailed account how a report which he had been asked by Ian Blair to prepare on how the Met handled rape cases was watered down, statistical information changed and that a police press officer had told him that Mr Fedorcio had told her that as far as practical the report should receive no publicity. Before his appointment Lord Blair had written a critical book of the way the Met handled rape cases and after his appointment he had arranged for a review with Professor Betsy Stanko of the police support team and she and Brian had identified worrying statistics and made strong recommendations. This evidence demonstrated the way information which showed the Met in a bad light could be covered up under the direction of top officers.

The next example given by Mr Paddick concerned the shooting of Mr Charles De Menzes when Mr Paddick explained that despite claims that those advising the Commissioner that they did not know the wrong man had been shot for 24 hours, they did. Mr Paddick said that he advised the Commissioner personally than those advising him did know and that as he had told the Independent Police Complaints Committee and an Assistant Commissioner what he had told the IPC and that after he had told the Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur the man had dismissed his press officer from a briefing with a BBC journalist for an hour, the following day and that it was Mr Ghaffur who leaked the information and not himself.

Mr Paddick said that arising from the leak he was the subject of discipline investigation and that Sue Akers had undertaken the investigation as head of Internal Investigations and she had told him there was nothing inappropriate in what he had done, but nevertheless Mr Yates had referred the matter to the Metropolitan Police Authority which was disproportionate as the MPA then undertook a formal investigation and this has changed his attitude towards continuing with the force.

Mr Paddick explained that he felt the De Menzies situation was history repeating itself going back to the Brixton situation when a police officer shot an innocent black man killing him during a peaceful protest which degenerated into a riot.

He explained what happened when officers under his command had examine Closed Circuit Television coverage and a detective chief Inspector brought to him footage and after viewing he had made three phone calls. The first was to Andy Hayman who was then head of Internal Affairs, the second to his boss and the third to the Chairperson of the community consultative police liaison group. He said that with the Chairman he met other members who would not be witnesses and said he intended to identify and prosecute the officers who had been involved in the particular incident. He said that he was told the Commissioner was furious for not waiting until after the prosecution, but he felt this would have been counter productive and the community had only found out at the time of the prosecution and he had not told them it would have undermined his credibility with them. His boss had relayed the view of the Commissioner John Stephens to him something which surprised him given his knowledge of Mr Blair.

The Inquiry then considered what had happened to Mr Paddick and his efforts to establish his position in relation to the activities of Mr Mulcaire. .

Mr Paddick explained that he had no dealings with the Anti Terrorist Bran and their investigation and had limited contact with Mr Hayman and like everyone else had assumed that the Prosecution of Mulcaire and Goodman had dealt with all the evidence available. It was not until the Guardian article in 2009 that he commenced to change his view and it is this context Mr Paddick submitted an article written by Mr Hayman about the Phone Hacking scandal which he was thanked for and said the issues raised would be taken up with Mr Hayman. The article stated that Mr Prescott and others were said to be a victim of phone hacking without any clear evidence that their phones were in fact hacked.

It November 2009 he wrote to his solicitors, Bindman’s and asked them to establish from the Metropolitan Police if there was any evidence that had been the subject of investigative activities by the News of the World and Mr Mulcaire. The letter was sent personally to Mr Yates. It was not until February 2010 that a reply was sent by the Met Legal Department which stated that there was no documentation to suggest “your client was subject to unlawful monitoring or interception.” He and his solicitor thought this was an odd form of words as he had asked if he was mentioned not whether the activity was illegal. It was revealed that his name and occupation as Police Commander had appeared in the records. (There had been a blatant attempt by the Metropolitan Police to mislead Mr Paddick).

In view of the police failure with others he had joined in a request for a Judicial review. The response of the Metropolitan Police to this action was also misleading in that it was again claimed there was no evidence that with he or Chris Bryant had been targets relying on the statements made by Yates.

In their formal defence of the action the Metropolitan Police claimed that the presence of a name and mobile phone number in the documents was not sufficient to indicate voicemail interception had taken place that the phone companies had agreed to warn those that had been listed. The Metropolitan Police claimed that they had provided the full extent of the information in their possession which Mr Paddick said was now known to have been with untrue(that is deliberately lie) or completely misleading.

It was not until 26 January 2011 that officers from Operation Weeting showed him the documents that also contained his mobile telephone number, home address and the home telephone number and details of his former partner. His name and details had been entered on the Mulcaire computer as a project.

Mr Paddick then covered the history of the police action arising from documents obtained as part of the Judicial review Documents Disclosure. A Case Review document dated April 2006 made by Detective Superintended Philip Williams sates that it was highly unlikely the illegal activity was limited to Goodman and was probably widespread among those who would be interested in such access- a much wider security issue with the UK and potentially world wide. The document said such an investigation would be resource intensive and possibly outside the remit of counter terrorism department.

In May 2006 it was discovered that another individual had been working with Mr Goodman and the discovery was listed in the Witness Statement of a Police case officer. In view of the information the Senior Investigating officer said it was matter for another Department and Mr Paddick argued that he does not still understand why the was not then passed to the Specialist Crime Directorate.

In July 2006 the Investigation was ready to make an arrest and this had become more urgent because it was established that the voicemail of Cabinet Minister Tessa Jowell had been hacked. Mulcaire and Goodman were arrested on 8th August 2006 and the 11000 pages of documentation obtained.

Mr Paddick then explained that acting on the advice of CPS the police had obtained only a limited warrant for the News of the World but even in this respect they were met with opposition from two in house lawyers and Julian Pike Solicitor and Managing editor Stuart Kutner and the search was then limited to Goodman’s desk and the account’s department. Goodman’s computer and safe were never handed over to the investigation.

In September the MPS wrote to News International requesting information the computer and the safe, submitting a draft Production Order in the event of failure to cooperate on a voluntary basis. News International responded with only a limited amount of additional information and Mr Paddick states the obvious question of in these circumstances did the MPS not seek the Production order which they had threatened. Who took the decision and why?

Earlier on August 10th the decision Log at the Met, a Log used to record important decisions and developments recorded that the investigation of the Mulcaire documents revealed that hundred of individuals including Royals, Members of Parliament, sports stars, military, police, celebrities and journalists. Within six days of the arrests 418 people had been identified in a list. This contradicts statements made by the Metropolitan Police including to the Judicial review that the documents seized by the police were not analysed. (It would be later explained at the Inquiry that they had not be analysed in terms of gaining evidence for other prosecutions).

Sue Akers has confirmed that there are 800 confirmed victims so far. The log also records the decision to that all the victims should be warned that they had been targeted by Mulcaire. The action to be taken was to be in two parts first (Royal Household, Military, Police and Politicians for because of the security concerns. The others would be told individually as with the first list or by the phone companies. Only a fraction were told with the rest mislead by police statements. The Metropolitan Police have admitted that the failure to do this was a breach of its legal obligations to the victims and apologised.

Mulcaire had created a list of 320 projects and this includes Mr Paddick. New International repeatedly lied that only one Journalist was involved and the Police had information which contradicted such statements and did nothing to counter the repeated lying. (This was disgraceful).

We then come to what many will regard as the most important disclosure made to Inquiry this it was set up.

On 15th September 2006 Tom Crone the now infamous Legal Affairs Manager send an email to the now infamous Andy Coulson that recorded a conversation between the now infamous Rebekah Wade and the now infamous Metropolitan police..

The Metropolitan police provided the infamous Wade with details of the information in their possession, the progress of the investigation and the strategy for the future. She was told that the Inquiry was not being widened to include other News of the World People but would do so if they received further evidence. The Metropolitan Police were attempting to obtain information voluntary and not through the issuing of warrants.

Mr Paddick makes the point that Wade was then Editor of the Sun at that time although she had been Editor of the News of World. (She was not the Chairman of News International or its Chief Executive. She was not the General Manager of the News of the World or its then Editor(Andy Coulson) nor was she the lawyers for the News of the World, News International or News Corporation so what the hell were the Metropolitan Police doing, who was responsible and why?) Mr Paddick asked these questions in the way former policemen will do!

In October 2006 the then Managing editor of the Mail was sent an email by the Metropolitan Police on Sunday that the names of a number of his journalists had been found in the Mulcaire notebooks! Victims were still not being notified.

Under the Freedom of Information Act Mr Paddick has seen the list of meetings between Senior Police Officers and News International Executives throughout 2006 when the investigation was taking place. Those involved the Deputy Commissioner, Andy Hayman and Dick Fedorcio and Neil Wallis the then deputy Editor of the News of the World.

The briefing note prepared by Yates after the 2009 Guardian article states that the victims had been notified when it was discovered this was not done the Metropolitan Police now blames the telephone companies.

It is evident that having identified the list of probably victims within six days the officer of the Metropolitan Police would have also identified a similar list of journalists. Those involved were never interviewed.

One of the investigating officers also identified a number of people in the Mulcaire Project list who were in the Witness Protection programmes as defendants and witnesses. Mulcaire and possibility the News of World knew of people who had been given new identities for their protection. No action appears to have been taken and nothing made public until now. The whole thing was covered up. One of those convicted of the murder of James Bulger was told in the summer of 2011 that his voice mail had been intercepted.

Mr Paddick then submitted his concluding observations and his recommendations.

I was interested to see how the Metropolitan Police would attempt to talk its way out of the case made by of its former most senior police officers with 30 years experience at all levels. Before then we heard from Lord Prescott and the former Crime Watch presenter.

2248 End of Feb 2012 Sports report 1 The kicking game

My consumption of sport is changing because with age I tolerate failure less but equally abhor ultra professionalism. My loyalties and interests built up over decades remain and in some instances are just as strong as they have always been but as discussed when marking the arrival of 3D Cinema and 3D TV in the home, the development enables the ability to become a more active observer in comfort and at considerably less expense, for me and anyone or a fixed or limited income.

The best development since my last report is that Sunderland beat Arsenal at the Stadium of Light to reach the quarterfinals of the Football Association Cup and in the subsequent draw were the last club out of the bag, so to speak, and therefore playing away to Everton. This immediately brought back a cold Winter‘s evening when I journeyed over the snow covered Pennines by coach to watch Sunderland lose at Everton in the FA Cup and then found the coach, among a convoy of 100 or so vehicles, being stoned as we slowly moved out of Liverpool northward towards the M6 up to Carlisle and across to Newcastle along the Northern route to arrive back in the early hours disappointed and also shaken by the experience. The stones were small or clumps of earth thrown by small groups of children and some adolescents from behind garden walls or street corners, but in some number, disabling some coaches whom had to stop in order to attend to the damaged window and presumably report the matter to the local police who were not immediately evidence. Since then the operation has become professional with police escorts and organisation of brief road closure and traffic light switching to enable the fast movement of away support coaches away from venue grounds.

I was able to watch the game against Arsenal live in the home comfort before large screen HD, and it was evident that a large number of other supporters had followed suit as there were only 26000 out of 50000 seats occupied. There are various reasons for this change which was evident in several other televised matches at the weekend and in other matches recently. The most obvious being that Sunderland had lost to Arsenal the previous weekend in the Premier League and with Arsenal being thrashed out of the European Cup the worst was feared. The match was being televised on one of the main home terrestrial channel/freeview digital channels and the weather was forecast cold although not as cold as it has been and cold has not in the past prevented North East Young males from appearing bare-chested at such events. I believe that financial restrictions and job insecurity may have been the dominant factor for many here in the North East.

It is also possible that support for the game in general is diminishing and the failure of North East Clubs to win trophies or show any likelihood of winning the top league is also having its effect. Given that the social behaviour of players at North East clubs have hit the media over the past decade or two recent events with accusations of racism between players has probably had less impact in the North East than elsewhere, while the salaries, bonus and life style of bankers has been declared open season for attack, the way Footballers, Managers, the agents and clubs manipulate payments to attract and keep players, avoid taxation has not really affected the paying public although I suspect the campaign for Harry Rednap of Tottenham to become the next England Manager may have been derailed, or perhaps the FA do not want to make the connection between the finding of not guilty and the departure of Capello too obvious. Meanwhile Stuart Pearce will care take as before and I would like to see him given the opportunity to manage the first team one day. I am not a cockney Harry fan or of Tottenham for that matter. It is noteworthy that the FA are reported not have officially spoken to anyone about the vacant position yet.
This therefore is the longest preamble to a short play notice ever. I thought the two teams were well matched and that the game turned a defensive mistake which allowed Kieran Richardson time to take a long range shot at a severe angle across the goal keeper inside the far side netting. He is famed for his long range fast and accurate strikes and this was one of his best, intended and impossible to stop by the goal keeper.

I have been impressed by Sunderland’s front man Stephane Sessagnon because of his exciting skill on the ball and 90 minutes exertions on behalf of the team. He is not a prima donna player and it was his work with the ball which enabled a close quarter goal mouth scramble strike by Larsson to secure the win by two goals to none. Well done the lads.

Unfortunately they went and destroyed the glow of success on Wearside by a terrible performance away at the Midland Club West Bromwich Albion who had not won at home since November whereas Sunderland’s rise up the table away from the relegation zone has been built by five wins in the previous six away games. This match stood form on its head. West Brom scored their first of four goals within minutes (3) of the start and a second and third either side of half time with the fourth coming as the game ended. It was not good preparation for Sundays 12 noon start away at Newcastle. O’Neill knows that he will become a legend if he can secure a win although I fancy a draw at best.

Newcastle it has to be said have faltered for after good wins 2.0 away at Blackburn and 2.1 at home to Aston Villa they were humbled 5.0 at a rampant Tottenham and then could only manage a 2.2 draw at home against Wolves after going two up in the first half. There is now a 3 point gap between them and the teams in 4th and 5th places and while they are ahead still of Liverpool they have a game in hand and are looking more consistent in their Premier League form. Sunday’s game is therefore important for short and longer term reasons for both clubs and is available on television to watch live

Yesterday evening, Wednesday the 29th February there were two friendly internationals which merited watching and therefore I keep an eyen on both switching between digital freeview for the game between England and Holland and the game between Wales and Costa Rica which was arranged to mark the death of the former Manager Garry Speed. It was indeed a moving occasion in which the football would inevitably become second best.

Bryn Terfel with a Welsh male voice choir sang Bread of Heaven and then Speed’s two boys led out the team with Craig Bellamy. Craig is another of the footballers who found North East night life such that he became of interest to the tabloid personality pages in addition to his temperamental footballing skills although since then his play and his behaviour off the pitch has become exemplary and along with Robert Savage, Alan Sharer and Shane Given have been along those who have held the name of Speed up high and given support to his parents and sons.

Chris Coleman who has also had his off playing field moments was clearly emotional as he stood with the parents of Garry. I was watching England during the half time at Cardiff and therefore missed the role of honour as a number of former Welsh Internationals took to the pitch to show their solidarity with the occasion.

The game was inevitably going to be of less consequence although after having won their three previous internationals Wales had more than one incentive to win the game. It was some fifty years since they had won four internationals back to back. In the event from what I saw of the game their performance was good but affected by the emotions of the situations and it was Costa Rica who won the game 1.0 despite several near successful attempts to gain a draw which would have reflected the overall play of the two teams. It has to be said that Costa Rica has proved consistently one of the better South American teams so defeat was no disgrace rather a major disappointment for the 23000 fans hat were present and the hundreds of thousands of other’s watching at home and in the pubs and clubs. Wales has a young side of relatively unknowns to me with only Rickets and Gabbidon on the bench familiar to me in addition to Bellamy.

There was similar off field attention surrounding England’s friendly against Holland at Wembley.The football media and most managers and footballers have placed their weight behind the the proposed apppointment of Harry Rednap as England’s manager to replace Capello. The story so far is that after the failure of the team in the World Cup Capella had wanted to resign but was persuaded to remain until the outcome of the criminal proceedings against Rednap and his financial advisers for failing to pay appropriate income tax were completed. Both men were acquitted and from what I read in the paper it appears that rough diamond geezer as Rednap likes to portray himself suffers from ahd eye coordination problems which make his handwriting indecipherable and an aversion and ability to keep records, write letters or use technology.

It is rightly argued that such disabilities should not prevent someone from heading their chosen occupation. I share the anxiety of others in the Football Assoication who have their doubts. After all has Harry won the English Premier League NO! Has he won any form of International competition NO. So why should we think he will do better for England that think whose records at least indicate they have the experience?

If I was in the position to chose I would give serious consideration to Stuart Pearce who like Harry is not the most articulate of front men but has now amassed a substantial record of achievement with the under 21 squad many of whom were on show at Wembley on Wednesday eveing. It was my hope that the team would do well against a side the national teams has always struggle.

The other off field problem surrounding this match is the decision fo the FA to insist that Frank Lampard should be removed from the captaincy and possibly his place in the England team until the outcome of the prosecution against him for alleging having made racist remarks against a player in an opposing team. Frank’s lawyers had succesfuly got the trial delayed until after the end of the Football season so he could continue with his lucrative occupation, something which your average fan if prosecuted would not be able to do. The Football Association was right and should have been fully supported in their decision to remove the captaincy from Lampard and Capello was an idiot, something which I would not have said of him before, for criticiscing the decision, albeit in the Italian Press. One suspects that he wanted a get out before the European Championship which the national team is unlikely to win, although could reach the finals in the Queen’s 60th reign year celebrations and the holding of the Olympic games in London.

The interesting decision was that instead of appointing Gerrard as Captain Pearce chose in inform Scott Parker from Tottenham, which in turn could indicate who would be Harry’s choice.

I thought the the team played with great skill and promise matching that of the Dutch. For once there was excellent passing and clever movement especially from your wide man forward Danny Welbeck whose performances on loan at Sunderland from Manchester United brought him to national attention and where his undoubted abilities have also now been shown as a regular in the United first team.

It has to be said that while Stephen Gerrard had proved to be the most consistent quality player for Liverpool, and without him Liverpool have always faltered, his skills have not always come to the fore when playing for England and the long running saga of the inability of Gerrard to accept the leadership of Lampard when they both played together, or as it seemed to us outsiders is well documented.

There is also the bad taste lingering over the decision of Gerrard and his team, together with Dalgliesh over their support for the disgraced Suarez who was give an eight match ban for his racist comments against a Manchester United player. Frankly this was a disgrace. Dalgleish has said that he and the rest off the management were unaware that Suarez was not going to shake the hand of his victim when they met in the recent FA Cup game and I share those of the opinion that the sooner the young man is traded out of the UK the better. Meanwhile Gerard, Dalgliesh and the rest of the team have significantly damaged the reputation of the club which is extraordinary after the goodwill which had remerged when consideration of the behaviour of the Sun and other Murdoch papers in Parliamnent recently.

And the game? Well Holland scored two great goals in a matter of seconds and looked well in control after that but Engand were convincing in their fight back to level the game 2.2 and which again would have been a fair outcome. Unfortunately Holland scored a third in extra time to win the match and the result could be said to have dented the chance of Pearce being offered the job permanently, something which he says he is not ready for. Gerrard who looked out of salts was substituted at 33 mins walking off straight to the dressing rooms, I am not clear if his fitness was suspect why he was played.

I watched the League Cup Final on Sunday (3D) with mixed feelings as although I wanted Cardiff to beat Liverpool for reasons just explained but Cardiff is not one of my favourite teams given their appalling record for violence by spectators in the ground where their record in the worst in UK with 125 banning orders imposed in one recent year and outside ground behaviour equally notorious.

I have to admit it was good match with Cardiff taking a good first half lead at 1.0 and then 1.1 at full time, Liverpool appearing to take the game with a goal in extra time but then Cardiff equalised taking the game to penalties and this was just as exciting with Gerrard first and then Adam for Liverpool missing and then after a first miss Cardiff took the lead 1.0 Cardiff then missed the third but both teams getting the 4th so that they went into the 5th round each with 2 goals. Liverpool scored theirs and Gerrard’s cousin Anthony, missing his to give Liverpool their first trophy in years. Bah!

I will leave cricket where there is so much to report until after doing my first Module 2 Leveson update but mention here the disaster of relegation facing the Newcastle Falcons Rugby Union game as they are now 6 pints adrift at the bottom of the league with only 3 wins from their 16 games of 22 in the season and a position from which I cannot see them retrieve. As the games are shown on ESPN rather than Sky I am yet to see a performance. They appear tonight at home against Harlequins.

The end of the Rugby League season was a disaster for the best Premiership Team Warrington. They failed to make the final of the challenge cup at Wembley which they had won for two years in succession and then although finishing the league table top they failed to make the championship final at Manchester, the first time the top team has failed to do this

This season they appeared to stutter with a draw at bottom of the league Hull (I cannot remember if it was Hull KR or Hull) with both teams in the bottom places and with one of the Hull teams having removed from Gateshead on Tyneside a few years ago. However three good wins since, one which I did see on TV and they head the table once more by a point with Wigan, Huddersfield and the Catalan Dragons the one point behind. Leeds the eventual champions in in 6th position but with a game in hand after one defeat.

2247 Leveson 14 The corruption of public officials on an industrial scale by the Sun Newspaper revealed

The opening of Module 2 of the part one Leveson Inquiry this week provided some important position taking within and outside the witness room

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary within the Coalition Cabinet and a former Rupert Murdoch paid journalist launched a ferocious and ill judged attack on the Inquiry claiming that the way Leveson was interpreting his brief was unintended and having a dangerous and chilling effect on press freedom. He made his comments in a speech to the Press Club where he was the after meal speaker (as well as making then during the meal). He did use Leveson as one example within a broad swipe at government’s setting up inquiries under public and political pressure suggesting the problems could be addressed differently and with less potentially harmful consequences.

Last week the Prime Minister was asked if he agreed with Gove and Cameron drew attention that the Inquiry had been set up with full Cabinet support and that while he, Cameron sometimes liked the press to be chilled, it was important to emphasise the importance of a free press. His response could be interpreted as a public rebuke to the Minister or that he also was having doubts about the way the Inquiry was approaching its task.

I was pleased that Ed Miliband for the Opposition raised the subject under questions to the Prime Minister Questions this week after Module 2 had commenced and the Metropolitan Police countered the mischievous articles which had appeared in the print media, and again I felt Cameron was ambiguous about his true position anxious not to appear critical of his Cabinet colleague who is perhaps also feeling out of the limelight as attention is paid to National Health and Social Security Issues.

Mr Gove presumably had prior knowledge that Simon Hughes has persuaded the Deputy {Prime Minister to ensure that there is Parliamentary Time in 2013 for any Coalition led proposals arising from the Leveson recommendations. In his response on Wednesday the Prime Minister made the point that that there would be no pre-emption of Leveson in the related legislation already tabled before the publication and consideration of any recommendations. Leveson is being astute in emphasising that it remains early doors about recommendations and that he wants to hear from anyone who wants to make submissions about all the areas on which he has been asked to comment, but also making the point that he is seeking to arrive at recommendations which will be supported by Parliament on behalf of the public Interest, by the news print Industry and by the police and politicians in relation to those matters affecting them.

At the opening Module 2 Lord Leveson said that contrary to recent comments in the print media he had emphasised throughout the months of the inquiry his commitment to protecting freedom of expression and free press. But the inquiry had been set up because the press were behaving in a way which undermined the public interest. When what is published in a newspaper is not remotely in the public interest, he did not consider freedom of speech or of the free press extended the interception of phone messages and the invasion of privacy or confidence. He drew attention that only one of the over 100 witnesses had suggested otherwise.

He said that attempting to find a system, given that everybody has agreed that the present system has not worked properly, which regulates illegal and unethical practices does not threaten freedom of the press either.

Everyone had also agreed that the civil system of justice is slow and expensive and it was sensible in moving forward to consider the proper operation of the rule of law.

The background to the presentation by Sue Ackers is that Trevor Kavanagh the Associate Editor at the Sun has led a at best a disingenuous and misleading attack on he decision of the police to arrest 13 Sun journalists including some of their most senior staff on grounds of corruption and conspiracy of corruption where the evidence to bring formal charges is substantial but where the decision has been taken to defer prosecutions until the completion of all appropriate inquiries.

The arrests arise from documentation provided by the now Independent News of the World police liaison and standards Committee and which according to Mail on Line includes information on those who were paid. While it is normal practice to accept that journalists should protect their sources News International now take the view that those who committed serious offences while holding public office have no right to such protection.

In her new written statement Deputy Assistant Sue Ackers explained that the Independent Management and Standards Committee of News International established by News Corporation in July 2011 and chaired by the Independent Lord Grabiner Q C had provided Operation Elveden material which indicated that police officers had received cash payments from journalists from the News of the World for the provision of Confidential information.

She said that the aim of police investigation was to uncover criminality and not to uncover legitimate sources. It is the Standards Committee reporting to the Vice President of the USA based corporation that is monitoring the search of the 300 million emails available to the authorities.

The terms of reference for Operation Elveden were initially set in relation to payments to Police Officers. It was the intention to follow the evidence whoever it led. The terms of reference have been revised in view of the information that becomes available. Legal advice was obtained from the Crown Prosecution service at an early stage on the offences which include under the 1906 Prevention of Corruption Act, Misconduct in a Public office and conspiracy to Commit these Offences. Given issues raised by Article 10 of the Human Rights Act legal advice had been obtained in relation to the Public Interest in investigating such payments as to other more general hospitality of providing meals and drinks (thus knocking on the head the wilfully deliberate misrepresentation that the police are attacking the provision of hospitality and free drinks although as Leveson later went to reveal the level of hospitality provided by News International in particular to senior Police Officer at the Metropolitan authority has been disgraceful). The Elveden terms of reference exclude this type of hospitality because it is considered part of journalistic practices. Legal advice was obtained to investigate journalists in relation to corruption payments and also to investigate their offices.

Forty police officers are deployed in this work and this being increased to sixty one and this does not include additional police used in relation to the making of arrests with 16 journalists arrested and bailed, 3 police officers, a member of the armed forces and a member of the MOD and a person acting as a conduit to a public official, 22 persons in total.

She confirmed that the Management Standards Committee of News Corps had provided information unredacted which has enabled the police to identify the public officials concerned, In relation to the wider system by which cash payments were made this is in reacted form and the police are required to provide evidence of a potential crime before the course is identified.

A News of the World journalist has have been arrested for authorising payments. The enquiry continues but no police officers/staff have yet been identified. This related to one ex journalist.

Another News of the World Journalist is known to have met with many police officers and that some of those officers may have received cash payments. The Journalist was arrested in December 2011 and as yet no individual police officers/staff have been identified.

A police officer employed by the Special Operations Directorate has been discovered to be seeking payments from News of the World Journalists and was arrested in December 2011.

A targeted further search of emails is being undertaken to identify cash payments to public officials.

Between July and November the Management Standards Committee of News Corp volunteered information in relation to the Sun Newspaper having discovered suspicious emails they felt required disclosure. This led to a Sun journalist arrested in November 2011 and following the provision of further information to the Metropolitan Police on 18 and 24th of January and 4 Sun/NI employees and one serving police officer from the Territorial Policing Directorate were arrested on January 28th.

A further operation on February 11th led to five Sun employees, one serving police officer, one member of the MOD and an army officer being arrested together with a relative of a public official acting as a conduit to hide a cheque payment to that person.

The arrests without warning have been conducted as we would in any other case where the primary aim is to secure the best evidence and prevent suspects conferring or disposing of evidence. The purpose of the police action was proactive to investigate the criminality which has been identified. The aim has never been to threaten the existence of the Sun (pity). To this end there was liaison with the Management Standards Committee so that searches of the offices were conducted on Saturday when the offices were empty. (The following weekend the Sun Sunday was launches as a successor to the News of the World).

Payments by journalists to public officials have been identified in the following categories: - Police, Military, Health, Government, Prison and others. The evidence suggests that such payments were being made to public officials across all areas of public life; The current assessment of the evidence is that it reveals a culture at the Sun of illegal payments and systems have been created to facilitate such payments whist hiding the identity of the officials receiving the money. The emails indicate that payments to sources were openly referred to within the Sun with the category of public official being identified rather than the individual’s identity.

There is recognition by the journalists that behaviour is illegal with reference being made to staff losing their pension or their job, to the need for care and to the need for cash payments. There is also an indication of tradecraft that is hiding the cash payments by making them to a friend or relative of the source. The evidence suggests that authority for such payments was made at a senior level within the newspaper.

While the activity is clearly evidenced and this is the reason why at this early stage more journalists have been arrested. As the investigation progresses it is anticipated that detailed enquiry will identify the corrupt public officials and they will be arrested.

The cases we are investigating are not ones involving the odd drink or meals They involve the delivery of regular, frequent and sometimes significant sums of money to small numbers of public officials. There is evidence of multiple payments amounting to thousands of pounds and in one instance the total appears to be in excess of £80000 to pay his sources a number of whom were public officials.

The statement makes reference to Article Ten and that a judge would rule on the issue of justification in relation to the public Interest in relation to specific disclosure. What can be said is that the vast majority of disclosures under investigation can best be described as salacious gossip. They often involve a breach of trust by the public official and an invasion into the privacy of the subjects of the newspaper articles. The police investigation is mindful of the need to protect genuine journalistic sources but in seeking to identify corrupt relationships it is necessary to probe into sensitive areas. However the payment to public officials for confidential information is illegal, especially in relation to police officers and cannot therefore be tolerated. It would be in wholly exceptional circumstances that such behaviour could be justified.

Since making the statement the Metropolitan Police have announced that the Sun Defence correspondent has been arrested by appointment under the Prevention of Corruption Act

It will be interesting to see what News International reveals about their involvement with politicians. Mr Kavanagh appears unrepentant claiming that the police were conducting a witch hunt against News International and that the investigations underway were disproportionate.