Who Guards the Guards?

I'm all in favour of tougher regulation for the press - who isn't these days?

My mind was made up about twenty years ago when I complained to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) about a sucrrilous article in the (Glasgow) Evening Times, if I remember correctly - which completely rubbished a dispute I was fighting at the time - on behalf of low paid NUPE members.

My complaint was rejected in a peremptory fashion - the PCC being stuffed full of  arrogant newspaper editors - so the outcome was hardly a surprise. 

Ever since I've regarded the PCC as a completely worthless organisation - with the same kind of credibiliity you would achieve - by putting Count Dracula in charge of the blood transfusion service.

So while I think the Leveson Inquiry was something a three-ring circus - a celebrity-driven feeding frenzy - nonetheless the noble lord has hit the nail on the head by saying that the game is up and that the PCC has had its day.

The public deserve a media watchdog which has real teeth and the ability to deal with bad behaviour - from individial journalists, newspapers and other rmedia outlets.

In fact I would go further than just holding the press and media to account - because there are other powerful organisations in our midst which could do with more oversight and serious scrutiny.

For example, Britain's trade unions which are all in favour of greater regulation and external scrutiny - except when it comes to their own activities it has to be said.

Trade unions are still powerful organisations of course - as can be seen from the fact that the the Labour affiliated ones (GMB/Unison/Unite) effectively decided who would become leaders of UK and Scottish Labour parties - Ed Miliband and Johann Lamont respectively.

Trade unions in the UK are becoming ever larger and more centlralised - as the trend towards super-sized unions gathers pace - soon there may be only two major unions operating in the public sector (Unite and Unison/GMB) - representing around 3.3 million members.

Except to say that these two or three trade unions are not very representative of course - paticularly in Scotland.

Because just about every 'man jack' of their senior officials is a card carrying member of the Labour party - whereas only a minority of union members actually support the Labour party at election time.

So who's kidding who?

I've had lots of people contact me to say they are disgusted at their trade union's behaviour over equal pay - but if they want to complain, who do members complain to?

Why the union's head office, of course.

Not an independent body which will examine the facts and act as an impartial referee - as is the case in most other areas of public life - where people can complain to a regulator, a public watchdog if you like - whose job is to level the playing field between the big guy and the little guy.

Trade unions are not very open organisations - even though they are very free with their advice and opinions about how everyone else should behave.

Trade unions are not, for example, subject to Freedom of Information legislation - despite the fact that they receive lots of public money directly and in-kind - especially the unions operating in the public services.

So, let's hear it for an independent regulator which can deal with complaints from ordinary union members - and hold big trade union bureaucracies to account.