- Another letter of the law - 2nd May 2024
- Shopped - 1st May 2024
- Postal order - 30th April 2024
During 23 years with the BBC, and 40 years in journalism (when he was trained to use simple language, avoiding jargon), political deals have always made good copy, and now this has been highlighted by news that an imperfect one has been secured to keep going the vast American public services sector for a few weeks – but leaves out help for Ukraine.
Earlier Phil has described how he was helped to break into the South Wales Echo office car when he was a cub reporter, recalled his early career as a journalist, the importance of experience in the job, and making clear that the‘calls’ to emergency services as well as court cases are central to any media operation.
He has also explored how poorly paid most journalism is when trainee reporters had to live in squalid flats, the vital role of expenses, and about one of his most important stories on the now-scrapped 53 year-old BBC Wales TV Current Affairs series, Week In Week Out (WIWO), which won an award even after it was axed, long after his career really took off.
Phil has explained too how crucial it is actually to speak to people, the virtue of speed as well as accuracy, why knowledge of history and teaching the subject is vital, how certain material was removed from TV Current Affairs programmes when secret cameras had to be used, and some of those he has interviewed.
He has disclosed as well why investigative journalism is needed now more than ever although others have different opinions, how the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown played havoc with media schedules, and the importance of the hugely lower average age of some political leaders compared with when he started reporting.
I always used to think, ‘this is INCREDIBLE!’.
Sometimes fierce political rivals would get into bed together, in order to form a wonky coalition so that they could get highly-paid public jobs.
We have seen any number of bizarre link-ups over the years (left and right, nationalist and anti-nationalist, environmental and non-environmental, or sometimes a mixture of ALL of them, in a so-called ‘rainbow coalition’), and sometimes the negotiations (which were always in ‘smoke-filled rooms’ to use the cliché, but presumably aren’t now) would take WEEKS!
Apart from thinking this was an extraordinary sight, I also had at the forefront of my mind: “Whatever happened to political principle?!”.
This has now been put centre stage for me, by the news that (of course) a deal was hammered out between Democrats and Republicans, to keep public services going in the USA.
Frankly this was bound to happen (no party wanted to be blamed for people not getting their social security money), but it only keeps things running until NEXT month, and then we’ll have to go through the absurd ritual AGAIN!
It also leaves out military help for Ukraine in their fight with invading Russia.
Most of the Republicans insisted on it (as long as arms for Ukraine was omitted), but Joe Biden wasn’t happy, saying: “We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.
“I fully expect the…commitment (will be kept) to the people of Ukraine and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment”.
The political fall-out from this deal has been astonishing, as it pushed far-right, Trump-supporting, Republicans over the edge, and they conspired to get rid of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, for working with Mr Biden.
They’d never liked him.
It is the first time in the country’s history that House representatives have voted the Speaker out.
Despite earning support from 210 of the 221 House Republicans, eight hardliners teamed up with 208 Democrats to fire Mr McCarthy.
Shortly thereafter the former speaker announced he would not try to regain the title.
The coming weeks are likely to be chaotic, and the results of this chapter of congressional dysfunction will reverberate far beyond Capitol Hill.
Hyped up ‘stories’ about a potential American shutdown (which ultimately precipitated all of this) made me feel weary, because it was so unlikely.
But never underestimate politicians and their deal-making – even if it’s not done in ‘smoke-filled rooms’ anymore!
The memories of Phil’s decades long award-winning career in journalism (when watching political deal-making was a mainstay of his stories) as he was gripped by the rare neurological disease Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order it now.
Publication of another book, however, was refused, because it was to have included names.
Tomorrow – we reveal how even as BBC rules on impartiality and behaviour were toughed up for presenters in the wake of the Gary Lineker affair, a corporation radio host in Wales ‘liked’ a social media post from a House of Commons (HoC) party leader saying they have refused to appear on a controversial broadcaster’s channel
