These remarks were more vociferously expressed by inner-city councils; the rural representatives agreed but drew attention to a steady trend of closures of village schools on cost criteria, only to add these pupils to bigger, less disciplined establishments, ultimately reflecting the same concerns as the inner-city members.
Academic standards were viewed with scepticism, and although it was accepted that education had to adapt to a changing market for employment and technological trends, the transition to more social sciences, graphic design, theatrical studies, and fashion diplomas was too swift and appealing. It created a vacuum in traditional and core vocations, often filled from foreign lands, and it attracted too many young citizens to the lure of limited ‘celebrity’ opportunities. Such ‘career’ ambitions frequently suffered extremely high failure rates in achieving lasting employment.
Then there was the hot potato of a multicultural, multi-faith, multi-language learning environment. Even in this think-tank atmosphere many of the delegates appeared reticent to say what they really thought. The BNP view was different, and partly because they were ready to sweep away everything which obscured the primary objective, and this further unsettled the hoverers. However, the recent demise of the position of Minister for PC did help in teasing out more support for a comprehensive change in attitude to discipline.
There was agreement that vast resources were being spent on this multicultural approach to teaching, in a plethora of languages. The knock-on effect of such a task was gradual but relentless constipation of the system. Whether or not this was helpful to integration was a further complication, but once again the most prevalent view was to encourage children to speak the language of the land as a basic premise for progressive education. Children were the best hope of avoiding a drive toward secular society.
A logical extension of all this was the contempt in which educational psychologists were held. True to their profession, they always knew better than anyone actually carrying out the actual function, although they themselves could not perform the task they were presiding over. There was also the comment that continuing blind adherence to psychologists’ hallowed doctrine of teaching immigrants in in several dialects of ‘Esperanto’ was bankrupting the country, never mind the education budget. This was accompanied by cynical unanimity that these same psychologists would maintain that this was merely someone else’s responsibility, next question?
It astonished both IR and Tarquin that so many diverse representatives held such common views, yet they couldn’t or wouldn’t risk being personally involved in generating change toward those views.
Inevitably there was frustration at such a catalogue of moans, unaccompanied by detailed proposals for tackling them.
Just as well that the last subject of local resources focussed on the general theme of decentralising certain responsibilities on specific issues, rather than becoming a slanging match, solely around immigration. Although the latter was running like a thread through most community difficulties, and had to be addressed, the discussion was more centred on irresponsible financing of dubious PC-driven hand-outs rather than dealing with unspecific immigrant paranoia and terror threats. Many delegates brought concerns out into the open, suggesting that limits should be imposed on just how much investment could be sustained rather than slavishly subscribing to an unharnessed inflow of new claimants, which in itself made indigenous citizens feel undervalued.
The PC brigade would normally respond to sections of society feeling undervalued, but not when it applies to the majority of law-abiding citizens, making up the core of the land. Really enlightened!!!
The common conundrum to be found in all of these issues for Cassidy and Sundance was how to address the cocktail of concern and apathy. How were they to scavenge through such an indictment of the base fabric of our society and turn it into a cogent, coherent blueprint? This wasn’t merely to advise the PM where to begin. It was a crucial lubricant for the machinery of central - local government to be overhauled, refitted, and re-energised, to reflect at the very least a picture of the entire choir having the same hymn sheet. This was needed even if all parties were not singing to it all of the time. And time would tell.
Once the official debating was over, there was the relapse to the solar system analogy to deal with. Contributing ideas was one thing, but to endorse a structure was completely different, and Richardson knew it. He was concerned to banish the thought of this pilot scheme becoming just another layer of bureaucracy.
Prior to the session he remembered telling the PM that drumming up enthusiasm wasn’t difficult, compared with meeting resultant expectation. He now realised exactly how that expectation must be addressed quickly, and without the millstone of ‘committee mentality.’ Tarquin concurred but was more preoccupied with what aspects he would feed to Ruby.
Chapter 40
The new Holo-matrix unit had been debugged and appeared to be ready to go. Nakatolli Shogun handed over roughly scripted manuals to the operator and departed.
IR took delivery of his hand-held remote access device and studied it carefully, over and over. Just as he was feeling reasonably confident, he was disoriented by a pinging noise and a vibration, then the Owl appeared on both his office unit and the tiny screen of the palmtop, simultaneously.
“How have you managed to ……?”
“I really don’t understand it myself Richardson, but hey, the two-way log-in, only for you and me! It’s right on man, I mean it does get a bit tedious being in access only format, but what the hell? Anyway, this is just a heads-up call to let you know we can parlay even when you aren’t here in Redwood. The next step for me is to rid myself of this wretched humour chip software - it sucks!! Bear with me on this.”
IR could barely contain his facial merriment, but his contentment at the new system being online was more evident, and the two of them exchanged updates, then agreed to connect frequently despite Richardson’s busy schedule. Enoch said he was keen to hear of IR’s précis of his upcoming discussion with the PM, following the Local Councillors’ meeting.
***
Otto was really confused by the possible implications of Richardson’s new role, and the direct consequences for his own patch. He sensed interference. The confusion was to be complicated when he next spoke with the Owl.
***
The PM had anticipated a messy outcome to IR’s first session, but he had hoped for better. He had one eye fixed on the general election, and he preferred intentions at this stage, rather than action. He was unsure about the options of either bulldozing through a new blueprint or simply doing a feasibility study.
IR had given a weighting to each area discussed and there was no doubt that the Councillors wanted to see crime tackled first, in a radical and robust way. It’s not unusual that the highest urgency is accompanied by the most tricky, potential solutions.
Richardson reminded Wishbone that he had been seen to act decisively on PC and NOSONICE, both of which had been received well, but he did acknowledge neither of those ulcers was quite as labyrinthine as the murky corridors of ‘Justice.’
Wishbone was silently picking through the potentially catastrophic bits of the Justice Jigsaw and felt the least sensitive issue was the ‘Sentencing Advisory Panel.’ He didn’t even know who ran it. There would be resistance somewhere between the setting up of the guillotine and the head falling into the basket, but nothing insurmountable. This however, wasn’t pivotal enough in itself to convince citizens that a tipping point had been achieved.
Stirring up a hornet’s nest was not the end of the world if the world containing it was breach proof. This was De Vere’s first meeting with the PM and he was fascinated by Wishbone’s ability to make laser-precision animal cunning seem so benign, almost noble. The PM asked IR to leave the matter with him, as he was bound by duty to share this challenge with the Cabinet, and do whatever it would take to achieve zero dissent. The next hurdle would be to foster zero tolerance from the same Cabinet on any orchestrated slow
down by the Wallies with the Wigs. After all, procrastination of some kind would be expected by such an invasion of their sacred burial grounds.
He also made Richardson aware of his intent to get the Law Enforcement Fraternity on board with this. He could count on Sean Bombortwo bringing the necessary clout of Homeland Security to the party. Serendipity then that the new organisation he had set up, that of Law Enforcement reporting directly to Sean. This masterstroke would facilitate the foray.
In any case, Law Enforcement would appreciate the scrapping of useless targets and a return to a sense of achievement in tackling crime, coupled with more appropriate sentencing. It was the cornerstone of a new horizon.
It was his view that the ‘sentencing advisory’ quango must be a ‘buck-passing’ entity, because that is how government works so well in the eyes of those looking outward. If these woolly, vague or skittery creatures advised the Judiciary and the Government, why then, after the execution, should the Government not take on the responsibility for giving this advice? This would be the point at which the containment field would be tested, and in this respect he wanted to prime the Lord Chief Justice that the foot soldiers in his profession were incredibly out of touch with life outside the courtroom.
He hoped this insulting condemnation would provoke a response of equal venom so that he could examine the weakness of their argument before it went out on all wavelengths.
This intrigued De Vere, who was already becoming addicted to such heady juggling of the available components. He had also gained sufficient confidence to air a suggestion. He made no attempt to dress it up, controversial though it might be.
“What if we leaked this intention after your Cabinet meeting?”
Silence, then a question.
“Leak it to whom?”
“To the opposition.”
“What the hell would be the point of such a dangerous initiative?”
Tarquin suddenly felt perfectly at ease.
“Leaking disinformation would indeed be dangerous, but I fancy it would be the opposition who would be impacted.”
IR declared he had lost the thread, but the PM hung in there.
“In what form would this hypothetical disinformation appear to be bona fide?” asked Wishbone
“Well, if you didn’t inform the Cabinet of your intent to meet the Lord CJ, but it was circulated through two highly trusted third parties to the BNP, and another to the F.O.B. there would be an opportunity of an irresistible nature for the former, and a panic by the latter, to scupper the plan. The fact that they have different views on how the Lord CJ would react gets the insulting started and your entire Cabinet will verify this was never discussed.
“All of their sources will support this. If this is backed up by the LCJ himself, he will contact you at some point, and provided this is done before you pass sentence on the advisory panel, you can accept his wish to meet with you. When you let it slip that it was always your intention to axe this superfluous body, this may well have been the basis for the inaccurate ‘leak.’ In other words there never was any leak.”
“How reliable are the third parties, and how would they be informed?”
“Ultra-reliable, sir, and I will inform them, no-one else will be involved, and you have absolutely no knowledge of this. The only other citizen who will know is Councillor Richardson and the remit you gave us is party-neutral, so we would be seen to have no mileage in killing our own future by starting out with disreputable behaviour such as this.”
IR for once could not muster an intelligent question, but didn’t like the ease with which the others were conversing in pictographs. All he could grasp was that a leak of a meeting which was never discussed, would result in that leak being perceived as not a leak, but rather mischievous behaviour, fuelled by opposition parties. Such shameful behaviour was their stock in trade, and it would actually cause the not intended, planned meeting to occur just as the leak had predicted. The really important point was that the leak caused the meeting, absolving the PM and setting up the counter-attacking he wanted, the bonus being the tarnishing of the opposition parties as a consequence.
Without feeling good about it IR didn’t object.
Chapter 41
De Vere informed Sniffy with enough time for him to pass this information to the Owl, and then contact Otto to trigger him to log-in.
“There’s something afoot in HQ Councillor Nostalgia, I don’t know what, but apparently it’s going to hit the street very soon, can you enlighten me? This would be an excellent gesture, and I’m sure it would help to kick-start our mutual respect.” Sniffy asserted.
Otto would have loved to have been able to deny the media any knowledge he had, if only. “Very vague Badger. You’re fishing, I have nothing to say,” retorted Otto.
Sniffy tried to prolong the chat by referring to his previous accord with IR until the penny dropped for Otto. ‘Richardson, he mused - if he knows something the Owl will know too.’ He rudely informed Sniffy that he had better things to do, and rushed off to the pub.
Sniffy made the call to De Vere, who then contacted Ruby on a secure line and dropped the grenade. She was pretty sure this was exclusively her grenade.
Otto logged in and deflected Enoch’s false greeting. “I know that HQ is plotting something, and I’ve come to you to pledge further support for IR if it concerns or in any way involves him.”
“News to me Nostalgia, I know nothing of a secret nature which has developed from IR’s recent meeting. Well you were there weren’t you?”
Otto was impatient, “Yes I was, but since then he has seen the PM, so it must be related to that meeting.”
“Well, all I know is that the PM was impressed, and as a result he was going to take recommendations to the Cabinet in a fully-documented response to the issues raised. However, there were no specifics to which IR can attach further action until after the Cabinet meeting. It is curious though that one individual interacting with myself less than an hour ago made some reference to the F.O.B. party having dug up some indication of a meeting planned by the PM, supposedly with some high-ranking official outside the Cabinet. These rumours abound and you never know how reliable they are. I just assumed it was another smoke screen.”
Otto could not resist the temptation to link the coincidence of Sniffy’s tip-off and the Owl’s revelation. All the Owl would tell him was that the source of the mysterious rumour was certainly not Sniffy. That did it. He went directly back to Sniffy and declared he knew what the Badger would dearly love to know.
“I’m afraid I do know, and because of the way you ended our last conversation I’m in no mood to trade snippets with you.”
Otto recovered sufficient mental capacity to blurt out that some ‘unknown’ big shot was to meet with the PM without Cabinet knowledge.
“Yes, but you don’t know the identity or purpose Councillor Bullshit. You’re way behind. I got what I needed directly from the F.O.B. party. It is the Lord Chief Justice and it will soon hit the media.”
Otto vanished and contacted the BNP leader Dolph Edicct. There was no time to lose. They wanted to discredit the F.O.B. lot for disclosing unsubstantiated accusations of this nature. At the same time they felt it was their duty to remind the Government that the only way to maintain the electorate’s trust was to be transparent on such issues. This kind of secrecy and subsequent duplicity was inexcusable. Transparency was their way. TV was the quickest way.
***
Meanwhile, Ruby was giving an exclusive interview to Political Radio Today. The claims from two different sources broke within minutes of each other, and although there was commonality in the accusation, there were discrepancies in how the ‘leak’ had been detected. The F.O.B. response was that they never revealed sources. The BNP was adamant that the F.O.B. had leaked via a mole in the W.C. administration. Although this would be damaging to the F.O.B. party, it would be more damaging if it could be attributed to an individual rather than the entire party.
This rag
ed through the media, and ultimately demanded a response from the PM. Wishbone did nothing but refer to the Cabinet meeting and willingly invited scrutiny of the minutes by independent administration personnel, then he called upon his Cabinet to add to the veracity of that check in any interviews they subsequently had with the media.
There was nothing to hide, there simply was no such proposal to meet the LCJ, and therefore pointless to deny further speculation as to why?
Ruby was trapped. She could hardly shift the inquisition to De Vere, who made it quite clear that he would rather accompany her to the gallows than help her. He said he had recorded her persuasive session when she extolled the virtue of his sacrifice in resigning from the party, to perform this higher selfless ‘espionage’ on her behalf. He required her to admit that this leak must have come from somewhere within the F.O.B. party, and that she would not rest until the individual was identified. Tarquin was sure she could sweet talk some other poor sod into a kamikaze mission.
***
The LCJ had patiently waited for some contact from someone close to the PM, if not the PM himself, as reassurance that no meeting was required. However, just as Tarquin had predicted, the media scrum had all kinds of conspiracy theories to sell, and he eventually capitulated to the constant intrusion into his public appearances, by the bloodhounds. He contacted Wishbone’s office and requested an audience.
Chapter 42
IR was trying to refine his sketchy model of central-local interface, which would hopefully work for all of the current areas of concern. It wasn’t really a surprise that this theoretical approach threw up something which was vaguely familiar. It began to resemble a Federal-State balance, where central ideology was complemented with preordained regional flexibility, on selected topics which were clearly merited. No matter how many times he went over the same input, the result was identical. Tarquin agreed, and they both knew this would cause all hell to break loose if it was even suggested to the top brass. They visualised such a recommendation as ‘Hello your Highness, how would you like to abdicate before abrogating all of your current responsibilities?’ That’s not how it really was but that’s exactly how it would be interpreted. It was a bit like a philosophical discussion on death, it was all very interesting, but changed completely when you realised it was you they were talking about.