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One of the UK's most controversial political figures Peter "Prince of Darkness" Mandelson is to be the European Union's commissioner for trade! This appointment is yet another remarkable resurrection in his political career. Twice he has risen to take important cabinet posts under Blair, twice he has been been forced to resign due to scandals.
Barely 18 months into his government career in late 1998, Mandelson had to resign as trade minister for accepting a large loan to buy a house. Mr Mandelson had taken a loan from the then Paymaster General, Geoffrey Robinson. The loan was not listed in the Register of Members Interests and moreover, the governmental department responsible for investigating Mr Robinson’s business affairs was the DTI.
Then by 1999 he was back in the cabinet in the sensitive post of minister for Northern Ireland, however this run was ended by another scandal, this time about British passports for the ultra-rich Indian Hinduja brothers, who had appeared in court in connection with a 1986 arms dealing scandal.
An arch-manipulator, Peter Mandelson was and is a close friend and associate of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He was widely touted as the genius behind the election landslide victory of New Labour in 1997. He advised the Prime Minister on health and education policies. He also used his Machiavellian talents to organise the Downing Street fightback during the Cheriegate affair.
AS A European commissioner Mandelson will earn a basic salary of £144,000 per year—three times what he earns as an MP. On top of that he will receive an annual £24,000 housekeeping and chauffeur allowance, a relocation payment of £23,000, a £7,000 entertainment allowance and travel expenses. That adds up to a grand total of £198,000 for a year’s work. And the EU pension scheme will pay out two thirds of his final salary after he retires.
Britain’s current appointed commissioners are former Tory chairman Chris Patten and former Labour leader Neil Kinnock. One of Kinnock’s responsibilities was to prevent fraud. But his reign has been marked by a string of sleaze scandals, notably at Eurostat, the EU statistics agency. At least £3.5 million disappeared from Eurostat’s accounts into slush funds and fake companies. Earlier this year a report by MEPs into the affair severely criticised Kinnock for failing to control the agency’s finances or take responsibility for the scandal.
In 1999 the entire European Commission—including Kinnock—was forced to resign after an independent investigation issued a damning report on corruption and nepotism in the EU executive.
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Winners of Privacy International's sixth annual U.K. Big Brother Awards
These awards are an annual attempt to publicly name and shame the government and private-sector organizations that have done the most to invade personal privacy in Britain. Winners were chosen from roughly 300 people and organizations nominated by the public. Big Brother Awards are now held as an annual event in 17 countries. Each event typically focuses on privacy violations in the host country.
WORST PUBLIC SERVANT
Winner: The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Minister of State for Children
Margaret Hodge has received numerous nominations because of her patronage of the controversial tracking provisions in the Children Bill and for her determination to develop a wide spectrum of intrusive databases and information systems. Her success in reaching the shortlist reflects the judges concern stemming from their decision in 2002 to give the Department for Education & Skills the "Most Heinous Government Organisation" award for its invasive activities. See http://www.privacyinternational.org/bigbrother/uk2002/
Further information:
http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,1074,1079140,00.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/24/nkid24.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/08/24/ixportal.html
Runner-up:. Katherine Courtney, Director, Identity Cards Programme, Home Office, and Stephen Harrison, Head, Identity Card Policy Unit, Home Office
Ms Courtney and Mr Harrison have the honour of being the first-ever joint nomination for a UK award. They are the largely invisible figures behind the National Identity Card scheme and have steered the project since its inception in 2002. They were, of course, just following orders.
See their evidence to the Home Affairs Committee at:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhaff/uc130-i/uc13001.htm
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhaff/uc130-vii/uc13002.htm
MOST INVASIVE COMPANY
Winner: British Gas
For its unfounded and cowardly claim that the Data Protection Act was the reason why an elderly couple died after British Gas had disconnected their gas supply. The hypothermia and absence of any duty of care apparently were secondary factors.
Further information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3342059.stm
Runner-up: Lloyds TSB
For unnecessary and possibly unlawful threats to freeze the accounts of customers who fail to attend a branch and produce identity documents. The procedure has been described by the bank as an "initiative" backed by the Financial Services Authority.
Background information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3342059.stm
Runner-up: FollowUS
This is one of a growing number of companies specialising in mobile phone tracking. The company proclaims that its services can be used to locate people "for peace of mind, security or fun". http://www.followus.co.uk/homeusers.html
Further information:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1101683,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/new spaper/0,,176-859396,00.html
MOST APPALLING PROJECT
Winner: The NHS National Programme for IT
The NHS won a "Most Heinous Government Organisation" award in 2000 because of its plans to computerise all patient records in a way that is both insecure and dangerous to patient privacy. Its nomination again this year reflects the gravity of concerns over these continuing plans.
Further information:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2710-751992,00.html
Runner-up: Vodafone
For systematic default blocking of all "adult" websites. The measure goes much further than the BT plan to block access to child pornography, and involves any site regarded as "adult" in nature.
Further information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3860095.stm
Runner-up: The Safe Harbor Agreement
http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/ This initiative, drawn up by the EU and the US, provides a basis for the transmission to the US of personal information on EU citizens. At best the scheme can be described as inadequate. At worst it is a means of circumventing European privacy law and fooling people into a belief that their information is being protected within the US border.
Background information
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/ebusiness/story/0,10801,47152,00.html
MOST HEINOUS GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION
Winner: The Office of National Statistics.
For its development of the "Citizen Information Project" that will collate and share unprecedented amounts of data on the entire population. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cip/default.asp
Further information:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhaff/uc130-vi/uc13002.htm
Runner-up: The Department for Transport
For its electronic vehicle identification (EVI) programme Known variously as the "Spy in the Dashboard" and "the Informer" an embedded chip will automatically report to authorities a wide range of offences including speeding, road tax evasion and illegal parking.
Further information:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-790512,00.html
LIFETIME MENACE
Winner: The US VISIT Programme
Privacy International has taken the unusual step of shortlisting a US initiative for the UK awards because of the almost total silence in the US over this programme. US VISIT will fingerprint all visitors to the US from September of this year. The scheme is offensive and invasive, and has been undertaken with little or no debate or scrutiny. Nor has the requirement taken any account of the "special relationship" between the UK and the US. The UK government has been silent about the programme and has capitulated every step of the way.
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0333.xml
Runner-up: The Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP.
Charles Clarke was shortlisted in 2000 because of his patronage as Home Office Minister of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill. Now as Secretary of State for Education & Skills he has responsibility for the Children portfolio occupied by Margaret Hodge (see nomination above). His activities at Cabinet level pose an ongoing threat to privacy.
Commenting on the nominations, Simon Davies, Director of Privacy International, said:
"The winning nominations reflect a broad and intensified assault on the right to privacy in the UK. There is a clear hostility within government to privacy and a general antagonism to it from within business. We have seen few instances where privacy has been genuinely respected by large organisations."
"The default has clearly shifted from privacy to surveillance. Almost all large government projects attempt to compromise the right to privacy. The proclaimed need for protection of children and the fight against terrorism has often been shamelessly used as the pretext for privacy invasion".
"We are seeing a race to the bottom where government and private sector alike compete to provide the most intrusive services in the most unstable environment for privacy."
"It has become clear that the European Commission has adopted a key role in leading the assault on privacy. The UK government often uses the Commission's decisions and activities as the justification for privacy invasion. The need for an EU-wide Big Brother Award is now overwhelming and we will look to this option in the coming year".
"The Data Protection Act has come under sustained and unjustified attack in the past year. We have some faith that the New Information Commissioner will more aggressively promote and defend the law".
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