DeLay, Hutton and the American Exception.

Will Hutton tells us that the indictment of Tom DeLay shows that it’s all those evil American Rightists who are corrupt. Nothing like that will ever stain the purity of the left, Oh no.

Well, there’s the Mittal letter, the Ecclestone bung, Drayton’s peerage, any number of little peccaddillos that we might want to point to but from today’s Times:

A TOP government adviser on “green” energy is offering access to ministers in return for cash and has helped two business associates with criminal convictions meet senior Whitehall officials.

An investigation by The Sunday Times has found that Professor Ian Fells, one of Britain’s foremost academic experts on energy and an adviser to the cabinet, is trading on his connections to help clients lobby government. Last week Fells negotiated a fee of £600 to broker a meeting between a reporter, posing as a businessman, and a senior civil servant. Fells said the official was writing the forthcoming energy white paper.

The Sunday Times learnt that Fells also put a green energy company in touch with government officials to seek grants. It is run by a serial fraudster and a fellow convicted criminal. Fells is a director of their company.

We need to get something straight here. When Government is the fount of money then there will always be people attempting to bribe their way into the receipt of some of that gusher. Only when politicians do not decide upon tax breaks, do not allocate grants, do not micro manage the economy will there not be people attempting to bribe them.

Plain and simple rules, obvious to all, no special exemptions, no tax breaks, no encouragements, the only way to stop this corruption.