I watched the current Chancellor of the Exchequer and an ex-Prime Minister lie on oath yesterday. And I have to admit, I was a bit shocked. I'm just not that cynical. I thought George Osborne and Gordon Brown would probably tell the truth. But neither did – intentionally.
I should not have been surprised. Mercury (known for his ability to bend meaning) is opposing Pluto (the dark truth) right now. Mercury's the first planet to get pincered by the Uranus-Pluto square. Today he's making a hasty exit form the situation. But it was interesting to see an encounter between the prince of darkness and the prince of words played out in a courtroom setting. The shock we can put down to our friend Uranus again.
In typically Plutonian fashion, the real truth that did emerge was the one that both men were trying to hide – that is that they are liars. Brown clearly believes his own version of reality, but Osborne appears to be entirely cynical.
For my non-UK readers, let me explain. In the wake of a whole fistful of scandals, we are currently having an official enquiry into press standards here. It's led by Lord Justice Leveson with Queen's Counsel Robert Jay asking the questions. Frankly, it's courtroom theatre at its best, as the softly spoken Jay puts journalists, media barons and politicians through the fine-mesh sieve of the law.
We've already watched Rupert and James Murdoch weaselling away, not to mention their henchwoman Rebekah Brooks and erstwhile media-thugs Andy Coulson and Alistair Campbell. Then we had ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, doing his thing.
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| Today's transits |
There are essentially two areas the enquiry must address.
• freedom of the press vs the right to privacy
• the cosy relationship between the politicians and the media*
Yesterday, Gordon Brown's big porky was to claim that his people had never briefed against Tony Blair. I thought Osborne was clearly lying when he said he repeatedly said he had no opinion about the merits of Murdoch's attempt to take over satellite station BSkyB.
The Pluto-Uranus-Mercury T-square does promise some penetrating truth-telling this week though. That is what we're hearing from ex-PM John Major right now. He's letting it all come out – and interestingly his steady Capricorn Moon is less than one degree from a conjunction with Pluto. What is more, Major's Ascendant is at 6° Capricorn. This is a very important moment for him. What he has to say today may well have far-reaching impact.
Combined with Uranus, we should expect some surprises too.
To watch the inquiry live click here.
*John Harris in The Guardian explained
"By way of a truly surreal symbol of much the same culture [cosiness of press and pols. ed] , consider also the events of a single week in August 2008 – when David Cameron met Rupert Murdoch on a yacht moored off the Greek island of Santorini, before the then leader of the opposition took his leave, and the same vessel made its way to Elisabeth Murdoch's 40th birthday celebrations on and around Corfu. There, events transpired that would lead to aheated controversy: Peter Mandelson famously dined with George Osborne, and also stayed in a nearby yacht owned by the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, as a guest of the Swiss-based financier Nat Rothschild – who soon introduced Deripaska to the Conservatives' chief executive, Andrew Feldman. Meanwhile, the credit crunch was kicking in, the fall of Lehmans was only a month away, and Mandelson would be snugly back in government by October. Really: is it any wonder politics has fallen so far?" For the complete article click here.
