Friday 28 November 2008

The Smack of Firm Government

International capital is not concerned with political niceties. It is concerned with political stability. Where it lends it wants to be sure that the institutional status quo will be upheld and maintained while its investment is at risk. Or the charge for risk may be too high for the borrower.

The United Kingdom Labour government must borrow heavily. It must show convincingly the stability and permanence of its control over the country. The apparatus to do this has been installed since 2000. Willingness and capacity to use it is being demonstrated.

'Whatever it takes' applies now to the arrest by counter-terrorism police of a Member of Parliament and the authorisation by the Speaker of the intrusion by police into the Parliament and a search of a Member of Parliament's offices.

We should expect more propaganda tokens of the extent and permanence of the Mandelson/Brown regime.

8 comments:

Nick Drew said...

a subtle observation, HG

on a very unsubtle deed

(which foreign powers will be gratified to learn Brown will not tolerate whistle-blowing on his laissez-faire towards illegal immigration ..?)

hatfield girl said...

'which foreign powers will be gratified to learn Brown will not tolerate whistle-blowing on his laissez-faire towards illegal immigration ..?'

This is a refinement on what I was thinking of, ND, and an important question. China, Russia, Middle East states. Got to get the loans coming in. South Asia too but for different, non loan reasons.

There is,also, the taking-out of the most able Opposition members, targetting them one by one with different, cloud-like suspicion and unfocussed accusation. A portrait of the Conservatives is being painted using the whole palette of government control over media, information, and state structures.

roym said...

did the home office insider not break the rules (Law?) when handing over documents?

if i did that at my firm, i'd be shown the door in double time. i know this full well hence i wouldnt entertain the idea. why doesnt this concept apply to the westminster circus. this charade is now going to take the front pages over for the next few days.

hatfield girl said...

This is no charade Mr Roym, this is the determined attempt by the Mandelson/Brown regime to demonstrate that they can override the United Kingdom's democratic institutions and practices - such as they are - so that loans will be forthcoming from sources that merely require stable control, however maintained.

In a fully-formed democracy the Labour government would fall and might or might not be returned to government after a general election.

For borrowings of the order that the Mandelson/Brown regime needs to prevent economic collapse following the financial collapse Brown has engineered in the last 11 years of the Project, there must be demonstrations (in the plural) of the control of the state itself.

It would be democratic for the electorate to choose a new government, of whatever kind they prefer, I'm not including a demand for Conservative governance.

What is to be asserted is the rule of law, a democratic state, and the separation of powers.

What I assume to be your preferred ruling party has declared war on these things and seeks to reassure its potential, and autocratic, lenders, that dealing with them is the same thing as dealing with the United Kingdom.

That, Mr Roym, is your 'charade'.

roym said...

two things first.
no need for Mr(!), and this is far from my preferred choice of government or governance.

i always chuckle when people, without irony, call brown et al a clueless bunch of buffoons, but the scheming, nefarious and mendacious levels of ability you want to ascribe to them are just too far of the scale!

my own point is merely small scale, far removed from the even bigger farce of global politik. I just believe that one has a care of duty to repsect the rules and requirements laid down by your employer.
and this is a real democracy, we'll be able to buy an extra advent calendar and count down the months to the next election. will any of the opposition parties put repeal of these ridiculous laws on their manifestos?

the charade will be a round of name-callings, denials, and a fruitless met police investigation that will waste a few hundred grand (again!).

what a shame, i thought the economic crisis might bring about a bit of common sense and cross party consensus to allow the state to rebalance the economy away from finance and sevices, invest in infrastructure (cheaper in a downturn no?), and finally invest in tertiary education for the long term. pah!

Anonymous said...

"will any of the opposition parties put repeal of these ridiculous laws on their manifestos?"

Well RoyM, you've hit the nail on the head there.

So far the answer is "No".

And in any case, have you noticed the opinion polls recently? Tory lead only 4%, which means they lose.

Five more years of the One-Eyed Bandit is not out of the question.

Anonymous said...

I am new to your blog.Just as a matter of passing interest,what was your reaction when you learnt that the police had been bugging an MP everytime he visited a constituent who was in prison?

hatfield girl said...

Anon. 17.01.

I didn't know they had been. I'd assume any prison visit by anyone can be eaves-dropped, wouldn't you?