Members of our political elite operate on a completely different plane to the rest of us.
For the most part, we are preoccupied by the mundanities of life, such as feeding, clothing and housing ourselves. Any spare time we have, we devote to sports, hobbies, music and other pastimes. While so occupied we, perhaps naively, take it as read that our political and civil service masters will concern themselves with more serious matters such as the security and defence of our country and our collective health, education and.wealth. We regard it not merely as their job but, to use a somewhat devalued word, their duty. There exists, or should exist, a simple compact between us: we vote them into office and they place the welfare of this country and its people above all other considerations.
So, it's disconcerting to discover that compact is so one-sided. The things that concern the average person in this country are not necessarily highest on the to-do list of any aspiring modern politician. Our concerns are, predominantly, local. Theirs, for a variety of reasons not the least of which is personal vanity and ambition, are almost exclusively global. When they turn their attention to national issues they invariably do solely to silence local dissent, to placate some special interest group or lobby; or to burnish their own reputation .
Today, tribalism trumps national interest at every turn.
Consequently, it is a particular ideology or party line that governs their actions rather than any heightened awareness of the common national good.
Thus,at a time when Russia has been, correctly, labelled a gangster state and Putin is starting to rattle actual and metaphorical sabres; when Argentina is showing renewed interest in staking a claim on the Falklands thanks to the prospect of huge oil and gas reserves, the coalition has decided to scrap our only major aircraft carrier and the Harriers that fly from its decks.
Just as we learn that English schoolchildren are now among the most obese in the developed world, Michael Gove decides to cut funding for school sports.
And, despite almost daily warnings of the business challenges we face now and well into the future from China, India, Brazil and the rest of the emerging nations, the Government decides now is precisely the right time to increase University tuition fees.T
The potential savings provided by these economies are, by modern standards, pitiful, calculated in millions rather than billions.
Meanwhile, in sunny Cancun, Energy minister, Chris Huhne, and a cast of hundreds eanestly global warming while the rest of us endure one of the coldest starts to winter on record. So moved have they been by the undoubted seriousness of the situation that Huhne has, apparently, committed the UK to contributing £1.5 billion to help combat global warming in the Third World. Wow, and we thought that all the scrimping and saving we are being forced to do was to prevent the country going bust.
At home, beset by ice, sleet and snow, while the Cancun conference generates carbon emissions equivalent to those of a small African country, Lord Hutton has restated the commitment to invest in more wind turbines to meet our future energy needs. The last time I looked at the figures for this programme of energetic lunacy, the annual cost was projected to be between £20 to £30 billion. This despite the fact that all the evidence points to wind turbines being the biggest potential white elephants since the Sinclair C5 electric car..
Should Hutton require a change of profession, he would do worse than consider that of a professional mourner. His ability to keep a straight face while extolling the very dubious benefits of wind power would make him a priceless asset to any ambitious funeral parlour. The claims he makes for wind turbines fly in the face not just of logic but what is actually happening in the real world.
Here we are freezing our proverbials off. Every business and household faces their highest ever energy bills and Hutton is seriously suggesting that what we need are more windmills! Hasn't anyone in his team pointed out that, during the current freeze, the existing wind turbines have been as much use as tits on a bull?
What they need is neither breathy zephyrs nor gales but steady regular wind. What we have had over the last month has either been hurricane force winds during which the turbines have to be locked down, or no wind at all, in which case they remain static. In fact, some installations have had to draw power from the national grid to keep their blades turning and prevent them from freezing. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has spent more than a few winters in this country. Generally speaking, we get the steadiest winds in the summer and Autumn months. Winter winds are either raging gales or non-existent. No matter, Hutton and his henchpeople want to bet the house - or at least £30 billion per year of our money - on wind turbine technology as the answer to our energy needs.
He backs his spurious claims regarding the efficacy of wind turbines with even more misinformed drivel regarding the business and employment opportunities the new wind age will open up for the UK. Again, this flies very firmly in the face of logic.
The most technologically advanced countries in the world when it comes to wind energy are Scandinavian; more particularly Denmark and Sweden. They have been using wind energy for close to thirty years. Ergo, they have a thirty year lead over everybody else when it comes to designing and manufacturing wind turbine machines.
That is why 80% of the equipment used to build theThanet offshore wind farm that was opened in September was designed and built in Scandinavia. Even the cable that connects the wind farm to the national grid was laid by an Italian company. In fact, the whole installation has created a grand total of 22 permanent jobs for people in that area of Kent. These have been bought at an enormous cost, thanks to the £1.2 billions in subsidies pledged to the renewable energy companies over the anticipated 20 year life of the field.
Like any true modern politician, Hutton is never one to let anything as awkward as the truth intrude on his version of reality. According to him, wind turbines will not only give us unprecedented levels of virtually free energy, they will create a cornucopia of high tech opportunities for British industry.
While we wait for this bounty to fall into our laps, we have to endure energy costs that will rise, year on year, way above ordinary inflation levels; perfectly serviceable coal-fired power stations being closed in order to meet some spurious EU mandated reductions in carbon emissions and the uplifting prospect of new nuclear capacity being created by French contractors because our own nuclear design and engineering skills were deemed to be redundant by a previous group of clueless politicians.
There is an upside to all of this, of course. Both Huhne and Hutton will earn some very valuable Brownie points with some influential Green lobbyists and pressure groups. And, with a fair wind so to speak, could parlay their energetic activities into valuable consultancy work or directorships once they have completed their respective stints at the trough of public service.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Conned and lied to.
Are all politicians naturally venal?
Given the performance thus far of the main players in the new government, it looks very much as if they are.
Getting rid of Gordon Brown and his Labour cronies provided the same sense of relief as a good burp. It released unwanted and debilitating flatulence and thus cleared the way for something we hoped would be altogether more edifying. That sense of a new beginning lasted what, a couple of months? It has dissipated as rapidly as the main election pledges made by the Conservatives and their allies in the new Lib Con alliance. Notice I refer to an alliance rather than a coalition. The only noticeable coalescing so far seems to have occurred between Dave and Nick. The rest of the motley crew involved in governing us seem to be paddling their own canoes up creeks of their own choosing. Thus, there seems to be a much more natural affinity between Dave and Nick than between, let's say, Dave and Kenneth Clarke or either of those two and Ian Duncan Smith. On the LibDem side, Nick Clegg looks much more comfortable with Dave than, say, Vince Cable.
Not that it's unusual in any team - whether sporting or managerial - to find disparate personalities with little in common with each other outside of their work. It would just be so much more reassuring to feel that those charged with running the country were looking at the same hymn book, let alone singing from it.
Naturally, there has to be some give and take to make the alliance work. The problem is, all of this compromising is being done without any reference to the people that matter - the electorate. So far, the Conservatives have reneged on pledges relating to Europe, immigration, crime ( and suitable punishment) and repeal of the Human Rights Act; basically all of the key points they based their campaign on. For their part, the LbDems have backtracked on Tuition fees, softened their die-hard commitment to Europe and accepted the need for some hardening of attitudes to welfare and benefits. If you believe in the essential goodness of human nature, you might excuse this all as the kind of pragmatic compromise needed to enable them to focus on the real problem, the economy. That won't wash either, though. Not now that George Osborne has committed us to lending 7 billion Euros or more to Ireland - thus wiping out any potential savings accrued by way of his austerity measures - simply to please and appease his masters in Brussels.
Basically, what we have wished upon ourselves is another coven of self-serving chancers whose only real interest is the pursuit of power for its own sake and who, quite clearly, are just as prepared as their Labour predecessors to lie and cheat to attain and retain it,
Given the performance thus far of the main players in the new government, it looks very much as if they are.
Getting rid of Gordon Brown and his Labour cronies provided the same sense of relief as a good burp. It released unwanted and debilitating flatulence and thus cleared the way for something we hoped would be altogether more edifying. That sense of a new beginning lasted what, a couple of months? It has dissipated as rapidly as the main election pledges made by the Conservatives and their allies in the new Lib Con alliance. Notice I refer to an alliance rather than a coalition. The only noticeable coalescing so far seems to have occurred between Dave and Nick. The rest of the motley crew involved in governing us seem to be paddling their own canoes up creeks of their own choosing. Thus, there seems to be a much more natural affinity between Dave and Nick than between, let's say, Dave and Kenneth Clarke or either of those two and Ian Duncan Smith. On the LibDem side, Nick Clegg looks much more comfortable with Dave than, say, Vince Cable.
Not that it's unusual in any team - whether sporting or managerial - to find disparate personalities with little in common with each other outside of their work. It would just be so much more reassuring to feel that those charged with running the country were looking at the same hymn book, let alone singing from it.
Naturally, there has to be some give and take to make the alliance work. The problem is, all of this compromising is being done without any reference to the people that matter - the electorate. So far, the Conservatives have reneged on pledges relating to Europe, immigration, crime ( and suitable punishment) and repeal of the Human Rights Act; basically all of the key points they based their campaign on. For their part, the LbDems have backtracked on Tuition fees, softened their die-hard commitment to Europe and accepted the need for some hardening of attitudes to welfare and benefits. If you believe in the essential goodness of human nature, you might excuse this all as the kind of pragmatic compromise needed to enable them to focus on the real problem, the economy. That won't wash either, though. Not now that George Osborne has committed us to lending 7 billion Euros or more to Ireland - thus wiping out any potential savings accrued by way of his austerity measures - simply to please and appease his masters in Brussels.
Basically, what we have wished upon ourselves is another coven of self-serving chancers whose only real interest is the pursuit of power for its own sake and who, quite clearly, are just as prepared as their Labour predecessors to lie and cheat to attain and retain it,
Monday, 22 November 2010
Back to the future
It's a long time since I could raise enough energy or interest to face writing this blog. Apparently, an overwhelming interest in politicians ands their antics can do that to you.
Overwhelm you, that is.
The political landscape of Great Britain has changed in the intervening months. Labour has been replaced by a curious hybrid called ConLibDem. Much like the changing of the guard, although the personnel may differ, the replacements seem to be wearing exactly the same uniforms and performing precisely the same drills.
David Cameron, once if not Eurosceptic at least Eurowary, has obviously been guided into the same inner sanctum where his immediate immediate predecessors were first made to see the Euro light. Like them, he is already making lots of noise about "fighting" to protect British interests while appending his signature to any and all documents placed before him with little apparent resistance. Thus, he flies into Brussels on the wings of a stern pledge to hold the EU to zero increase in its bloated budgets. Then pronounces a great victory in restricting them to a mere 2.9%. Thanks Dave. It will certainly help stave off national bankruptcy, having to donate a few extra billion or so a year to the Eurocoffers.
Next, despite the fact that he has been in power for such a short period he has barely had time to learn the names of his LibDem cabinet colleagues, he has managed to strike up such a cosy relationship with Sarkozy that, very chummily, we have agreed to share one of our yet-to-be-built aircraft carriers with them. Oh yes, and also agreed that a French dockyard can have the contract for maintaining them once they are built and in service.
Not that this arrangement in any way furthers the plans for a joint Euro Army/Navy/Air Force at all. Oh No, this is just a couple of long term allies simply deciding to share assets, much as we did at Agincourt, Crecy and Waterloo. Justin a slightly different way.
Amazing what can be organized via a couple of friendly texts, isn't it?
Promises to protect Civil and individual liberties have gone much the same way. Theresa May has, with little pomp and absolutely no consultation either in Parliament or with the public, committed us even further to the reality of a Pan-European police force and Judiciary, reinforcing the reach and scope of foreign governments to track down and arrest British citizens without the intervention of the British courts. All we need to hear from Saint Theresa now is Labour's favourite old saw. You know the one: it goes something like: If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.
Across the water, the Irish tragedy is unfolding. It is truly ironic that a country that fought tooth and nail for independence from the British Empire looks as if it is about to meekly surrender and allow itself to be sucked into the ever-widening maw of the new, Greater German Empire. If you hear a lot of thunder over the next week or so, it will be the sound of the old Teutonic gods of war laughing themselves silly. All the years, all the men killed and blood shed by successive Reichs to bring first Europe and then the world under German domination and now matronly Angele Merkel is achieving that very objective without a shot being fired in anger. Greece was first. Now it's Ireland's turn. Next it will be Portugal, Spain and Italy. And, if little George Osborne continues to put our money into the pot for each bail-out, despite the fact that we are not part of the Euro Zone, then it will, inevitably, be the turn of what was once Great Britain.
It's good to be back.
Overwhelm you, that is.
The political landscape of Great Britain has changed in the intervening months. Labour has been replaced by a curious hybrid called ConLibDem. Much like the changing of the guard, although the personnel may differ, the replacements seem to be wearing exactly the same uniforms and performing precisely the same drills.
David Cameron, once if not Eurosceptic at least Eurowary, has obviously been guided into the same inner sanctum where his immediate immediate predecessors were first made to see the Euro light. Like them, he is already making lots of noise about "fighting" to protect British interests while appending his signature to any and all documents placed before him with little apparent resistance. Thus, he flies into Brussels on the wings of a stern pledge to hold the EU to zero increase in its bloated budgets. Then pronounces a great victory in restricting them to a mere 2.9%. Thanks Dave. It will certainly help stave off national bankruptcy, having to donate a few extra billion or so a year to the Eurocoffers.
Next, despite the fact that he has been in power for such a short period he has barely had time to learn the names of his LibDem cabinet colleagues, he has managed to strike up such a cosy relationship with Sarkozy that, very chummily, we have agreed to share one of our yet-to-be-built aircraft carriers with them. Oh yes, and also agreed that a French dockyard can have the contract for maintaining them once they are built and in service.
Not that this arrangement in any way furthers the plans for a joint Euro Army/Navy/Air Force at all. Oh No, this is just a couple of long term allies simply deciding to share assets, much as we did at Agincourt, Crecy and Waterloo. Justin a slightly different way.
Amazing what can be organized via a couple of friendly texts, isn't it?
Promises to protect Civil and individual liberties have gone much the same way. Theresa May has, with little pomp and absolutely no consultation either in Parliament or with the public, committed us even further to the reality of a Pan-European police force and Judiciary, reinforcing the reach and scope of foreign governments to track down and arrest British citizens without the intervention of the British courts. All we need to hear from Saint Theresa now is Labour's favourite old saw. You know the one: it goes something like: If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.
Across the water, the Irish tragedy is unfolding. It is truly ironic that a country that fought tooth and nail for independence from the British Empire looks as if it is about to meekly surrender and allow itself to be sucked into the ever-widening maw of the new, Greater German Empire. If you hear a lot of thunder over the next week or so, it will be the sound of the old Teutonic gods of war laughing themselves silly. All the years, all the men killed and blood shed by successive Reichs to bring first Europe and then the world under German domination and now matronly Angele Merkel is achieving that very objective without a shot being fired in anger. Greece was first. Now it's Ireland's turn. Next it will be Portugal, Spain and Italy. And, if little George Osborne continues to put our money into the pot for each bail-out, despite the fact that we are not part of the Euro Zone, then it will, inevitably, be the turn of what was once Great Britain.
It's good to be back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
