If you are a follower of British politics, you will be aware of how the current government is circling the drain. Nothing less than a full blown miracle from the heavens will stop them from being devastated in the next elections. In a previous post, I wrote they were writing the definitive manual on how not to govern and this week has added yet another chapter. A recurring theme is their complete inability to enforce realistic rules and limitations on their own party members. Instead of good governing, the British public have been saddled with a regime that is intent upon chipping away their rights and privacies to an extreme.
Think I’m exaggerating? Take a look at the new Terrorism laws that were enacted in Feb 2009. It does not allow the “elicit(ing), publish(ing) or communicat(ion of) information” about British police or military. This law is so broad, it could used to prevent the photographing of police – the venerable Bobby – by tourists. There have already been accusations of heavy handed use already, by tourists and local photographers. In 2005, in response to growing public hostility to their polices, the Labour party passed a law that effectively bans protests around Parliament – don’t want to disturb the precious ones during their noon hour account fiddling. The misuse of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, designed to fight terrorism, is well documented – it is being used to snoop on citizens who may be committing misdemeanors. The vast powers of terror surveillance are being used to track such heinous crimes as not picking up after your dog, noisy children and car boot sales. At times it seems every aspect of British life is now under scrutiny.
I’m not sure where the Labour politicians came from, but they are definitely not of the same breed that stood up to decades of IRA terrorism, doodlebugs and more. Instead of reassuring the public, they seek to restrict them to such a degree, the British people are chaffing under the Labour harness. Protection is needed, but not the repressive laws the current government relies upon.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, the government is also racked with a huge scandal over MP expenses. Politicians, from all parties, not just Labour, have their snouts so deep into the trough, they can’t see the public outrage mounting. Expenses for such things as pool cleaning, manure for gardens (550 sacks by one MP, if you are curious about that expenditure), mouse poison, inflated claims for second homes, house flipping, mole catching, multi room audio packages, DVD players, piano tuning, Tampax (claimed by a male MP), bread bins, cat food, dog food, chocolate (the cheap MP billed the public for a 59p chocolate Santa!), lamps, eye liner, cookies, tape measures, cordless drills, flat refurbishments, paying stamp duties, baby buggie and other essentials for new born (this claim was rejected), washing machines and driers, helipads, chandeliers, potato peeler, porn movies, jellied eels, repairs to driveways, ice cube tray, diapers, pizza wheel, plumbing, council tax dodges, cleaning a moat, the list goes on and on. The level of abuse is astounding, but it puts a bit of perspective on the recent economic collapse – how could the politicians act as watchdogs on the banking and real estate industry when they are so busy fleecing the public themselves. The rust on their change purse clasp must be pretty thick, because they never seem to pay for anything personal.
PM Gordon Brown’s tepid response was appalling. He blamed the system, not the MP’s who abused it. He took no action to force the MPs into line and address the situation. It wasn’t until the Conservative leader, David Cameron, took action against his own party fiddlers today, did Brown offer an apology and pledge to change the system. If this promise is anything like the one offered to the Gurkhas recently, I’d run for cover if I lived in the UK.
When the Conservative party was outed as wastrels this week, Mr Cameron began hauling the abusers into his office and raking them over the coals. He has also said the money will be paid back. Leadership comes from the top down – not the other way around Mr Brown. The fact the abuses are on such a large scale and in turn both monumentally extravagant and unbelievably petty, points to a deeper problem than either party is willing to admit. The political leadership is afflicted with the same sense of entitlement the banking world possessed before the Big Fall. There is a deep seated belief they have a right to claim these expenses and have the public pay for all. There doesn’t seem to be a notion of right and wrong, of responsibility to the citizens. They are so obsessed with hunting for terrorists and fattening their bank accounts, they have forgotten the day to day business of good government.
