A characteristic of the political elite most noticeable by its absence.
In the last few days we have witnessed:
- Oliver Letwin disposing of government papers in a public waste receptacle;
- Chris Huhne admitting 'briefing' against a cabinet colleague, Theresa May, whilst simultaneously being the object of a police investigation;
- Liam Fox admitting that his conduct as a Secretary of State had not been of the exemplary standard which is required of that high office;
- Jonathan Djanogly, Justice Minister, failing to declare a conflict of interest;
What the above four examples demonstrate is both a contempt for and arrogance of their political position. Coupled with that we have a Prime Minister who continues the pretence that he has a mandate to rule pretty much as he damn well pleases, even though he lost the 2010 general election. The fact he appears unwilling to punish displays of misbehaviour by members of his government is probably due to that same contempt for and arrogance of his own position. His government promise that they will work towards arresting natural climate change - a statement that makes his government sound like God, yet seems to overlook the fact that they are but a collection of very, very inferior men and women.
Not that those named members of the present government are the only ones guilty of contempt and arrogance, becuse that charge can be laid at the door of virtually every politician in the House of Commons. To paraphrase George Orwell, they are guilty of the most flagrant violations of reality because they never fully grasped the enormity of what was demanded of them, neither did they possess the expertise to deal with that enormity; and most arrogant of all they were not sufficiently interested in what occured outside their own little 'bubble' world.
7 comments:
"Political discipline? Where?"
In the blind obedience to The Whips.
Back to Miss Whiplash eh?
I'd like to cat o' nine tails the lot of them. No code word for stop, either!
"... contempt for and arrogance of their political position" I see it as their political position directly fosters their arrogance and their contempt for anyone who dares disagree with them. There are many causes; arrogant 'know-it-all'ism (that's a nice construction!) is simply a natural part of their character. As I have said before, these people woke up one day when they were about 14 (reportedly 12 in Gordon Brown's case) with the realisation they were destined to be prime minister and already knew exactly how to cure all the world's ills, if only people would just do as they say. Then the climb up the greasy party political pole requiring them to embrace the skills of manipulation, deceit, backstabbing, bribery and coercion finishes the rot.
Their arrogance and contempt is reinforced on a daily basis by the chauffeur driven cars, the posh restaurants, the secretaries and personal assistants, the sycophancy of the civil service and, sadly, people in general which simply confirms their belief that they alone have all the answers and that they are not answerable to anyone. I wouldn't be surprised to find they even have anyone to sh!t for them.
To combat this they need a continuing dose of reality like Roman generals granted a Triumph having a slave whispering in their ear something along the lines of: "Respice te, hominem te memento" "Look behind you, remember you are only a man" for those who missed out on the pleasure of Latin classes, although I recall mine were more a purgatory. Personally I feel all elected officials should either perform the traditional role of the choirboys in a public 'beating of the bounds' every quarter day so that their electorate can make their satisfaction, or lack of it, known. Alternatively a return to the early Celtic propitiatory rites of annual human sacrifice of their leaders would be more than acceptable.
Sorry if I am lowering the tone but I'm feeling particularly pithy today.
Or: Agreed to both comments!
tux: So you like a bit of domination then......?
PC: No need to apologise, pith is quite in fashion on this blog!
Time to rock their boat and capsize it
TT: Too bloody right!
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