The last few days have felt a bit like coming out of a cinema into the daylight – bleary eyed, you stagger and squint for a few minutes until you finally readjust back to normality. The truly great films, the ones that make the most profound impression, tend to you leave you stunned and disorientated – it takes hours – sometimes days before a solid opinion about what you witnessed begins to form in your head.
So Gordon Brown takes it upon himself to apologise on behalf of all politicians everywhere for the ‘last few days,’ and at last it hits me, the floodgates open and the full impact of what’s going on hits me. I flip out – I am seething with rage at the sheer wrongheadedness of Gordon’s comments. I’m disgusted to my core. To the bitter end here is a man determined to put party politics and spin above anything and everything – for him the problem ‘of the last few days’ is what the Telegraph’s been doing, exposing the secret culture of life as an MP for what it really is. Good luck with that, Gordon.
Then there’s the haunting memory of Hazel Blears empathising with the ‘ordinary’ people. She understands we hate it – not that her intuitive understanding of ‘ordinary’ people prevented her from doing something she knew we’d hate in the first place. She insists it must be sorted out as fast as possible. She’s on our side! She agrees with us! Well, that’s alright then isn’t it?
Ordinary people. You know what, Hazel? I’ve got some news for you: I’m fucking extraordinary. I’m unique. I’m special. It’s you that’s ordinary – an ordinary, greedy, deceitful bullshit artist of a politician. When you call non-politicians ‘ordinary’ what you’re really saying is that you’re special. No, Hazel, you’re not special. You don’t deserve the lifestyle you’ve been able to lead. You don’t deserve to keep the profits on the property deals you’ve made, all funded by us. That wasn’t the deal. You were supposed to serve us, not the other way around.
And this is it, you see – they’re finally – finally – on the back foot. All this time they’ve been changing the rules of the game, trying to bring us – the citizens – under their control. Putting us under surveillance, limiting what we can and can’t do, trying to tag and itemise us, trying to make us defend ourselves from them, to beg and plead not to have more of our civil liberties taken away from us.
What’s different now is that most people in the country – at least the ones paying attention to the news – have about the same amount of trust in you, Hazel, as I do. The agenda now is how to bring YOU under control. This is bad news for you. The whole social democratic project depends on people believing that you’re better than normal people, that because you’re not motivated by profit or greed that you can make better decisions than crass, greedy business people or selfish individuals that don’t care about other people. They want to believe that you’re extraordinary, that you’re better than us, that by entrusting you with power you can make this world a better place.
And you repay that trust extracting every single last penny you can. Not motivated by profit and greed? Better than everyone else? Ha.
Without the people’s trust the Government is powerless, lacking all authority. Without our blind faith and belief in the power and virtue of politicians, they’re nothing. They’re just an ordinary bunch of people, like everyone else, with the same faults and problems, vices and virtues. Why elevate them at the expense of others? Why put them ahead of ourselves?
It’s about Trust, Stupid. They’ve lost it – completely. It is news. It is shocking. It’s a mass shattering of illusions, and it’s the single most brilliant thing that’s happened in politics for a long time.
Charlotte Gore said...
12 May 09 at 12:01 am
On the assumption that the ones abusing the system are a) booted out at the general election (very likely) and b) replaced by people of integrity (not likely) and c) the rules are changed in such a way that anger is neutralised and people can have trust in politicians again.
These things need to happen though – if we stayed in this world, that may actually be worse. Fix it, fix it quickly and fix it properly.
Darrell Goodliffe said...
12 May 09 at 12:02 am
This isnt a party political issue as such because the reverlations are cris-crossing the House, this is a story of a system that has gone wrong and it is not one that the Government, like it or loath it, is entirely responsible for. The failure is systemic so you cant just make this an attack on the government…
Darrell said...
12 May 09 at 12:04 am
…should have said my name not my email address; Doh! :$
Mark Reckons said...
12 May 09 at 12:21 am
*Applauds Loudly*
Spot on Charlotte. I think you have summarised how I feel about this whole episode too.
I have started the “Pay It Back” campaign to try and get the MPs to pay back the money that clearly breaches the spirit of the rules here with a petition here.
TJ said...
12 May 09 at 12:31 am
Um. I think Stephen Fry calls this whole business for what it is: a manufactured journalistic frenzy.
I can’t bring myself to care about this issue when this government has spent billions persecuting an illegal war, wasting billions on pointless prestige projects like the Dome (remember that?), the Olympics, NPfIT, and NIR.
That the media is focusing on this issue is a failure on the part of the media not to call the government on the real mistakes made by government and parliament.
John said...
12 May 09 at 1:22 am
But don’t you see TJ – Stephen Fry is actually PART OF THE PROBLEM! By giving Labour the benefit of the doubt again (he’s always voted Labour) he’s just perpetuating his own elite.
The reason why the `flipping`, the country house repairs and the security guards are so important is because it both separates `us` from `them` and also disincentivises economic reform.
Why was the house price bubble allowed? Some MPs profited from it that’s why. Why wasn’t there deregulation of banks – how can people who have been so venal as Blears and Cohen etc TELL the banks what to do? Even if the CEOs didn’t know, the MPs in their hearts knew and thus were too timid.
If Parliament is supposed to be the arbiter of standards for the professions and finance etc it has to be impeccable itself otherwise it loses its power.
John said...
12 May 09 at 1:23 am
That should read `why wasn’t there regulation of the banks`?
Wayne said...
12 May 09 at 1:26 am
“When you call non-politicians ‘ordinary’ what you’re really saying is that you’re special. No, Hazel,…ETC”
Oh my wife has been screaming at the TV for years over this point.
And I agree it’s brilliant that it’s happened. The proverbial curtain has been pulled back on the Wizard of Oz, to expose feeble (and greedy{and stupid [and sanctimonious]}) old men (and women).
What do “WE” do now? That’s the important thing.
AyeWeCan said...
12 May 09 at 2:01 am
Charolette – great post
TJ – ths aint an either or. The low level graft that has been exposed in thes past days is there, allowed, I’d say encouraged by Brown and co becuase, once the backbench minnions and teh front banch wannabees like Hazel Blears are compromised in such ways, the higher level graft – the bankers bonuses, the electoral fraud, the smear campaigns, the illegal wars, Peter Mandelson…. all become possible
Charlotte Gore said...
12 May 09 at 7:53 am
TJ,
Yes worse things have been done, but my point is that this is about trust. It’s about who these people are. It underpins everything else – and for some reason the expenses have done for a lot more people what the illegal invasion of Iraq did for me.
Stephen Fry is wrong.
DavidNcl said...
12 May 09 at 8:36 am
I find the banality of the graft and the discomfort of the political classes amusing.
On the other hand I find the idea of a cleaned up politics where politicians are perceived as virtuous acting out of altruism for the good of mankind terrifying. Even more alarming is the prospect of building genuine democratic structures into such things as local governments and the NHS and LEA’s.
Imagine a world where the government is perceived as good and decent with legitimate democratic control of its organs. And imagine a fashionable idea taking hold of the intellectual classes, by most good, decent people. Like, for example, eugenics. Think what you could accomplish. You could make a paradise on earth or something.
Niklas Smith said...
12 May 09 at 8:44 am
Fantastic post! I’ve submitted it to Stephen Tall for the Golden Dozen so good luck
One good thing has come out of this sordid mess, and you hit it on the head: any ideology that expects the people to assume that their political leaders know best has taken a serious knock. Perhaps now that they have lost our trust, politicians will have to “trust in the people” – which is the point of liberalism.
You know what, Hazel? I’ve not some news for you: I’m fucking extraordinary. I’m unique. I’m special.
Exactly! We are all special, we all have something valuable to add to society, even if conventional people think we don’t. And we know how to live our own lives thank you very much! I couldn’t have put it better myself, though I might have avoided swearing
Niklas Smith said...
12 May 09 at 8:47 am
Oops, the quotation should read “I’ve got some news for you…”. (See pedants’ corner.)
Bunny Smedley said...
12 May 09 at 9:03 am
Excellent post, as ever, Charlotte.
Yet what I don’t really understand about this story – and to this extent I agree with what I think DavidNcl is saying – is why most commentators seem so happy to stop at the level of stripping MPs of the ability to claim allowances and / or expenses. If they can’t be trusted with their own remunerationl, why on earth give them billions to ‘bale out’ (i.e. distort and damage) the financial system? Why allow them any control over education or health care? Why assume that these flawed mortals, whose flaws some people – not you Charlotte!
– have apparently just discovered, can make good decisions on complicated matters that don’t concern them very directly, when many of them are so bad at making simply decisions that concern them personally and immediately?
Instead, what I expect will happen is that the Speaker will be sacked (which was going to happen one of these days), Dave will ‘discipline’ a few Tory backbenchers he never liked anyway while leaving his moderniser pals untouched, the electorate may feel tempted to turn to alternatives to the mainstream parties (eeek! yucky) and the remuneration system will be changed in a panic, without thinking through the consequences, which may well turn out to be decades of rule by a combination of the smugly amoral heirs to wallpaper fortunes allied with the sort of low-quality bovine lobby-fodder who wouldn’t have made it in any more demanding walk of life.
In other words, Charlotte, as ever, I wish I shared your optimism.
DavidNcl said...
12 May 09 at 9:14 am
I find the banality of the graft amusing.
On the other hand I find the idea of a cleaned up politics where politicians are percieved as virtous acting out of altrusim for the good of mankind terrfiying. Even more alarming is the prosepect of building genuine democractic strucures into such things as local goverments and the NHS and LEA’s.
Imagine a world where the goverment is percieved as good and decent with legitamte democratic control of its organs. And imagine a fashionable idea taking hold of the intellectual classes, by most good, decent people. Like, for example, eugenics. Think what you could acomplish. You could make a paradise on earth.
DavidNcl said...
12 May 09 at 9:14 am
oops
Sorry
Oranjepan said...
12 May 09 at 9:30 am
I’m not given to compliments lights, but I find it hard to fault the sentiment in this post or the way it is expressed.
The problem is that it is politicians who are so out of touch with the public to think playing within the rules is acceptable are exactly the kind of people who will convince themselves that wasting inordinate amounts of money on other pet projects.
So where TJ says
he is couldn’t be more wrong – we have to care because it’s the same mentality!
Dodgy expenses are inseparable from everything else on the list – they thought they could get away with one, so they assumed they could get away with the rest.
Letters From A Tory said...
12 May 09 at 9:54 am
I agree that this last week will be remembered in politics as a watershed moment for years, if not decades. This was the moment when the public fury spilt over into utter contempt, disgust and horror at how those elected to spend our money have been caught spending it on themselves.
The only question now is will the Lib Dems be dragged into this mess as well…..
measured said...
12 May 09 at 10:32 am
“All this time they’ve been changing the rules of the game, trying to bring us – the citizens – under their control. Putting us under surveillance, limiting what we can and can’t do, trying to tag and itemise us, trying to make us defend ourselves from them, to beg and plead not to have more of our civil liberties taken away from us.”
Society does have to be controlled. If you do not like the people doing it, and do not agree with the reasons for it, you become resentful and disillusioned. That’s the starting point. Now we have learnt they did not seek to reform a system open to abuse which they were closely familiar with. It detracts from why we thought they wanted to do the job.
Politicians are elected to make changes for the good on our behalf. We judge them and then, by electing them, we are placing our trust in their capabilities and integrity to do as they have promised to do. MPs have known that this system of expenses was being abused for years and yet no one (not even a Lib Dem) stood up & highlighted it. That’s not doing their job. “It is shocking. It’s a mass of shattering illusions…..”
Gaw said...
12 May 09 at 11:03 am
That’s just about the best thing I’ve read on the expenses affair. Very psychologically perceptive. Bravo.
However, I share, with others here, some scepticism as to how sustainable this turning of the tables will be. Perhaps we need a recall law applicable to individual constituency MPs in order to keep them honest, in every sense?
Roger Thornhill said...
12 May 09 at 1:55 pm
A very good post indeed Charlotte.
To me, even when Jacqui Smith was exposed, it was about knowing the difference between what one could do and what one should do.
Talking about “the rules” is pointless, for MPs are there to repeal, modify and create law, so they must live and breathe right and wrong. It should be part of their very fibre.
I agree with Organepan, even dogfood is an outrage – more so in some ways – that they would waste their time and go out of their way to claim it?
Those who claimed in such a way as to show that they do not know this distinction should step down or be unceremoniously (or ceremoniously, if you want to) booted out.
p.s. @measured – “Society does have to be controlled.” Well, I am not “society”, I am an individual. Go off and control that thing you call “society” and leave law abiding people alone.
measured said...
12 May 09 at 5:19 pm
Roger,
Please do not attribute too much importance to yourself. No one who lives on this island legally gets left alone. I am in no position to influence anything, let alone you or society, but laws, regulations, rules and conventions all influence your behaviour. You must be aware of this, otherwise you would not state you are law abiding. Money is the other potent controlling force, as this story demonstrates. I hope morality at last features somewhere in there too.
DavidNcl said...
12 May 09 at 6:27 pm
“but laws, regulations, rules and conventions all influence your behaviour”
Yes of couse they do.
It’s illegal to share certain forms of music or art files with friends, or to sell them some other things such as some kindes drugs (did you know that 100 000 people died in the US because it was illegal to sell hypotensive drugs like propanolol), or certain machines (like guns) or provide certain services that they want (like a blow job). Or to trade unless I use certain weight and measures. Or if I don’t tell to goverment that I’m trading. Nor am I allowed to own the means of defending myself, or certain kinds of dog nor drive at certain speeds in certain locations…
Do you think this has something to do with morality?
“I hope morality at last features somewhere in there too”.
It should. But in practice … err… no.
The laws of the land as they stand today are not congruent with any moral framework I or anyone I know subscibes to.
Roger Thornhill said...
12 May 09 at 10:26 pm
measured: “Please do not attribute too much importance to yourself. No one who lives on this island legally gets left alone. I am in no position to influence anything, let alone you or society, but laws, regulations, rules and conventions all influence your behaviour. You must be aware of this, otherwise you would not state you are law abiding. Money is the other potent controlling force, as this story demonstrates. I hope morality at last features somewhere in there too.”
Measured, you can influence by voting for Authoritarian parties. Most laws do not influence my behaviour. My upbringing influenced my behaviour to the extent that I naturally do not break the law (I do not defraud, steal, murder or coerce). I might not follow every statute or regulation, but they are a mockery of the Law. Don’t thing the apparatus you appear to think so important has such a great influence over me. Unlike MPs, I do not need blow by blow regulations and box ticking to moderate my behaviour.
My objection was your use of the term “controlled”. Society does not need “controlling” and I most certainly do NOT need controlling. Maybe some people do, but in typical Socialist/Authoritarian fashion, this administration seeks to control all for the errors of the few – typical enforced collectivisim. The only time the State needs to step in is when Laws have been or are about to be broken (as in clear and present danger, conspiracy etc). As we see, the State steps in when not needed as a form of “prevention”. It is pathetic and infantilising.
Matthew Huntbach said...
12 May 09 at 11:36 pm
John
Why was the house price bubble allowed? Some MPs profited from it that’s why
That is ridiculous. The house price bubble was allowed because just about everyone who had a voice was cheering it on. Most people thought it was marvellous that they seemed to be making money doing nothing. Those who were losing out – the young and poor – don’t have anyone much speaking for them and are so disconnected from politics they mostly didn’t even think about it. The stupid, stupid left in British politics were far too busy on fringe issues like the Iraq war and Gaza to bother giving them a voice (and yes, if you are poor and badly housed, middle class poncing on some people the other side of the world, whose case is dubious because when they aren’t being killed they’re busy killing each other, IS a fringe issue).
It was just IMPOSSIBLE for anyone who wanted a political career to speak out against the housing bubble and to propose the sort of measures that would stop it. To say things like “stop giving out mortgages at such high multiples” would have one condemned by market ignoramuses (most people) as “stopping people from being able to buy housing”. To propose land value tax would have one held up on the charge of extreme cruelty to little old ladies. Etc etc. I know during the time I was actively involved in being a candidate I often had to hold my tongue (or my typing finger) for fear of the local newspaper headlines should I have said what I really thought on these issues.
Niklas Smith said...
24 May 09 at 9:53 am
Well done, you’re in the Golden Dozen!
Charlotte Gore said...
24 May 09 at 10:07 am
Ah yes, so I am! Thanks Niklas