Years before he founded what would become the modern city of Singapore, a young Stamford Raffles got his start as a scribe for the East India Company. The Company’s head office, where he worked, was a squat late Georgian rectangle – almost a barracks. Inside was a warren of offices with almost no natural light. Raffles spent long hours cooped up in fetid darkness. He copied documents, and then copied those copies. The work was boring; the pay was terrible. For his part, Raffles seems to have been happy to slum it, and carried on this troglodytic existence for 10 years.
But why? Why not join the circus instead? Even to this 14 year-old, the answer was obvious. Politics is more interesting than most things. It is more interesting than waste management. It is more interesting than food. It is more interesting than taxation law, or insurance, or eyeglasses, or shoes. The East India Company ruled over many millions in Asia. It was a government of its own, with its own army – the largest in the world in 1800. For Raffles, it was the tempting prospect of rule over fellow creatures that drove him on.
For a long time this was the implicit bargain of English public life. The country was ruled by a tiny group of people, often of a very young age, who were expected to burn the candle at both ends. The example that everyone knows is Pitt the Younger, who was made prime minister at the age of twenty-four. In order to cope he drank three bottles of fortified wine a day, and he died. The reward for excruciating toil was supreme power over others, and it was reward enough.
The only sensible attitude towards the inquiries into Priti Patel, Dominic Raab, and Steve Barclay is indifference. The essential concession, that Whitehall is a workplace, has already been made. Over the past decade, the British civil service has openly announced itself as a factor in politics. This has, so far, passed off with little fuss, something that is largely due to the TV show Yes Minister, which was always apologia rather than criticism. They themselves have turned Whitehall from an office into an arena of politics. Their relationship with elected politicians is now a constitutional one, not a workplace one.
Everyone who wants to exercise power knows exactly what they are getting into. They want to make decisions that will affect millions, decisions that will be enforced, ultimately, by the threat of violence. They play a high stakes game with other people’s lives. Nothing could be more thrilling, and it is what most people aspire to do. Nothing about this has changed since the days of Raffles and Pitt, except for self-awareness. Until 1945 the centre of British politics was parliament. What was it? It was the place where political power was fought over. It was a place for patrician agon: those who won would be rewarded with sovereign powers, those who did not would slink back onto the backbenches, or into genteel obscurity. It was the place where the law was decided, and it would have ceased to be so by definition if there was ever any professional code of conduct. There was no law above these people; to suggest that one protagonist in this system could ‘bully’ another wouldn’t have made any sense.
You cannot demand the thrills of political power without its dangers, and this is what the civil service is asking for. The elected power is only too happy to give it to them, because it has the same illusions about its own role. Few believe in the cant that members of parliament work for their constituents, or do anything for them at all. We accept that our local area is the vehicle for someone else’s ambitions. Newport East has a member of parliament because Newport East is required to. We dutifully elect someone and let them get on with it, sometimes cordially, mostly sullenly. Any other ruling class in history would’ve been satisfied with this. A real leader, who accepts that they have power over others, only requires obedience from those they rule, not their love. Our sovereign lawmakers now insist we forget the fact that they govern us. They want to invert the relationship, to make themselves into employees and the voters into their bosses. The new sentimental kitsch of “Constituency Work” is part of this effort. It is in this light that we must see Stella Creasey’s long campaign to wring workplace concessions from her employer, something that takes no little chutzpah, given that her employer is the ordinary people of Walthamstow. Ms. Creasey is in Westminster to exercise power over people, and demands that these same people thank and compensate her for it.
It would be wrong to call this venal. Britain’s MPs, civil servants, and judges are perfectly happy to act as the voice of authority, but will recoil in genuine anger and shock when they are treated as such. They demand a boss, a human resources department to intervene when someone bullies them, calls them an ‘Enemy of the People’, or trolls them on Twitter – this is demented, they are the bosses. They are in power, it is by definition impossible to victimize them, and it is delusional and sinister for these people to insist otherwise. Britain’s governing class would make all of Britain into a workplace, a place where authority is hidden by a sham camaraderie. We should not oblige them, and should instead ceaselessly remind them that they constitute power – with all the hatred, contempt, and struggle that goes with it. Those who rule us uphold a particular consensus, and a particular social order: let them defend it if they can.
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Flaming heck! Has this been shared on here yet? Perhaps I’ve missed it…Looks like a done deal and any Parliamentary debate is just theatre.
“While I understand that some people are concerned about the effects that the signing of this treaty will have, I believe that many of these concerns are not well-founded and do not accurately represent what this treaty will entail. This is an important step in ensuring the safety of the public both in the UK and around the world.” Mark Fletcher, MP
https://twitter.com/Resist_05/status/1652089753041514496
Bl00dy unbelievable.. Bill G has obviously been feathering little Marks nest..
Totally, and then there’s the not insignificant effect of the WEF ”penetration of ze cabinet”, which was obvious enough with Sunak planted at no.10 and the two major walk-outs on Bridgen’s speeches. Sometimes I feel like a right mug for hanging on to an iota of optimism!
Anyway, democracy is dead, as we all know, yadda yadda…
Absolutely outrageous!
They’ve kept awfully quiet about this one. No doubt if they meet resistance, the MSM will be mobilised to discredit and brainwash.
As you remarked, it’s evident in the language used by Fletcher that this is a done deal.
The reason treaties such as these are so devious is because all these steps are so gradual. They’re slowly boiling the frog! WHO treaties … digital ID … CBDCs etc.
Aye.
https://twitter.com/DocAhmadMalik/status/1652704572656287744/photo/1
Yes, indeed.
What business has this guy with the safety of the public around the world? He’s the elected representative of Bolsover/ Derbyshire (yes, I had to look that up) and not of the world.
Some background:
My name is Mark Fletcher and I’m incredibly proud to be the MP for Bolsover, an area I now call home. I grew up in […] a similar former mining area which feels unloved and left behind.
[…]
I was the first member of my family to go to university and I had the opportunity to attend Cambridge and then on go to work in Westminster. As the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Uganda and Rwanda, I spent years promoting Britain’s international trade and development in other countries. I then moved into a role working on innovation in the healthcare sector
[…]
… and, as icing on the cake
In 2016, I voted to leave the European Union as power needs to be accountable to the people and not held by unelected bureaucrats.
https://www.mark-fletcher.org.uk/about-mark-fletcher
Apparently not so much when those bureaucrats are brothers in arms from the innovation in healthcare sector.
Why was this guy – at the ripe old age of 37. the cloth mask poser in the middle – bussed into Bolsover to stand as candidate for a so-called conservative party?
If my memory is correct, Dennis Skinner, Labour, was the previous MP – and had been for over 40 years. Before the last general election, some in Labour started wittering on about pushing for a second Brexit referendum – Starmer in the ranks was certainly all for that, wanting to overturn the previous referendum. Brexit was taking forever with lots of unfulfilled promises as per usual from the Tories. Labour dilly dallying about another referendum added to the general frustrations of Labour – and some Tory – brexiteers or whatever the term is.
Fletcher was shipped in by the Tories and seen as Brexit-friendly due to his history of voting for Brexit. The result was that many Labour supporters expressed their contempt of Labour’s alleged plans by voting Tory – is it called a borrowed vote in those circumstances? – and also fell for Boris Johnson’s lies about ‘let’s get this done!’
…and a long-term consequence of the ‘borrowed vote’ for Fletcher / Tories is that it bolsters the traitors plans to engineer the loss of sovereignty by signing the contemptuous WHO Treaty. Ironic really, in the context of why so many wanted Brexit…
I must add I’ve partaken of 2 (large) glasses of wine this evening so my memories might be affected!
The short version of that is that Fletcher is – minus the referendum vote – a New Labour member of the Tory party and hence, was placed in a Labour seat in the hope that he could take it from them. As far as I know, this is a move Tony Blair was also somewhat (in-)famous for. But in the end, the guy is a New Labour member of the Tories and as such, much more concerned with the safety of the public around the world than with people from boring Bolsover and he’s certainly neither a conservative nor a conservative choice.
In the German protestant church, there’s a special ceremony called Konfirmation, usually happening at 14, to indicate that former children are now full members of the church. Among other things, all Konfirmanden get a quote from the bible the preacher picked individually for them. Mine was (freely translated from German) Of what use would it be to a man if he won all of the world but damaged his soul in the process? I think that’s worth pondering in this context.
Yep, you condensed my waffle
I always take the long, scenic route. I must try harder!
It will be interesting to see how many of the borrowed / protest votes find a new home.
Yes indeed. Dennis Skinner was the fabled Beast of Bolsover.
There was much to disagree with Dennis, but, like Tony Benn, I’ve heard even staunch Tories admit that they were actually effective constituency MPs.
Not, needless to say, much like 95% of today’s merry team.
I think not a lot of Dominic Raab. But Sunak’s proper response to the recent brouhaha would have been to award Raab the Iron Cattle Prod with Oak Leaves.
Wrong position – actually response to ellie-em.
Not to fret.
No worries
That photo says it all.. no quips necessary..
This frightens the hell out of me.
Surrendering our sovereignty is not within Parliament’s gift but actual law has never bothered the traitors occupying that building.
The country is well and truly F#cked!
F#cked and then some I’d say. These treasonous b*stards need to hang.. they’re a 5th column..
Susan Michie (SAGE Communist) and Jeremy Ferrar (Welcome Trust and deeply implicated in the GoF/Wuhan Bio-lab) have already been transferred to the WHO.
Of course the UK Government was always going to push for (not approve, Champion) the revised IHR and new WHO Treaty. They are putting in place the people who were significantly responsible for the destruction of the last 3 years.
IMHO.. it should be closed down.. it doesn’t in anyway serve the interests of the vast majority of people in these islands. In fact it works against them.. through its connivance with big money.. the parasites of our time.. bought and paid for, lock stock and barrel..
A friend who worked for the Home Office in London told me before the lockdowns that on any day a third of the department was off sick, having a ‘duvet day’ or ‘working from home, but offline.’ These human parasites are the societal equivalent of AIDS.
The whole civil service needs clearing out at national and local level. In my part of Devon, council tax is sky high. I used to live in Wandsworth, so I know the difference. There should be public audits of council spending and and referenda about cutting spending. Most people want the potholes in our roads fixed and our grassland areas mowed and tended to, not more diversity officers.
There should be public audits of all state departments and the Bank of England and all QUANGOs. People need to know where their money is going and perhaps people should be allowed to stipulate where their tax money is spent.
It needs the Icahn or at least Musk treatment.
But so does Parliament and the HoL.
Neither will happen before the state has gone officially bankrupt and the £ become totally worthless, to a good part due to their unaffordable pensions, as now inevitaby will happen.
Then, we can rebuild the public sector much smaller, more purposefully and efficiently and financially sustainable, but even that will require a fight. Not to speak of the decades thereafter, when the bureaucracies naturally want to expand again.
Great post..
Let me add – if people think creative accounting only happens at national level they won’t believe the mysteries at local level.
OMBC pay £50k per month for “taxi services.”
To a company outside the Borough. I could go all day on this larceny.
Quite right. Councils should be made, for a start, to justify EVERY additional staff member since (say) 2000, by reference to a strict interpretation of some additional legal duty.
Never mind “Diversity” or “Climate Change” Officers. Straight ‘down the road’ with the lot of them, closely followed by those who promoted their employment in the first place.
Ultra Vires!
The Deep State, as Americans call it,
Which is why the entire Civil Service should be fired (and not rehired) at the end of each 5 year Parliament, and why all legislative Acts passed during the Parliament should automatically be repealed at its close. If it so needed the next bunch can debate it and pass it again.
Similarly MPs should not be allowed to stand again at the end of a Parliament for a period of at least 10 years. And no pensions either for both groups.
i doubt there would be many takers for MPs or Civil Servants so we might struggle to have Governments – a huge plus.
No Government!!!.. the place would thrive. Get these parasites off of our backs..
There was an article on GB News today where Peter Bone, MP, was quoted saying ‘I now fear that we may well have to move to a US system where senior civil servants are replaced by party appointees after each election.’
Why should one fear that? Surely that’s what should happen! Thousands of civil servants should be dismissed when a new administration comes in and replaced with people working for the new ruling administration.
The civil service is vastly larger than any political party. Hence, the outcome will be that the people who are seeking to become career civil servants will flock into the parties instead to use them as vehicle. If anything, this will increase their political influence.
And, nobody should be allowed to stand for Parliament without a cv proving a minimum of ten years working in real private companies – not SPAD shops.
Minimum age 35. Family ancestry in this country dating back three hundred Unbroken years.
Compulsory retirement at 65.
No family members on the payroll.
No Spads on the payroll.
No second home allowances.
No drinking in the office – that shuts all the bars in Westminster.
No subsidised canteens.
Any misspeaking – Dianne – automatically fired.
Any creative accounting – automatically fired.
Thirty days holiday per year max including statutory.
No annual pay rises – pay set for the term of the Parliament.
What have I missed?
Must have lived in the constituency for at least the last 10 years.
Must not hold, have ever held or be entitled to hold citizenship of any other state.
Must be chosen by the local party members.
(I don’t agree with a compulsory retirement age, and I had 30 days holiday plus statutory days in my last job with one of the Big 4: there’s nothing wrong with holidays, and something seriously wrong with people who are scared to be away from work.)
Don’t agree with the “Family ancestry in this country dating back three hundred Unbroken years”. That’s BS, hux, for all sorts of reasons. But the rest, hell yeah.
Why is it BS?
How can it possibly be in our interests for foreigners to have any power over us?
Define foreigner…
When we keep strangers out, we risk them born amongst us.
For me, Neohorburian, a man’s ideas and actions are far more important than the identity imposed upon him by mafia/governments/powerful people.
What is “British” if not a collection of principles and ideas?
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
Independent psychological assessment before being selected
Total transparency in all lobbying otherwise booted out
Tight rein on personal expenses
Maximum of two consecutive terms in office – it shouldn’t be a career – can seek re-selection after one term out.
Excellent Aethelred.
Chopping block and axe?
Made me smile thoughtfully.
Breaking News:
Hollywood writers to strike for first time in 15 years – what is the impact?
https://f7td5.app.goo.gl/TnJXWp
Sent via @updayUK
Erm…I don’t know what to say.
That one will hopefully take a long time.
More about the Pandemic Treaty and Mark Fletcher’s letter here;
”Two weeks ago, in response to a petition, a debate was held in Westminster Hall on the World Health Organisation’s (“WHO’s”) proposed Pandemic Treaty. As the petition and the parliamentary debate had done, many are focusing on the ratification of the ‘Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Accord’, the so-called “Pandemic Treaty.” However, there are two routes through which WHO is attempting to impose a global health dictatorship. One is the Pandemic Treaty and the other is the amendments to the International Health Regulations (“IHR”).
The two proposals aim to expand an international bureaucracy for health emergencies with an additional annual budget estimated by the World Bank at three times WHO’s current budget. This program is heavily backed by WHO’s major individual and corporate sponsors – entities that will directly benefit through the commodity-centred responses that are proposed.
Why is WHO following two routes and not just one? Because if power and authority over much of the world cannot be gained through amendments to the IHR then WHO will rely on its Pandemic Treaty.”
https://expose-news.com/2023/05/02/mp-confirms-uk-will-sign-pandemic-treaty/