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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Lockdowns to avoid varients = perpetual lockdown. It’ll always take a few months for the vaccine to catch up, then to distribute. By the time you’ve got there, you’ll have another varient of some sort.
Indeed
Continuing current lockdown to avoid future lockdown = jam tomorrow = big lie
For sure. The only remedy is nuclear Armageddon, where only cockroaches survive. The pity is that Whitty, Ferguson, Johncock et al are cockroaches.
It’s a complete lie. No variant differs enough from the original virus to require an adjusted vaccine,
I just cannot understand how anyone believes this total lie.
Sheer brainwashing isn’t it and the inability of so many people to think rationally as a result. My hairdresser (mobile) said yesterday that she has quite a few clients who despite being fully vaccinated are still unwilling to leave their houses. You do wonder what their thought process is.
They have been numbed through fear and blatant disinformation. Not everyone thinks of looking elsewhere to find out what is really going on. Sadly, they trust the government and SAGE, who seem to be having a good laugh at our expense.
Indeed it is brainwashing. Last week I asked friend to pick me up from Heathrow in June(I am in Thailand which is on the green list).
he said no because he didn’t want to put mine or his health at risk. He will not go to anyones house or take the grandchildren in the car.
He has had both vaccines.
Sad huh?
What’s that expression ‘ If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it´. It is staggering and I can’t even get most people to open up and discuss the issue.
Yes. Those who don’t want us to return to anything like normal are really onto a winner with these variants. The take on this pandemic has become – unfortunately like much of science nowadays – totally reductionist. We really need to step back and look holistically at the big picture and see how much harm has been done this past year – all in the so-called interest of protecting people!
No doubt something similar will be rammed down English throats by the time the Sunday rags come out. As usual, SAGE are pushing the “Destroy UK” buttons, and the gutless wonder will let them.
Yes, Kim Jong-Johnson revels in locking down
They voted for her… they got her…..their problem
As I’m sick of telling my English/Welsh/NI friends; more people vote AGAINST the SNP in Scotland than vote FOR them. The problem is the pro-union vote is split 3 ways.
Believe me, most people in Scotland are just as appalled by her “leadership” as those of you in the rest of the UK.
Speak for the people of Scotland she does NOT!
I”ve campaigned for Scottish Independence for years in order to get away from these idiots that keep getting voted in in Englandshire – don’t diss the SNP when Scotland have not voted for a Conservative government since around Nineteen Fifty Oatcake. Still – I cancelled my SNP membership last week – not keen on being run by yet another bunch of villains.
So if Grovel Smarmer got voted in in England, you’d rejoice?
God help you.
You attribute imaginary views to your adversary
Egos. Why for instance did so many anti Lockdown candidates stand for the London mayoral election? I know it would have made little difference but if they’d got together as a coalition the anti Lockdown vote might have done even better. Just a thought!
Exactly. Time to put personal ambition aside and figure out who has the best chance in a coalition because there is much that unites them. Pick the winner out of a hat if necessary! Just stop splitting the damned vote.
But it’s not just their problem is it? Where Sturgeon leads Johnson follows. England will go for a similar solution in designated areas/tiers next week, but we’ll get the south of the country into full freedom (except masks) after Jun 21 to allow Johnson to get married. But after that…. Tiers in Sep, full lockdown in Oct.
The fascinating conundrum for Johnson and Sturgeon will be COP 26 in Glasgow in November: how will they balance that one?
Looking at age related “cases” shows that the peak age group is 14 to 19 year olds, which is why even if they have it, they haven’t needed hospitalisation and simply don’t die from it.the
Test enough school kids twice a week and figures are almost guaranteed.
There is no hope for Scotland.
Scotland is doomed.
You know how she works. She either copies or tries to get ahead of the agenda. Which means, we’ll follow suit eventually. I don’t know why I get surprised by any of this anymore. Known the plan since mid last year. I think its more a case of wishing I was wrong but I really need to get real and prepare best I can. Get ready folks. The next step will be rampant inflation so make sure you have a) money in assets like shares and property or b) have cash at hand to accommodate food prices going up.
They’ll ban cash soon enough…with the excuse that it harbours the virus and other nasties! Big Brother can then really be the all-seeing eye. Bastards!
Invest now in canned food. Move to Dixie.
Bet they’re really glad they voted her back in….. Suckers
So fatty the pretend Jogger has all but canned 21 June. What a surprise. And yet no English media are pointing out what this prat in Scotland is up to. Absolutely awful bunch. But hey people voted for them.
Hello everyone! I was wondering where I could share this you tube podcast or perhaps suggests Toby to have a look if it can be included on the newsround session. It is cohesive and such in depth. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/3NODUelJeCE
The LS team are on lockdownsceptics@gmail.com
A suggestion to be included on the newsround : https://youtu.be/3NODUelJeCE
How the hell can anybody have voted for this nasty little hag?
The alternatives were terrible.
For the same reason, England voted for Kim Jong-Johnson instead of Jeremy Corbyn.
Sooo predictable!! First Sturgeon and Drakeford go ape, and then Boris will follow suit. This pattern is becoming monotonous – carrot & stick, hope & despair. Surely even the sheep should wake up to this now?
Let’s make tomorrow’s protests throughout the country huge. And even bigger in two weeks time in London!
Please call the Prime Moron by his proper name of Kim Jong-Johnson.
Thank you.
8 cases in 10,000.
Am I missing something?
Yes. The operational false positive rate. It’ll be larger than 8 in 10,000, which is equivalent to 0.08%. According to a June 2020 government document which was sent to SAGE & called “SAGE paper, when Lord Bethel referred to it in a written answer, the oFPR still hadn’t been determined, but past estimates ranged from 0.4 – 2.3%.
They’re lying again.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
― C. S. Lewis
Except it is not for the good of its victims, though that is what the government et al is trying to portray. By this time, we all know what their agenda really is, and it is evil and harmful. They don’t give a fig about us expendables. And their consciences aren’t troubled one jot. They are enjoying it.
It’s about time we stopped using North Korea as a measure of authoritarianism when the country’s people enjoy greater freedom and civil liberties than we currently do.
Spiteful Nannying Party Fuhrerein
And she lives in Baillieston in the east end of Glasgow, the area I grew up. How her windows haven’t been put in every night is a mystery to me.
Her salary is paid by you and I don’t forget.
Well thanks Sturgeon, indoor gym classes were suppose to start up in Glasgow on Monday, not anymore. I’m still paying £30/ month for a very reduced gym service. But I know the gym might close if even more folk cancel their membership. They are hanging on, and need folk like me to keep paying full price for limited access, but for how long….
Then there is my friend who had arranged a night out with an old friend on Thursday next week to the casino… She tells me he is not coping well and was really looking forward to a bit of company, well he will just have to wait then. And the local pub near me, with no outside space, they have been closed but the lights have been on over the last few days and folk inside have been getting ready to open on Monday, how are they feeling now, back to putting the boards up on the windows?
But what does all this matter to Sturgeon, Leitch or Bauld?
“It means people in Glasgow will be no longer allowed to mix in each other’s homes from Monday as planned.”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Yeah right!
Lolz
Where Scotland leads Boris Johnson always follows a week or so later
Its time to remove her from office and remove this lockdown.
So you remove her from office – which party leader is likely to step up and cancel the new lockdown?
I hope people see how arbitrarily this has been done. Hope is a burning ember at this stage however
The dentist strikes again. -_-
The positivity (fraction of tests performed which come back positive) is far below any reasonable estimate of the operational false positive rate.
What this means is that there almost certainly are NO cases.
It’s incumbent on the Scottish government to show otherwise.
It’s at best incompetence & more likely malfeasance to imply there are cases in the community when there are not.
Exactly the same applies to England.
Remember, your government is lying to you, with the intent of causing you & your family harm.
The Social Anthropologist will be behind this! Sturgeon’s close friend……
Glad you’re here. Been following you since you started making noises last year. You are doing brave, valuable work and many people I know, including me, are using your material to make a noise. I don’t use my real name here because at the start of all this I did and got abuse in my email – by 77th I believe, not genuine sceptics. So I have a wee tiny experience/taste of all the crap you must have suffered.
Sorry Scotland! You ain’t never getting out lockdown – there will forever be mutations.
Please stop the blame game. Yes there are a few Scots who have greviences against the English but there are a few English with greviences against the Scots.
I joined this group last year and found myself relating to people because of the situation we find ourselves in now. I don’t always agree with everyones politics but this is not about politics, this is much bigger and we are a small enough group of people trying to find ways to get our freedoms back, using the Scots /English greviences is going to divide us even more.
I know that the population of Scotland is smaller than the population of London and there’s millions more English than Scots, so it benefits the Scots but I’m not going to apologise for how a quarter of the country voted for a psychopath, as the English didn’t make any better decisions in their local elections, none of us were given any good alternatives as the big 2 in England and the big 3 in Scotland, are all built from the same mould.
Let’s put down our pitch forks until we are free to travel the world at will once more and not locked up by tyrannical governments, not just in the UK but all over the world.
Quite.
So glad to see “The Science” back in full swing! Lord save us from these bloody experts!
I live in Moray and have studied the numbers in fine detail. Firstly – more than half of Moray has had not a single case for weeks, secondly the centre of this spike (Elgin) turned the corner three days ago and the ‘case rate has already dropped by 47%. My guess is tat by the middle of next week Elgin and Lossiemouth will be ‘light grey’ on the DT’s mini map leaving only the mighty geographically isolated small town of Aberlour a bit pink.
Mike Yeadon points out these are false positives. We are very lucky to have someone of his status and expertise commenting below the line. Thank you, Dr Yeadon, for all you do.
Even if they were true, it would be good news. The virus would be spreading amongst the young, asymptomatically, at a time of the year when it is least dangerous, and when all the vulnerable who need it have had the jabs. It would be giving precious natural immunity to the young, and increasing that best of all immunities.
This Scots continued imprisonment is blatantly to force more people to take the jabs, especially the young.
Just returned from a week in Scotland. Man have they scared the pants off people. Walking up to someone, anyone in Scotland automatically triggers a very fast movement away from someone getting too close. There are one way systems everywhere to the point it was impossible to find the way in or out of venues. Dinner over at 8pm, no booze with dinner but magically on this coming Monday, because the virus knows it is Monday, you can have dinner in a restaurant with a drink til 10:30pm. And the funny thing is……everyone seems to think this is absolutely okay!!! As I already said,boy have they scared the pants off the Scottish population. So very sad to see people behave this way. So much stupidity.
The people of Moray must think that Sturgeon has lost her Marbles.
Lovely comment! Elgin marbles I assume.
Moray is of course a Conservative constituency so not surprised that the evil one is having a go at them, despite the very few cases there. Glasgow is a bit of a surprise so I am not sure what she has got against them. However I had to deal with my inconsoleable daughter in floods of tears yesterday as her Glasgow wedding is again under threat. Sturgeon and Johnson are pure evil dictators who have no concern whatever for the mental anguish and despair that they are inflicting on us. I can never forgive them for what they have done and continue to do to our family.
One irony of all this is that in India new case numbers peaked over a week ago at a relatively low figure in relation to a population approaching 1.5 billion and have fallen by over 20% since then; the “Indian variant” is clearly nothing like the rampant threat that some would have us believe.
Moray was an SNP constituency for 30 years and, presumably, they hope to regain it.
Moray is an SNP constituency in the Scottish parliament
The Troll just doesn’t like the idea of Glaswegians having sex.