In the grand scheme of Democracy

Today was another day when I, in my own mind, did something to improve democracy in this country. In my own mind. Let me have that.

I believe in an idea. I believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with a country when it pays a foreign body to make its laws for it. When it has outsourced democracy; when it takes away the 'demos' in democracy and leaves only 'cratos' - power. I believe this is not only bad for the country, the nation, but potentially terminal. But that is just me. A nation cannot survive without its people, for then it is not a nation, it is a mere assembly, an assembly with no common interest or goal. Which seeks not to promote its values but merely lives for the sake of itself. Without dreams or aspirations, just the same old same old. I believe this is wrong.

Am I wrong? Well that is not for me to decide. For all I know outsourcing democracy might be an excellent idea, but that is not important. What is important is that it feels wrong. A small part of you dies every time you see that it has acquired yet more power. Like the Lernaen Hydra it just grows every time you try to cut it down. It prospers from disaster, it feeds on misery; misery for which it is largely to blame. We are becoming disenfranchised.

“Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” this is how we are told to live our lives with regard to it. We are not to bang on about it, not question it, not disagree with it - just accept it. If we question it we are seen as eccentrics, if we point out the obvious contradictions we are told 'but'. It rules by commandments like Moses, no justification but pointing to a higher source of absolution, as adequate explanation for its intrusions. But this is not the Bible. These are not stories written in metaphors and symbolism, this is happening now but we are refused our voice to question it, to rationalise it down to the fallacy it is. People are being denied their right to speak. History tells us that such a state of affairs has always ended in violence, as will this. Yet we are still called eccentrics.

I handed out another hundred leaflets today in my patch of London. It felt good. Although it wont make a shred of difference, I can at least point back to these days in the future when our children will ask 'why didn't you do anything?'. I can proudly look back and say 'we did, but no one else.' This is and never will be an exercise in satisfying one's ego, to excel to some spurious echelon of self-righteousness. It is not meant to invoke hatred of malice, it is meant to plant an idea. An idea we once had but have now lost. Beneath all this rhetoric there is an idea and ideas are bulletproof. I believe in this idea but my great task is to persuade other's to believe it as well. If I can convince just one person, just a single lonely soul, that my idea is better than what he previously believed then it will all be worth it.

This is not a religion, there are no grand books filled with moral codes of how and why one should live their lives. It is but an idea. It is a very simple idea. I have already stated the idea, you already know what it is; it is in between the lines of this post. It is in you right now or at least it should be. You should have reacted to what was said above in two words which are anathema to each other, outsourcing democracy. Now you know what the idea is that we have lost.

I have not even mentioned it by name, yet you all know what I am talking about. That is a testament to how little control we have over our own lives today. You might be able to change the small things in your life but, in the grand scheme of democracy you are nothing. Because you are nothing, we are nothing and that is how democracy died.

TSR2

Mr North has an excellent video of the TSR2 which I had not seen before, I shall re-post it here because I simply love this aeroplane which was so viciously clawed from us in what must be one of the lowest points in the 'special relationship' ever seen, at least to my mind (or at the very least in engineering terms).

Here is another very very long piece I wrote some time ago, on the TSR2, which is well worth the read if you are interested in aeronautics. One thing is for sure, Britain does some quite frankly amazing engineering, quite unmatched in any other country in the world. Unfortunately we also have the drawback of creating arguably the worst kind of politicians a country could ever have or need.

The Magnificent 118

No chaps this is not a post about the 1922 Committee, I simply pay my homage and gratitude to them for daring to stand-up to the party machine. On the outside 'secret vote' does what it says on the tin, but in Parliament (I am reluctant to put a capital 'P' in Parliament for it would signify my respect for that institution, sadly that respect is dwindling faster than I thought possible) there is very little which is secret and most people know what is not.

I regret to say that I have been posting very sparsely due to extenuating circumstances; exam week is among us (or me should I say) and spend I most of my days hobbled up in the university library, studying and taking occasional brakes where a lot of anti-PC jokes are thrown about between myself and my peers. Lovely days these would have been indeed, had it not been for the blessed revision; where one needs to somehow fit a year's worth of study into the space of a month and actually know what one is talking about. A daunting task needless to say, but I remain reluctantly confident in not blowing my chances completely.

Until later, rejoice for there will soon be a '2010 Committee' and we can all have a laugh about 'progressive' politics; where apparently we have a new government but it is seemingly turning out to be no different from the past.

FRES fail by Labour again....

Again I am going to let the eminent Howard Wheeldon take the lead on this one.

Howard Wheeldon on a supposed press leak from government suggesting a US firm will be chosen over BAE to supply 750 armoured vehicles...

Not content with attempting to give regulatory control of the UK banking industry away to our competitors and potentially killing off thousands of what one high ranking supporter of ‘New Labour’ called ‘unnecessary UK banking industry jobs’, it seems that the government has the same in mind for thousands of UK based defence industry jobs as well! In what appears to have been a deliberate and time sensitive leak to a very well heeled financial newspaper it seems that the government has ‘decided’ that US based General Dynamics with its untried and unproven ASCOD-2 vehicle as opposed to BAE Systems with its already battle proven CV90 was to be awarded the initial block 1 batch of up to 750 armoured vehicles – part of the proposed and already long delayed Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) family of military combat vehicles.

Official confirmation might come as early as this week we are told. However, given the nature of the government beast plus that we are talking here about spending money on defence – something that is abhorrent to Gordon Brown – it may also be a good idea not to take this particular government leak for granted!

Included in the leak was also that the crucially important and urgently needed Warrior armoured personnel carrier upgrade program would again be put back by at least another year, despite BAE Systems having put £50m investment into de-risking the programme and demonstrating the MTIP FRES demonstrator on the back of funding concerns. This particular part of the leak is as appalling as it is believable. So, it might on first sight appear that the government, just ahead of an election and in a constituency widely regarded as an absolute Labour stronghold, is prepared to see thousands of jobs at the former Vickers tank factory at Newcastle-upon-Tyne thrown to the wall. Why is it that I think not? OK, so I am taking a bit of a gamble here and while I readily admit that I could be wrong, I see more into this particular press leak than some others. But on the very basis of best product for the mission and that in the case of BAE Systems there are so many UK based jobs involved, plus events in the US this past week that show protectionism is not only alive and well but positively thriving, there is no reason why BAE Systems should not be awarded the first stage of FRES.

Perhaps though we might dig just a little deeper into what might also lay behind reasons for this rather surprising let alone strange leak:

Try this for one possible scenario: Rather than spin and then subsequently announce what most had been led to believe awarding a contract intention for between 600 and 750 FRES vehicles sometime later this week, my guess is that given the current MoD funding status and budget shortfall and given the unlikely prospect that any part of the long delayed FRES requirement would likely be based on an Afghanistan type UOR (Urgent Operational Requirement) that for the government to agree a contract of this size before the election and, more importantly, before the result of the upcoming Strategic Defence Review would be very unlikely. OK, the government could order now and cancel later – even completely reversing the decision of who it awarded the contract too perhaps. More likely though is that to save its own skin it will slip the potential of an award being made to the most unlikely candidate, let the arguments and angst commence and then blame the cries from the so called loser as reason enough to delay!

And another on the same theme perhaps: It seems to me that with the government knowing that if GD was to be awarded a contract of this size with a product that had not even been seen let alone tested by the MoD (a quite impossible scenario surely?) that BAE Systems would quite rightly scream more than enough of a scenario has been created to delay not only Warrior upgrade but also this first phase of FRES yet again.

And what about this one: It is just possible of course that by dropping the suggestion that GD as opposed to BAE Systems had won to the press (just as the government had done through a similar press and media drop several years ago when it was suggested that Thales as opposed to BAE had won the design contract for the CV aircraft carrier program – something that I was later able to dispel) it just may be that the government could be doing this just to put pressure on BAE Systems to sweeten its deal.

Not surprisingly and quite rightly in my view BAE Systems has risen to the bait throwing its toys out of the pram big time on the basis that:

1.) The government should not be buying a completely unproven product that has never been deployed on operations from a competitor and that maybe two to three years behind the CV90;

2.) Giving part of FRES to GD would potential destroy more UK high end defence industrial capability;

3.) In the wake of the ‘forced’ decision by EADS and its Northrop Grumman partner that it had no choice but to pull out of the US tanker program because of US based protectionism;

4.) Following significant work by BAE Systems to generate cost savings on the program that benefit the taxpayer and given that the CV90 is already a well proven product there is in my view no reason to not award the first phase of FRES (should this really be about to occur) to anyone other than BAE Systems.

If through this leak the UK government is intentionally attempting to buy itself more time whilst at the same time also attempting to appease public concern that it is failing to order equipment that troops urgently need all that I can say is that it is going about it in a stupid and very dangerous manner. At this stage I am left to conclude that we probably will not see any order being given to General Dynamics or BAE Systems later this week for anything other than a handful of vehicles for test purposes. Mind you if I am right then I guess that the government will cover its tracks by making additional promises. We will see!

Howard Wheeldon, Senior strategist, BGC Brokers

Dirty Irish Eurocrats

Well we always knew that when the EU does not get its way it brings out the big guns of autocracy. I cannot be bothered to write something myself about this (too depressed) but will instead just lift the piece from The Tap Blog and commend him for not breaking down in tears over the death of sovereignty. If the EU takes as along to die as the Roman Empire we are fighting a loosing battle I am afraid.

"This is getting very dirty.

Many people in Ireland are right to suspect their Taoiseach of planning foul play in order to win this referendum. He has broken every rule in the book during the campaign, and the law has afforded little protection to the NO side with most of their posters getting dragged down, for example.

Now the COIR Campaign asked its activists to get a total of votes cast at each polling station at the end of the day, to see if the final totals checked out with the day's votes. But the Irish government who are responsible for 'storing' the ballot boxes overnight, are threatening anyone who enquires as to the number of votes cast from the presidinging officers, with immediate arrest.

It seems almost certain now that the Poll is going to rigged by ballot box tampering while the boxes are 'stored' overnight. This is a shocking development,but not a surprising one given the total disregard for legality displayed by the Irish government throughout the campaign.

Cóir has said that the State has undermined the confidence the electorate can have in the referendum process by threatening citizens with arrest if they proceeded with plans to monitor the vote on the Lisbon Treaty.

“Today we were told by Dublin City Sheriff, Brendan Walsh, that he had asked the Gardaí to take action against any of our volunteers who sought information as to the number of votes cast in a polling station at the end of the day,” said Manus Mac Meanmain of Cóir.

“To say we are shocked is an understatement,” he continued. “In conversation with Cóir, Mr Walsh confirmed that the information being requested by Cóir was compiled by the Presiding officer at each polling centre at the end of the day’s voting in any case.”

“But now he has threatened any citizen who politely requests that information from the Presiding Officer with arrest. This is simply outrageous, and will shatter the faith citizens should be able to have in this referendum process.”

It looks like there will need to be a third referendum now, as the results of this one will be suspect.

UPDATE - More shenanigans - A Fine Gael exit poll was reported by the Irish Times as giving a narrow victory to the YES side, 52% to 48%. But the same poll was reported on Irish TV, RTE channel, as 60% to 40%.

Earlier fears of illegal referendum behaviour expressed HERE"

It seems like the bloodymindedness of the Irish (most of them at least, nothing but praise for the brave who stood their ground) has gone. Seems a bit pointless now with their civil war and all as does the English civil war. Indeed any European civil war seems utterly pointless when our masters go and sign away our right-to-choose without a fight. If there had been a fight there had at least been a raison d'être left lingering after the war was fought and lost. Now? There is just and empty void.

What is there left to say then you might ask? Might the above just be a protection from the Irish government. To stop both eurocrats and eurosceptics from meddling with the vote. That is as about as likely as a halal pork sandwich. No expenses, legal and illegal, will be sparred in passing this treaty.

Here are my final pearls of wisdom before I wake up tomorrow and find the "yes, yes, yes!!!" screaming from the TV and a very smug Barrosso standing in the background 'thanking' the Irish for their continued support of the EU. All I have to say is, fuck (I could have said 'scheisse' or 'merde' thereby adding a dimension of tragicomedy to this whole drama but I stuck with the good old British 'fuck' because, well, I thought it appropriate that we display its grand standing as the magnus-opus of foulness one last time, before it falls under the aegis of political correctness) .

Implosion

It is not easy, not easy at all, to watch as a bystander your country implode before your very eyes knowing full well that there is not a single thing that you can do about it. The anger that is felt and directed towards the hordes of people who have been complicit in disassembling the UK cannot be described. And for what reasons? What motives could possibly be strong enough to illicit someone to commit such greats acts of treachery towards ones country where, bit by bit, the electorate was to be convinced that the power removed from Westminster would be better served elsewhere (see box to the right) - even though it did a masterful job in serving the UK properly for a good 300 years.

Remember what Gladstone said in his speech at Hastings 17th of March 1891

‘No violence, no tyranny, whether of experiments or of such methods as are likely to be made in this country, could ever for a moment have a chance of prevailing against the energies of that great Assembly (The House of Commons),

“No; if these powers of the House of Commons come to be encroached upon, it will be by tacit and insidious methods, and therefore I say that public attention should be called to this.”’

Public attention was never called of course for obvious reasons. Imagine the public out cry if they found out what was being perpetrated. Yes, British Empire was over Pax Britannia was over and Pax Americana had taken it place. No empire is perfect certainly not, the British one had many faults but the American one to follow was as worthy as any other contender.

What if they had found out though? What if the hoi polloi gained the knowledge that an active campaign to disestablish British sovereignity had been launched shortly after WW2. What of vox populi, would it speak of war or would it just not care? In my ignorance I hope they would care maybe it would even make it onto the third of fourth page of the SUN - well maybe that is asking a bit too much.

Why this dismal approach you may wonder? Well, whenever Britain was attacked, throughout history, we fought back in one way or another through force or by cunning. When the Argentinians attacked us with Exocet missiles during the Falklands Campaign our response was not to deploy counter measures but to buy entire global supply of French Exocet missiles. But now with the EU we have taken the most oddious approach conceivable; rather than to expell that malaise we joined it! This is quite frankly remarkable and yet today, when substantial majority of the British people want out or just revert back to EEC or EFTA the government still insists on the benefits eventhough it is clear to everyone that Great Britain exists only in name, the nation which long befored filled that empty void is now long gone what remains is a but a shadow. A shadow which for all intents and purposes serves only as a reminder of how we, the people of the UK, lost the battle for our sovereignty.

You might want to call me a sensationalist reactionary twat. Fine, I shall allow it for now but you come back to me in one years time when the Lisbon Treaty has been passed and repeat your insult. Not before long the rest will follow...

UK "joins" the Euro
Scotland leaves the UK
Wales leaves the UK
NI joins Ireland
England remains as a region of the EU.
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