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Odd Times Indeed in Britain- Electoral Crisis Looms

Coup Watcher | 27.02.2001 14:45

It was something of a shock to hear about lunchtime monday that Gordon Brown was meeting with heads of the IMF and World Bank, under our noses in London, with a plan to revitalise the Commonwealth, Britain's private post-imperial project.

Like the recent arrest of George Galloway, nobody seems to have really noticed the implications of the event, and now, the latest wave of disease to hit the farmers may esaclate into an ELECTORAL crisis.
I refer not to the General election, for that is not required to be called for another year according to our 'constitution' unless Blair so chooses, and he may, sensibly for his own position, decide to wait. But the LOCAL elections ARE legally required to be held in early May, and already there has been talk of the parliament passing 'emergency' legislation to postpone them until the Foot and Mouth problem is passed, and that may be months. The precedent is chilling, for if indeed that is what the government decides to do, the temptation may be to extend such a measure over into further future elections.
What am I trying to say ? I suppose, that there is much more happening at the moment than we may perceive; "THE OWL OF MINERVA FLIES ONLY AT DUSK" wrote Hegel, a political philosopher, last century, and to me at least, a certain change occurred in the political landscape in 1999. "ITS NOT DARK YET, BUT ITS GETTING THERE" sang Bob Dylan on his last album, and that was a couple of years ago...

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Comments

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postponing elections

27.02.2001 16:49

I'm very concerned that there is talk of postponing the local elections. The UK does not have a written constitution so this really does have significance. Can you you give the source of the talk/rumour?

Many thanks


Paul

Paul Edwards


Flying minerva... aint dark yet... whaaaaaat?

27.02.2001 17:09

Arrest of Gearge Galloway? What on earth do you mean?

Butterscotch
mail e-mail: jsg@farts.com


Bad luck?

27.02.2001 20:51

George Galloway was arrested for protesting against nuclear weapons outside Faslane, he also travelled to Iraq to view the collateral damage (children) of Blair's bombing campaign (to contain Saddamm's aggresion.) But what I find most chilling is how this outbreak of foot and mouth took hold so swiftly and has granded the government 'emergency powers' they didn't previously have, and fitS neatly into the political agenda. 400sq. miles of Dartmoor and Exmoor is cordoned off, the wild ponies may be culled. 12,000sq. miles of Devon is a no-go area, it is a crime to leave your car and walk on public footpaths and the army may be mobilized making the countryside a militarised zone, with farmers quarantined in their own homes. This is unprecedented in Britain, and I've yet to see an actual diseased animal.

Mr. X


postponing elections

28.02.2001 09:17

I'm very concerned that there is talk of postponing the local elections. The UK does not have a written constitution so this really does have significance. Can you you give the source of the talk/rumour?

Many thanks


Paul

Paul Edwards


postponing elections

28.02.2001 09:18

I'm very concerned that there is talk of postponing the local elections. The UK does not have a written constitution so this really does have significance. Can you you give the source of the talk/rumour?

Many thanks


Paul

Paul Edwards


postponing elections

28.02.2001 09:21

I'm very concerned that there is talk of postponing the local elections. The UK does not have a written constitution so this really does have significance. Can you you give the source of the talk/rumour?

Many thanks


Paul

Paul Edwards


Source for "postponing elections"

28.02.2001 13:00

BBC News, last night.

Rev Simon Rumble
mail e-mail: simon@rumble.net


A REPLY:local elections story was on radio 5

28.02.2001 15:48

in the morning, and it was confirmed by andrew marr in the evening. its only a discussion item at the moment, but its looming in the backgound.
the point about george galloway is that he should never have been arrested in the first place; as an elected representative, in most western democracies and many of the new ones, he would be sovereign over the police, and only the relavant parliament could relieve him of immunity: see what i mean ?
the owl of minerva is a classic piece of political aphorism, and you either know it or you dont. events happen by day, but the consequences occur while we sleep. bob dylan's song proves he s as perceptive as he was in 1963,if you ask me.
its interesting that polly toynbee in today's guardian dismisses blair's third way as vague and useless, when in fact its supremely successful; what i mean is that its reinforced and given a false moral to thathcerite capitalism whilst virtually dissolving the organized proletariat, somthing the dreaded tories could never have done. but in the wake of the collapse of the ussr, the commonwealth is now being expanded as a repostory of british power, now with the help of the imf and world bank. the danger is that we ignore what british imperialisnm is doing whilst (rightly, of course) attcking the american version. the commonwealth renains a very powerful economic entity, and the latest move can only boost it further.

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