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...
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
Hide the following 8 comments
postponing elections
27.02.2001 16:49
Many thanks
Paul
Paul Edwards
Flying minerva... aint dark yet... whaaaaaat?
27.02.2001 17:09
Butterscotch
e-mail:
jsg@farts.com
Bad luck?
27.02.2001 20:51
Mr. X
postponing elections
28.02.2001 09:17
Many thanks
Paul
Paul Edwards
postponing elections
28.02.2001 09:18
Many thanks
Paul
Paul Edwards
postponing elections
28.02.2001 09:21
Many thanks
Paul
Paul Edwards
Source for "postponing elections"
28.02.2001 13:00
Rev Simon Rumble
e-mail:
simon@rumble.net
A REPLY:local elections story was on radio 5
28.02.2001 15:48
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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