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...