Who remembers that charming film Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli? It featured some lovely music and memorable songs, including “Money Makes the World Go Round.”
Well, money used to go round. When it was spent, it stayed within the system. However, the decline in cash transactions contributes to inflation, as part of the total value of each purchase now goes to the card service provider.
Money certainly goes round under a left-wing government—usually by borrowing it. Of course, borrowed money eventually has to be repaid.
Talking of things going round, the Westminster cabaret recently swapped one prime minister for another. The new man then decided that the comedy show in London should be divided, with half of it playing in Manchester under a single compère who flits back and forth between the two venues. Never mind the cost—it can always be borrowed. Money, money, money!
While the proposal was being prepared in secret, the Downing Street cabaret continued, with Sir Keir as compère. He played his part by boasting that he had done well for the country, would still be prime minister at the next election and would win it.
He must have known that this was nonsense, as senior figures in the governing party had apparently decided upon the change long before.
It was like going back several hundred years, despite Britain having taught the world about democracy and the importance of honestly electing its leaders. Horror of horrors, the party in power bypassed all that history and installed an unelected, politically inexperienced figure in the leading role.
He had previously served as Mayor of Manchester, where he introduced changes that were not to everyone’s liking. It has also been said that the city was near the bottom of the growth table.
However, to get this man into Number 10, he first had to win a by-election and become an MP before he could be made prime minister. But why choose him? There must have been hundreds of others who could have been more honestly and easily fitted into the post.
My guess is that the new head of government may have a personal dislike of Whitehall, Westminster and especially Downing Street, as he has hardly been there since becoming the UK’s first unelected prime minister to be shoehorned into the top job.
Perhaps he feels guilty about his unexpected rise to fame. On the other hand, several reports containing new information suggest that all is not what it seems—but more on that in a moment.
The new prime minister is on the move again. After visiting Portsmouth Dockyard to welcome the Ukrainian president to the UK—bypassing Westminster in the process—his latest expensive excursion involves travelling around the country to ask people about their problems.
In reality, it appears to be an opportunity to introduce himself to the electorate, whose views were ignored during his recent inauguration. In any case, one glance at the rolling 24-hour news programmes flooding the media would tell him most of what he needs to know.
In Manchester, where the by-election was held to determine whether he could win a seat and propel himself into Downing Street, something strange happened: a plush building was selected to serve as the “Number 10 of the North.”
Obviously, negotiating the terms of a lease must have taken some time. However, we are told that an agreement was reached and the lease signed six days before the election that would make him an MP and elevate him to high office.
That appears to be the opposite of democracy, where the election is supposed to come first. It suggests that those involved already knew what the result would be before voting had even taken place.
Our new unelected prime minister is very keen on the nationalisation of service industries. He is also quite happy to describe Margaret Thatcher’s decision to privatise them during the 1980s as a mistake.
However, it was not quite as simple as that. In a roundabout way, the industries remained nationally owned because members of the public bought shares in them. They were also sold with the proviso that no individual could own more than 15 per cent, protecting the companies from being taken over and milked dry.
It worked. Instead of the state having to support nationalised industries, the opposite occurred: the newly privatised businesses paid tax to the Treasury.
So, what changed? Take a guess!
Tony Blair’s administration, which came to power in 1997 and remained there for ten years, changed the 15 per cent rule. Consequently, many of those businesses are now owned by large overseas companies with little respect for providing a proper service to consumers.
Perhaps—and it is a distinct possibility—the new unelected prime minister, as he travels around the country searching for what has gone wrong, could straighten out that mess. After all, it was created under a Labour prime minister.
These political games increasingly resemble one enormous stage production. In my opinion, judging by the way the Labour Party has treated the electorate and its voting rights, it may be laying the groundwork to remain in power at election time.
This could involve forming an emergency government, supposedly to tackle either the immigration problem or an uprising by the British people. Either way, the excuse to create an alternative administration would be there.
And it would all be for money, money, money.
Take care.
© Percy Chattey
