The consequences of unrestrained speculation and amassing piles of debt in the process has destroyed sound businesses, jobs and livelihoods, and will continue to do so. MPs caught with their hand in the till should be ashamed, but their actions haven't hurt millions of ordinary people in the way that the financial services industry managed to do, aided by the light touch of politicians. If we'd had some politicians savvy enough to see financial melt-down coming and take timely action to stop or alleviate the madness, I wouldn't have begrudged them the odd wide-screen telly, new kitchen or even a duck island or two. But claiming to have abolished boom and bust in the middle of a classic speculative bubble - now that's unforgivable.
Recession aside, here are a few other things which are even worse than having greedy politicians who have disgraced themselves and so will get a kicking if they try to stand for election again:
1. Authoritarian rule. Corrupt elected politicians are bad, but how about corrupt, unelected politicians and officials? In a country where whistle blowers get beaten up? A report into press freedom in China has found that journalists seeking to expose corporate corruption are targets of intimidation and violence. Or perhaps you'd prefer to see a junta step in to "clean up" the country - remember General Pinochet? In 2005 a US Senate investigation of terrorist financing discovered that Pinochet had opened and closed at least 128 bank accounts at Riggs Bank and other US financial institutions in an apparent money-laundering operation. It seems that Pinochet had illegally obtained a $28m fortune during his period as a dictator of Chile. That's the great thing about being a dictator - you can just take stuff without pesky journalists kicking up a fuss, at least whilst you're still alive. Second homes? General Franco's family helped themselves to palaces, and got away with it, at least until the inconvenient advent of democracy and a free press.
2. A theocracy. There's a wooly-minded idea about that all politicians are corrupt and compromised but clerics are above that sort of thing. Some politicians involved in the expenses scandal have tried to excuse themselves with unconvincing bluster, but at least the party leaders have the grace to express some contrition. The Catholic Church has had a bit of bother lately, too - a little matter of the systematic humiliation, abuse and rape of children. Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, who recently retired as Archbishop of Westminster didn't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation - O'Connor's "contribution" to the national debate about faith, society and whatever is neatly dissected by Oliver Kamm:
"The outgoing Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, made a contribution at the end of Archbishop Vincent Nichols' installation that was at once touching, funny, serious and extreme. He said, rather controversially perhaps, that a lack of faith is 'the greatest of evils.' He blamed atheism for war and destruction, and implied it was a greater evil even than sin itself."
Extreme is the word.
I don't believe in God; but I've never raped children. If my lack of faith is the greatest of evils, what words do you have left, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, to describe the priest who gained sexual gratification from attacking altar boys, who raped a boy in a wheelchair, and whom you allowed to work as a chaplain though you knew of his proclivities?
Quite. That's just a foretaste of how out of touch clerics are. It's when clerics get their hands on real power in a country that the real fun begins:
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The Mutaween in Saudi Arabia are tasked with enforcing Sharia as defined by the government, specifically by the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV). The Mutaween of the CPVPV consists of "more than 3,500 officers in addition to thousands of volunteers...often accompanied by a police escort." They have the power to arrest unrelated males and females caught socializing, anyone engaged in homosexual behavior or prostitution; to enforce Islamic dress-codes, and store closures during the prayer time. They enforce Muslim dietary laws, prohibit the consumption or sale of alcoholic beverages and pork, and seize banned consumer products and media regarded as un-Islamic (such as CDs/DVDs of various Western musical groups, television shows and film). Additionally, they actively prevent the practice or proselytizing of other religions within Saudi Arabia, where they are banned.
Among the things the Mutaween have been criticized or ridiculed for include, use of flogging to punish violators, banning Valentines Day gifts, arresting priests for saying Mass, and being staffed by "ex-convicts whose only job qualification was that they had memorized the Quran in order to reduce their sentences."
Perhaps the most serious and widely criticized incident attributed to them occurred on March 11, 2002, when they prevented schoolgirls from escaping a burning school in Mecca, because the girls were not wearing headscarves and abayas (black robes), and not accompanied by a male guardian. Fifteen girls died and 50 were injured as a result. Widespread public criticism followed, both internationally and within Saudi Arabia.
In August 2008, a young Saudi woman who had converted to Christianity was burned to death after having her tongue cut out by her own father, a member of the Committee
Frankly, I'd rather put up with some New Labour clone claiming for a non-existent mortgage or a Tory grandee charging us to clear his moat out than see a bunch of religious lunatics anywhere near the levers of power.
3. Oligarchy. At least you can eventually kick an MP out without fear of retribution. Unless you live on Sark, that is, where the business interests of the Barclay Brothers accounted for a huge slice of the local economy. They stood for election, were soundly defeated, and promptly scuttled off back to their private island, closing down all their operations on Sark out of sheer spite.
Gordon Dawes, the Barclays’ lawyer, said.
“They have devoted a lot of time, energy, effort and money to Sark, for not only no thanks but positive insult and rebuff. Nobody in their right mind would carry on spending money on such a community.”
In other words "vote for us, or else" - perhaps the Telegraph could have done some in-depth investigations into the corrosive influence of economic blackmail on the voting process in Sark ... oh, hang on, the Barclay Brothers own the Telegraph, don't they?
Lots of people are rightly hacked off with the tired, tarnished political class and intend to express their disgust in the forthcoming Euro elections. We need a better alternative, but some of the alternatives on offer are even worse than what we've got. The authoritarian fascists of the British National Party aren't just morally repugnant - judging from the record of authoritarian bully-boys in power, they'd be vastly more corrupt. Despite attempts at an image make-over, the BNP aren't a new, squeaky-clean breed of fascists - they are conviction politicians - that's "conviction" in the sense of "criminal conviction."
How about the UKIP "alternative"?
The recent history of Ukip raises serious questions about its competence, to put it mildly. The fiasco of Robert Kilroy-Silk's involvement with the party was just one of many bouts of vicious infighting. It has sought to make capital out of the expenses scandal, but is itself no stranger to financial controversy. One of its MEPs, Ashley Mote, was expelled from the party and later jailed for benefit fraud. (He hopes to appeal the verdict.) Another MEP, Tom Wise, is facing prosecution for alleged false accounting and money laundering relating to his EU expenses. He denies the charges. Meanwhile, one of its most distinguished former supporters, the economist Tim Congdon, has left Ukip, claiming that it has been "captured by the European institutions" and neglects its British Eurosceptic supporters. More worryingly, as this newspaper reported last weekend, it has "become a haven for elements of the far Right". In David Cameron's phrase, it attracts "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".
Not much better, then.
As for the newly formed Christian Party, the record of "faith groups" in power is so poor as to make our current crop of politicians look like saints. I wouldn't vote for them even if they do claim to be able to stop the BNP - which they can't.
At least nobody's yet punting a dodgy oligarch in the Berlusconi mould in these elections.
As Winston Churchill put it, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried."
*IMHO
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