Well then, here we are then…!...bet you all thought I’d left the country; no? Oh well, I’ve not. I’ve been very busy finishing off that novel I always promised I’d write…….no, honest, I mean I have been writing that novel I always promised to write. It’s called Ladies of the Shire and will available from selected WH Smiths, Waterstone’s, local libraries (for the cheapskates amongst you) and from Amazon, but I’d much rather you purchased it through the website www.peter-webb.com as the profit margin for me is far greater that way! Never one to be backward in coming forward, me. So, you’ll be asking yourselves, what is it that’s dragged this sofa-slopping whinge-box off’f his arse and back into print? Well, bit obvious really. Anyone who’s not been living inside the lower intestine of a whale will be well aware of the tsunami that’s hit our beloved politicians in the good ’ole U of K and, because there’s been a surfeit of bile, invective and vitriol launched their way in the past two weeks, I’d like to offer another angle from which to view the recent events….as if anyone’s interested, Peter.
What’s in store for us is far more than just the resignations of a few dubious spivs in power and I’d like to open up the discussion (Discussion? This is just you spouting off, Peter, with no room for reply….Yes, you’re right; so, sue me or use the reply button) by advancing a belief that I’m sure you all had worked out many days ago. My excuse is that we’ve had a lot on at the theatre where I work recently. We had our hands full with a large in/out of a national drama production (so a gang of thesps doing their best to convince us they really are “so terribly tired doing two shows a day” and how hard they work in their chosen profession…oh yeah? Like, in relation to what? Diamond miners in Africa….swift-nest gatherers in China….rice planters in Vietnam….? Tell me about it, I’m really interested, y’ know?….) then a collaborative opera show with a cast of 200 (so a gaggle of opera singers rushing out of the rehearsal room in a flurry of crinolines and talcum powder ‘Because I can’t possibly concentrate on this VERY demanding role whilst I think I can hear the hum from a fridge two blocks away’…. It’s only thing that’s in tune, pal, trust me) and then, joy-of-joys, ballet (a throng of twirlies wanting the stage to rehearse on 24/7…Have y’ not learnt it yet then?...and every theatre space heated to 500 degrees) so I had enough to occupy my mind (it's a very small one, you understand, so it doesn't take much).
So, back to these thieving rich-folk. We’re all aware that they’ve been on the make (we now have it confirmed) for years, and it’s a given that those who’ve been caught with their hands in the cookie-jar have a level of moral fibre and social conscience that would be put to shame by Cro-Magnon man. We’ve listened to their excuses (there’s not a single one of them that, as far as they’re concerned, has done ANYTHING wrong; like every inmate in every prison in the world - including Shawshanks - they’re all innocent). Now we get the reasons; “I’m doing this to spare my family from the media intrusion.” or “I’m doing this to spend more time with my family”. Trust me, they can see the bullet coming and they want to be able to say to their respective, forthcoming employers (and there’ll be lots, trust me) that they weren’t sacked, they retired with good grace. For these politicians to say these things only makes them look more ridiculous in the eyes of the public, to rob the finances because you’re a dim-wit is one thing, but these are the folk who’re supposed to be intelligent, cutting edge, shaping our world, looking after our interests etc…..Christ, you’ve all heard it so many times before….. So, cut to the chase.
We know that to become a politician opens up all sorts of doors to the undeserving. Do you know the very first thing Duff-Cooper’s best friend said to him when he (Duff-Cooper) told him he was going to become a politician? Was it, 1) “You’ll be able to represent your constituency and improve their lot”? No. 2) “The country needs men like you to fight the battles for those who cannot defend themselves”? Nope. 3) “Excellent idea, Duff, you can make a lot of money in politics, directorships and such”? You betcha! So having had confirmed what we all knew to be true what’s the deal with the fallout? Well, gather round my little ones and I’ll tell y’. The politicians are poorly paid (£64Kp.a. ….shit money, that) and so many of them, in order to make ends meet are forced to systematically plunder the country’s coffers and take on other employment too. Must be a real bugger to have to do all this extra stuff….poor sods. For their pains, they’re the CEO’s, non-executive directors, chairmen, lobbyists, board members of all the multi-nationals, conglomerates and big businesses operating in the world today. Now, we are fully aware that they are without scruple and vision when it comes to operating in their political career, so it stands to reason that this is exactly the way they’ll operate in their business; without honesty, scruple or fairness. So, when it comes to who shall get arms, medicine, food, water, nuclear technology, all the big things that will become more and more important as this world bulges with population and the available land to support it, they’ll be the ones to cast their vote for……?
Don’t know ‘bout you, but there’s no way in this world or the next that I’d want these moral degenerates operating claims of conscience in my name. They’d sell their grannies for a shilling and, as we’ve seen in the behaviour of those who have stood down so far, they’ll stop at nothing to shift the blame and invent excuses for their lamentable consciences. These people, these ex-politicians that gain so much by being of the ruling elite will sign up to anything just so they can open up three bottles of port instead of two, they’ll use up all the earth’s resources and destroy anyone in their path (such a pleasure to hear that, at last, Dutch Shell are being hauled into court to answer the charges surrounding the murder of Ken Saro Wiwa…..but watch them fight it; it’ll not be a pretty sight….and keep a careful eye on the witnesses) they’ll use up all the earth’s resources just so they can have nine homes not eight, they’ll give out the free smokes to third-world peoples, thereby creating a power-base of third-world people with first class cancer, just so they can keep their BAT shares dealing at a high, they’ll invent reasons for a war and prosecute it in defiance off all the truths and public outcry….. The way they’ve behaved in the spotlight of politics will be as nothing to the way they’ll behave in the shadows of big business. Be afraid, be very afraid.
