For several months there has been a political issue live in the UK around what are called ‘impact assessments’. Obviously, with a decision as major as leaving the European Union it is vital that government assess what the consequences are likely to be. Without such information it is near impossible for parliament to make rational decisions on what is the most important political decision in a generation. The government through its minister David Davis said that there were detailed impact assessments being prepared on the effect on the UK economy and life that would be caused by leaving the EU. It was said that more than 50 sectors of the economy were being studied in detail.
As time went by no studies were published. People started to ask if this was because they showed that the consequences of Brexit were going to be terrible and the government did not want the population to see the truth. The opposition became restive and eventually parliament passed a resolution that the full AIs should be published. Soon afterwards some material was published, but it was cursory and revealed nothing not already known. Davis was summoned before a parliamentary committee and asked for an explanation. He told the committee that the AIs do not exist, that there has never been such an assessment. This is extraordinary. If true, it means that the government has made no attempt to find out what the consequences of its actions are likely to be. This shows gross incompetence. Worse, what we have is Davis saying very clearly that AIs exist and equally clearly that AIs do not exist. One of these statements has to be a lie, though it is not entirely clear which one. In any case, parliament has been, and perhaps is still being, misled.
In this kind of circumstance, Davis at least should resign. It is the only honourable course. The fact that he has not done so shows that political standards are seriously in decline. Resignation is the only way to preserve honour in this situation. He might come back into office at a later date after a decent interval, but right now he should go. Also, all those in the government who knew that parliament was being misled and did nothing about it should also consider their positions. A few decades ago it would be inevitable at this point that the government would fall and a general election be held, but these are not normal times and in any case standards have declined. Nowadays politicians cling to power with very little sense of honour. The title ‘honourable member’ has become a misnomer. This is sad and dangerous.
This should be a situation in which the opposition insists upon the truth, forces ministers to be accountable, and makes their misdeed abundantly clear. This, however, is not happening. This leads to the suspicion that some kind of high level collusion is occurring, motivated by the fact that the opposition is internally in a state of deep division and confusion. It is in no position to withstand close scrutiny itself and so has no solid platform from which to hold the government to account.
The basic motive for the UK leaving the EU is said to be to ‘take back control’. However, it is extremely questionable whether the present cohort of UK politicians have the capacity to use such control in wise and beneficial, or even honest, ways. Since the referendum, we have seen many politicians voting in the legislature against their better judgement and party interest frequently prevailing over national good. That this should happen at a time of such importance is lamentably supine. Fundamentally what is required is a higher calibre of people running the show, but it is not at all clear how this can come about. Politics is not, at the moment, an attractive career for the most talented people. There is thus a vicious cycle in operation. As the population come to have more and more contempt for the politicians, politics becomes a less and less attractive occupation and thus the quality of people in it declines. More folly, error and bad practice inevitably follows. Things get worse and contempt grows further. Where will it end?
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I read an article related to Trump how at the bitter end of the US civil war a new class of politicians appeared who were beyond ruthless, lacked any sense of caring and without any sense of honour or obligation to convention or legality fully exploited the situation for every personal gain possible. Politics globally seems to have reached this point.