No. 110 - ‘We know not What We’ve Done’ – Or do We?

Dear James,

The vast majority of us are innocent of history. Things that look small in our everyday lives may eventually prove to be of huge historical importance. Larger events prove themselves over the long-term as insignificant. A short clause in the Magna Carta mentions habeus corpus. Nothing much to see there except that since 1215 it has become one of the cornerstones of the British legal system. ‘Let’s have the body’. Or rather, no man may be detained until a prima facie case has been proven against him. It is a keystone of all our freedoms. 

Three nights ago our government achieved a majority in parliament of 80. In historical terms about average. But more to the point, the new parliament will be full of new MPs with a right wing disposition and answering to the pent up anger of a Prime Minister and cabinet that, while winning, feel humiliated by the recent election. Accusations of liar, dissembler and avoider of scrutiny were rife and will have hurt. Revenge may well be on the menu.

History is both continuous and discontinuous. The continuous parts are accretions of experience, slowly built up over the centuries to become embodied in our institutions. By our institutions I mean parliament itself, the civil service, the judiciary, the press, the BBC, all things that traditionally have become the ‘British Way of Life’. British history has been fortunate in that it has not been interrupted much by revolutions which are, of course, the discontinuous bits of history. Revolutions are usually bloody and are best avoided. What happened last Thursday may one day be seen to be towards the revolutionary end of the spectrum. There are two possibilities. 

Firstly the new parliament may progress pretty much as usual but introducing new bills of a right wing flavour. We can live with that for a while. Alternatively though, with this untouchable majority, it may go much further and begin to attack those very institutions that contain the long fought for history of our nation’s political experience. In which case, Nation Beware!

Remember a person called Dominique Cummings? He withdrew tactically during the election but has been working steadily in the background ever since. He is the brains behind the Boris bluster. We know little about this man because, like his putative master, he does not feel comfortable under rigorous scrutiny. Both he and his antithesis, Seumas Milne of Labour, have the same deathly palour of the furtive fanatic who avoids the limelight and prefers the darkness. On the morning after Boris’s victory, Cummings was to be seen briefly in Downing Street with a mixture of relief and triumph on his face but it is what goes on behind that face that will determine whether our new parliament will represent a huge discontinuity in our history. Cummings has been often quoted as saying that to reform a system, first you must break it. This election could be the first sound of the breaking of crockery.

So listen out for much more breaking of earthenware. Listen for the cracking open of our Civil Service. Listen for the removal of ‘judicial review’ the process that allowed the Supreme Court to so memorably rule against Boris’s prorogation of parliament a few months back. Hearken for the cracking of the cruel whip of criminal justice. Keep your ears pricked for the splintering of the BBC license fee and the end of ‘proper scrutiny’ by the likes of Mr Neil and Mr Marr. And, having said that, I heard just now that Ministers have been forbidden from appearing on the BBC’s ‘Today’ programme. Henceforth they will only be subject to the soft, sofa cuddles of Breakfast TV and its like. Scary stuff eh Boris? 

Earthquakes begin with small tremors James. They may end in disasters beyond current comprehension. 

Time to read up a bit of history? 

Kind regards,

BH - Your Concerned Constituent