Its the reason for the collapse of democratic choice. Its the source of our growing disillusionment with politics. Its the great unmentionable. Corporate power. The media will scarcely whisper its name. It is howlingly absent from parliamentary debates. Until we name it and confront it, politics is a waste of time. The political role of business corporations is generally interpreted as that of lobbyists, seeking to influence government policy. In reality they belong on the inside. They are part of the nexus of power that creates policy. They face no significant resistance, from either government or opposition, as their interests have now been woven into the fabric of all three main political parties in Britain. Most of the scandals that leave people in despair about politics arise from this source. On Monday, for instance, the Guardian revealed that the governments subsidy system for gas-burning power stations is being designed by an executive from the Dublin-based company ESB International, who has been seconded into the Department of Energy. What does ESB do? Oh, it builds gas-burning power stations. On the same day we learned that a government minister, Nick Boles, has privately assured the gambling company Ladbrokes that it neednt worry about attempts by local authorities to stop the spread of betting shops. His new law will prevent councils from taking action. Last week we discovered that G4Ss contract to run immigration removal centres will be expanded, even though all further business with the state was supposed to be frozen while allegations of fraud were investigated. Every week we learn that systemic failures on the part of government contractors are no barrier to obtaining further work, that the promise of efficiency, improvements and value for money delivered by outsourcing and privatisation have failed to materialise. theguardian/commentisfree/2013/nov/11/business-rules-lobbying-corporate-interests
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 04:32:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015