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It’s down to us to start the riot A Very British Coup is the title of an excellent book, written in 1982 by the left-leaning Labour MP, Chris Mullin. It’s set in March 1989 when Britain has a new Government. Ex-steelworker Harry Perkins has led his far-left Labour Party to victory on a manifesto that includes withdrawal from NATO, nuclear disarmament and the removal of all the US bases in Britain. Horrified, and under pressure from the US Administration, the British Establishment musters its forces and as senior civil servants, press barons and the City conspire to bring him down, Perkins finds himself embroiled in a battle for survival. Can Perkins and his elected Government hold out or will the Establishment mount a very British coup...? Although the central premise is flawed by the notion that a far-left government would ever get elected in Britain, the two themes at its core are still profoundly significant today. The first is that Britain is actually governed by an unelected para-state. The civil service, the military, the media, the police and the judiciary are far more powerful than Parliament, and all, apart from the media, owe allegiance to the Monarch rather than to the elected Prime Minister. The media largely owes its allegiance to the opportunism of Rupert Murdoch. Secondly, and more controversially, Britain is an occupied country. The presence of American armed forces on British soil is prejudicial to its global diplomatic credibility and totally undemocratic. These issues explain in part why I gravitate towards the concept of an independent Welsh Republic. As Tony Blair understood, albeit simplistically, Britain is predominantly right leaning and it has been held firmly in America’s pocket since the end of the Second World War. However, in left leaning Wales, circumstances are rather different. Once the ambitions of the National Assembly inevitably expand to the point where it seeks full power to make laws and raise taxes independently of Westminster, it should be ready to take the last step to freedom by slipping away from Tory England while avoiding conflict with American commercial interests. Around the time A Very British Coup was published, I found somewhere a button badge that simply read ‘Harry Perkins for leader’. I wore it to lunch with a friend who was then the General Secretary of the Fabian Society, the world’s oldest socialist organisation and traditionally a Labour Party policy think tank. The badge was meant as an ironic criticism of the ineffectual Labour leadership of the time. But none of the senior Fabians I met found it in the least bit amusing. I remember that day as the point when I began to lose interest in traditional party politics. Here are three sets of button badges with which to make your own statements: Badge Pack 1 – For the Freedom Fighter Pack of three 1” (25mm) metal button badges
Price: £3.40 per set of three (£4.00 inc VAT) Pack of three 1” (25mm) metal button badges
Price: £3.40 per set of three (£4.00 inc VAT) Pack of three 1” (25mm) metal button badges
Price: £3.40 per set of three (£4.00 inc VAT) |
CYMRAEG – ENGLISH |
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