Britain’s Conservative Government Lurching Towards Shambles

In Fact, Shambles is the Next Exit on the Government’s One Way Road to Oblivion

Here is what passes for good news from Britain’s Conservatives who have controlled the government in a coalition with the Liberal Democrat party for the past two years.

One Conservative backbencher said: “There is only one piece of good news from the last 48 hours – surely it can’t get any worse than this.”

This ought to be Britain’s finest hours.  The city of London will host the summer Olympics and the Queen is celebrating 60 years on the throne and every night Britains everywhere go to bed and thank their lucky stars they are not in the Euro.  So what’s wrong?  In one word, Conservatives.

The situation in the British Isles is a result of what happens when those governing ignore reality and try to impose their own ideology and ethics on a populace.  Conservatives decided that Britain needed austerity, and so the government has deliberately terminated hundreds of thousands of government employees in order to promote ‘confidence’.  The confidence has not come, but all the bad things from austerity, ie recession, high unemployment, civil unrest and more rather than less social problems have all occurred.

The newest problem for Britains is the ugly fact that the Conservative government had inappropriate dealings with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.  That company has been trying to take control of British satellite TV company BSkyB and needs government approval to do so.  A cabinet minister, Jeremy Hunt was given responsibility to make an objective decision, but it turns out Mr. Hunt was deeply involved with the Murdoch’s and was secretly championing a Murdoch takeover of  BSkyB before he was given the role of being the ‘decider’.

Mr Hunt was last night backed by Number 10 after a seven-hour session during which it emerged he was often in contact with both James Murdoch and Frederic Michel, a News Corp lobbyist during the process.

He sent James Murdoch a text hours before he assumed the quasi-judicial role in the UK’s largest media bid, congratulating the man leading it for successfully getting over a regulatory hurdle.

On economic policy the government is in full retreat.

Announcing his abandonment of the so-called “charity tax”, the chancellor said: “It is clear from our conversations with charities that any kind of cap could damage donations, and as I said at the Budget that’s not what we want at all.”

It comes just two days after he had a similar change of heart on other tax rises, dropping plans to put VAT on hot pasties and caravans, at which time his advisers insisted he would not make a similar move on charities. The total cost of the three reversals is at least £150m, prompting allegations by Labour that the chancellor has presided over a “shambles” of a Budget. In April he also gave churches a reprieve from VAT on building alterations.

Oh yes, the former Press Secretary for the party and the Prime Minister just got arrested, again, this time on the charge of perjury.

Mr Osborne made his statement hours after Andy Coulson, the prime minister’s former head of communications, was charged over allegations he committed perjury during the trial of former MSP Tommy Sheridan.

Mr. Coulson was deeply involved as an employee of the News Corp in a scandal involving hacking the cell phones of public figures, celebrities and even a teenaged murder victim. 

Finally, it turns out the Conservative's coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats have been having secret talks with the opposition Labour party.

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, and Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Lib Dem leader, are among those said to be in contact with members of Ed Miliband's inner circle.

The talks are said to be "informal" and to take place on "different levels". One Labour source revealed Mr Cable and Mr Miliband spoke regularly by telephone, buts sources close to the Business Secretary did not confirm this.

The aim of the discussions is to find "common ground" between the two parties so that, if the next general election results in a hung parliament, they are are able to form a "progressive" coalition which would see the Lib Dems turn their back on David Cameron and the Conservatives.

This is the political equivalent of finding out your spouse has been cheating on you, and not with your best friend but with your worst enemy..

All of this comes from the arrogance of ideology.  Conservatives feel their job in government is to promote special interests like Mr. Murdoch's and his news empire and to promote economic policy based on faith rather than logic and analysis.  The results, just about what you would expect.