Earlier this week I posted about the phone hacking scandal.

I wrote the post somewhat infected by the excitement of the moment, what with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police resigning and all.  And of course this week I have been enthralled by the theatre of the Select Committee hearings, albeit recognizing that that is all they were. Of that perhaps more on another day.

In that previous post, essentially I begged the question: was this matter important, or was it just a storm in a tea cup? What was the correct perspective on this matter? It was a bit of a stream of consciousness post, but as blogger but with a real word job sometimes that happens: time does not permit refinement. I apologise for the odd bit of odd grammar or spelling.

There were some incisive and intelligent comments and observations on my post for which I am most grateful. I was particularly affected by regular commentator Engineer, who wrote thus:

“Europe is in economic turmoil, there’s another major famine in the Horn of Africa, we’re involved in two ongoing wars, the country is in a dire financial state, immigration is still out of control, energy and fuel prices are skyrocketing and this year’s weather suggests that the harvest might not be brilliant.

So, what are all our politicians, all the media and seemingly most of the police concentrating on? Some hacked phones. A bloke who might have known something about it before he resigned and then got another job.

My views on it all? The politicians, the media and Plod have totally lost the plot. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns….”

Having slept on it, and reflected on it, I am more and more inclined to Engineer’s point of view.

Last Monday morning I had to go to the bank to pay in some money. I bank at the Co-Op bank, who are very helpful but don’t have many branches. One is in the Shopping Centre in the northern town which is my home. So I have to go there to pay in the money

I am sure you can picture the sort of Shopping Centre. A generic early 80′s construction, pretty soulless, modelled on every other little “Mall”. As I walked through the “Mall” to get to the bank I noticed how many shops had shut. I would guess that very nearly 40% of the shops were gone. Even some of the usually ubiquitous “Sports Outlets” were closed. Others were depressing, such as the inevitable “Everything for a £1” store. There were some nice shops remaining, but I felt sorry for the poor souls working in them. Have you ever tried to sell Hugo Boss to an unemployed panel beater on a wet Monday morning? Not easy. The people working in them looked very down. Perhaps it was just a Monday morning thing. But I sensed it was more than that.

The bigger chains (Boots, Debenhams) were carrying as usual, but most of the shops were offering deep discounts. This has worked to my personal advantage because I have been recently been able to pick up some really good sports and out-door clothing at half price. Indeed, half price seemed to order of the day in many of the shops.

It was obvious that each of these businesses was struggling for survival like a drowning man caught in a tidal race. And if they go down then not it is just jobs but homes that may be lost and families that may break up under the strain. It was sad. These people were trying hard, but the people have no money to spend. This is the reality of modern Britain. Broken by gross mismanagement of public spending for countless years, and the myth of “the consumer society.”

Hacking the phone of politicos and celebs is naughty but causes me no loss of sleep. It may be a criminal offence, but frankly I would rather our police were out on the streets catching burglars. I take on board the logical inconsistency, but hacking the e-mails of a murdered teenager or a fallen soldier is a serious matter, and requires a rigorous police investigation to establish two issues: who did it, and who authorised it, and to bring a prosecution. It does not require circuses, roving inquiries and MP’s grandstanding and exacting political revenge.

The great issues of the 20^th – 21^st Century are not the ethics of the press and who Rebekah Brooks has round for dinner. These are just by products of a political class composed largely of charlatans, carpetbaggers, pimps, cowards, hypocrites and fools.

They are issues like public and private debt, an unbalanced economy, lack of affordable housing, the silent rise of undemocratic EU power, decent pensions for those not cosseted as employees of the State, care for and the poverty of the aged, unchecked immigration, and war.

Gildas the Monk

Ian R Thorpe July
22, 2011 at 18:38

Love the title. I thought earlier in the week Nick Clegg was actually
getting it. But no, he correctly identified that the big problem is the debt
crisis but his solution involved us getting further into Europe not as far
away as possible.

Make you wonder just why politicians are more afraid of Murdoch than they
are of their voters.

alan July 22, 2011 at 15:22

The problems with the high street shops go beyond just the economy.

There has been a steady decrease in high street shops with the growth of
the supermarkets.

The Internet has taken a lot of business from the high street, and
continues to do so. The first wave was music, books, electronics etc. The
second wave is the growth of specialist online shops in the UK across all
areas of shopping.

Its now possible to purchase any item for your home/hobby online. Want a
new light, in a couple of hrs online you can view 100′s of products, find a
store that has the amount you need in stock and purchase it. In the real world
it can take a lot longer, and cost more just in petrol/parking alone.

The rent/rates for high street shops dont compete against a web order
business even after you take into account uk delivery costs. Small shops (and
even larger ones) cannot compete with the range of stock a nationwide uk web
shop can provide. B&Q Vs Screwfix for example.

The high street is under going a profound change, the slowdown is only
accelerating that change.

Gildas the Monk
July 22, 2011 at 18:58

Good points, and worth taking on board in wider analysis. However, in my
experience (I have a little in the letting field, but will say no more) it
is clear that the credit crunch and recession tipped what may have been
business pressures into for some a crisis or worse. But, as I say, I take
your points.
G the M

woodsy42 July 22,
2011 at 10:45

Well said Gildas, and spot on.

JuliaM July 22,
2011 at 10:45

Excellent post!

Dennis July 22, 2011 at 10:34

Twenty five years ago, digesting your jeremiad, heavily garnished with our
host’s ‘defeated economy’, would have required twenty minutes searching for
Macaulay’s collected essays. This morning’s ‘express relief’ was available
through a click on my mouse. My children buy their ludicrously expensive
badges the same way – they tell me they get free clothes with the badges.

The active ingredient in my Settler was, “On what principle is it that,
when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but
deterioration before us?”

Incidentally, the final paragraph of this particular Macaulay essay is
recommended reading for libertarians and old fashioned liberals.

Captain
Ranty July 22, 2011 at 10:31

A lovely piece, Mr the Monk.

It highlights the decay and the sense of despondency most of us feel.

Your last paragraph struck a chord:

“They are issues like public and private debt, an unbalanced economy, lack
of affordable housing, the silent rise of undemocratic EU power, decent
pensions for those not cosseted as employees of the State, care for and the
poverty of the aged, unchecked immigration, and war.”

It is no secret that I loathe the EU. I would argue that most, if not all
of the problems you mentioned can be cured if we left the Stupid Club. The
biggest issue that you left out was our loss of sovereignty-our right to rule
ourselves-and I think that if we regain that which took us so long to garner,
we will be well on the road to recovery.

CR.

Gildas the Monk
July 22, 2011 at 19:44

Thank you Captain!
I see your point. Time and space forbid dealing
with every matter in a blog post, but I agree it is one of the big
issues.
G the M

Saul July 22, 2011 at 10:12

It’s quite ironic that the modern need for 24hr in your face news should be
responsible for the sudden predicament Rupert Murdoch finds himself in. After
all, that’s how he became so powerful in the first place.

Old Slaughter
July 22, 2011 at 09:40

A fine post. This is a storm in a tea-cup in that it is the misdirected
Murdoch hate of Labour and the BBC riding on the back of the British obsession
with dead children.

A minor minor quibble which I apologise in advance for bringing up (I am on
a long-term one-man quest to eradicate it), you didn’t ‘beg the question’.

My first ever comment on this blog some years ago made exactly the same
pedant’s complaint. One day I shall succeed where Canute failed and stop this
particular tide.

Again though, I am with you on this one.

Old Slaughter
July 22, 2011 at 09:43

Also,

Am I the only one who find Mrs Brook’s hair magnificent? And indeed
finding her strangely alluring?

She is too old for me but it hasn’t stopped the ghastly thoughts I am
having.

Gildas the
Monk July 22, 2011 at 10:03

I know exactly what you mean, OS. That’s a matter which could start a
whole now post/thread….!

Livewire July 22, 2011 at 08:56

I name that pic ‘Vince Cable with personal hygiene problem’, foot in mouth
if it’s a Gildas pic. Even the blog threads are grumpy these days, I was half
expecting blood to be shed over the merits/demerits of Leonard Cohen but that
topic escaped Mars The God Of War’s attention.
Lighten up people, there are
eckersleys to ridicule (some topics back and not worthy of a capital letter).
It’s summertime, there’s lurv in the air and most importantly none of us are
wormfood yet. Group hugs and happy thoughts. They can take our money and our
News Of The Screws, but they will never take away our WEIRDNESS (eckersley got
that bit right).

Span
Ows July 22, 2011 at 10:18

It’s summertime…

Ah, therein lies the danger, lucky the heat hasn’t been to bad yet.

Cascadian July 22, 2011 at 08:36

The world is headed into dangerous times, but Europe is positioned worse
than most other continents.

Just consider two basic necessities heat and food, both are in perilous
positions, the former due to the politicians dalliance with green energy and
wasted opportunities at the altar of “global warming” the latter due to
extreme weather in the breadbasket of the world-the Canadian prairies and US
mid West and the idiotic practice of taking fertile land out of production to
grow trees to assuage the guilt of the middle classes related to carbon
offsets. Shortages of both are assured, to the point that they will surely
become unaffordable for pensioners.

Add, what seems to be an almost global economic crisis that is now so
complex due to derivatives and strange monetary instruments backed by junk
mortgages that will never be paid, and loans to feckless governments to
support ridiculous social programmes that again not be repaid, and I think we
have a recipe for serious civil unrest.

Meanwhile politicians engage in juvenile games, they are beneath contempt.
I do hope your prediction that the professional-class politicians with zero
real-world experience be swept away occurs, it is beyond time some sensible
plumbers, housewives and engineers were elected, people of ability who have
met a payroll and can balance their personal budget.

Gildas the Monk
July 22, 2011 at 08:49

Sadly, Cascadian, I am not predicting the demise of that pernicious
class, but I agree that civil unrest is a real possibility. We have not seen
the last of the calamity of the global debt crises, not least in the
Eurozone. Watch this space…

Cascadian
July 22, 2011 at 18:30

That was wishful thinking on my behalf then.

Indeed it is a constantly recurring wish, growing stronger every day,
our current crop of elected representatives are failing miserably,
all-the-while indulging themselves in their pet projects at monstrous
expense of time and money that rightfully belongs to the electorate.

splitty July 22, 2011 at 08:27

I’m still trying to picture a monk in sports casuals.

Gildas the Monk
July 22, 2011 at 08:53

We are a pretty relaxed order.

QM July 22, 2011
at 08:19

Well said, you put into words the thoughts that have been mulling around in
my mind since the whole scandal came to light, that it was a serious breach of
privacy into the grief and lives of some and a despicable criminal act. But,
not the earth shattering event the media would portray it as. The families and
people involved have my sympathy I’m far more concerned about the state of the
economy and how to balance my budget for the basics, luxuries having passed
beyond my reach some years ago.

Gildas the Monk
July 22, 2011 at 08:53

That, if I may say so, sums up the matter perfectly. I hope you find some
luxuries though. You never know..

philip walling
July 22, 2011 at 08:02

Quite right Mr Monk!

The people don’t count for much any more. The greedy, dull, second-rate,
self-serving political class must be swept away and replaced by people who
have roots in the places they represent, a sense of public service,
intelligence and honour. The circus in the Commons this week is about
politicians’ (mostly from the last lying regime) revenge on Rupert Murdoch; it
has little to do with us – apart from trying to silence the common man’s
newspapers. And the MPs dare to talk about corruption!
But they’ve got
little power to deal with anything else now we’re controlled by the EU, is
that why they’re turning on the police and the press? The sleek face and
smooth voice of Keith Vaz what I see as the abiding image of those committee
meetings.

We have been conned by ‘globalisation’ and the housing and consumer ‘booms’
of recent years. They have torn the heart out of nearly every English town and
city, destroyed our self-respect and reduced most people to paupers, while
getting us to believe that inflated house values makes us rich, and above all,
enriching a gilded few beyond all sense or decency.

Once people start losing their houses and having to move into sub-standard
rented houses on six-month shorthold tenancies from rackman landlords they
might wake up to the reality and clamour for real leadership. Especially when
their modernistic town centres are deserted, the streets broken up, and
nowhere even to buy a newspaper.

Gildas the Monk
July 22, 2011 at 08:46

A powerful comment! I agree!

PT July 22, 2011 at 09:43

Seconded.

Anna
Raccoon July 22, 2011 at 07:10

“Have you ever tried to sell Hugo Boss to an unemployed panel beater on a
wet Monday morning? Not easy. ”

That is such an astute comment – it perfectly sums up the remnants of the
‘aspirational society’ with its designer logos trying to exist in the dregs of
a beaten economy.

You should expand on that line when you have time, Gildas, it is worthy of
a post in its own right.

Gildas the Monk
July 22, 2011 at 07:22

Thank you Anna, I shall ponder that

Old Slaughter
July 22, 2011 at 09:45

It’s astute and well phrased.