Richard the Second - a play for to-day?

In Richard the Second, Shakespeare explores the relationship between an increasingly self absorbed king and his people, what happens when the ruler believes in his own public relations over objective evidence and takes all power and wealth with no consideration of the impact this has on the people - simply because he is 'King' and he can. The parrallels with the current behaviour of politicians at Westminster is clear. They too think they can act with impunity, ignore the laws of the land, take what ever they want, impose regressive taxation on those least able to pay and 'get away with it.

The Westminster Parliament is heading for its 'Richard the 2nd' momment and whether it will be as unpleasant as the removal of a Hitler, Hussein or a Gadafhi or a seemless transfer of power - is now in their own hands. Westminster politicians are trying to ignore the biggest political crisis to hit Westminster since the beheading of Charles 1st - their failure to deal with the UK outside London and the SE's wish for greater autonomy and less centralisation. Westminster is now a neoliberal dictatorship whether in the hands of the Tories or 'New Labour'. The UK my father fought for in the 1940's (and put myself in harms way in the 80's) has been destroyed over the last three decades. It is no longer a country 'Fit for Heroes', it is a travesty of that country and ideals. The UK is now country Dicken's would recognised as unchanged since Victorian times - 'its the rich that takes the credit, its the poor what gets the blame'.

This Westminster Parliament continues to beleive its own press releases (served by a media as fawning and self indulgent as any of Richard the Second's lackeys) its message that the constiuent parts are nothing without London and the SE plus it is only fair and right this one region sucks the life out of all the others for the 'greater good'. Yet that 'greater good' simply appears to be predicated on a very small minority (including politicians) making a vast amount of wealth for themselves at the rest of the country's expense. The seperation of state and comercial banking interests grows ever narrower and narrower with the slip by Alistair Darling that the last New Labour government did, indeed, seek to 'influence' the London Inter Bank Lending Rate while knowing the rate was already being illegal manipulated to create 'profit' for the banks and 'bonuses' for the traders. The first concerns over illegal inter bank lending practices were raised with Treasury officials in 2007. Clearly a Nelsonian blind eye was turned as high bank profits meant good tax revenues for the New Labour run treasury to help hide the real impact of all the 'off the book' borrowing Brown and then Darling had been indulging in via the discredited PFI model.

Osbourne merely continued these 'Chinese practices' (and is now left holding the baby) as the layers of lies covering Westminster's handling of the UK economy over the last three decades begin to unravel at an ever increasing rate. Meanwhile, in Scotland, we have another Westminster Treasury mouthpiece telling us Scots we are too poor, too wee, too stupid to become an independent country. Well Danny 'Beaker' Alexander I am pretty certain the natural fiscal conservatism and couthiness of the Scot could not make anywhere near the complete and utter travesty and economic mess Westminster has now achieved for the UK outside London and the SE.

Here's the thing which nobody in the Westminster village or its media have grasped, Scots do not want to see an end to the Union, they are clear they wish a new Union settlement that reduces Westminster to being the English Parliament and a new Council of the Isles (maybe even including Eire) to be created to look after areas of common interest such as defence, EU or foreign affairs - this is what most Scots mean by 'devo-max'. The problem for Westminster is, like Richard the Second, Westminster can only see the UK through its self reflecting prism of self interest. For Westminster the issue is 'have or have not' and just as Richard the Second was unwilling and unable to accept Bolingbroke's compromise - Westminster is either supreme ruler or it is nothing.

Westminster is like a dying star and I would suggest we are seeing the red dwarf phase at present where it tries to consume everything around it to keep going by expanding its reach but ultimately it will collapse into a black hole and consume itself. 

Westminster is currently set on a course to become 'nothing'. Our choice as the UK electorate is to act against Westminster hegemony or to watch what is left of the UK (after Scotland rejects the current Union in 2014) fall into anarchy and division as finger pointing for the mess created by Westminster's intransigence begins in the Westminster political class and media whores, whose ignorance and deafness will bring England (in the main) to this pass.

Its is the English electorate and not the Scottish electorate who are standing on the edge of an abyss. the Scots are clear what they want and have the means to achieve it with or withoout Westminster's approval.