Democracy Unaffordable

Photo Montage : Peter Kennard

This BAE business stinks. Cuts right to the heart of a government's genuine desire to “export democracy”. And now the US are really gonna fuck things up.

It’s inconceivable that a UK or US minister of defence would get a kickback to the tune of £100m a year for awarding a military contract. Granted, times have changed, but even in the petro-dollar 70’s morality such behaviour would be seen as a gross breach of public trust and basic democratic principles. The government is supposed to act in the name of and interests of the people – difficult to believe when your minister of defence has just splashed out on a Gulfstream jet (actually a 747 – Ed).

Was there ever a time government policy of “exporting” democracy was thrown into sharper relief ? So long as you’re a pal, so long as we get paid, we don’t mind you screwing your people, in fact we’re happy to help.

Naive ? This Al Yamaneh bizniz is gonna come back to bite us in the arse - in the shape of the US investigation. You gotta wonder if Gordon will stick to the terms of our extradition treaty when they come knocking on BAE directors’ doors (probably the best hope for the Nat West 3).

The Misrepresentation of the People's Act ? - might as well give up.

With this deal, the Saudi’s priced democracy out of business. The thousands of jobs, the treasury contribution – who was gonna say no ? We couldn't afford it. And Bandar’s bung was almost certainly priced into the margin anyway.

The SFO and Goldsmith decided it wasn’t in the UK's interest to continue the investigation. For once, maybe the US and it's investigation is actually acting on behalf of the Saudi people ?

No doubt they’ll get their come-uppence soon enough. Maybe in Diego Garcia.

Dictators take land from their sovereign subjects – without the quaint ritual

Had a bit of time to re-watch John Pilger’s documentary on the theft of the island Diego Garcia by the US and UK. It really is a shocker - the lies and shamelessness of Wilson's government in the 60's and I’d completely forgotten about the use of the royal prerogative by Blair’s government in 2004 after a court ruling in the islanders favour. Instead of using the normal legislative (democratic ? Ed) process, the Foreign Office bypassed Parliament and changed the law by use of the quaintly named "Order in Council", a remnant of the once all-powerful royal prerogative.

The Queen signed the quaintly named Order on Blair’s behalf to prevent islanders returning to the island forever. Don't forget - this was and after they’d carried out a deliberately protracted feasibility study on whether the island was inhabitable….errrr – there’s 6,000 US troops and contractors living on the fucker right now and before them at least 6 generations of islanders…. of course it’s fucking inhabitable.

The original coverage had this to say about the use of the Order in Council ;

The new order replaces the existing constitution of the territory and "makes clear, as a principle of the constitution, that no person has the right of abode in the territory or has unrestricted access to any part of it".

Richard Gifford, the London-based lawyer for the 4,500 islanders and their descendants seeking a right to return, said: "This is an absolute stab in the back. Not since the days of King John has anyone tried to expel British citizens from the realm by executive order."

In other words, a precedent was set that if the government wants to remove a British national from their land, it has the absolute right to do so via the crown.

Again, don’t forget, this was after the court had ruled against the Gov (and effectively the Crown). This makes yesterday’s ruling all the more sweet.

What also came out of the film is the fact that once upon a time, the islanders were given a hilarious £3,000 compensation for their troubles. Another action they’re taking to court. The foreign office has also got the gall to bitch about the cost of making it re-habitable for the original occupants. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to kick someone out of their home for £3,000 then lease it to someone else and pocket the profits. We wonder what the UK has received in rental income from the US over the past four decades ?

I can feel a Freedom of Information request coming on.

Heh, heh, heh.

Stealing a nation - again, it's the courts got that kinda muscle

Again, it's the courts got that kinda muscle .

We’ve been following closely the fate of the islanders of Diego Garcia. John Pilger lays out the story pretty well in this documentary - if ever there was a case for the Misrepresentation of the Peoples Act, this is it.

It’s one of the low moral points in the history of our special relationship with the US. In the cold war of the 60’s the US needed an airbase in that neck of the woods to keep an eye on the reds.

They asked our government if anywhere sprang to mind. The US only had one criteria - it had to be flat enough and long enough to support a runway capable of landing B52s. Our boys suggested the idyllic paradise of Diego Garcia. The US loved it (what’s not to love) and said they’d take out a lease once we’d got rid of the inhabitants.

Several months later, the British Governor ordered all of their pet dogs rounded up and killed. They also found that when they tried to return home from a trip abroad (generally nearby Mauritius) – they couldn’t. Any islanders left were rounded up, told their island had been sold and promptly deported. Lord Dennis Healey (Defence Secretary), Michael Stewart (Foreign secretary) and Harold Wilson were all in on the scam of pretending there was no indigenous population on the island. Parliament was not consulted.

The next 30 years were spent living in poverty, either in Mauritius or (as British subjects) in a small community near Gatwick airport. They’ve tried to get their case through the courts and won in 2000, and again in 2004. Both times the current gov’t either appealed or changed the island status to wrangle out of the ruling - without going through Parliament.

Fairly despicable behaviour. A foreign office official at the time wrote, "We do not regard ourselves as bound by the rules. In this respect we make the rules up as we go along."

Yesterday, the courts, once again, ruled in their favour, saying the government had acted unlawfully. The Foreign Office response was, "we're dissappointed." Poor things. Our hearts bleed. They now have 30 days to decide whether to appeal once more and delay the inevitable via the House of Lords. Let's see if they're actually big enough twats to try it one last time.

Once again, it seems the courts really are the only answer to government.