Yesterday it was Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph realising that his right wing thinking had been wrong.
Today it is Peter Orborne. I quote at length because candidly this could have come from the blogs of the Tax Justice Network, Nick Shaxson or even here:
"It is not just the feral youth of Tottenham who have forgotten they have duties as well as rights. So have the feral rich of Chelsea and Kensington. A few years ago, my wife and I went to a dinner party in a large house in west London. A security guard prowled along the street outside, and there was much talk of the “north-south divide”, which I took literally for a while until I realised that my hosts were facetiously referring to the difference between those who lived north and south of Kensington High Street.
Most of the people in this very expensive street were every bit as deracinated and cut off from the rest of Britain as the young, unemployed men and women who have caused such terrible damage over the last few days. For them, the repellent Financial Times magazine How to Spend It is a bible. I'd guess that few of them bother to pay British tax if they can avoid it, and that fewer still feel the sense of obligation to society that only a few decades ago came naturally to the wealthy and better off.
Yet we celebrate people who live empty lives like this. A few weeks ago, I noticed an item in a newspaper saying that the business tycoon Sir Richard Branson was thinking of moving his headquarters to Switzerland. This move was represented as a potential blow to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, because it meant less tax revenue.
I couldn't help thinking that in a sane and decent world such a move would be a blow to Sir Richard, not the Chancellor. People would note that a prominent and wealthy businessman was avoiding British tax and think less of him. Instead, he has a knighthood and is widely feted. The same is true of the brilliant retailer Sir Philip Green. Sir Philip's businesses could never survive but for Britain's famous social and political stability, our transport system to shift his goods and our schools to educate his workers.
Yet Sir Philip, who a few years ago sent an extraordinary £1 billion dividend offshore, seems to have little intention of paying for much of this. Why does nobody get angry or hold him culpable? I know that he employs expensive tax lawyers and that everything he does is legal, but he surely faces ethical and moral questions just as much as does a young thug who breaks into one of Sir Philip's shops and steals from it?
Our politicians — standing sanctimoniously on their hind legs in the Commons yesterday — are just as bad. They have shown themselves prepared to ignore common decency and, in some cases, to break the law. David Cameron is happy to have some of the worst offenders in his Cabinet. Take the example of Francis Maude, who is charged with tackling public sector waste — which trade unions say is a euphemism for waging war on low‑paid workers. Yet Mr Maude made tens of thousands of pounds by breaching the spirit, though not the law, surrounding MPs' allowances."
And then consider this (and I've chopped quite a lot that is just as good, but this is important stuff for the change in culture it represents):
The Prime Minister showed no sign that he understood that something stank about yesterday's Commons debate. He spoke of morality, but only as something which applies to the very poor: “We will restore a stronger sense of morality and responsibility — in every town, in every street and in every estate.” He appeared not to grasp that this should apply to the rich and powerful as well.
The tragic truth is that Mr Cameron is himself guilty of failing this test. It is scarcely six weeks since he jauntily turned up at the News International summer party, even though the media group was at the time subject to not one but two police investigations.
These double standards from Downing Street are symptomatic of widespread double standards at the very top of our society. It should be stressed that most people (including, I know, Telegraph readers) continue to believe in honesty, decency, hard work, and putting back into society at least as much as they take out.
But there are those who do not. Certainly, the so-called feral youth seem oblivious to decency and morality. But so are the venal rich and powerful — too many of our bankers, footballers, wealthy businessmen and politicians.
Of course, most of them are smart and wealthy enough to make sure that they obey the law. That cannot be said of the sad young men and women, without hope or aspiration, who have caused such mayhem and chaos over the past few days. But the rioters have this defence: they are just following the example set by senior and respected figures in society.
Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates.
The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation.
The Tax Justice Network has been at the forefront of such arguments for a long time.
And yet we still see, only this week, the tax profession openly excusing abuse.
No, nothing excuses rioting. But nothing - and I mean it as much - excuses tax haven activity, tax avoidance and tax evasion either. Nor the abuses of corporate Britain.
We have a long way to go - and we must start at the top.
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“We will restore a stronger sense of morality and responsibility — in every town, in every street and in every estate.”
It reminds me of a tale I was told about a leading barrister. He asked his secretary where she lived and she told him “on a small estate in Essex”. His response: “Really? And is the shooting good there?”
It is a pity Cameron seems so out of touch with true conservative sentiment, which is not neo-liberalism and which indeed has always had as its foundation a distrust of idealogy and a sense of responsibility to the poor. I can’t be the only one who thinks that if we had a proper Tory party and a proper Labour party we would at least have some choice. Instead we have two sets of puppets whose strings are pulled by 20 something graduates who know everything about presentation but nothing about the world.
Oh, crikey, I agree with you…entirely
I remember a Conservative party of some quite wise people – rather pink or ‘wet’ as Thatcher had it – but one nation Tories of merit
And I wish labour would do what Labour is meant to do – be truly social democratic, be truly representational of working people and work alongside (not with or for) unions
“NOW PETER OBORNE JOINS IN THE RIGHT WING EXODUS LEFTWARD”
The PSG has no political affiliation, but we disagree with your caption,
Peter Oborne is not supporting any political philosophy he is simply describing the truth.
The parlous state of government (and continuing existence of rich people’s privilege such as tax havens) transcends petty point scoring between left and right and does little to rid society of the inequalities, discrimination and injustice which affect the UK.
The privileges that have been bestowed on the rich (such as Tax Havens) and the deprivation imposed on the less fortunate (by both left and right) are totally unacceptable. To place all the blame entirely on the Tories is unfair, particularly as the Socialist were given ample time to clear up the mess. All political parties are accountable for the anarchy now affecting the UK; and we must all bear some responsibility — particularly the current useless and sanctimonious members of parliament.
Society is at war and if we are to save our nation we must admit that we are ALL to blame and unite together to bring a lasting peace achieved by rational and equitable solutions – Guardian readers and Telegraph readers alike!
Continuing handbag swinging by political vested interest, particularly on ludicrous TV programmes such as “Question Time” and the outrageously biased “Sky News” is not the way forward, and will only lead us all deeper into the mire.
Oh boy – another comment I agree with – and I stand chastised!
A common decency is just that – common
“particularly as the Socialist were given ample time to clear up the mess. ”
Which Socalists were these then? And when? Not in the UK and in recent history. If only.
Apart from that, can’t disagree too much.
Our so-called blameless leaders so ready to posture their views in the House of Commons, or join with other brainless talking-heads on puerile (but fashionable) television debating/magazine programmes, should look at the looting rioters and regard them as copy-cat versions of themselves.
It is indeed a very good article and made me wonder whether I should start to buy the Torygraph. Then I made the mistake of reading some of the comments and thought I don’t want to be associated with the sort of people who do read it:o)
@ Carol Wilcox
“I don’t want to be associated with the sort of people who do read it” (The Daily Telegraph).
Perhaps a lack of understanding of (and association with) other people’s thinking (which many of us are prone to) lies at the heart of the many problems which now face our wonderful country.
That many Telegraph readers express the same view about Guardian readers only serves to emphasize the huge gulf in our society – and the need for more awareness and understanding by everyone.
Hi Carol (again)
Many of the comments (2,600) now posted on the Daily Telegraph are even more pertinent (and impartial) than the original article. Difficult to understand how you could feel so strongly/negatively about views being expressed in a wide ranging church.
I had no intention of reading the 1000 + which were there yesterday, so I just read the first few before posting my comment. I gave up reading the Guardian Comment Is Free comments some time ago when there were several hundred. Who has time to read them all?
For the sake of sanity I avoid all comments
It’s occasionally a bitter job here
Of late not at all bad!
I have to agree with PSG’s line here, Richard, that the shift in position of both Warner and Oborne is because they are ‘simply describing the truth.’ That ‘truth’ has been evident to some of us – and as you rightly say, you and TJN and some others have been in the forefront of promoting those ideas, particularly in the blogsphere – for some while, but events of the last few weeks (News Corp, Debt and Euro crisis and now riots) have graphically illustrated that truth and the systemic rot (including the lack of courageous states and statesmen) that sits at its core.
What would be interesting to know is how many mandarins and advisors at No 11 and the Treasury, and at No 10 and the Cabinet Office read Warner’s and Oborne’s articles and also accepted this ‘truth’. And even if they did, would any of them have the balls to act on that?
I suspect not. Not at the moment anyway. For now they can continue to hide behind Osborne latest little ‘safe haven’ soundbite. And Cameron can fall back on his ‘pure criminality’ claim, and the ‘hang ’em and flog ’em’ backlash now gripping the country (not to mention his ‘blame the police’ line) to deflect attention from the real problem.
Meanwhile the truth is that the social contract that for generations maintained society in this country and elsewhere (e.g. the US) is almost dead. But still the agents of the feral economy and the puppet-masters of what nowadays passes for democratic government cannot stop their leaching – examples of which you almost daily report here. What Warner and Oborne have recognised is that we are rapidly reaching the point when resucitating that dying body is no longer possible. Unfortunely I suspect the parasitic elite are far too numerous and too fixed in their ways for even the Daily Telegraph to make much of a difference. The undertaker awaits!
Ivan
I think you’re right
And yes – maybe I’m guilty of seeing it as too left / right
That’s what over exposure to the far right – rather than those who are reasonable even if I don’t always agree with them – does
Thanks for comment – wise words as usual
Richard
Very interesting that Oborne is using the meme “feral rich”, which is the terminology that yourself and NEF/Compass launched on the world only a couple of weeks ago. That choice of term is looking very resonant now as Britain focuses upon the consequences of “feral” behaviour.
If we can dawn raid & arrest a feral youth who has (say) looted £1k of goods and caused £10k worth of economic damage, so we should be able to raid the homes of any city operator who has looted £10m of the public’s money and caused £1billion worth of economic damage.
Hear hear.
Taking the point about Question Time, the BBC’s overall coverage has been puerile and exasperating. They just want to see things in black and white; such as getting Miliband to say that it is the cuts that have caused the riots, presumably to get the next headline on the news.
Watching Newsnight you can’t believe that this kind of tabloid attitude is representative of a supposedly intelligent programme late at night on BBC2. Gavin Essler interrupting a speaker who quoted Martin Luther King to make a 6th form debating point, is not conducive to serious analysis; thankfully the speaker carried on and treated the interruption with deserved contempt. And what on earth did they expect from getting a Kelvin McKenzie to discuss law and order?
I think you have hit the nail on the head though. What Oborne and Warner have written is what many of us have been thinking for sometime, which is far removed from what politicians think.
Although fairly compulsive viewing, I find Question Time infuriating unless it’s coming from Scotland or Wales – only then do you tend to get some kind of balanced discussion that touches on the left-wing of the spectrum.
Being a bit of a masochist, I often end up watching “The Week” afterwards, which is even worse. Having said that, Tariq Ali did about 5 minutes on it a few months ago and it was some of the most radical and eye-opening stuff I’ve seen on tv in years.
After doing a 2 minute monologue criticising Obama and the the corporate elite, they had him answering questions in the studio. Both Portillo and Abbot side-stepped the core of his comments, not daring to challenge anything he said, talking about a few unrelated and petty issues instead. It was inspiring for 5 minutes, but I’ve found watching most things on tv quite depressing ever since. I always stay up a few extra minutes for Paul Mason on Newsnight though…
If you had to choose between Bolshevism and Fascism, Richard, and there was no middle way, no intermediate ground to occupy and sustain yourself upon – and any move from the situation in the here and now took you inexorably down the path to one or the other – which way would you lean?
I ask this because, for me, the idea of the ruling class discussing the desirability of an attempt to clean itself up, smacks of the moralising of a Mussolini propaganda campaign. The hammer always comes down first on the poor, as now. The “one society” narrative is always used to justify the crimes of the rich, as you know very well. And that’s simply not a move to the left. “Moral Reformation” is their code for fascism – and what better a place from which to issue the call, than that illustrious newspaper?
The FT can be an excellent read & often gives the best, unbiased, explanation. It has some amusing commentators & one great one – Martin Wolfe who, TMM, is far & away the best economic thinker currently out there (sorry Richard !).
BUT the “How to Spend It” mag is poisonous & I’dve thought the FT could do much to restore its credibility by simply announcing that they will no longer be publishing it & accept it is utterly inappropriate.
It does seem odd that we bar people coming into the country to say things that might lead to trouble & hatred (usually Imams) but don’t do anything to stop people propagating slogans which are almost certain to lead to trouble & hatred like “because I’m worth it”, “I’m loving it”, etc
I’m not in the least offended, and entirely agree!
A readers comment from Peter Obourne’s piece –
“Thank you for the well written article. Sadly the same holds true for the United States.
The wealthy speak of having done enough for society by “creating jobs” – as though their businesses, and thus wealth, didn’t depend upon the creation of those jobs.
If the elite want to calculate everything in dollars and cents then so be it.
I believe it is time for nations to begin to charge businesses for access to their consumers. It is also time to charge businesses for the educational costs of every employee they hire. A direct surcharge for the stability provided by our police and military along with a trade surcharge for the cost of our navies keeping the seas free from pirates also seems to be called for.
Perhaps once we have attached monetary value to these services the elite will finally appreciate them and understand how much they benefit from being allowed to participate in our societies. Not likely, but possible.”
An interesting idea and it got me thinking… What about a Government ‘licence to trade’ issued to all companies who wished to do business, from the humblest corner shop to the largest multi-national. The licence to be issued on the understanding that the enterprise must abide by the countries laws [including taxation] and the highest ethical and moral norm’s of civil society. The licence to be revoked on serious breach…perhaps judgement made by a citizens jury. I suppose what I am after is the state taking ownership of who should be allowed to trade in our market. We have spent too long pandering to ‘big plc’ , doffing caps and issuing knighthoods to dodgy practices. The corner shop who persistently sells alcohol to 14 year old’s should loose his licence to trade. So too should telephone companies who avoid/evade tax, clothing retailers who use highly questionable techniques to move money off shore and banks who miss sell insurance.
P.S. Can we have your new book on kindle ….. pretty please!
The book will be on kindle if I have my way
Definitely
Re licence to trade – wholeheartedly approve