The times they are a changing

On the 5th June 1963, the Minister for war admitted to Parliament that he had lied to the House. In many ways, the story of John Profumo heralded in our current age. He differed from the current crop in his willingness to just tell the truth. He knew he had transgressed and faced the music. He spent the rest of his life as a volunteer cleaning the toilets at Toynbee Hall, a charity based in the East End. He also reserved the right to keep his counsel. He never again referred to or discussed the events which led to his political demise. The Tory party would not achieve lasting power again until the ascent of Thatcher in 1979. The Profumo affair was the final nail in the coffin for the doomed Government of Lord Home.

Twenty years later, the Thatcher Government appointed a new Chancellor. Like the current leader of the Opposition, Nigel Lawson was of Eastern European Jewish ancestry. He had succeeded the man who would ultimately serve the coup de grace to remove Thatcher. Lawson resigned because of his opposition to Thatcher's refusal to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism. Lawson was duly replaced by the man who would go on to replace Thatcher as PM, John Major.

In recent days, Lawson has seen his daughter dominate the headlines for most of the wrong reasons. Irrespective of the truth of the allegations levelled at his daughter, the saga of Charles Saachi, Nigella Lawson and their erstwhile employees is a salutory lesson in what happens to people when money ceases to have value. As our current age continues to be dominated by the ever increasing divide between the haves and the have nots, the recent law suit has reflected badly on all concerned. It will be interesting to see if Nigella Lawson seeks to resume her career as a high profile TV cook. In the current age, I would expect her to front it out and carry on regardless.

A lot has changed since the time of Profumo. The former Government Minister Denis Macshane was today sent to prison for doctoring his Parliamentary expenses. He did so long after the expenses scandal first hit and has now paid the price. It was interesting if not entirely surprising to observe that Harriet Harman had stood as his character reference. This is not a Party Political point. I just want to illustrate the palpable lack of decency and honour in our public servants. They are either all dishonest or just become immersed in a culture of dishonesty. I hesitate to suggest that the latter remains the most likely explanation.

Our current political system is on the brink of major change. People will only tolerate such arrogance for so long. The times are indeed a-changing. That song was penned by the mouth piece of the counter culture, Bob Dylan. Written within weeks of the departure of Profumo, the song warned about the impending reversal of the existing political elite. The last lines have an undeniable biblical overtone,"The order is rapidly fadin'/ And the first one now/ Will later be last/ For the times they are a changin'". 

I wish I could write lines like that. Our current political regime lies on the brink of collapse. Morally bankrupt, it stands on the brink of revolution. Revolution occurs when people have reached the limit of their tolerance. Denis Macshane will be released in three months but the system will be as corrupt as ever. It really doesn't matter who is in charge now because public trust has been eroded irreparably. 2014 promises to be a very interesting year.