As a result of the recent election are we now firmly back in an Establishment led society which will now reinforce the hold of the rich and powerful on society and create further inequality through a neo liberal approach to the free market allowing more wealth to be accumulated by the few?

I suggest that we are and that the ramifications of the Tory majority will be exactly that.

Does the Establishment even exist? I would suggest it does, although defining it and the demarcation of its boundaries is notoriously difficult.

So, what is the “Establishment”?

I define it as: –

The “Establishment” is a portal within which ultimate power exists and from which others are excluded access. It resides in the accumulation of wealth through select networks and the activities of its members’ are hidden from the scrutiny of the rest of us.

Evidence of this “activity” crosses the boundaries of politics, business, the media, law, the police (who are unwitting guardians of it), the Church, the Armed Services and many major institutions. Members of this select coterie are bound together by the most nebulous of societal factors but the overwhelming common denominator is wealth and the accumulation of it and protecting that activity from scrutiny.

One of the ordinary person’s direct challenges to this discrete power was the Human Rights Act through Europe. The Tories now intend to rid themselves of this piece of International legislation which may hold the establishment to account and even to rid us of the opportunity eventually to redress through Europe at all by hiding behind Europe constituting a threat to our national democracy and leaving it through the “will of the people” in a referendum.

I guess we all know instinctively the spin that will be placed through the media barrage leading up to the referendum on whether we should vote Yes or No to staying in Europe. The question of course is how well informed we will be at the point of voting.

Our democracy of course is a nonsense. Since time immemorial, From Lord Salisbury as Prime Minister questioning the opening of the voting franchise to the whole of society, the Establishment has only ever tried to maintain the balance of its power against the ordinary people feeling so angry as to resort to revolution and overthrow them.

25% of people voted for the current government-is that really democracy? Then we are fed the spin that this is the best way to achieve stable government. It is also the best way for a minority of people to maintain power over the majority and use legislation enacted by them to continue to help their cronies accumulate more power and wealth which they will have access to when they leave government or even whilst they are in government through “outside interests”. They will do this by boundary changes thus getting re-elected next time and also ensuring that the state continues to support businesses by subsidising wages in the form of benefits to workers and allowing workers to be a flexible and accessible commodity through zero hours contracts. Nice work if you can get it, so vote Tory.

If you voted Tory and in the future you cannot get a GP’s appointment, or the medicines for yours or a member of your family’s illness, or your operation which you need to prevent yourself dying in the near future is months away, or the council charge you to collect your rubbish, or you are unable to either rent or buy a house, or the police will not come to help you if you are a victim of crime or any of the things which you expect in a free and democratic country, then don’t complain, because that’s what you voted for and the rich and powerful who are being supported by the government you voted for have no need to worry about these things because they have the wealth to pay for them as individuals.

This is not the politics of envy but of justice and equality. My daughter sometime ago asked me “Can you be a rich Socialist”? And on closer discussion it was clear that she was struggling with the idea of being a socialist and owning a business or accumulating wealth.

My answer was “Yes, you can, if you build a business and create wealth which is shared with the people who create the wealth for you in the shape of a living wage, pensions, sick pay and you pay the taxes due, albeit less profit for yourself, then why not”?

The Monarchy is probably the biggest and most powerful member of the “Establishment” exercising subtle but provocative power over all of us. The Monarchy after the 17th century was meant to be nothing more than a ceremonial tradition of our unwritten constitution. Then why is Prince Charles, the future king, first of all, writing to various powerful figures in society to share his views on government policy and then being openly shielded by the very people he has written to, post the judicial decision to publish his “private” letters? Even his own son defended him and so clearly he doesn’t understand the role of Monarchy in today’s society and if they do not understand, that they are our public servants, should they continue?

If we do not question and challenge the “Establishment” how will we ever achieve justice and equality? Because they would have us believe that they have our best interest at heart. If you believe that, then don’t cry when it becomes untrue for you and there is no redress.