Power corrupts

Politics is all about power and the use of power. We elect politicians to fulfil a set of promises (aka their manifesto) in order to make our lives better or sort out a set of issues that's currently making our lives less pleasant. Or that was the theory anyway. I know we've always had corrupt politicians, occasionally they've been outed and dealt with, sometimes by political pressure from their parties, oft times enough by public outrage forcing the hand of the political parties. Yet I've noticed recently that the stench of corruption has become that much greater in this current government (including the government in opposition) and it seems to be tied to a lack of conviction politics coupled with a lack of vision for the country as a whole. By this I mean a positive vision, it's become ever more apparent that Gordon Browns vision encompasses Gordon Brown, his leadership cabal, the Labour Party/anything anti the Tory party, Scotland and the UK in pretty much that order. Cameron seems equally to be surrounding himself with people that think his way as well as parachuting like minded and obliged candidates into safe seats in a sort of Romanesque patron client system.
Yet it all boils down to the same, politicians are increasingly putting themselves and their parties first and no longer seem to have the best interests of the public at heart but rather hold their own masters in the EU and elsewhere's interests first and foremost.

Yet all governments suffer a recurring problem in that power attracts pathological personalities. It isn't that power corrupts, but that power is a magnet to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on political power, a condition to which they become addicted and this has never been so apparent in UK politics over the last 13 years, though I suppose some would point to Thatcher as at least a catalyst for the current rogue crop of corrupt/corruptible politicians. Yet what we have is a situation where politicians will hold onto power and influence way beyond the bounds of decency and good taste, even returning to said power after the heat dies down (Yes I'm looking at you Mandelson and Blunkett).

What this situation eventually leads to is reform, either internally (best way) or by revolutionary means, complete with the hijacking of the revolution by extremists, usually of the left and usually leading to oppressive dictatorships in the name of the people but not remotely connected to them.

So, where will the UK be in say 5 years time if the current leaders (and their successors) follow the paths to EU serfdom and/or the deliberate destruction and dismemberment of England? I suspect support for the BNP and UKIP will rise to the extent of threatening the status quo in UK politics and some excuse will be found to crack down on them, there's already a civil contingencies act in place to do this. We'll be further burdened down by an intrusive authoritarian state interfering in areas of our lives it really has no business being in. Political dissent will become increasingly harder to do, bloggers will probably be open to libel actions by the states secretive paymasters all in all we'll be heading towards revolution as dissent is crushed and people see the iron fist beneath the velvet glove.

The winners will probably be the extremists, though they'll just sow the seeds of the next revolution.