I was reading Private Eye today and the magazine had a good piece on the debate celebrating the bicentennial of the abolition of slavery. When the vote to abolish slavery was taken in the House of Commons in 1807 the House contained some 420 MPs who had shares in the South Sea Company, which profited from the slave trade. Yet the bulk of those MPs still voted to halt the traffic in slavery even though it would damage their own incomes.
Private Eye, of course, then asked if today’s Commons, which is even more laden with lobbyists and defenders of specific business interests all too keen to offer 'incentives' to 'helpful' friends, would ever vote with such force against something that would damage their own financial interests?
And you’d have to answer probably not…
It was nice to see my local MP Dawn Butler (Brent South) involved in the debate, though. Shame she still hasn’t replied to my letter asking her why she isn’t supporting the EDM (Early Day Motion) to reopen the SFO (Serious Fraud Office) investigation into the corrupt BAE Systems/Saudi arms deal.
But slavery is obviously bad and corrupt arms deals are obviously OK in the world of New Labour. Or are they? I may be doing Dawn Butler an injustice – but I don’t know because I’m still waiting her answer…
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