Macavity wasn’t there when the conditions for the most recent crash in the stock exchange were put in place, or so we are lead to believe by Prime Minister Brown. I still have an image engraved in my memory of that day on the 20 October 1997 when Gordon Brown at the launch of the Stock Exchange Electronic Order Book placed his paws with his nails nibbled to quick, on a large button like the one you would see on the National Lottery, and immediately all of the screens behind him turned red. As he was facing the audience and had his back to the screens he was blissfully unaware of the reason behind the stockbrokers facing him in the audience, all simultaneously reaching for their mobiles. New Labour’s love in with the city is no new phenomena. For an insight of some of this history and the fascination of politicians left and right with practitioners of casino capitalism Robin Ramsay provides it in his little book at www.pocketessentials.co.uk/ctp/1903047838riseofnewlabour/index.php.

Politician’s fascination with city gents is only surpassed with their fascination for one another but Peter Mandelson has a great deal of previous when it comes to keeping dodgy and inconvenient facts from the public gaze. His secretive relationship with lobbyists as exposed by the European Ombudsman is a case in point where he conducts business as if at a beauty parade in the hope that they will not forget him for his helpfulness in case he has to resign yet again. For background try www.spinwatch.org.uk/-articles-by-category-mainmenu-8/70-british-politics/5181-gordons-problem-with-mandy

At times however one wonders what breeds people such as Mandelson who suffer such humiliations to get close to the rich. www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/olig-o25.shtml

 I am minded of a painting of a Glasgow tobacco lord John Glassford who had a black boy as a servant displayed in the background of his family portrait. Later when the ownership of a black boy no longer brought social kudos the black boy was painted out as will happen to Mandelson.

 Meanwhile is anyone thinking out there? Well yes there is and source that never fails produce a serious contribution to the debate is the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung with their take on the limits of privatisation www.rosalux.de/cms/fileadmin/rls_uploads/pdfs/pp-Candeias01_2008.pdf  .