Since he was elected Tory MP for Tatton in 1983, he [Neil Hamilton] has rested the extreme Thatcherite right, constantly baiting true unionists, the unemployed and the dispossessed. He flaunts the sterile wit and pervasive arrogance of all the Thatcherite Young Turks who grew rich and famous at the expense of others in the Golden Years of Private Enterprise. Hamilton denies being paid £2,000 a time to ask questions, but he does not deny a sumptuous weekend in Paris at the expense of the ghastly old liar and cheat Fayed, the chairman of Harrods. Dinner each night for the MP and his wife cost the Harrods boss £232. How that figure must have delighted ‘scroungers’ in bed: breakfast accommodation so often mocked by Hamilton and his ilk.
The media have discovered something they call ‘parliamentary sleaze’. Yet this is one the most time honoured institutions of our mother of parliaments. Many and varied are the ways in which corporate power in capitalist society cuts down all semblance of representative democracy in parliaments and local councils, but the most obvious of them all is buying the representatives. If MPs are paid more by an ‘outside interest’ than by their constituents, then it follows that they will consider the interests of the corporation before those of their constituents. The MP for Loamshire (£31,000 a year) prefers to be the MP for Blue Blooded Merchant Bank plc (£50,000 a year and rising). Representation plays second fiddle to corporate public relations.
Before 1975 MPs didn’t even have to declare which firms paid them. The Poulson scandal of the late 1960s and 1970s revealed a clutch of MPs using questions, motions, dining rooms and debates to promote the interests of the corrupt architect. One MP had to resign, and the Register of Interests was set up. No-one took much notice of it, even during the 1980s as the number of consultancies, directorships and perks showered on MPs, almost all of them Tory, rose to obscene levels. One Tory MP was so bemused by the way in which his colleagues were growing rich that he actually advertised for a company to take him on as a consultant. The private dining rooms of the House of Commons – why are there private dining rooms there anyway? – became a huge commercial undertaking whereby corporations offered their customers the best food and drink, all consumed in an intoxicating atmosphere of democracy. How wonderful to drink a toast to the hierarchs of the Hanson Trust after a glamorous dinner in the ancient seat of parliament!
By the mid-1980s the buying of MPs had become a public and obvious scandal. No one noticed. On and on it went, with the blessing of both prime ministers. Thatcher and Major both used 10 Downing Street as another watering hole to pour booze down the gullets of generous donors to the Tory Party:
If parliament was indeed composed of representatives there should be no ‘outside interests’ whatsoever, MPs should, get their salary and not a penny more. Their perks and trips abroad should be ruthlessly wiped out, and their activities subjected to the most rigorous public scrutiny and disclosure. That is what the new House of Commons Privileges Committee should recommend. But since the committee consists of seven Tory MPs, all with business interests, sitting in secret, the chances of even the mildest restrictions on rampant sleaze are spectacularly low. Paul Foot, article November 1994, ‘Parliamentary Privilege’
In his 1987 book Corruption in British Politics 1895-1930 G R Searle notices how the natural tendency to corruption of the British political system in the 19th century under Liberals and Tories began to wane after 1918 with the advent of the labour movement and universal suffrage. This was because the power and thrust of Labour came not from above, from the big corporations or mega-rich individuals, but from below, from individuals hostile to great wealth, and from trade unions. The more democratic the trade unions, the less vulnerable they were to corruption. As long as Labour relied for its finance on its own constituent organisations, notably the unions, corruption was held at bay. Paul Foot, Corruption: Big Business
Neil Hamilton, perhaps the nastiest of all the extreme right- wingers who went to parliament in the 1980s, enjoyed a standard of life far beyond anything which could be bought with his parliamentary salary. He was apparently quite prepared to distribute ‘favours’ to people who would pay him (or set up an account at John Lewis for his wife) even when he was a minister.
When Hamilton was fingered, the government reacted exactly as it had done during the Scott inquiry. It concentrated not on rooting out the rotten apple but on protecting it. The importance of the leaked memo from Thatcherite whip David Willetts is that it shows how the Tory whips’ office works: ignoring the corruption and seeking to limit its exposure. The main reason for this approach is that there is not one rotten apple but a whole barrel of them. Paul Foot, article ‘Corruption: Members Declare An Unhealthy Interest’
On the other hand, almost the first act of the New Labour government was to erase from its programme one of the few outright commitments in it – to ban tobacco advertising. Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One motor racing billionaire, objected to the ban for the very good reason that by far the biggest beneficiary of tobacco advertising was Formula One motor racing. Ecclestone was a Tory. Why should such a brash tycoon have any influence on a Labour government? Answer – he had given £1 million to the Labour Party. A meeting was held in Downing Street and the outcome was obvious. It was plainly grotesque to continue with a policy that would damage so bountiful a benefactor. The policy was ‘revised’. Tobacco advertising on Formula One cars was permitted. Then someone accused the prime minister of corruption, so the Labour Party gave the money back to the millionaire. Its policy had changed for nothing. Paul Foot, article ‘Corruption: Dirty Business’
Enter one of Britain’s wealthiest tycoons: Bernie Ecclestone, the pint-sized ringmaster of Formula One. With Blair’s approval, Ecclestone had secretly given new Labour a £1,000,000 donation. Just before the election. So he needed no introduction one day in October 1997 when he went to ask the prime minister for a favour. Bernie Ecclestone had a big request: new Labour were about to ban tobacco advertising from all major sporting events. Ecclestone wanted Formula One exempted, and for a small guy he must have been pretty persuasive, because after just one meeting with the prime minister, Tony Blair asked his health minister to do a U-turn and exempt Formula One ... They tried to cover up the details of what had happened. Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain
Corruption is our protection. Corruption keeps us safe and warm ... Corruption is why we win. Syriana 2005 starring George Clooney & Matt Damon & Jeffrey Wright & William Hurt & Christopher Plummer & Amr Waked & Amanda Peet & Chris Cooper & Tim Blake Nelson & Mark Strong et al, director Stephen Gaghan, corporate bloke
Yes the system is corrupt but you wanted a guardian at the gate like me. House of Cards US s5e12: Chapter 64, Frank’s evidence, Netflix 2017
There is no systematic corruption in FIFA. This is nonsense. We are financially clean and clear. Sepp Blatter, Weltwoche Magazine
An obvious problem with our current financial system is that it rewards greed and corruption. Greed and corruption seem to be everywhere. Paul Grignon, Money as Debt III: Evolution Beyond Money, 2006
Bribery: it’s a trillion dollars a year. Now there is an international crackdown and a pivotal case. Frontline: Black Money PBS 2009
BAE aka British Aerospace is the world’s third largest arms manufacturer. ibid.
An $80 billion international arms deal: a fighter jet deal involving BAE, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. ibid.
In late 1977 Congress passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. ibid.
The first investigation in the United Kingdom of oversees bribery. ibid.
Prince Bandar brought a letter from his father Crown Prince Sultan threatening to cut off cooperation on terrorism. ibid.
Since this programme was first broadcast in the US in 2009 BAE has admitted in the US to false accounting and ... guilty to a breach of duty to keep accounting records, and agreed to pay £30m in respect of separate wrongdoings concerning Tanzania. ibid.
At the heart of this institutional self-preservation lies the monetary system. For it is money that provides that means for power and survival. Therefore, just as a poor person might be forced to steal in order to survive, it is a natural inclination to do whatever is needed to continue an institution’s profitability; this makes it inherently difficult for profit-based institutions to change, for it puts in jeopardy not only the survival of large groups of people, but also the coveted materialistic lifestyles associated with affluence and power, therefore the paralysing necessity to preserve an institution regardless of its social relevance is largely rooted in the need for money or profit. It is important to point out that regardless of the social system, whether fascist, socialist, capitalist or communist, the underlying mechanism is still money, labour and competition ... Monetarism is the true mechanism that guides the interests of all the countries on the planet ... People tend to just accept that as the Way It Is. Not seeing the inherent corrupt inhumanity of such an action. Because the fact is, whether it is dumping toxic waste, having a monopoly enterprise, or downsizing the workforce, the motive is the same – Profit. They are all different degrees of the same self-preserving mechanism which always puts the well-being of people second to monetary gain; therefore corruption is not some by-product of monetarism, it is the very foundation. Zeitgeist addendum, 2008
I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavour to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. Abraham Lincoln
Corruption dominates the ballot-box, the Legislatures, the Congress and touches even the ermine of the bench. The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes for a few, unprecedented in the history of mankind; and the possessors of these, in turn, despise the Republic and endanger liberty. National Platform of Populist Party 1892