Labour is calling for juries to be cut from 12 members to seven, to stem the "gravest crisis" in the justice system since World War Two.
Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said action was needed to clear the backlog of thousands of cases.
He argued that smaller juries and the use of more temporary courts would allow socially distanced trials.
It is the wartime imagery which is being promoted here. The let's roll up our sleeves and get on with it imagery. We are familiar with martial language and references to war whenever political activists call for mass mobilisation in pursuit of a favoured cause. It is part of our political culture.
The war on drugs, social justice warriors, climate warriors, the war on poverty and now we are fighting a virus with many of the tools of totalitarian politics, particularly the language. We are all in it together as they say - again.
The UK government response to the coronavirus outbreak has obviously been totalitarian. No significant freedom of choice relating to the virus has been left to the individual. The whole debacle has been managed in great detail by government and its chosen experts. Much like wartime.
It is all medically necessary or not – make your choice but it is a good idea to remember the politics. Either way, the totalitarian ratchet has advanced quite a few notches and there is no reason to assume it will ever go back.
Not only that, but coercion towards healthy living has been a theme of totalitarian regimes for many decades. Lessons learned during the coronavirus debacle are unlikely to be shelved merely because of uncomfortable historical similarities with other totalitarian regimes. In any event, the similarities will be denied.
Yet in Mussolini’s Italy –
By 1925, the Fascist government had "embarked upon an elaborate program" that included food supplementary assistance, infant care, maternity assistance, general healthcare, wage supplements, paid vacations, unemployment benefits, illness insurance, occupational disease insurance, general family assistance, public housing and old age and disability insurance.
This comparison is definitely not intended to lump the UK government with any fascist governments of the past. We have moved on from that thank goodness, but moved on to what? A kinder totalitarian ethos?
Perhaps we have, so it is worth pointing out how similar one version of comprehensive state provision is to other, less cuddly versions in the past. It is worth recalling how similar the political rationales and the martial language are if we compare then and now. A single, materially benign political ethos run by an elite with expert guidance. Who could quarrel with that? Not that there was any opportunity to quarrel with it in the past. How about now?
Forewarned is forearmed as the saying goes and it is perhaps unwise to obscure important historical similarities by placing too much reliance on the totalitarian ratchet going into reverse. Too many people like it as it is. 1925 is not so far away when it comes to human nature.
The UK government response to the coronavirus outbreak has obviously been totalitarian. No significant freedom of choice relating to the virus has been left to the individual. The whole debacle has been managed in great detail by government and its chosen experts. Much like wartime.
It is all medically necessary or not – make your choice but it is a good idea to remember the politics. Either way, the totalitarian ratchet has advanced quite a few notches and there is no reason to assume it will ever go back.
Not only that, but coercion towards healthy living has been a theme of totalitarian regimes for many decades. Lessons learned during the coronavirus debacle are unlikely to be shelved merely because of uncomfortable historical similarities with other totalitarian regimes. In any event, the similarities will be denied.
Yet in Mussolini’s Italy –
By 1925, the Fascist government had "embarked upon an elaborate program" that included food supplementary assistance, infant care, maternity assistance, general healthcare, wage supplements, paid vacations, unemployment benefits, illness insurance, occupational disease insurance, general family assistance, public housing and old age and disability insurance.
This comparison is definitely not intended to lump the UK government with any fascist governments of the past. We have moved on from that thank goodness, but moved on to what? A kinder totalitarian ethos?
Perhaps we have, so it is worth pointing out how similar one version of comprehensive state provision is to other, less cuddly versions in the past. It is worth recalling how similar the political rationales and the martial language are if we compare then and now. A single, materially benign political ethos run by an elite with expert guidance. Who could quarrel with that? Not that there was any opportunity to quarrel with it in the past. How about now?
Forewarned is forearmed as the saying goes and it is perhaps unwise to obscure important historical similarities by placing too much reliance on the totalitarian ratchet going into reverse. Too many people like it as it is. 1925 is not so far away when it comes to human nature.
3 comments:
We'll know that fascism has arrived when the trains run on time. What's interesting about that is the fact that Lammy is a great cheerleader for that sort of efficiency, but is completely clueless when it comes to achieving it.
Therein might lie our salvation.
They don't like juries for the simple reason that twelve people with common sense can undermine bad law. Can't be having that, now, can we?
As for Lammy, if the man had half a brain, he would be dangerous.
Sam - he'd never get the trains to run on time - he'd always see the problems as political and probably racially motivated.
Longrider - yes, in spite of Lammy's career achievements he comes across as dim.
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