Not, I suspect, they ever stopped. The 'they' in regard to this particular question is the British Government. The colour of the administration has changed from Tory blue to Labour red, but it is becoming manifestly clear that ministerial habits haven't altered.
A cornerstone of Labour's election platform last year was human rights. Tony Blair's 'new' Labour wasn't going to deal with tyrants and abusers. No Sir, no way. The warning went out to dictatorial regimes around the world: It won't be business as usual with us! Very populist and a guaranteed vote getter. How much this highly moral position helped in Labour's landslide over John Major's Conservative Party is arguable, but contribute it certainly did. Let's face it, there are still those among us who actually believe politicians. I know the idea sounds absurd, but however improbable, conventional wisdom suggests that it is true.
No one was surprised, however, when it was announced that a special exemption was being made in connection with the sale of Hawk fighter jets to Indonesia. The exemption was extended to include about a hundred tanks, too. Of course, business will win out over human rights any day of the week - only a fool would expect otherwise.
Another cornerstone - and Labour managed to create a lot of corners - was the fight against official sleaze. We're not talking about Conservative MPs dressing up in lace underwear and getting themselves into all sorts of embarrassing situations, including dead. The instances of sleaze that upset the great British public the most were accusations of MPs taking kick-backs and of lying. The Brits are a fairly liberal sort of people, so, if forced to choose between ministers dressing in tou-tou's; making a bit of cash on the side; and lying - they'd come down pretty heavy on lying.
But just so our US readers don't feel left out and think this piece is all about the Brits, I feel compelled to point out that there are all sorts of lies. I was reminded the other day of a famous quotation. Ronald Reagan: "A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and the evidence tells me it is not."
Another classic, though I admit I may not have it quite verbatim. Dan Quayle: "Pollution isn't what is harming the environment. It is all that factory smoke and particles in the air that is causing the problem." Okay, so that's not strictly speaking a 'lie' as we have come to determine the opposite of truth. It was just plain dumb. But then, we are talking Dan Quayle, so maybe it was a cleverly disguised lie. Or maybe not. Whatever.
Anyway, I digress. It has just come to light that top British officials held clandestine talks with a military consulting firm shortly before it breached an international ban on weapons supplies to Sierra Leone. Where? It's in West Africa, folks. Hey, don't switch off, I know Kofi Annan says we're all bored with Africa, and Africans killing other Africans, but that's not the story.
The company shipped 21 tonnes of guns and ammunition to anti-government forces, and even helped train their troops. All, apparently, with Labour Government approval. Unfortunately for Tony Blair and his "new liberal labourites' Sierre Leone was subject to a United Nations arms embargo. An embargo, as it happens, that Britain was supposed to be upholding. Ergo, the whole deal was illegal. So much for the moral rectitude of Her Majesty's Government! Sleaze-bags.
Labour was super-quick (well, after it became public) to accuse the Conservatives of sleaze when they broke UN embargoes and sold weapons and other war materiel to Iraq (and anyone else who had the cash). It'll be such fun to see them squirm their little pseudo liberal butts out of this one. The argument they will eventually table is quite obvious. The weapons went to supporters of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah who had been ousted in a coup. With clandestine HMG support, Kabbah got his job back. I can't wait to see the Foreign Ministry claim that they lied and broke the law for what they believed was a just and honourable cause! But, they will implore a gullible public, it was the first and only time they have done it. It will never, never happen again. Honest.
At the time of last year's election one pundit noted that there really wasn't much to choose between the policies of Labour and Conservative. The deciding factor, the pundit argued, would be Labour's clean image as opposed to the somewhat tarnished image of the Tories. The pundit was right - and after a year of New Labour, it appears he is still right. There is nothing to choose between the two. I wonder how voters will tell the difference in upcoming local government elections?
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