PUTTING THE POLITICAL BACK INTO ECONOMY

The apparent return of "Greek Riot Dog Kanellos" to the political scene co-incides with the latest crisis in that country's economy. With the conditions of Greece's earlier bailout proving too onerous, the European sovereign debt problem has come to the fore yet again and with it questions over the sustainability of the Euro. However, the Euro will survive, whatever the fate of the Greeks, because politics and economics are inextricably linked. Germany will continue to back the Euro, to which Chancellor Angela Merkel only yesterday ascribed the renaissance of her country's economy. In addition, the Euro has strong support amongst countries outside Europe such as Russia, who want a reserve currency alternative to the United States Dollar.

As a Eurosceptic nation, this wider significance of the Euro is not generally reflected in the British media. UK Sterling is, after all, the world's third largest reserve country, with the Euro in second place. There are many here no doubt who would like this situation reversed, and media coverage of the European political economy tends to reflect this. My observation, incidentally, is not intended to support the case for Britain joining the Euro, which I accept is unforeseeable at the present time. What I do want is much better and more balanced coverage of Eurozone issues over here. BBC Trust Chairman, Lord Patten please take note.

For if one is to believe its media, Britain is a nation increasingly obsessed with money, sex and, or so it seems, death, but rather less interested in religion, science and technology. Ideology, however, does not seem to register on the radar of the national psyche. This is a serious problem because politics and economics are not just about sex and money, and they are certainly not a science. Yet notwithstanding our apparent reluctance to recognise the role of ideologies, these nevertheless exert an imperceptible control on issues which the British regard as important, and thus need to be "outed" rather more than the dalliances of our politicians.

As I noted near the beginning of this blog in 2006, the international theatre director Peter Hall has observed that sex is used to divert attention away from politics in Britain. A new website called http://www.sexymp.co.uk/ reflects this very well. It has, therefore, occurred to me that a survey of the open ideological affiliations, as well as more covert sympathies, of Members of Parliament and the House of Lords is called for at the present time. Casting around for a potential sponsor for such a survey, august media institutions like the Financial Times and Economist Group spring to mind, but perhaps it is rather to some foreign media organisation that I should look.