Opinion: Be mindful of the true nature of government

By The Truth Reporter:

With so many issues flooding in this week, there was one that has barely crept onto the radar in all the confusion but I believe we should all be concerned at its implications.

Paul Golding returned from a visit to Russia in October last year and during his processing through inward passport control, he was asked to hand over his mobile phone and provide the code to access it. Mr Golding refused this request and has subsequently been charged with a terror offence. 

There are two competing positions in the debate on this. The first is that the government need to ascertain the level of threat that the UK faces and can only do this if they can obtain information and they have taken the powers to obtain this via the terrorism act. 

The converse view is that Mr Golding is being targeted by the British state machinery because they want his life to be made as difficult as possible and that disproportionate action has been used by the state to demand information from Mr Golding probably in the knowledge that he would refuse such a demand and then leave himself open to prosecution.

I do not want to dwell too long on this dialectic, nor do I wish to concentrate on the politics of Britain First, what I want to raise today is the significance of this situation in revealing the true power of the state. 

We are entering a phase when we are about to see underneath the veil of respectability that the government places over our world. Emergency powers to combat the COVID19 outbreak will see various things we take for granted withdrawn at the stroke of a pen.  Matt Hancock spoke today on the Andrew Marr show and seemed very reticent about going into any detail on what could happen if the outbreak spreads more widely, even when these measures have already been documented and are no secret. 

The wider lesson is that the state will do what it has to do to survive, Hancock let slip that the principle on which the government’s decision making is entirely based on a compromise between containing the spread of the virus and limiting the economic damage from limiting person to person contact – which at this time is the only proven method of containing the COVID19 spread. 

This position is no different from that of China’s which gives you an insight that the true nature of governments varies little – only the language and presentation differs between what are perceived to be liberal or authoritarian regimes. When things go wrong then the cold hard logic is exposed and you are suddenly confronted with the reality that your caring, compassionate and all powerful government is no longer interested in you if you are part of the problem. 

The NHS has already admitted that the old and infirm may not be able to receive the fullest care required if the number suffering from COVID19 becomes large and has also admitted they have algorithms which take into account variables such as age and socio-economic status in the allocation of the most active treatment leaving those who do not meet the criteria to receive basic palliative interventions only – left in the hands of God. 

We must remember that a government creates nothing. Governments levy taxes from productive economic activity and without that productive activity there is no government – it really is that simple. 

Sometimes in conversation, I make the flippant remark that all that differentiates us from cattle in the eyes of the government is that we do not have a plastic tag in our ears. The truth is that we don’t need a tag in our ear as we carry an electronic device around with us that contains our name, financial details, likes, loves, preferences and all our human foibles all neatly arranged and ready for download. 

Mr Golding has made two mistakes. His first was to assume the government is not capable of petulant and cynical misuse of their powers. His second was to commit his data to a device that is subject to seizure under those powers. It is irrelevant how secure your device is if the failure to give access to it is punishable under criminal law. 

My advice to all is to learn from Mr Golding’s mistakes and be mindful of the true nature of government, they are not your friends – regardless of what rosette they wear.