Tuesday's Festival

Last night we went to another debate, this time between Michael Gove MP and Hywel Williams on who really runs Britain. Mr Williams thinks that it's the City:

He depicts the political elite, now more centralised than ever before in the House of Commons. He shows how governments and parliamentary parties all embrace the interests of finance capital. He also examines the professional elites, especially business consultants, IT firms, university vice-chancellors and City lawyers.

But the core of this book, as of the ruling class, is the financial and business elite. Williams shows us "the core competence of the City of London: reckless gambling on the one hand and well-spoken, beautifully suited, sharp practice on the other." He notes, "The rest of London - indeed the rest of Britain - could disappear tomorrow and the City would carry on functioning quite happily."

Mr Williams - a Marxist - said that he would prefer to see a more competitive form of capitalism. Yes, and the way to get that is to limit the state to the protection of property rights and the upholding of the rule of law. What's unfair about the elites is not their wealth but their close connections with the state. Abolish most of the state's functions and there would be no advantage to be gained from getting close to politicians. And the country wouldn't be so centralised on London.

I was pleased to hear Mr Gove discuss the impact of blogs in exposing the links between the elites and the state. I was even more pleased when he told me that he was a reader of this blog!