Home page It is the summer recess so there can be no crisis Don't believe it! ... While Westminster politicians while away their summer recess, the world they return to at its end will be very different from the one they left. There has been an unexpected boost to public awareness on the degree to which the Conservative and Labour parties have misled the people of Britain on European Affairs to misdirect decisions on our future economic prospects, security and individual freedom into the hands of authorities who have no intention of defending them. This has arisen from an unexpected source, the Scottish Executive's National Conservation, launched last week. The predicament facing all British political parties is that the public is becoming more knowledgeable and direct relationships between the stalling on a referendum for a European treaty-come-constitution and the Government's own efforts in their almosy forgotten paper "The Governance of Britain" and the "National Conversation" have become more evident. The main point is that the Government has lost the initiative on this important matter. All of this is covered in an article entitled, "The Real Crisis is already here" at the British Strategic Review which was relaunched last week following two years without activity. We show the first of this article below and provide links; it available in pdf form also.: "During the first weeks of Gordon Brown's Premiership some tried to assess the relative success with which he handled his first crises. These included a botched attack at Glasgow Airport and serious flooding due to excessive rainfall in various parts of England. Both of these incidents did not really require crisis management on the part of Gordon Brown since there are agencies equipped to handle such events." But, the real crisis is already with us and few have noticed... "There is a real current crisis facing Gordon Brown which if he has noticed he has not yet acknowledged. It is however one of the most serious crises to have faced any British Prime Minister since the end of the Second World War. It is a crisis over which he has little control and which will test his true intent as a champion of the people. The crisis has three components which relate to external and internal pressures on our constitution and the need to redesign our governance." "The first item has been welling up for some time, thirty years to be exact, and is coming to a head now. This relates to yet a further potential step in the extension of European power as set out in a re-issue of the draft European Constitution in the form of a Treaty. Here the British government is attempting to push ahead without involving the people of Britain in the decision as to whether or not such changes should be accepted. The second is the increasing enthusiasm on the part of the people of Scotland to a discuss their own constitutional settlement as a result of Alex Salmond's launching the paper "Choosing Scotland's Future, A National Conversation", within which are proposed different options, including independence. Caught in between these two very different levels and aspects of constitution is the third component, the British Government's attempt at constitutional change set out in a now almost forgotten document, "The Governance of Britain", of July 2007." Where are the people? "If one sets these events on a scale of the degree to which the people of the country are involved it is notable that the last one to be launched has already gained an enthusiastic public interest and an increasingly spontateous involvement. This is the Scottish Executive's "Choosing Scotland's Future, A National Conversation", of August 2007. Although the three political parties, the Conservatives, the Labour party and the Liberal Democrats have attempted to organize their own "Convention" of unionists and seem to have refused to become involved in the public deliberations, it is the voluntary and spontaneous involvement of the people in the "National Conversation" which is gaining the initiative. Independent observers consider the public contributions to the Executive "conversation" website to reflect a higher than average standard of contribution and which is largely constructive and positive. It is probably a mistake to assume that this is all being driven by some minority of Scottish National Party enthusiasts since many of the contributions are from people who have become interested in the topic and are seeking answers to questions." ........ Links: BSR-British Strategic Review Article as HTML page: The Real Crisis is already here Article as a pdf format file.