Given the revelations that we have seen so far, the tumbrils remain curiously empty. Their mentality, secured by the Westminster bubble, is found wanting. Although the damage and continually stressful atmosphere, caused by the 'drip drip' feed of scandal, is a cause of complaint, the parties have not clarified who stays and who goes.
The first party that engages in a wholesale purge of the most egregious elements will obtain win the race to appear clean in the public's eyes. Anger and apathy are interleaved in the latest polls, as voters, turned off by a political class, opt for the fringe, the anti-political stance or staying away entirely. Curiously, the lower the turnout, the better for Labour. The incumbent party also benefits, in the short-term, from scandals that obscure its economic disaster.
We have heard that this counts as a very British revolution since the resignation of Speaker Martin. We know that the scandal engulfing the political class provides an opportunity in the medium term to demand reform of Parliament. Reform takes different forms for different people: Labour opt for proportional representation, in order to create a permanent progressive front, allying with the Liberal Democrats and ensuring their dominance for another thirteen years; the Liberal Democrats opt for the same, on the grounds that they will be kingmakers; and the Tories enjoy fervent creativity on remodelling Parliament and bringing back democratic accountability at both local and national level.
We know that the course of constitutional reform and civic nationalism, charted by the progressives from the late nineteen-eighties, is designed to perpetuate the dominance of party politics and a centre-left coalition. Political calculation utilises the power of accurate representation to reduce democratc choice and acountability. From Charter 88, we gained New Labour. This is not the road to reform.
Therefore, until we obtain a new Parliament and a new government, tinkering with the reform agenda beyond expenses, could be used as a blind by Brown to take changes that would prevent 'chaos' in government, his new codeword for a Tory government. With the rhetoric of apocalypse, he tills creative soil for extra-constitutional action.