Elites, cronyism, and nepotism - it's all relative(!)

Excellent article from Joyce McMillan a couple of weeks ago in which, in the wake of the nature of the News International/police/political nexus unearthed by the phone hacking scandal, she cites a Reuters article entitled "Is Britain More Corrupt Than It Thinks?" that:

...painted an all-too-recognisable picture of a nation that has become subject to what it calls "elite capture" by a group of wealthy and privileged people - across government, business, the media - who collude with one another to run public policy in their own interest, and to create an ever-growing gap between rich and poor; while the voices of ordinary people increasingly go unheard.

The point about this kind of corruption, though, is that it can be difficult to trace; partly because it operates not through the direct bribery of public officials that is often criticised in developing countries, but through networks of kinship and "friendship" at the highest level of our society.

Of course, defining elites and related concepts such as power, wealth and social status is a subjective process. Thus in this blogpost I suggested that Joyce McMillan was part of the elite herself in that in another of her recent Scotsman articles she bemoaned the effect of liberal economics and the detriment of this kind of thinking to ideas like maternity leave, while treating as unproblematic the issue of mass immigration and the detrimental economic consequences this could have on those further down the food chain who couldn't even begin to consider the kind of pre- and postnatal 'career gap' that others further up the social and income hierarchy would consider a basic entitlement.

By the same token, a riposte to Joyce McMillan's first article appears in the Scottish Review this week. In an equally compelling piece Kenneth Roy critiques her suggestion that "in Scotland, some will see independence as the obvious answer; and it might indeed provide us, north of the Border, with a kind of fresh start", thus enabling us to "regain our political and democratic sovereignty, re-establish the impartiality of our law enforcement systems, and reduce corrosive inequalities in our society."

But Kenneth Roy suggests that Joyce McMillan is herself part of Scotland's upper echelons, indeed "at the highest end of the Scottish elite", citing the role of the good Professor and others in the Independent Commission on devolution and as part of a subsequent group of "11 eminent Scots" established to advise on the workings of the Scottish Parliament. He says: "The names of the eminent are to be found in the service of body after body."[...] "Elite capture? You got it. Or rather we got it."

And he adds: If [Joyce McMillan] does not consider herself a leading player in the Scottish elite, she is not in full possession of the facts – about herself."

Moreover, to that extent Mr Roy claims Professor McMillan's suggestion that devolution or independence will herald a new start in Scotland is misplaced: "SR has devoted a lot of space in the last two years to pointing out the overlapping interests of the elite in Scottish public life, the scandalously small pool from which that elite is drawn, and the often unfortunate results."

And he concludes, after considering issues like the Herald's approach to the Purcell affair: "It is surprising that, in a piece headed 'The cosying up together has to end', Joyce McMillan could not spare even a sentence to deal with so outstanding an example of cosying up together in the supposedly purer atmosphere of Scotland."

Indeed, regular readers of this blog will be aware that it's this kind of thing that rationalises my scepticism towards devolution generally and independence in particular - what's the point of replacing one parcel of rogues in Westminster with another at Holyrood, albeit that the latter hasn't reached the egregious depths of the former. Yet. Of course, the Scottish Parliament is a relatively new institution and does not enjoy absolute power. And we all know what absolute power does...

For example, I know of one individual who in the last few years has exploited legal loopholes and local government administrative incompetence to profit to the extent of a six-figure sum for relatively little effort. And I've been aware of this kind of thing for a number of years and could well have made significant sums of money by the same route myself if so minded.

Instead, however, I've tried to draw the attention of the authorities to these matters through the normal processes - and without attempting to kick up a big stink about it - but to no avail. Thus try to do the right thing and the powers that be and those exploiting the situation are effectively laughing at you.

In a recent article Iain Macwhirter drew a comparison between the banking and phone hacking scandals, claiming: "But I make the comparison because a number of commentators have been saying that the hacking scandal is trivial compared with other grown up issues, like the debt crisis sweeping Europe right now. I don't think it is trivial because it is a product of the same complex of lax regulation, political hypocrisy and naked self-interest."

Indeed, but at least there's plenty of political and press interest in such matters, whereas in that regard the matters I refer to above are totally below the radar screen, despite also being the product of a lower level "complex of lax regulation, political hypocrisy and naked self-interest".

Thus play by the rules and some people like myself end up living in an virtual slum with no obvious way out, while others in a not dissimilar position are exploiting the same system to an extent which would change my life, while the powers that be stand idly by.

And who to complain to? Well I've tried a few official avenues, but perhaps it's the aforementioned collusion and corruption within the ruling elites that's the problem. For example, one council implicated in the above has a former senior councillor and former senior officials safely ensconced on bodies like Audit Scotland and the Standards Commission for Scotland, that scenario of course a product of the public sector revolving door taken to task by Kenneth Roy, and also recently slammed by that blogging Burd, who talks of the "culture of cronyism that exists in Scotland the clachan".

It's not just Scotland's elites that need sorting. There's a tartan Augean stables affecting all points in the food chain.

(Of course, what is considered the elite will depend on our position on whatever hierarchy is under examination. For example, Kenneth Roy clearly thinks that Joyce McMillan's weekly Scotsman column - where she "is now in the happy position of commenting weekly, sometimes more, on the administration of the new Scotland which she and her eminent colleagues helped to facilitate, for better or worse" - partly qualifies her as a member of the elite.

On the other hand, as the author of an obscure political blog I consider Kenneth Roy - as editor and 'columnist-in-chief' at the Scottish Review - to be part of the Scottish commentariat's elite as well!

By the same token, one contributor to Newsnet Scotland's comments section recently 'accused' me (and indeed Kenneth Roy) of being an "intellectual", which had me tickled, even despite the condemnatory tone of the claim, and the response of a subsequent poster who corrected this by saying that I was merely a "wannabee intellectual". Well I regard even the latter jibe as being complimentary, so keep them coming!)