Another voice
The case for a military coup
Auberon Waugh
One of Mr Murdoch's first worries at The Times must be what to do about Mr Peter Jay. For those who missed last Monday's newspaper I should explain that Jay's admiration for the defeated and humiliated former President Carter is fast becoming pathological. At very least, Mr Murdoch should send round some aspirins.
Jay picked four 'points' from the general flow of vapid platitudes which comprised the ex-President's valedictory address, describing them as 'four of the most deeply serious underlying issues threatening the future of democracy and the globe, at least for the remaining years of this century.' Here they are; 'First, he went to the heart of the real dilemmas of contemporary democracy' — that people are abandoning the party system for special interest groups.
'Secondly, he analysed with rare talents and wisdom the most sombre threat facing the globe: "The risk of nuclear conflagration has not lessened .
'Thirdly, he emphasised the interdependence and essential unity of mankind: "From that perspective [space] we see our earth as it really is— a small and fragile and beautiful blue globe, the only home we have .
'Fourthly, he made no apology for brandishing again the noblest banner of his presidency, the struggle for human rights: "The battle for human rights — at home and abroad is far from over Quickly, quickly with those aspirins. Mr Jay concludes that 'these are indeed, the true issues of humanity.' If he went to church more often, or listened to the sermons there, he would recognise these as the central platitudes of our time. Of course, there was very little else for Mr Carter to say under the circumstances, but that is not my point. To re-state them is merely to declare that you have nothing to say, no contribution to make to the debate, let alone to resolving the central problem of our time, which is how we can escape from the shadow of these mighty platitudes. This, then, is the problem which Mr Murdoch inherits, do not think we need take his promises on non-interference too seriously — in fact proprietorial control is enshrined in the last 'principle' of the agreement, whereby Times Newspapers Ltd (i.e, Mr Murdoch) will be responsible for fixing the annual editorial budget. The problem of Mr Jay is not just the problem of a journalist who has taken to public affairs. Mr Jay is one of the leaders of my generation — those now ambling up to their 45th birthdays and beginning, in some cases, to feel they should have a hand in running things. Not for nothing was he once described as the cleverest man in Britain. The problem of Mr Jay is the problem of the entire British intelligentsia; and The Times has a central role in directing the attention and shaping the attitudes of this British intelligentsia. (I do not think we need worry 'about the Sunday Times, which has surely sunk beyond redemption. The more tits and bums Mr Murdoch produces for its ghastly readership of upwardly mobile hairdressers, the happier everyone will be.) Let us look at Mr Jay's hero from a slightly different perspective. Mr Carter's election, long after the Aquarian Revolu tion, Hair!, and all the rest of it, marked the apotheosis of the political Wet. The fact that he was cunning and ambitious in his Wetness is neither here nor there. The trail of disasters he has left behind him — American world leadership discredited, an economy in ruins, four solid gains to the Soviet bloc, public expenditure out of control, and a nation bitterly humiliated in the eyes of the world — are the logical and inevitable consequences of political Wetness. Yet it is exactly this Wetness — except that he would probably call it political morality — which Mr Jay (who is certainly one of the most ambitious men, even if he isn't quite the cleverest man, in Britain) asks us to admire.
Mr Jay is not. I repeat, just another journalist sounding off. He is unquestion ably the voice of my generation, deferred to by The Times, the IBA, the diplomatic service, etc. I would run a mile rather than engage him in debate about how the country should be run. And the tragedy of our times is that the established intel ligentsia identifies Wetness not only with political maturity and morality but also with political wisdom.
Let us see where it has led us in Britain. Mr Prior's Yellow Paper — discussed last week marked the Government's refusal to engage the unions at their weakest moment.
This means that when the economy begins to pick up with pre-election 'reflation' in 20 months time, we shall be precisely where we started, There can be no question that our industry will ever be modernised or any of our problems solved until the unions are called to heel. and the Government has served notice that it has no such intention.
In fact the Yellow Paper marks an end to any hope that Mrs Thatcher's Government would offer the means of recovery from the eventual closedown of most manufacturing industry. She is destroying the economy to no purpose.
The alternative government, far from offering any prospect of recovery, must, after Wembley, offer the certainty of national bankruptcy. No doubt it is in the back of many people's minds that after six months of Benn/Moss Evans rule it may (most regrettably) be necessary to ask the military to intervene, but I suspect that the extraordinary insensitivity of the unions may have put paid to any such risk, If they had been content to settle for 33,33,33 at Wembley, most of the fools in England would have accepted it as fair enough. By arrogantly insisting on 40,30,30 they have identified Labour government with union rule in\ the public mind, with the result that Labour may never again be elected. The notion that whoever pays a party's expenses should be able to dictate its leadership and policies would be a pleasing one in other circumstances, but it is so repugnant to generally accepted ideas of propriety that I fear Labour may have cooked its own goose.
Which leaves us with no alternative to the present administration which is leading us into the abyss while refusing us the one ladder out of it. Of course! am aware of the case against an immediate military coup: nobody is ready for it; most people are appalled by the idea, and some would oppose it; above all, nobody wants it, least of all the military, who do not welcome extra work at the best of times and probably have very little idea of what needs doing to beat the unions. So far as the actual mechanics of storming Westminster are concerned, I am a little vague myself, although Captain Jeremy Phipps (whom I have never met) of the SAS seems to have many of the right ideas for this sort of task.
It is still possible that the Government will change its mind, recognising that obstinacy is not the sovereign virtue in politics. I wonder if any members of the Cabinet noticed last week's announcement by the Brewers' Society that beer consumption fell by 1,000 million pints in 1980, and whisky was just as hard hit. So much for Mr Jenkin's lies about an 'epidemic of alcoholism'. If Mr Jenkin will stand up in the House of Commons and admit he made a mistake, while apologising to all the many lawabiding citizens and Conservative supporters whom he may have frightened by his wild fabrications, I, for one, will stop agitating to send the Paras in.
It may even be that Mr Murdoch's negotiations with the print unions will show that it is still possible to modernise British industry without such extreme measures. He seems the best choice among those available, although it occurs to me that when the honeymoon period of 'deals', solemn and binding pledges etc is over, print unions in Gray's Inn Road will be able to call out the News of the World and Sun to press their point\ of view. But if he does win through, he might address his great mind to this overpowering Wetness of Britain's intelligentsia. If the House of Commons were not so paralysingly Wet, it would refer the Wembley decision to its own Committee of Privileges and deal with it firmly there. Might the Thunderee, for once, not give the country a lead? On this occasion I am not sure that even aspirins will do the trick.
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