7. PM had to arrange for someone to take a fall.
8. This was simply electioneering clicking into gear.
9. This was a decoy. The plug would be pulled later.
10. The pressure of the election was getting to the PM.
Wishbone returned and this brought a halt to the paranoid search for an explanation. They had however, unknowingly hit on the reason. The PM resumed, “Please finesse this a little more in terms of suggested principles for central and local boundaries. This doesn’t have to be item specific. Deal in those principles, but connect the dots.”
Richardson and De Vere were suffering political whiteout, and felt more improbable than the famous caped crusader and his sidekick. They were ushered out of the PM’s office like two victims of a hustle. They hurriedly agreed to spend more time looking for an explanation, and only then tackle the PM’s actual request. They did however take it seriously enough to desire contact with the Owl. This in itself would be difficult as a duo, because of Tarquin’s previous unscrupulous spying. A solo session for IR was needed, at Tarquin’s suggestion.
***
The Holo-matrix was engaged and Richardson was impatient to air the web of intrigue with someone offering more neutrality and more distance from the actual conversation than Tarquin. After a couple of hours of busy signal, Enoch came through to him.
“At last,” sighed IR, “you must be more popular than ever.”
“It’s Otto again. He is going to throw himself off a cliff in a gesture of unswerving honour.”
“Oh,” said IR, “that bad.”
“Yes, he has agreed to whitewash Mr Edicct of any involvement in the famous leak incident. He has to claim it was his unilateral decision to take ill-founded speculation to the baying hounds of Baskerville. In return, he has been offered zero future in the BNP, but a conditional allowance to see out his term in Redwood Paddock. His main conversation with me centres upon reviving trust from the citizens. I keep telling him he never had that trust, he was merely elected, and that he had to begin to earn their trust. He sees that now, but the citizens castigate him for his lack of engagement with them, and how badly his indiscretion with ‘leak-gate’ reflects on their community. He fails to grasp that policies on which you are elected may need shaping to a degree. It is all black or white, odd or even to him, nothing in between. I have terminated his log-in protocols now because he has to forget his own image and concentrate on encouraging demand for his time from the citizens themselves. Anyway, this means he will no longer be interested in sabotaging the stuff which you are promoting. How did your meeting go?”
“That’s why I’ve been trying to contact you.”
Chapter 46
It was not in Ruby’s DNA to admit anything, let alone damaging revelations of her unsavoury appetite for power. Her compliance with De Vere to conduct a witch-hunt for the mole was slightly compromised by her belief in two unshakeable principles. First, everyone in power recognised the practical requirement to be flexible when stakes are high. Second, she knew she was very good at wearing the mantle of plausibility. Knowing something is dangerous when you are wrong. It’s even more dangerous when you are facing, not a jury, but an adversary who is vastly superior with the aforementioned mantle. The evidence with which Rupert Neo-Altruist had been enlightened, had come from a party member of long-standing service and reputation, someone who was quite prepared to make this into a criminal investigation, if that became necessary.
Therefore, even if Ruby’s mole did come forward, she was in deep trouble. It was her decision, get hit with both allegations, or accept that the vote of no confidence meant she had to concede to a leadership contest. Stark as the choice was already, it was plunged further into metaphorical Seppuku when she received a call from De Vere. He had been forced, out of conscience, to pass all the details of their little arrangement to a trusted Shadow Cabinet officer. Any subsequent disclosure of this pact would become a sword of Damocles, to be triggered if the party as a whole seemed in danger of sustaining more damage than any individual, no matter how high their rank. This mess had to be turned into a cleansed image for the F.O.B. party. This unspecific rhetoric was backed up with a monologue of his undying love for the party, a love which he had carried over many years and still carried to this day, despite his almost enforced resignation at the hands her ladyship.
She didn’t have to be very astute to realise he no longer had anything to lose, and would certainly not be bluffing, whereas she was flirting with that same slippery slope. She also finally realised she’d been subject to a ‘sting’ by De Vere’s initial call to announce the witch-hunt for the mole, otherwise he would have been forced to reveal all. She had been sold an elaborate dummy, and it was now crystal clear that he was going to reveal everything anyway. It was all over, she threw herself at the mercy of the tide of a leadership contest.
No one could blame her, except herself, when after the vote, as ex-leader of the F.O.B. party she received a third call from Tarquin. In even more unspecific language, she was rewarded with comfort in the knowledge that there was no tape recording, and he had no close friends in the Shadow Cabinet, well not yet anyway. He finished by declaring his thanks to her for ensuring his personal sacrifice was at least not in vain.
***
At the end of Richardson’s briefing of Enoch, the Owl was just as devoid of an explanation of the PM’s calmness as the dynamic duo themselves. When IR ran through the list of possible reasons, the Owl didn’t react for some considerable time, then said, “Maybe the most important thing he said was to confine your re-division of accountability and authority to very basic principles at the outset. I tend to think he has decided to tackle this piecemeal, in order to avoid wrangling over specifics too early in the game. It would also stretch out the roadmap so that it wouldn’t fail just before the general election. Better to have a really forward-thinking manifesto than one full of shipwrecks. I do not however see this as the full strategy. There must be a glittering prize, at least in his mind, to offset the almost certain threat of internal division of his party at this time. The general election must figure in this prize. I will have to give this more consideration, but I see no real downside to giving him what he wants, and review each future stage before you commit to it.”
When IR ran this past Tarquin he received it philosophically and ventured, “At least we can continue to work together for a while longer, assuming we can give the PM stage one.”
“Yes,” agreed Richardson, “but let’s not rush at it, we might want to test out the real time frame he has in mind.”
***
Like any new broom, Rupert Neo-Altruist had ideas for the future, some for the election, some for the Cabinet, and some for rebranding the party itself. He accepted it had lost its way a little, and there was some urgency to deliver this appetite for change to the voters in a low key but relentless manner.
There was little time, fortunately, to have to protect manifesto proposals from detractors and hijackers alike. He needed to be the one stealing the thunder of others, trumping aces, and at the same time steadily detailing the party’s own creative policy, which was designed to appeal to majorities. Those which were contentious when overlaid with demographic analysis would be kept vague for as long as possible. His re-branding was to be based on restoring what we appear to have lost, as opposed to the ‘new’ F.O.B. with all its attendant potential to be more of the same. He commissioned wide-ranging constituency research, to separate the issues that would guarantee losing the election from those which may increase the chance of winning. He sensed this was not an election like any of the last three, it was very much one of applying brakes to the frightening acceleration of undesirable trends in the social landscape. There was real fear that boundaries which have been at the cornerstone of family life were creaking and collapsing under the burden of being all things to all citizens, from all countries, all of the time.
Although in principle this seemed to be a laudable policy, it had
been clamouring to be addressed for years. The pace had to be matched to the continual evaluation of the emerging consequences, not simply basking in the idealism of intent. It had been all too theoretical. The design of this research programme was crucial, if it was to banish scepticism, and to this end it would be both brief and forthright in subjects and pledges respectively. He already decided it would go much further than the current government in genocide of PC. He knew that despite Wishbone’s swift action, the F.O.B. party was much more genetically geared for this than their W.C. counterparts. This opportunity was not to be missed.
Chapter 47
Wishbone lay awake at night now. He had felt he knew what he had to do when Ruby was the main threat. Neo-Altruist was a different proposition. The ball park had changed. This served to intensify his thrust to place strong policies in front of the electorate. It hadn’t surprised Wishbone, that in re-shaping his Shadow Cabinet, Rupert Neo-Altruist hadn’t gone like for like with his own party. That had been Bickerstack’s way. Rupert had drafted in only a couple of new members, but crucially had promoted hungry, intelligent, like-minded disciples to the big-hitting posts. They weren’t sycophants, in fact quite outspoken on differences in detail, but absolutely on-board with what Neo-Altruist had deemed necessary. They also came across well in being prepared to subordinate personal views on such detail in order to subscribe to the restoration strategy. The new Chancellor was Gerald Latitude, a truly pragmatic falcon, whose ability to home in on targets, priorities and prey was highly impressive. Foreign Minister, Leonardo Porous-Borders was characterised by conviction that new life had to be breathed into a crusade to crush societal neglect. He insisted that such hands-off policy had toppled moral values, creating a monstrous, inverted iceberg. The rest of the cabinet didn’t need to wonder how big the problem was, and this Doberman’s bite made it irrelevant to worry about his bark. Sebastian Pifflereich, a ram who ascended to Shadow Homeland Security promised his allegiance, to exemplify his hillside farm talent of gaining footholds in seemingly impossible terrain.
One characteristic they all had in common would emerge as being instrumental in Rupert Neo-Altruist’s decision to appoint them.
***
Richardson and De Vere had come up with stage one suggestions.
Central Command:
Crime – Proposing and Changing Laws. New Sentence Recommendations.
Health - Uniform Minimum Standards of Care and Medication.
Education - Redefine Core Subjects. Single Language Transition. Opt out of Multi-Faith Choice.
Local Discretion:
Adherence/Challenge of Sentence Recommendations.
Best use of Budget for Optimum Care.
Budget Flexibility to meet Local Ethnic/Indigenous Needs.
Local Resources: Covered by the above for budget preparation. Authority to challenge/discuss PC doctrine at all levels of local benefit allocation/control.
The PM did not quibble with any of this, but stopped short of saying it was fine. IR and De Vere were thrown into further confusion.
“Do you wish us to modify any of this PM?” said IR.
“No, no it will suffice, but don’t proceed to detail as yet, I’ll give you the green light when I’m ready. Please leave a copy of these preliminary principles, and thank you both.”
***
This time both IR and Tarquin hailed the Owl together, and again Enoch did not betray any concern or otherwise at Wishbone’s response. He merely suggested that indeed there must be a bigger picture, and it could be either one they didn’t see or one they did not know of. Richardson decided to go back to Redwood Paddock, simply because the PM’s timeout gave him the opportunity.
Before he could reach the pub he was intercepted by first Enrico, then Sniffy, then Otto, then Mosey.
Enrico said he was sadly missed, and that this Otto fellow would ruin everything achieved under IR’s short but effective tenure.
“You must consider how to help us from your new position, if you can. The only citizens who now have any time for him are the villains, who were quite scared when you were here.” IR assured Enrico he would look into the Otto problem.
Sniffy tried to explain to him that the Otto mishap had been unfortunate, but it had forced Rupert Neo-Altruist’s hand in ‘taking the leap,’ and this was news. He hoped that Richardson understood. He also echoed the Owl’s assertion that Otto had been drumming up BNP support to derail his and Tarquin’s current mission. IR was not wholly convinced that the BNP philosophy would allow them to mount a serious campaign against something clearly in their own declared direction. He admitted to himself however, that he still had a lot to learn about what ‘appears to be,’ and his naïve way of viewing threats as simple replicas of the Wooden Horse of Ploy.
***
Otto fell over himself to apologise to him for everything under the sun. IR repeated Enoch’s advice that he should accept his fate. That should not prevent him from genuinely trying to convince the citizens by deeds, not words, of his eventual realisation of his responsibilities. The time for words was long gone.
“It isn’t easy Nostalgia, but there’s no other way. Protesting your regret only inflames the deeply felt distrust.”
Otto nodded vigorously and Richardson knew he hadn’t heard any of this. Enoch was right, so IR ‘switched him off.’
***
The encounter with Mosey was unusual. Barracuda, when brought up to date with all matters ‘Regional Secretary,’ energetically pleaded with him to stand back from his new position and view the entire landscape. “There are aeons, epochs and eras. There are millennia, centuries and decades. Sometimes they intersect. It’s my hypothesis, no more, that we’re about to see an era and a decade coincide with a resulting shift of attitudes of citizens and politicians. It could be compared to the tool and the grindstone. Depending on what the devices are made from, one or the other will wear more quickly. Alloying either of them with additional components can change that line of domination. Recognition of which alloys are needed to effect only as little change deemed necessary will be the name of the game, of one side, the other will be to unleash a major breakthrough, raising doubt as to whether the principle itself becomes invalid, and a new methodology can be born.”
Richardson was impressed, had no idea what he was talking about, but impressed. Mosey continued.
“I’ve taken the trouble to write it down for you to review. It should remain in analogy form in case it should inadvertently fall into the wrong hands. The point of it all is to alert you to the probability that you’ll need to delete the first two letters of your forename when considering the chances of your remit being erased before any final submission, to any party in power.”
IR did translate this wordplay and demanded, “Why?”
“It will become superfluous by its own recommendation. That’s not how it may seem now, but I feel it is inevitable. You should give this some serious thought. Consider giving a full proposal now, even though that is being portrayed as undesirable. Spend some time thinking about what you might want to do next, while you still have bargaining chips. I cannot advise returning to Redwood Paddock. The citizens would have you back in a flash, but it will never be the same, if I’m right.”
Mosey disappeared, leaving IR without his sea legs. He hurried back to the pub and found a queue. He went to Enrico’s to pass some time and imbibe a latte.
Again the Owl contacted him, but not before Richardson had replayed the Mosey conversation a couple of times over his coffee. He had concentrated on the prediction of his remit becoming redundant by its own recommendation. This is what he threw at the Owl.
Chapter 48
The campaigning was in full swing, overkill in the media, overhype in the constituencies, and overwhelming for the citizens. The polls weren’t in good agreement. The overall conclusion was that citizens were simply not predictable this time.
The BNP was confident, the F.O.B. party was gearing for one final push, and the W.C. party
was taking nothing for granted. The also-rans knew by this time that they were going to lose their deposits, again
Enoch had requested time to consider IR’s confusion, and he’d decided on exactly what advice he would offer. He sent a message to the budgerigar, suggesting he should make contact again in a couple of days.
Meanwhile, Richardson decided to test the PM’s mettle with an additional piece to supplement what Wishbone already had. It was in relation to crime - IR said he had omitted this accidently, and requested the PM to consider it as an addendum. It hinged on local councillors’ views that measuring and analysing clear-up rates of crimes was in itself counter-productive, if, as the evidence illustrated, there was no actual effect on those crimes being committed. It was simply a number without meaning, because it could only deal with crimes reported or discovered. It was an internal barometer, but didn’t address fear on the street, or the relationship between sentencing and those clear-up rates. In fact, when the clear-up rates showed positive trends but the fear was still spreading, the trust was further eroded and breakdown of belief was bound to follow.
The recommendation was to free Law Enforcement from targets to be published and met, concentrating on reporting and convicting, and using trend analysis to give suggestions on sentencing which would offer real deterrents, as opposed to the current reward for misdemeanours, as long as the perpetrators promised not to re-offend.
The PM immediately responded by saying this was too much too soon. He stressed that getting into this alley was ill-advised now that the final stages of the re-election campaign were in motion.
This convinced IR that Mosey could be correct, without understanding why. He duly contacted the Owl as requested. Enoch believed the bigger picture had to shed its disguise very soon, as polling day was fast approaching. Timing was everything. He didn’t provide any help on Mosey’s conjecture, except to say that it must be related to this big picture.
Out of a stubborn refusal to act without proof, Richardson declined to start contemplating another role. Surely, if Wishbone won through he was secure. If he didn’t then the only real alternatives were not so menacing, especially as his role was party neutral. The F.O.B. would follow the normal course of elected opposition, that of trying to benefit from policies they had tried to discredit while not in power. The BNP was so unfamiliar with power that, in the unlikely event that they did succeed, they would have to take time huffing and puffing before they blew the house down. What big picture would render these assumptions as erroneous?