Cash for Cameron: Eat, drink and be lobbied

[marmar]

from the Independent UK:



As I read the news that Prime Minister David Cameron was allegedly available for dinner with donors in return for large sums of money, an affair snappily hashtagged on Twitter as cashforcameron, I did so with a curious absence of shock. I write “curious” since the news was being described as though it should drop every reader’s jaw; but I am struggling to think of a less startling revelation than this. It is a thoroughly unscandalous scandal.

Perhaps my lack of shock had something to do with where I was when this story first broke. I was in New York, a city which feels like that best friend you don’t see often enough. I spoke there with some people who had driven up from Washington D.C. for the weekend, who spoke matter-of-factly about the huge role played by Beltway lobbyists in the shaping of Government policy.

Maybe it was this context that caused me to shrug my shoulders when I saw #cashforcameron. I don’t know. What I do know is that I find it very hard to believe that there are many, if any politicians genuinely shocked by allegations that a Prime Minister would sell his time to wealthy bidders. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/03/26/cash-for-cameron-eat-drink-and-be-lobbied/