British democracy has lost its meaning. The political and economic system has come to serve the interests of a tiny elite, vastly wealthier than the run of the population, operating through corporate control. The state itself exists to serve the interests of these corporations, guided by a political class largely devoid of ideological belief and preoccupied with building their own careers and securing their own finances.
Thoughtland met Craig Murray at the excellent public event organised by the Scottish Independence Convention in Glasgow a few days ago. His high-profile resignation as Ambassador to Uzbekistan in 2004, accusing the UK government of collusion (along with the CIA) in torture to extract intelligence from 'war on terror' suspects. A "character", as they'd say in the Central Belt - but his blog is a clearly written and extremely well-informed overview of the depradations of the British diplomatic state, from a man who would like an independent Scotland to do a hell of a lot better.