China, the Remembrancer and the Continued Wasting of the British Economy
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- Published on Tuesday, 24 November 2015 22:15
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1189 .... November 25, 2015
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China, the Remembrancer and the Continued Wasting of the British Economy
Jeffrey Henderson
At first glance it seems an almost inexplicable paradox: probably the most right wing British government since 1945 inviting, against the advice of the security services, the military and the U.S. Government, companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party -- and in one case the Chinese military -- into the heart of our strategically vital energy infrastructure. But explain the paradox we must, and to do so we need to foreground the other major deal that was struck during President Xi's visit to Britain a couple of weeks ago: the inter-penetration of British and Chinese financial services.
There would seem to be no possible connection between Chinese companies building and operating... nuclear power stations in 2020s Britain and a 1571 agreement that allows a representative of the City of London Corporation (the ‘Remembrancer’) to attend and monitor debates in the House of Commons. But in Britain we have a semi-feudal state whose governments in recent centuries have consistently privileged financial speculation over all other economic activities. When considering economic and budgetary policy, the Remembrancer conveniently has been at hand to ensure that our elected representatives remember that whatever other interests they might serve, the interests of financial services need to be paramount. The near-invisible hand of the Remembrancer (and the interests he symbolizes) seems to have been at work ensuring that our infrastructure is opened-up to Chinese state-owned companies.
