It's the 1970s all over again

War with Iceland, a Labour government bankrupting the country, fear that a government may try and wriggle out of calling a general election. In 1978 it seemed possible enough for Tom Robinson to record "The Winter of '79" including the lines:

"It was us poor bastards took the chop
When the tubes gone up and the buses stopped
The top people still come out on top
The government never resigned"

Back in June I wondered whether we were looking at a re-run of the end of the 1970s:

"Are we heading for a repeat of the "Winter of Discontent"?... One of the great songs of 1979 was the Tom Robinson Band's "Winter of '79" with the key line "The government never resigned". This was a time when the left believed that the Labour government might declare martial law rather than let an election be called... Does anyone else believe that Gordon Brown might use the Civil Contingencies Act and other legislation to "postpone" a general election for reasons of internal security? Don't forget that Tony Blair trialled this move back in 2001."

Gordon Brown has already used anti-terrorism legislation, the Crime and Security Act 2001, Part 2, Article 4, to seize the UK assets of Icelands Landsbanki bank. This has been done because the act was so loosely worded that this action was allowed if the government

"reasonably believe" that "action to the detriment of the United Kingdom's economy (or part of it) has been or is likely to be taken by a person or persons, or action constituting a threat to the life or property of one or more nationals of the United Kingdom..."

Does anyone still believe that this and other legislation would not be used against the UK population by Gordon Brown's government if they felt able to do so? If Gordon Brown could say that he reasonably believe that a Conservative government would be of "detriment of the United Kingdom's economy" might he seize the assets of the Conservative party? How tightly worded is the Counter-Terrorism Bill that is about to get a reading in the House of Lords? How confident are you that it would not be used against people "hoarding" petrol or food or "indulging" in other activities deemed to be detrimental to the interests of the UK? Since Tony Blair declared the Labour party to be "the political wing of the British people", could Gordon Brown argue that anything that is against the interests of the Labour party is against the interests of the Country and so could be classified as terrorism? How confident are you that this could never happen?

"All you kids that just sit and whine
You should have been there back in '79
You say we're giving you a real hard time
You boys are really breaking my heart
Spurs beat Arsenal, what a game
The blood was running in the drains
Intercity took the trains
And really took the place apart
That was the year Nan Harris died
And Charlie Jones committed suicide
The world we knew busted open wide
In the winter of '79

I'd been working on and off
A pint of beer was still ten bob
My brand new Bonneville got ripped off
I more or less give up trying
They stopped the Social in the spring
And quite a few communists got run in
And National Service come back in
In the winter of '79
When Marco's caff went up in flames
The Vambo boys took the blame
The SAS come and took our names
In the winter of '79

It was us poor bastards took the chop
When the tubes gone up and the buses stopped
The top people still come out on top
The government never resigned
The Carib Club got petrol bombed
The National Front was getting awful strong
They done in Dave and Dagenham Ron
In the winter of '79
When all the gay geezers got put inside
And coloured kids was getting crucified
A few fought back and a few folks died
In the winter of '79

Yes a few of us fought
And a few of us died
In the winter of '79"