David Cameron and The Sun are now calling for a general election – presumably so Foxy can cash in his chips on this one before the rest of us find out that he can’t govern his way out of a paper bag. The Sun is also backing this campaign – but with Nick Clegg’s refusal to participate, how far can Cameron actually get with this crusade, particularly when “Moatgate” is named after one of his own backbencher’s profligate claims. The problem I see is two-fold: one, the Tories are as deep in the muck as Labour are and cannot run an election campaign without, presumably, some bright spark dressing up as a wisteria bush and running round after Not-so-fantastic Mr Fox. Two, the election when it comes will be fought on policy. For the last three and a half years Tories all over the place have been confidently predicting they will have their policies sorted “in a few months”. They will fall at the first hurdle – because they will have to release a blank manifesto to make sure Labour don’t steal their policies first and walk home with them. It’s a risky gamble, but it’s like going naked into the Houses of Parliament convinced you are dressed in a bright white suit. The cynicism of Foxy, which is mistaken by some people in the media for leadership, is breathtaking and thanks to Nick Clegg, this probably won’t find the momentum it needs before it is too late for everyone involved, not just some chancer who has forgotten he is listed in the Torygraph annals along with quite a number of his Shadow Cabinet colleagues plus a good number of backbenchers. He cannot escape scrutiny just because he is ahead in the polls – he is the pot calling the kettle black.
A reading would help here, wouldn’t it? One for Foxy, then one for the Sun’s own motivations in this. The first one won’t use reversals, but the second will.
PART 1 – VULPES VULPES
Situation – The Moon
A choice needs to be made that could determine your happiness for a long time ahead. You need to be guided by intuition and feelings when making this choice, but at the same time there is a real danger of delusion, of being misled by wishful thinking, or by someone whose judgement you trust. Times like this are true tests of character and your grasp on reality.
The Moon symbolises equivocation and going on gut feelings. The problem is, Foxy’s gut is informed not by what he genuinely feels but by the cooing of various courtiers and yes-men. I don’t think I have seen him really go too far into public since the day he had to leave an inner-London estate after someone swore at him live on Sky News, and I don’t think he has enough contact with the outer world to know how much the Tories are reviled too over this. No-one is going to vote Tory or Labour and his backbenchers and Shadow Cabinet are deep in the drink too – his own claims show a £680 blemish that his £3m-worth estate could and should have funded. It is someone caught with his hands in the sweet jar trying to foist the blame onto someone else and it is not going to solve anything merely to change the man at the top – if such an election would produce the result needed.
Consciousness – IX Wands
You enjoy well-earned success gained through honesty, hard work and intelligence. However, troubles are brewing on the horizon, and you are soon likely to be tested to the very limits of your patience and ability. Take the time now to cultivate key allies, and check too that your finances are robust enough to cope with unexpected demands.
The Nine of Wands is defensiveness in times of struggle rather than sure footing on the way into a powerful situation, and Foxy is possibly even afraid that his own position is called into question and trying to build a fence around himself while there is still time. With people in his own party spending public money on moats and paddocks, he is unlikely to find much sympathy outside parliament and the media, so he is seeking it inside the Westminster village, which (judging by the number of people queuing up to blame the Speaker for allowing them to spend £10,000 on mucking out the horses – mentioning no names, D. Davis) is also withholding support for this ruse to deflect the attention onto other people. Popular anger has gone beyond mere party politics, and playing with this fiery situation is pure defensiveness rather than going on the offensive with a clear conscience.
Subconscious – The Tower
Without warning the old order breaks down and chaos breaks loose. Upheaval, betrayal, and failure all threaten to shake your self-belief. This is a common card for people facing the challenges of mid-life, although love can create similar havoc at any age, as can politics, war and business. Such revolutions always lead to clearer understanding in the long term, however.
Foxy knows that this issue represents a challenge to his authority as much as it challenges Brown and his party. He needed to be seen to act – talk the talk – because he can’t actually act properly – walk the walk. This impresses some, but ultimately Cameron knows that there is destruction coming to him as well – that he can’t defend the indefensible in which he participated. If someone would take him to task over this, then there would be a bloodbath. Perhaps he is too afraid of this to do anything really constructive – like launch a comprehensive manifesto and talk about health, education, social security and all the other issues that the party has neglected in its trivial political skirmishes of late.
Obstacles – The Emperor
Reversed, the Emperor card can represent either difficulty with an outside authority or possibly indicate one’s own abuse of power. The reversed Emperor is a confused, immature bully. Look hard in the mirror before deciding to whom the card refers, because it is much easier to project these qualities onto others than to own up to them.
I fully admit that I hold Cameron in contempt and have done since he took office. I knew in my gut he would not have capacity to lead from a genuine position of being able to put forward a coherent, positive opposition, and would benefit from the stage of the electoral cycle that helped Labour in 1990-92. However this is him at his nadir – using a national issue that goes beyond partisan politics (at which I am prepared to admit he is fairly good) to manipulate public opinion in this dire and nauseating way. He confuses leadership with this cynical manipulation – and I feel in The Tower he knows it will backfire and wants to bring the House down with him, without facing up the idea that he is compromised himself and, in his own rules, he should be paying a lot of money back.
Overcoming these obstacles – III Wands
Success and recognition are yours for the taking. Therefore this is a good time for beginning new long-term enterprises, especially in the field of arts and crafts, although it may be some time before the financial rewards come to you. Meanwhile, simply enjoy exercising your talents and have faith that others will equally enjoy what you do.
The issue here is that Cameron enjoys his power too much and does not know how to act in the long-term interest of the country – he can’t cope with longer-term issues like what people really vote for. The Three is a decent card to overcome obstacles, but its transient, fiery nature does not construct any sort of lasting structure from which Foxy can govern, still less win at a national poll.
Outcome – Judgement
This card signifies the ending of one stage of life and beginning of another. It is a moment for reflection and self-judgement, measuring what you have achieved against the ideals that you were aiming for, because fresh opportunities to achieve them will arise. Armed with honest self-appraisal, you will be best poised to take advantage of them. Meanwhile, it pays to be generous in your judgement of others.
Judgement is that which is exerted upon you, whereas Justice you exert on others. Judgement means the reckoning Cameron needs – but possibly does not want – starting with Nick Clegg spurning what Foxy probably believed he would accept as a plausible means to boot out the government. Without this support it is seen as a narrow partisan move rather than an attempt to take the initiative. Clegg is not in this for personal gain, he is in this at least for the truth to come out. His people are tainted too – and he is loathe to support a pile of poo such as the current Conservative Party. So he’s out. Anyone else?
PART 2: THE SUN – WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHEN, HOW?
A similar spread to the above but done using reversals. All the cards came out reversed, which is unusual but should warn Cameron that support for this little attempt to manipulate and bully the system can go down as well as up.
Situation – Death, reversed
The reversed Death card is bad news, but rarely is its message catastrophic. It warns of lethargy, inertia and resistance to change, leading to exhaustion and standstill. Clinging too much to the past can lead to an inability to adapt to changing conditions. Beware of becoming a caricature of your old self.
The Sun believes it can manipulate this agenda to fulfil what it wants – but the public and other, wiser politicians (Clegg for one) are not fooled by this attempt to restore the Sun to the position of power-broker. At the last election, after it came out for Labour, the response from readers on the doorstep was to change to the Tory-supporting Daily Mail – this in working-class, inner-city Reading, Labour’s supposed heartland. If the paper believes it can manipulate public opinion and channel it into one partisan advantage, it is unwilling to face the real horror of public opinion it will unleash – and I don’t think it can cope with that.
Consciousness, or the image it believes it is projecting to its readership – Queen of Swords, reversed
The card represents bad luck through a treacherous, spiteful, malicious and bigoted person. They are skilled at manipulation and the subtleties of sarcasm. Beware of letting a person get too close.
Live by the sword, die by the sword. The destructive influence of the media in this country has opened up a pernicious and poisonous can of worms, but then other sectors are trying to pervert even this weapon in one direction when the public is poised to drive a bulldozer through the entire system. The Sun’s ability to pervert politics is what people are also cynical of, and if it pushes this too far it risks a shabby, deflated and incompetent government rather than one which can govern effectively on the real issues. It is acting in its own interests rather than in the genuine public interest and if it goes to an election at the moment it risks its own tip-for-the-top being decapitated for non-repayment of his gardening bills.
Attitude to the Conservatives – II Pentacles, reversed
Although there is a sense of unreality surrounding some current relationships, it is worth persevering – however, do watch out for ulterior motives in your partners. Get all agreements down in writing so that there can be no arguments later.
When you sup with the devil, use a long-handled spoon. The Sun is too close to one party to become the arbiter of any possible election, and it is not acting in the direction that the public actually want. It may be the driving force behind this, and it might be sincerely in support of Cameron’s own idea, but it cannot expect to change or arrest the will of the public or channel it into their pet potential government – this issue, uniquely in post-war history, goes beyond that cynical manipulation of voters. Cynical manipulation, after all, is how this came about in the first place.
Attitude to the Labour Party – Ace of Swords, reversed
The Ace of Swords represents danger, and the possible collapse of your dreams through arrogance and insensitivity. But it must be remembered that grim endings are needed before fresh beginnings. Plan for the long term.
The Sun needs to know that Labour are better prepared for government in general and at a general election the arena and issues are much different. Protest elections will not destroy the government – they will fragment and divide the opposition into squabbling independents who are unable to form a coherent alternative to Labour, who will no doubt simply deselect MPs deemed too toxic to continue and select new, fresher alternatives. It could be a pyrrhic victory for The Sun, and present the country with a government and a tattered remnant of an opposition which spells not only the end for Cameron but the end for The Sun as well.
Subconsciousness, or how the paper really believes the situation is – The Fool, reversed
This is an unlucky warning of imminent disaster unless the person it refers to pulls themselves together and starts acting responsibly. All the Fool’s worst qualities of fecklessness and lack of commitment are about to demand a heavy price. His confidence will prove hollow.
In the loss of the crucial backing of Nick Clegg, able to see through the manipulation of the cunning and sly Mr Fox, the Sun loses a crucial ally and the bipartisan plans it may have had to force Labour out. Clegg at least is acting in the national interest and has more to gain from a protest vote than he does from patronising Cameron’s little ruse. Thus the impact is lost – it is seen as a cynical move in favour of the Tories and it cannot gain the confidence of the electorate that, say, Clegg and Cameron did when they linked armed with Joanna Lumley, herself declaring for the Greens at this coming Euro-poll.
Obstacles – Queen of Cups, reversed
When reversed, the Queen shows her shadow side: arrogant, selfish, fickle, demanding, and unreasonable. As a lover she is both jealous and unfaithful, and she drains the energy and resources of everyone within her range.
The Sun’s obstacles are just that – this cynicism is apparent already in the number of MPs from all parties with their hands in the collective till, and this attempt to manipulate things in one party’s favour is likely to backfire against the backdrop of collective anger. It is a draining away of public support for one and an attempt to channel it in another’s favour – and yet the situation long ago went against the Tories as well, who are just as cruelly exposed as cheats and scroungers and, to boot, have much less reason to pick the public purse, since a lot of them are successful businessmen or wealthy in their own right. They cannot benefit from this without the public being blind. But the scales have fallen from all our eyes, and only those who are absolutely clean themselves can hope to challenge the system in general. And the leader of this snide campaign has a £680 claim for wisteria clearance owing to Her Majesty, never forget.
Overcoming obstacles – The Hermit, reversed
Reversed, the Hermit represents over-caution, enforced solitude, timidity and fear of the world and honestly interacting with others. His meditations are an indulgence and excuse for avoiding life, and he misses chances to help others with his knowledge through hesitation, clumsiness, and lack of empathy.
The Sun is too cowardly, in other words, to really open itself to the full flood of public opinion and give the people a genuine choice and say in their own affairs. It cannot overcome this properly – it may go back on its support for Cameron as people’s minds focus on the issues rather than the spin, for example – and it would not cope if it was eventually wrong; it would lose credibility and readership if it did get it wrong. As I have elucidated in prior posts regarding electoral fraud, my theory is that the media chooses and so much pressure is on the public to conform that, if they don’t, they find themselves manipulated and overruled by civil authorities rather than political parties. So The Sun is gambling that it might have to eat its words, and although such honesty is refreshing, it can also impose a dishonesty on our system that perpetuates rather than expunges the abuses of political life.
Outcome – IV Wands, reversed
Lack of co-operation from partners is likely to take the edge off life’s pleasures just now, but be patient and persevering. It is not a serious problem, just one that requires tact, diplomacy and a sense of your own worth.
The reaction of Nick Clegg has already done for the Sun’s campaign to be in any way cross-party. Clegg has seen the cunning cynicism of this a mile off, and has rejected advances to give Cameron and the Sun a cold shower. The Sun will not give up, but it risks inflaming rather than pacifying public opinion and has seriously undermined any attempts to clean this mess up and then allow people a free choice. The IV reversed is rocking the stability provided by the upright card, which is in any case as transient as the Wands always are. So it does not fill anyone with confidence and at a time where partisanship is toxic to all concerned, it just won’t wash with the electorate. Period.
