A Weird Week in Politics

PM David Cameron was last spotted eating
a Cornish pasty two years ago.

Ooo – the spin doctors have been getting themselves in a twist this week here in Blighty.

I'll explain briefly for my non-UK readers.

First, Chancellor George Osborne cut the top rate of tax for the very, very wealthy. Since he himself, the prime minister and a lot of their friends fall into this bracket, it didn't look too good, while the rest of the country is experiencing "austerity measures".

Another result of the budget was a tax on hot take-away food. This rapidly turned into "pastygate" and resulted in the ridiculous spectacle of a load of politicians competing to see who could eat the most plebeian food. Sausage rolls or Cornish pasties (geddit).



Then (more on the theme of food) the Prime Minister David Cameron had to sack his top fundraiser for suggesting that a donation of £250,000 would buy you a "kitchen supper" with the PM and his lovely wife Samantha in their cosy flat at Number 10 Downing Street.

Then to deflect attention, the government brought up the issue of a potential strike by oil-tanker drivers, which might lead to a fuel shortage. This situation happened under Tony Blair's premiership and really shook that government. This is a classic spin-doctor's tactic. If there's a bad story, think up another one to distract the media.

The result was panic buying of petrol across the country.

Unfortunately, one minister suggested that we might all like to keep a "jerry-can" of petrol in the garage. The fire brigade stepped in to say that this might not be such a great idea.

Then figures came out to show that we're actually in recession, still.

Then the most maverick politician in the country, George Galloway, won a by-election by a massive landslide. He took an almost unbelievable 56% of the vote in Bradford West. This was one in the eye for Labour (currently the opposition to government), as it was supposed to be their safe seat. Galloway is probably the most charismatic political orator we have, but that's not the only reason he won. He won because he tapped in to the profound dissatisfaction that certain sectors of the country feel with the whole political system.  And it should be a wake up call to all the political parties. Chunks of the electorate feel completely alienated.

Then, a lady gave herself 40% burns while transferring petrol between containers in her kitchen.

And the truck drivers said they had no intention of striking anyway.

Enough said. What was happening to the UK chart, you ask.

Pluto is on the IC at 9ª Capricorn and it squared the Sun his week in the house of open enemies. All these events – minor and major – are symptomatic of a shift, a dis-ease in the country. The chasm between the electorate and the ruling elite was the underlying theme. This rift is going to have to be healed if the country is going to succeed in the 21st century.

Here is what the IC and the fourth house represent according to traditional mundane astrology.

"Land, the owners of it and the workers on it. The crops and produce of the land. Mines, buildings. The people as contrasted with the monarch; the democracy as contrasted with the aristocracy; the opposition in Parliament. A planet close to the cusp of this house may influence the weather according to its nature. A malefic in this house may afflict the government through its opposition to the 10th House." 

– from Deborah Houlding's Skyscript.
The disjuncture between the rulers and the people is going to get more intense as Pluto conjuncts the UK sun at 10° Capricorn for the first time in the history of this 1801 chart.