UK Elections: Letter of the 100.

Over a month ago, the talk of the day in the U.K. was the letter that over 100 business leaders signed in support of the Conservative Party, warning against the effects a Labour victory in the general elections would have had on business confidence:

"We believe a change in course will threaten jobs and deter investment. This would send a negative message about Britain and put the recovery at risk. In a personal capacity we therefore sign this letter."

With the elections held and its results widely known, Magpie News is at liberty to reveal details about the discussion previous to the letter's release.

A prominent liberal business man and patron of the arts proposed the inclusion of the following paragraph:

"This means, unfortunately, not only that slumps and depressions are exaggerated in degree, but that economic prosperity is excessively dependent on a political and social atmosphere which is congenial to the average business man. If the fear of a Labour Government or a New Deal depresses enterprise, this need not be the result either of a reasonable calculation or of a plot with political intent; it is the mere consequence of upsetting the delicate balance of spontaneous optimism. In estimating the prospects of investment, we must have regard, therefore, to the nerves and hysteria and even the digestions and reactions to the weather of those upon whose spontaneous activity it largely depends."

Sources close to Magpie News report that the other signatories did not feel comfortable signing the letter with that paragraph included and requested its deletion.

Asked by our sources why he felt uncomfortable, one of the signatories -- requesting anonymity -- commented dryly: "I don't want to be associated with Lord Keynes' hysteria, let alone his intestinal fortitude".

It was not possible to contact Lord Keynes for his comments on this latest snub, following previous examples like this.

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Somehow, thinking of the Confidence Fairy reminded me of "La Donna è Mobile", from "Rigoletto", by Giuseppe Verdi (Richard Wagner's 19th century would-be rival). And thinking about "La Donna è Mobile" inevitably reminded me of the Italian Luciano Pavarotti:





That was Pavarotti (29) playing in 1964 from Leninist Russia. (I am sure there are many famous and magnificent Anglo-Irish tenors: drop me a line and I'll be happy to credit them)