Above, A tetradrachm of King Tigranes II of Armenia, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great.
Today is the last day of campaigning in this General Election of 2015.
Whilst the thousands of activists will be out and about leafleting and the party leaders will be travelling across the length and breadth of the Kingdom, the apparatchiks in the two main parties will already be digesting the expected consequences of the “hung Parliament.”
These folk will of course have long realised that there will be two parties who will decide the make-up of the government of the UK after Thursday 7th May 2015. These will be the People of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the Parties of the First Part) and the international currency markets and the UK’s many creditors (the Parties of the Second Part).
The Parties of the First Part will of course have their say on Thursday 7th May 2015.
The Parties of the Second Part will have their say on Friday 8th May 2015 – and probably the week commencing Sunday 10th May, 2015.
We now come to the personage on the coin above.
King Tigranes II of Armenia, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great was ruler of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state east of the Roman Republic. He was a member of the Artaxiad Royal House. Under his reign, the Armenian kingdom expanded beyond its traditional boundaries, allowing Tigranes to claim the title Great King, and involving Armenia in many battles against opponents such as the Parthian and Seleucid empires, and the Roman Republic.
King Tigranes II was not a man who liked to hear BAD NEWS.
In Plutarch’s “Lives” he states: “The first messenger that gave notice of Lucullus’ (the Romans under Lucius Licinius Lucullus invaded Armenia in 69BC) coming was so far from pleasing Tigranes that he had his head cut off for his pains; and no man dared to bring further information. Without any intelligence at all, Tigranes sat while war was already blazing around him, giving ear only to those who flattered him.”
The messenger who will of course deliver the BAD NEWS to the leadership of the two main parties will be Mr Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England. Mr Carney will be telling these folk news that they do not want to hear. That the UK’s international creditors – of which there are many – are wanting to see a stable coherent government of the UK established which can put forward and enact legislation in parliament – such as a Finance Act.
The consequences of procrastination Mr Carney will point out will be dire indeed. The government of the UK presently spends 8% of its income paying the interest on the country’s debts. It is ONLY 8% because of the record (near zero) low interest rates. Were the UK’s many creditors to loose confidence these interest rates would multiply very quickly. As would the amount of money applied to paying the interest!
The international creditors are practical folk and will allow the UK’s politicians a little time, but not a lot of time. This of course will be the factor that will concentrate the mind of such as Edward the Unfortunate. There will be many in the Labour Party who will yearn to embrace Siren Nicola’s call but equally there will be many in the Labour Party who will recognise that Labour ruling England with SNP votes, imposing austerity on England but exempting the Scots will be the hemlock mentioned in earlier articles.
By refusing to vote for austerity in Scotland, Alex Salmond will confine the SNP to the sidelines. We may not see a formal Grand Coalition – although the benefits to the UK in the form of confidence supplied to it’s creditors will be huge – we may well see in in practice.