I
am employed by the British government. In an unusual job. Selling
off anything that can raise a decent price for a government with an
urgent need. The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have
decided that almost any of Great Britain’s assets, institutions,
famous buildings, whatever, should be sold off to reduce the interest
owed on the National Debt, which interest now totals £50 billion a
year and growing.
That's right, £50 billion a year – interest
only. Unfortunately, everything in sight has already been privatised
or ‘re-engineered’ and they still have a shambles of a financial
situation. But, hopefully, I’ll find stuff to sell nobody thought
of. Not businesses of course, they’re private, and anyway most of
them are foreign-owned now.
I’m
not sure there’s going to be much job satisfaction with this
assignment, but it will look good on my c.v. In any event, I’m the
only one around with any real experience of this kind of stuff. Which
I won’t go into right now.
At
the final interview I was checked in to Number Ten and presented by a
lackey to the P.M. and the D.P.M. (Deputy Prime Minister). The P.M.’s
smooth, shiny features wore that false determined look that you see
in all the newspapers,
“Bryggs,”
he said. “It seems you are the man for the job. Nick and I want you
to have a go."