Lord Mandelson ordered officials to draw up the draconian regulations days after dinner with David Geffen, who founded the Asylum record label which signed Bob Dylan.
The pair dined on 7 August at the Rothschild family villa on Corfu, while Mandelson was holidaying on the Greek island.
Liens et nouvelles
In a stunning conversation with a friend, who is a serving member of the Armed Forces, over the weekend, it was revealed that transfers to regiments and other units in the UK on home duties are being undertaken by the MOD based upon whether an individual was prepared to 'open fire' on UK citizens during civil disturbances.
I found this long and extracted conversation to be both bizarre and frightening. I will state at this point that he is someone that I have known for years, and trust implicitly. The fact that service personnel are actually being asked in special briefing sessions whether they would fire on their own nationals indicates that the rumours about the Army being put on standby are indeed very true.
I mean, it's not as if Labour haven't tried. They have poked and prodded and needled and Tazered the sleeping beast of Britain and all they managed to achieve is to make it shift a little in its slumbers. The British still refuse to riot.
So now our government has resorted to ordering us to do it. 'There will be riots this summer', they say. 'Your invitations are in the post and we expect you all to be there'. Weather permitting, naturally.