It's thirty years since the Conservative party brought in the talent of Saatchi and Saatchi's advertising company to help persuade us that “Labour Isn't Working”, and to tell us that after five years of Labour Party rule that we'd be “Better off Under the Conservatives”

So, congratulations to all of us for at least surviving the spin generation, and happy birthday to us all. Now, blow out the candles and make a wish...

It doesn't worry us much if Proctor and Gamble hire advertisers to convince us that their brand of washing powder is better than the Unliver brand we were talked into buying last year. It doesn't raise many eyebrows when Reebok sink millions into slick commercials to get us to spend more on trainers. Is it really a big deal when politicians hire “Ideas Agencies” to effectively hoodwink us all into believing that they are in some way better than they really are?

Well, it's all about the Social Contract. And that's been around for a lot longer than Armani wearing Ad men. According to Thomas Hobbes, (Check out the work Leviathan, published in 1651) we (society) give up our individual freedoms quite willingly, in exchange for a certain degree of protection and order from the State. And it's quite true. We don't want to have to mend our own roads, clean our own hospitals, protect our own borders. We want to have somebody look after all that for us. We willingly appoint a government to take care of all that tedious business of governance, because, quite frankly, we don't want to do it ourselves.

Which is great. I'm perfectly happy to let Des Browne worry about how to get enough respirator cannisters into Afghanistan. I'm thrilled that Ruth Kelly has taken it upon herself to get the trains running on time. I think it's positively wonderful that Caroline Flint has taken the responsibility for housing. Especially if that means I actually get to meet her.

Sorry, just had a moment there..

Anyway, My point is that we've all collectively given up the right to govern to these people. And it's fine. Really. Crack on guys.

It's just that, the only time when we do have a say in the governance of the state is when we choose those leaders. So, to my way of thinking, that last bit of freedom of choice is something that really shouldn't be messed about with.

So, a political party hire an advertising agency to tell us that they are the best choice to govern us... A highly successful agency at that. One with a proved track record.... It's just not wholesome, is it?

I can hear you slapping your foreheads out there. You're rolling your eyes and saying: “Like- Duh? What's news about this?”

Well, nothing. I admit it. The only reason I mentioned it today is because I thought thirty years was a good round number for an anniversary, and because when I researched this article I noticed that this year, the Labour Party have hired the same advertising company to fight their corner through the next general election. Prepare for your head to be well and truly messed with!

It's not pretty, but at least it's symmetrical; In 1978 the Tories brought in the advertisers to put the gloss on their campaign, and this year, the Labour Party have followed suit, hiring men and women in very sharp suits to tell us how to think. But should we be surprised? And, to put it bluntly, should we really be bothered?

In 1867 the Reform Act gave the vote to the majority of working class men. A lot can happen in 140 years, can't it? But just think about that for a moment. In all our two thousand years of some sort of monarchy, it's only in the relative blink of an eye that all men have been allowed to vote. Given that women (And all every free person over the age of 21) were only given the right to vote in 1928, that means that democracy as we understand it has been around for a mere 90 years.

Funny how quick the milk turns sour, isn't it?

Gordon Brown has been quick to pull “All the talents” into his “Big Tent” of government. This includes the likes of business giants such as Digby Jones, who is about as Socialist as I am athletic. This is the Prime Minister who is happy to take tea with Lady Thatch, who flies around the world with Dickie Branson, who refuses to hold Chinese, American or Russian thugs to any sort of account as long as they are turning over a profit, and who presides over a country of increasing tax breaks for the wealthy and an ever diminishing civil service which at the last count, had lost not only half its paperwork, but a good reason to carry on and the will to turn up for work on Monday morning (If the latest published sick-day figures are anything to go by).

It doesn't take the brains of a (soon-to-be-ex) Archbishop to understand that the principle of a government of the people, by the people is dead and buried, and that serfdom is well and truly back in vogue. And now that Saatchi are in charge of selling it all to us, we may as well all go and prepare our daughters for the Landlord .

Rant over folks. Except to say that what ever grounds the election is fought over, I'm filling mine out with the words - "If you see Sid, Tell him he's fucked." We're never going to dig out the woodworm if we only ever get to polish the veneer.