汤姆·沃森曾表示，公共合同的决定权绝不能由“暴民统治”说了算。或许他该审视一下自己的新雇主。我们生活在什么样的世界里啊。想象一下：帮派分子把公务员从通勤列车上拖下来殴打，只因为他们把政府的数据工作交给了错误的承包商——而政府因此改变了采购决策。好吧，确实，这可能还没发生，但这只是时间问题。正如前工党副领袖汤姆·沃森所问：“你是想让法治主导采购实践，还是想让暴民统治主导采购实践？”不，我绝对不想要后者，而且防患于未然总是好的。
Tom Watson has said ‘mob rule’ must not decide public contracts. Perhaps he should take a look at his new employer What a world we live in. Imagine: gangs dragging civil servants off commuter trains and beating them up because they handed government data jobs to the wrong contractor – and the government is changing its procurement decisions as a result. Well, OK, it might not have happened yet, but it’s only a matter of time. As the former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson asks: “Do you want to let the rule of law lead procurement practice, or do you want mob rule to lead procurement practices?”No, I absolutely don’t want the latter, and it’s always good to get ahead of trouble.
但随后我想到，“暴民统治”通常有两种含义。一种是暴徒团伙的恐吓。另一种则是对民主的贬义称呼。虽然我还没见过英国的政府采购实践是由干草叉和火把决定的，但民主透明度确实可能对某些承包商构成真正的威胁。人们或许曾希望，曾经挑战过默多克帝国的沃森能认清这种区别。但话又说回来，人们或许也曾希望，沃森不会去Palantir担任高级副总裁。
But then I remember there are two common meanings of mob rule. One is intimidation by crowds of thugs. The other is a pejorative term for democracy. And while I’ve yet to see government procurement practices in the UK determined by pitchforks and flaming torches, democratic transparency could be a genuine threat to certain contractors. One might have hoped that Watson, who once took on the Murdoch empire, would have recognised the distinction. But then again, one might have hoped that Watson would not have taken a job as a senior vice-president at Palantir.