I listened to Radio 4 this morning, to Austin Mitchell after his fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference yesterday. Eight people turned up at his meeting, and one of those was his wife.
I saw the empty seats, the closed off areas at Brighton
I saw the photographs of half dead, half asleep Lib Dem supporters whilst Cleggy gave his all at the Lib Dem Conference.
UKIP and BNP are in dire straits financially; the LPUK is examining the pointlessness of contesting seats at Westminster in favour of building a grass roots local authority base.
Next week I am going to be watching the glassy eyed adoration of no policies Cameron and the Conservatives.
Basically Party Politics has collapsed in this Country, dwindling party memberships, over centralisation into Westminster, the recession, the expenses scandal etc has traduced democratic politics that has taken four hundred years to build up in less than twenty years.
The Public know it’s a fix, the Public want Radical Change and a New settlement, that was evident at the Forum on Modern Liberty, but that clamour for real progress has been stymied by the big three parties, and the growth of smaller Parties and pressure groups will never have a voice under this Electoral system. The British just don't do the 'Summer of Rage'
The Public has withdrawn from even voting, because ‘the Government’ always gets in. This has produced the bizarre situation where corrupt faux aristocrats lead the Labour Party. Has it really got to the point where Mandelson is the saviour of the Socialist Left? Is there nobody left in the Labour Party that can see what a travesty this is. We have now got a situation were Esther Ranzten and a baggage handler from Glasgow, are now seen as the authentic voice of politics. Don’t get me wrong anybody who takes on somebody who is trying to explode a car bomb has physical courage, but I am not sure that I want my politics to be along the lines of ‘fisticuff’ Prescott. A man who can barely string a coherent sentence together.
Politics is dead, the only option on offer is Mandelson’s ‘post democratic’ age. This is just an Oligarchy by another name with the rest of us condemned to the role of exploited serfs.
Unless the Radical smaller Parties start to coalesce around the concept of a new constitution, a new settlement and a new voting system, we are going to see the gradual sapping of the life blood in our democratic institutions, with the Police and the EU taking up the slack and running the country by default. The Army is now a degraded institution, loved and respected by the people. Hated and kept short of funds by the political classes and sent to fight illegal wars and to occupy foreign countries, the police on the other hand seem to have no shortage of equipment and helicopters, because the political classes see them as the only thing between us and them.
I spent the weekend as a Libertarian, with a Socialist, a near BNP supporter two Tories and a Liberal Democrat. We discussed politics we all had strong points of view that we could never agree on, but we had a forum to discuss politics because we had respect for each other and ‘ground rules’ that everybody was entitled to their say. What we did agree on that this was not replicated at either National or Local level. There is no forum. If nobody is prepared to listen to my point of view, why the hell should I listen or engage to somebody who wants to talk ‘at’ me about their politics.
That is the position that the Public now have with the current political structure.
There may be only 646 of them and sixty million of us, but nobody is listening to the sixty million, only to the 646, and pretending that this the body politic.
Personally the prospect of a Cameron Government on May 6th fills me with dread, as it will not be any different to Blair/Brown.
Irrespective of each of our political standpoint, we have to fight for a New Constitution, one that comes from below not imposed from above.
Our Politics are Moribund, and worse still has absolutely no mandate from the people of this Country.
2 comments:
Rather philosophically I reply. You look towards the situation with dread yet the state of affairs comes to each and everyone of us not just through the government but also of our own doing. The complacency of some individuals to pass over their own responsibility to 646 other people and then complain is a flaw in ourselves.
Many can argue that circumstances have brought them to this point but I reply that we, each and everyone of us, are responsible for our own lives and, unless there is obstacles forced upon us others, we remain the able to make other choices. One of the elements missing from the equation is that of knowledge. If you seek an object for your car you can rely on the benefit of knowledge of someone that knows or you can choose to find out about it. You may not be able to tool such an object but you are one step away from dependency and one step closer to independence and self reliance. When I speak to individuals one thing that strikes me is not that the person does not see the peril of certain situations in poliics, for that is lead by their needs and wants. Rather, it is the lack of knowledge on how to obtain the goal(s) they seek.
Knowledge provides choices. People have been provided with limited choices and, as a result, have either made or have been force to make decisions that would otherwise benefit themselves properly and responsibly. As a libertarian I try to address this by not attacking political people but rather their policies, and therefore the choices, that become presented to individuals. This does not mean I wish to burden people with so much choice as to confuse but to inform and educate which means that individuals can decide for themselves. An analogy can be drawn to shopper and market forces. If a shopper goes in to buy food and is on the 3rd week of a 4 week pay cycle they may choose to select cheaper products, alternatives or look elsewhere for the things they desire. Should it be the case that the meal is special they may select items not normal purchased with the understanding that this is a unique set of circumstances. People, I have found, follow politics quite similarly. What if the retailer reduces his or her lines of stock? The individual may choose to select a suitable alternative from the same establishment but, given time and choice, will look elsewhere.
WIth the above in mind, I remain resolute in my actions of refuting policies that are either not sound or work against a person as well as educating the masses in helping make their decisions for which they are responsible.
Good points. If nobody steps up to offer a compelling alternative, nothing is going to change.
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