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Why I care about Politics
Every political activist has had the experience of knocking on a door and getting the response: ‘I’m not interested in politics’.
What are people not interested in?
- Party propaganda?
- Being interrupted from other things?
- A feeling of helplessness - my vote won't make any difference?
- 'They're all the same' - disenchantment with politicians
But we do care whether the government invades Iraq, closes hospitals, decriminalise cannabis, gives prisoners the vote, closes grammar schools, deports illegal immigrants, gets rid of A levels, recycles more waste, allows pubs and clubs to stay open all night, increases council tax and introduces university student fees.
And if we are interested, how can we join the debate? There are a proliferation of special interest groups on every conceivable issue, all lobbying for their point of view - but ultimately you need a group of people to make decisions and bring it all together: paid to make and change laws. It’s hard not to recognise that politicians are a necessary evil.
I'd go further: politicians are essential and the quality of government, which has such a big impact on all our lives, directly reflects the quality of elected politicians.
I know what life is like outside democracy. I’ve lived under British and Portuguese colonialism in Africa and Asia, apartheid, communism and various grades of dictatorship from the semi benign to the arbitrary and brutal. I know the limitations of these other forms of government, and the benefits of our democracy.
Of course democracy is flawed - Churchill said he thought is was an awful system but he couldn't think of a better one. Central government has too much power in Britain (and elsewhere) and ideas dreamt up in Westminster often don't work locally. One size does not fit all. And rural areas will inevitably lose out if politicians put most resources into cities with the largest number of votes. But it IS still the best system going, and first the post does work because you can vote someone or a party OUT and someone else in. Under Europe's qualified voting you get coalition governments and the politicians are hard to get out.
Should we go out and be apostles, fighting to restore or instal democracy? I prefer the low key approach, nurturing supporters of democracy, and recognising that we don’t have the perfect solution for countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. Field Marshall Lord Roberts wrote in 1898, after the conquest of Afghanistan: ‘the question was, now that we had control of Afghanistan, what were we going to do with her?’ The question is still valid today.
Meanwhile here in the UK not all is well. We now have a near democratic dictatorship, with a considerable Labour majority, an outnumbered opposition and a partly snuffed out House of Lords. Local government is reduced through central control by government audits, targets and measurements, - and above all, not least by high jacking the business levy, central government still has control of the purse strings. I sense, however, that we will get close to a 1997 or 1979 moment, when voters will decide that it is time for a change - a moment when democracy reasserts itself.
So talking about politics is worthwhile, and all these issues are up for debate, with a general theme of 'trust the people' creeping in at last. Let's start at home, increasing the vote among the politically aware, and building up local, bottom up political activity. Because at the end of the day we do get the politicians we deserve, to develop or leave alone the laws that can make everyone's lives a little better.
Richard Graham
(partly as spoken to a debating society 2005)
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Council