INDE-POL

British politics has been in a mess for some time. Prior to Thatcherism, the two main parties came into power and went again as if on a political see-saw. No time was allowed for proper policies to formulate, and as soon as sanity seemed to prevail, the new party took over and threw away all the previous party had done.
With Thatcherism, all that changed. A long period of stability in Parliament followed, which was itself followed by a long period of New Labour. This was the opposite of see-saw politics, but the result was equally as bad. Both parties soon settled down into a form of elective dictatorship.
One answer to the problem of British politics is proportional representation. This is a very bad idea. Central to accountability is the idea that a constituency picks the MP it wants. PR would have MPs imposed on a constituency. They would be pure party animals, and the voter immaterial.
We need a new look at British politics. We need to begin a …

CAMPAIGN FOR THE ABOLITION OF POLITICAL PARTIES

Political parties are at the core of the problem. There is nothing in the British constitution to say we need them. So maybe the answer is to discard them. We need to do this for many reasons other than an attempt to bring stability to the British Parliament.

POLITICS & CONSCIENCE

We think we vote for an MP to use his judgment in formulating legislature. This is not the case with party politics. Rather, party whips brow beat and bully MPs to follow the party line. Go against the party line and there is no chance of succeeding in the party. This is totally immoral and contrary to conscience.

LOCAL PARTY DICTATORSHIP

An MP is supposed to be a representative of a constituency. He is not there to do as he is told, but to think for himself. If you don’t like what he does, he can be voted out or removed by the constituency party. Nowadays, constituency parties are bullied by the national party into taking candidates the Party wants. You do not get the MP you deserve and he is unlikely to have his constituent’s best interests at heart.

THE CAREER POLITICIAN

The vast majority of MPs today are party animals. They are not inspired by personal political views as much as hoping for a long and successful political career. They are often groomed by the party from an early age, and have little understanding of real life. Politics, as a career, is the worst reason for going into politics.

MANAGERS, NOT STATESMEN

Because of the ideological constraints of party politics, MPs today believe that all the major questions have been answered. This is complacency of the first order, made worse by a refusal to rock the boat. MPs are no longer politicians, but managers, unable to see a different political future.

POLITICS & MEDIA

Political parties can draw on a massive financial power base. The result of this is that they can spend their views into the main media. In order to maintain their grip on power, or to attempt to be in power next time, political concepts are simplified to the soundbite and any contrary views are marginalised or watered down to the point that they are inefficient to tackle the problems we face.

DEBATE? WHAT DEBATE?

Because of the above factors, debate in Parliament is now lame. Issues are not correctly thrashed out and we do not get to the answers we need. The situation is now so bad that there is talk of a non-adversarial Parliament. This is nothing less than an attempt by the political parties to form an absolute monopoly on ideas. The result would be a One Ideology State, and democracy would slowly disappear.

SORTING OUT THE PROBLEM

A campaign should begin to, first, point out the above problems, and second, popularise an easy solution to the problem. This solution is based around a new form of Parliamentarian – a form that once existed in Britain but is hated by every political party.

THE INDEPENDENT MP

Local campaigns should begin to finance and elect local personalities totally divorced from political parties. We should resurrect the Independent MP. Further, fund raising should be inaugurated to attempt to elect MPs who represent minority and marginalised interests. A voluntary organisation should be set up, free of political persuasion, to offer grants to such independent candidates to fight for Parliament.

COMMONSENSE

Of course, the political parties will not, and should not, disappear. Without political parties it would be difficult to actually run a government, so a political party would need to be voted into power. But if a sizeable proportion of MPs were independent, no political party would be able to have a monopoly on power.

RETURN OF THE DEBATE

With independent MPs in Parliament, debate would again become vocal, the MPs untethered by party whips. The party line would be smashed, and Parliament would again get to the bottom of the major issues. Personalities would also rise of interest to the electorate, and people would again become interested in politics.

THE SENSIBLE VOTE

Whilst debate would again become adversarial, and at times extreme and fanatical, this is unlikely to be reflected in the Parliamentary vote. Rather, for the ruling party to get law through Parliament, they would have to moderate legislation in order to win the support of enough independent MPs to guarantee success. The legislation that is passed is more likely to be sensible and well thought through.

THE SILENT REVOLUTION

Traditional political change tends to come through revolution. The end result is a government that is often fanatical. Fanatics take centre stage and the repercussions for society are dire. The move towards independent MPs must not be considered a revolution, but a transition.

SUBTLE POLITICS

The secret of good politics is the use of subtlety. Revolutions cause change quickly and often violently. The way forward is to use public opinion to change the top from the bottom up. The internet is perfect for this through the use of viral marketing. All you have to do is download this campaign statement and pass it on. There is no need for rallies, no need for heated exchange, no need for any of the usual political devices. Let public opinion rise and slowly, very slowly and peacefully, a new political dawn will arise.

© Anthony North, November 2006

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