I can already hear your sighs as you read the title of this
blog post.
However, whatever the outcome of the political fiasco in which we find
ourselves, there will come a time when the issue is not headline news. It may take
months. It may take years. But the Brexit process will not last forever.
And when the matter is resolved, my one hope is that our
political representatives on all sides of the house have long enough memories
to learn from what has passed.
I have spent hours watching in horror at the proceedings in
the House of Commons. I am an ardent supporter of democracy and polite freedom
of speech, but this seems to have developed into a confrontational, party led
political system where occasional balanced speeches are drowned out by
egotistical rants from every political persuasion. And yes, I know we have a
female Prime Minister, but much of the measured discussion seems to be accompanied by loud male grunts. Our ‘great’ political democracy is in danger
of becoming the laughing stock of the world.
So after Brexit, or no Brexit, or whatever, this is my plea.
Could we please have MPs who genuinely listen to each other
and the electorate.
Could compromise mean compromise, not ‘only if on my terms’.
Could the system allow our politicians of all political viewpoints
to admit when they have made a mistake? Guess what, no one is perfect!
Could there be some sort of legal requirement for adequate
preparation and scrutiny prior to a referendum?
Maybe a good start would be to reorganise the proceedings at
the House of Commons to make it more family friendly. A bit more required work/life
balance for our MPs might encourage a group of politicians, male and female,
who understand the ‘give and take’ required for normal people to survive in the
real world.
But will anything really change?
Well said, Claire. Few ordinary citizens could disagree with you. One problem is that society is becoming increasingly polarised and decreasingly tolerant. Personally I think the internet is a lot to blame for this - it’s easy to disrespect someone who’s not in front of you but just on the end of the line, unseen. Another problem is that the idea that our representatives are in some sense accountable to us is virtually a myth. Once every 4 years perhaps, although it takes an earthquake to get most constituents to change their vote. But between elections MPs are a law unto themselves.
ReplyDeleteSociety is disconnected in many different ways. People sense that they have lost control of their lives. This was one reason for Brexit - people were erroneously persuaded that leaving the EU would in some way mean a return of sovereignty and therefore control, whereas, of course, all it means is that some remote Otherness in Westminster replaces the remote Otherness in Brussels. And guess what, outside of the EU we don’t even have the mid-line balance of the EU assembly and bureaucracy to counteract the excesses of our increasingly extreme and disjointed Westminster Parliament.
Time has moved on; the world has changed, we need to recognise that our future lies in a supra-national environment. It might be painful to accept that GB is no longer G, but the sooner we do, the better for everyone. A little less pomposity and a little more humility would go a long way - starting with our rulers
Thank you for your comment accousticwilli. I wish I could predict what will happen next!
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