It’s been a while since I wrote a blog. Partly, this is because I’ve been incredibly busy, but it’s also because I’ve been rather seduced by Twitter over recent months. It’s terrible easy to get drawn into a long online discussion (or argument) on that platform.
Now that we’ve just started another academic year and are all back to work, however, it seems a particularly appropriate time to write a new post. There’s certainly a lot to think about at present.
We hear that Boris Johnson is launching another leadership bid. That would appear to have been somewhat holed under the water by revelations of his private life last week, by the booing he received at the Oval on Saturday and, most importantly, by the extraordinarily ill-advised piece he wrote in the Telegraph about suicide vests. Personally, I can’t think of a more untrustworthy and less suitable candidate for the post of PM anywhere. I really hope his ambitions have been permanently damaged but he does appear to be made out of India rubber. Then again, there’s that prosecution for misconduct in public office…
Over the summer, all the foremost Brexiters (Rees-Mogg, Farage, Ian Duncan-Smith etc) have all made comments to the effect that they realise, and have always realised, that Brexit is going to make life much more difficult for the country. In the past 24 hours, Liam Fox, who is supposed to be leading us to the sunlight uplands of new global trading partnerships (that’s not going so well, is it?) has admitted that he “can’t promise life will be rosy after Brexit.” All of which begs the question of why on earth the government is so doggedly pursuing the wretched thing. Any ideas? No, me neither.
Then we discover that the Maybot and her henchmen are trying to frustrate the case brought by ex-pats living in the EU from ever getting to court because “it was widely known that Leave was breaking the rules.” What ?! That’s some sort of acceptable defence? And there was I thinking we lived in a democracy governed by the rule of law. We seem to have sunk to the level of the lowest tin-pot third world dictatorship. How much worse can things possibly get? Then again, I have had that thought a thousand times since 23rd June 2016.
But before we get too depressed, there do appear to be some brighter prospects ahead (I know, I am an eternal optimist but hear me out). There has been rumour and counter rumour swirling around for months now but it really does seem as though there is something afoot in the political realignment stakes.
I’ve always admired Vince Cable, and his talk the other day of a new “movement” seemed extraordinarily positive. I know that there are party members who do not like the idea of allowing people to become supporters but even long-term members admit that the LibDems are probably irrevocably damaged following their ill-advised coalition with the Tories. As a LibDem member myself (albeit one who resigned over the coalition and only rejoined following the terrible 2015 election result) it seems the only sensible way ahead.
I rejoined the party because I believe passionately that we need a moderating force in British politics. With the two main parties becoming ever more extreme, and pulling themselves apart in the process, it really is time for a new centrist movement. Cable’s use of that term, rather than talk of a new party, is incredibly interesting and exciting, because it provides for the sensible MPs from both main parties to coalesce around a new movement whose main aim is to stop Brexit rather than being seen as “traitors” to their current parties. It does seem as though, finally, some MPs at least are putting country before party. Whether a new party emerges eventually out of all this is a subject for another time. The only thing that is important at present is to stop Brexit. Once that’s done, everything else can be looked at.
Whatever that “everything else” involves, I sincerely hope it is not a return to business as usual. Our system is clearly broken. Indeed, the inability of our system to function at all over the past two years has made us an international laughing stock. A huge overhaul and modernisation is long-overdue. The archaic and arcane nature of our system is laughable. That MPs can talk a perfectly sensible piece of legislation out of time just because they don’t understand it (up skirting) is a disgrace.
If there is anything positive about Brexit (and this is the only thing) at least it has made us aware of just how broken our system is. A realignment, coupled with a proportional voting system and a move out of the Palace of Westminster could finally see us become a modern, mature democracy. By the way, that last is probably too much to hope for but we really should be thinking about holding parliamentary debates in a modern horse-shoe chamber rather than the adversarial one that dates back to the eighteenth century! Even better: move to a modern parliament building somewhere other than London. The North, for instance. Just think how many benefits that would bring!
Thank you for reading my ramblings. I’ll work myself up for another outpouring soon!
Colin
Indoor Voice 