4m nationally and rising ... (Debate)
|
Richard Fairhurst
(site admin) |
👍
4
Tue 26 Mar 2019, 18:46 (last edited on Tue 26 Mar 2019, 18:48) I do have a little bit of sympathy for that argument – yes, it would be mildly undemocratic to offer the people a vote on something, promise that "the Government will implement your choice", and then not do so. I say “mildly” for several reasons. If the question had to be asked at all (which, outside the fevered confines of the Conservative Party, it didn't), it shouldn't have been a glib, binary choice for such a nuanced issue. If “the Government” promised something, that Government should have at least stuck around to implement it, rather than calling an unnecessary (but, as it turned out, fairly hilarious) election for a new Government. And most of all, if the referendum had asked the question “Do you want to be served caviar by unicorns?” and 52% of people voted yes, we wouldn't freeze up all Government for the next n years until we had found some unicorns willing to serve caviar to everyone, including the people who don’t like caviar. But on the British 0-10 scale of “undemocratic”, this merits about a 2, a 3 at best. The fact that a voter in Orkney & Shetland has three times the say in Westminster of one on the Isle of Wight (33,000 electors for one MP, vs 105,000)? That’s undemocratic. The fact that a voter in Buckingham has no say at all? That’s undemocratic. The fact that half of Northern Ireland is without representation because their views on the Queen have been deemed unacceptable? That’s undemocratic. The fact that a conservative in an urban area, or a progressive in a rural area, will never have a vote that can in any way change the Government? That's undemocratic. And then there’s the House of Lords… I do see the point. But it seems like just one more detail on the wider topic of people lacking agency over the own lives – not something unprecedented or fundamental. If we're talking about what's undemocratic, let’s sort the fixable stuff out before we get onto the caviar-serving unicorns. (personal opinions only, etc. etc.) |