Is democracy in danger in West Oxfordshire? (Debate)

Sat 25 Feb 2023, 10:01

Democracy has been dead for many years, not just in West Oxfordshire, but in the whole country. 

Why?

In the last General Election 56.4% of the electorate voted against the shower who are currently referred to as "The Government". In addition, I am in favour of the West Oxfordshire Conservatives renaming themselves The West Oxfordshire Pro-Sewage Party, in commemoration of our excuse for an MP's vote to allow sewage outflow into our rivers. 

And what the hell is happening to the A44 between Cassington and Pear Tree? And what is it costing? I assume that it is the Liberals of Oxford behind this; I read somewhere that it is all in aid of making a bus lane that will carry four buses an hour! What is it costing? It smacks to me of persecution of those who need to (the horror of it!) DRIVE!

I have presented two instances of political parties doing what the hell they want. I am sure that there are others. Perhaps, many hundreds of years in the future, we will have a truly democratic state, akin to a modern incarnation of the city-state of Athens, 2,500 years ago, where we will all have voting pads in our houses,on which we will vote for or against every policy, nationally *and* locally, and eliminating (partly) the need for MP's and councillors ... and arguably political parties too! 

Another - and to me more frightening - example of how the democratic process is polluted is the action of the press, much of which has a right-wing bias and has been cited many times as having a major influence on election results. I have long argued for a law that would ban the press from any political comment as soon as an election has been announced. To those who counter my suggestion with a comment about "press freedom" I would say that the press has abused that right for many years, and in many different ways. Of course, how one could actually do such a thing is another matter entirely!

I am starting to think that some form of Proportional Representation may be the only answer. But none of the systems that I am aware of would be suitable; we need a system that would ensure that our representatives would be local representatives, in touch with local needs and problems. As with many situations in life, it is easier to say what system would be wrong than what would be right!