New attitudes can make politics exciting again - Bruce Whitehead
Are you scunnered with politics? The woeful turnout in last week’s dismal elections suggests so. That only half those eligible to vote (4.3m) did so shows a democracy crisis.
We sneer at one-party states like China and Russia but our voters don't seem to value the franchise – the right to choose who governs them – dearly bought over centuries by fearless respected campaigners. Australia enforces this respect with fines for non-participation.
Politics is often sneered at in polite company; I usually (!) avoid it in groups and clubs for fear of being labelled a bore or “too passionate”. Good education teaches debate, but I grew up in 1970s Belfast, and the really important topics (government discrimination, civil rights marches fired on by King Charles' Parachute Regiment) rarely made it to the Debating Society. Anyway, I didn't feel confident enough to articulate my views before dozens of intellectual 6th formers from affluent Malone or Knock.
The Labour MP Clive Lewis describes how government has lost control of housing and energy costs, and is cutting welfare to fund defence against Russia. He cites Manchester's Bee transport network, integrating bus, tram, cycling and walking, as one example of shaping markets for public benefit: “A state that produces affordable publicly generated energy avoids spending tens of billions cushioning price shocks. A public housebuilding programme does not need housing benefit to rise endlessly in line with private rents.”
Two examples emerged from yesterday's Evening News. Instead of axing traffic safety filtering which protects children around Morningside's Cluny Gardens, Cllr Jenkinson should network it in the public interest. And instead of wringing their hands at the plight of a flooded Muirhouse pensioner, the council should send in its floods team, saving thousands squandered on helpless plumbers (5 visits and counting).
A rare example of civic duty also appeared yesterday; Cllr Dalgleish reported on the council's excellent transitional “after care” scheme to help young people moving from social care into communities.
No administration is perfect, but if they ditch stale and failing attitudes with confidence, politicians will turn things around – and get voters believing again.