More On Our Democratic Deficit

Following my two 'rants' yesterday: "Has the time come for talking to cease" and "One question, Mr. Cameron", a few more thoughts.

One comment from the American mid-term candidates issuing their 'victory' speeches stuck in my mind and it was that given by Rand Paul in which he proclaimed that it was the intention of his party to "Take our government back". That is what is needed in this country and the people who can do that are the voters - yet the voters are not being provided with the information that would allow them to do just that.

The problem we have in Britain today is that the politicians who claim they are 'Eurosceptic' only stick the heads over the parapet when the subject of EU membership and its consequences rears it head. An example of this is John Redwood, who posts today:

"I will continue to do what I have been doing for years. Set out the facts. Make the case to change our relationship. Put the Eurosceptic position in the Commons."

When will politicians like Redwood understand that 'putting the Eurosceptic position in the Commons' is about as much use as not saying anything at all - unless anyone reads Hansard, it is highly unlikely what he, or anyone else says, is going to be reported by our media, or known by the general public. It is acknowledged by the likes of Redwood, Carswell and others that there has been a steady 'transfer of power' to the European Union, that we are no longer a self-governing nation - but what do they actually do about the problem? Oh, we get a few words here and there and yet the question of why do we bother having MPs and a Parliament as the majority of our laws emanate from Brussels is hardly ever raised. To his credit Carswell has, over the last few days, become a little more vocal on the matter and his views on prisoner's votes can be seen here. (scroll down)

As an example of this it has been brought to my attention in an internal email that Gerard Batten was offered an interview on the subject of 'Votes for Prisoners' - but was requested not to mention any EU 'element'. This begs the question why the media made such a request and at whose instigation. What it does suggest to me is a 'conspiracy' - a conspiracy twixt the 'political elite' and the media to ensure that the public are not told the true facts.

People like Redwood and Carswell have the 'ear of the media' and yet are failing to use the opportunity presented to them. They seem to retain this quaint idea that they can change the Conservative Cameroon Party from within. Are these people blind? Have they not witnessed that 38 years of 'trying to change from within' at Brussels has not had any effect on the continued ruination of our country? Why has the proverbial penny not dropped that if it hasn't worked in Brussels then is sure as hell ain't going to work in Westminster.

Our democratic deficit is not just that caused by the UK's membership of the European Union, it is also caused by those we elect not doing their job properly, of standing for election on one 'ticket' and when elected, surrendering that 'ticket' for another. We are told by the media that the new intake of Conservative MPs contain a large number which are termed 'Eurosceptic'. In which case, where the bloody hell are they? Where are their principles? Where is their voice?

Government after bloody government promises the people that we, the public, are important, that what we want is what matters - and once elected, promptly forget it. If we are considering 'democracy' per se, consider what the voters of Oklahoma were actually voting for yesterday, besides sending someone to the Senate. Amongst some of the measures were:

- approved English as the state's official language with the exceptions for Native American languages.

 - banned judges from considering international law or Islamic law when deciding cases

- required voters to present ID at the polls

- allowed residents to "opt-out" of the new federal health care reform law.

There are some in our country who mock Americans and their country, but are not those measures above truly 'government by the people, for the people'? Why can we not have 'government by the people, for the people' over here? What instead we are 'granted' by our political leaders is 'devolution of power' without any real powers being actually devolved. As an example, I would offer the promised recall system for errant MPs, presented as the opportunity for voters to 'bring to heel' those who have 'misbehaved'. What the Lib/Lab/Con did not tell the people, until after the election, is that the recall would only be 'allowed' with the permission of Parliament. That is democracy? Promise the people a measure, but forget to mention a caveat or two? That is deceit, pure and simple and any politician who was elected on that 'promise' should immediately be required to resign his seat as a result.

We are told by Cameron and the other party leaders that politics must be cleansed - which is a tad ironic, as those doing the cleansing are the ones who are corrupt, who lie, who obfuscate, who demonstrate no principles whatsoever - yet still maintain they are 'Honourable'. It is probably pertinent to the cleansing problem to recall the fifth labour of Hercules:

"This assignment was intended to be both humiliating (rather than impressive, as had the previous labours) and impossible, since the livestock were divinely healthy (immortal) and therefore produced an enormous quantity of dung. These stables had not been cleaned in over 30 years, and over 1,000 cattle lived there. However, Heracles succeeded by rerouting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus to wash out the filth."

It is deliciously (to use a Cameron word) apt in that the cleansing of our political system would indeed be humiliating for the majority of MPs, especially as they are so 'divinely health' (at our expense), consider themselves 'immortal' and also produce copious amounts of 'dung' - as in governmental 'decrees'. The only problem Hercules would have today is that he would probably have to divert the Atlantic ocean!