Westminster is in meltdown. Many MPs stand accused of fiddling expenses claims in order to line their own pockets, and some of them have already been suspended from their parties (but still more must surely follow) while the Speaker has been forced to jump ship entirely and resign – a measure unheard of in over three centuries.
From house flipping stunts performed in order to maximise on taxpayer-funded property expense claims, through attempts to claim for moat clearing, duck islands and toilet seats to even more serious allegations of tax evasion (which are surely matters for the police force to investigate), the creeping rot is not limited to one party – the whole political system and government culture is riddled with it.
Taxpayers are warned to expect more redundancies and home repossessions as the global recession bites harder, and yet we can do nothing but watch helplessly as a percentage of our hard-earned wage (if we’re lucky enough to still have one) is redirected into propping up MPs’ luxurious lifestyles and maintaining big country estates.
And still these governmental dunderheads cling desperately to their weak and empty excuses. “But it’s not illegal,” they whine, like sulking children caught with their hands in mummy’s purse. “It’s the system’s fault…” Why can’t they apologise and simply admit their guilt? Where is their dignity? Where is their magnanimity?
No, it’s not strictly illegal and, yes, the system is flawed. But these actions are directly contrary to governmental guidelines and the expectations of the electoral majority, and reveal a shocking lack of moral integrity – an essential trait for people ‘democratically elected’ to bear the great responsibility of running the United Kingdom and acting as its ambassadors abroad.
MPs are supposed to act in the best interests of the country, the population and the world in general, but increasingly we are seeing them exposed as a group of self-serving, avaricious chancers concerned only with a megalomaniac hunger for power and control, a greed for personal gain and the relentless pursuit of their own interests. The population of this country hasn’t been as angry in years as it is now, and by some great coincidence the Euro and Local elections lie just around the corner.
The donkey’s back has so far reluctantly borne such weighty straws as a consistently dishonest government, two illegal wars, a bungled financial management of the nation’s economy, the installation of a Prime Minister that nobody elected, foreign policies that sacrifice the moral high ground for lucrative trade opportunities, spiraling crime, social decay, unemployment and poverty here at home, and many more. And that donkey’s back has certainly creaked with the strain at times, but has never actually broken. Until now.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg says "We now have a once-in-a-generation chance to change politics for good." He’s correct. But let’s not be content to be pacified after a token reform in expense claim procedure, or after the metaphorical beheading of a couple of martyred Westminster scapegoats. The system is inherently flawed. The whole political culture is rotten. British politics are outdated and stuck-in-the-mud, and while MPs observe ridiculous medieval traditions they also actively seek out loopholes that have opened up as this archaic system fails to keep pace with the modern world – loopholes which enable them to operate without any moral integrity and for their own personal gain.
Voting will change little as the theatre remains the same, and only the main players swap their costumes. There will be no ‘knight in shining armour’ option on the ballot paper. Vote for one of the mainstream three and expect indefinite, sustained decay at the very top of our political system, or vote for one of the many smaller parties – some of whom are certainly more sound in policy than most (the Green Party springs to mind here) but who, ultimately, will never garner enough support from an apathetic electorate to become anything more than a fringe minority. Or vote for an extremist party out of desperation – the BNP, for example – and watch the UK fracture into hate and cave in on itself under the influence of holocaust-denying racist thugs.
So what to do? The problem runs far deeper than simple party politics. The problem is systematically ingrained into the culture – irrespective of whoever may be in power at the time. And that is what must be changed. But how on Earth do we do that? How do we fundamentally re-invent democracy on such a massive scale? How do we ensure that our government operates for the best interests of its people and others, rather than for a selfish internal agenda? How do we make those who seek to control every aspect of our lives act in a respectable and honest fashion?
Wouldn’t it be easier just to wipe the slate clean and start all over again? Well, wouldn’t it?
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