Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

POLITICS MATTER

By the time you read this, your Parliament will have decided whether or not to ban smoking in all pubs and clubs, whether you will be forced to carry an identity card in a few years time and how long we can lock up people suspected of terrorism without trial. Just another week in the office!

Some people think that politics does not matter and that we can’t change anything in this country anyway, maybe because the EU, or big business, or the media call all the shots. Its rubbish. All of those institutions have much influence, but in the end, it is the people you send to Westminster who pass laws and change lives. Even in this rapidly globalising world where decisions made in one country can dramatically impact another, national democracy is vital.

If ever there was an example of the significance of politics, it is surely the Korean peninsula. In North Korea the people are hungry and cold, scared and poor. In South Korea, they are free and prosperous. Same people, same climate, same opportunities and until recently the same country. The only difference is the political system and it has hugely impacted the daily lives of everyone living in the North. In Belarus, just outside the EU, they are about to have presidential elections where the outcome is decided before a single person has voted.

What is the point of all of these ramblings? My point is politics is important: use it or lose it. If I should step under a bus this week, only about 200 activists will decide who my likely successor will be (i.e. select a new Conservative candidate). In many constituencies, that number would be less. At local council elections, most parties are desperate to find candidates. Turn out at general elections is now down to 60%. A massive 75% of young people aged 18 to 25 could not be bothered to vote at the last 2 general elections.

I have just been invited to sit on the Speaker’s Committee which amongst other things oversees the work of the Electoral Commission in this country, whose work is partly designed to re-engage people in the political processes. If we don’t rekindle interest in democratic politics in the UK we will create a vacuum that something unpleasant will fill. Use it or lose it.

Do you have any ideas how we can encourage greater engagement in politics at every level?

posted by Nigel on Monday, February 20, 2006