I Fought The Law, and The Law Won!

Some very interesting opposites have arisen of late, instigated by 2 very different, but assumed independent legal agencies.

In the US, a the head of the FBI throws a rusty monkey wrench into the final days of the presidential election by re-igniting a non-story of emails not related to Clinton, except by indirect association, and may create an international catastrophe of a result. By mistake – who knows. But odd timing, and odder release of the information.

Meanwhile, in the country of one of the older and more established formalised democratic and legal systems, three high court judges have, at the very least, loosened a few nuts on the Brexit runaway wagon.

Whilst I have no direct involvement in the varied nefarious political activities over the ocean, except abject fear, what is happening here needs a reality check.

Let us consider what we mean by democracy, or at least the UK version. This is a parliamentary democracy. Once every 5 years we, well some of us, troop down to our local polling station, put an X in a box with an extremely thick pencil, then go home and invariably moan about the result.

That result produces a motley collection of individuals, 650 of them, who trot off to Westminster on a reasonably regular basis, and make legislative decisions on our behalf. And that is the important phrase – on our behalf.

Now, they talk to us, some more than others, and they even listen. Again, some more than others. But in the end they sit around on leather benches and make decisions for us, or against us, and hold the executive, the governing party’s ministers of state, to account.

That is the system we have. Not perfect, far from it, and one that sidelines the majority of the population at any one time as power is based on first past the post rather than straight numerical majority. But that is where we are.

And the one phrase that you hear more than any other? The sovereignty of parliament. That was the base of the Brexit campaign, ‘We want our country back’. ‘Too much EU regulation reducing parliamentary sovereignty’.

So, now you want to change the rules. Suddenly, sovereignty lies with a small cabal selected on the basis of expediency, amiability, loyalty to an internal faction. Now, all the decisions will be made behind closed doors, with no checks and balances by those we chose to act on our behalf.

Sorry chaps, but to me that is not democracy. It is dictatorship. And it will not wash.

And one more point on the ‘democratic’ definition. Referendums are not democratic binding votes. They are opinion polls. And this one was an opinion held by 37% of the electorate. Which means that 63% didn’t agree. Which means that it doesn’t happen.

Now that IS democracy.