Your author can clearly recall hearing Tony Blair and Gordon Brown justify the invasion of Iraq as being ‘for’ democracy. New Labour love ‘democracy’. So much so that they mentioned it in their election manifesto!
You can watch as democracy is explained to Britain here:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/uvl8a-ZiyTY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
I don’t know about you, but this is all starting to taste rather sour. Britain elected Tony Blair and mostly they got Gordon Brown. He did not fight an election within his own party to become party leader and did not seek a new mandate from the people to justify his rule.
Now, after coming second in a ‘first past the post’ general election, he is stepping down to give his government the opportunity to cling on to power. Having not elected Gordon Brown, there is a chance the UK population will actually ‘get’ someone different again.
How cynical is this?
Something tells me that ‘history’ will judge Gordon Brown very poorly.
Lets just hope that no other major powers decide to invade the UK to ‘restore’ democracy – if they did, perhaps Gordon Brown will be found hiding in a hole in the ground on the outskirts of Scunthorpe a few months later…
Since I am venting, why stop?
Nick Clegg isn’t exactly covering himself in glory right now either. He appears to be willing to work with either party, depending upon who gives what (is that what is meant by ‘principles’ in politics?). More ashamedly, this election was mostly fought about the current state of the economy and the way forward from here.
Was electoral reform on the agenda? No, I didn’t think so either.
Thus, to hold the nation to ransom (if you want a government, you have to reform the electoral system in a way that suits me) over an issue that was not a major part of the campaigning agenda seems equally undemocratic.
For now at least, I can’t see what David Cameron has been doing to undermine democracy in the last few days. Perhaps he hasn’t been? Who can say in behind-closed-doors negotiations.
These are sad days to believe in democracy and be British.
