At a time when the issues that we face seem so pressing, and we are feeling so desperate for change and release from all of the blunt ended policies that the Johnson Government is inflicting upon us, the last thing that anyone wants to do is step away and start thinking and working proactively for what comes next. Especially not when it comes to a General Election, which could still be over 3 years away.
We are looking at everything the Government does in the moment, without considering the chain of events that led here, and certainly not with any great thought for the steps, processes and events that will come along in a random order that will look ordered but will be very random in terms their impact and effect.
Regrettably, because the way that our Electoral System works, it means that we elect a government to lead us and take care of our collective needs for a period of four or five years. But that decision is based only on a snapshot of policy promises made to us for perhaps 2 months leading up to a 15-hour opportunity to go and vote on that one day.
Using electoral promises and nothing else to determine which way we vote, is a decision-making process that is almost entirely flawed. Because no matter what any of the mainstream Political Parties promise us, they may not have enough seats in Parliament, once the votes are all counted, to deliver on any of those promises they have made to us anyway.
There is another, far more troubling flaw that we really should be giving more thought to. By voting for specific policies – no matter what they are or how good they might be for us personally, we are being short changed.
Rather than thinking about what we are being offered in terms of leadership, values and the way that our MPs and their party behave and think – In times of a national crisis, like now, we end up with leaders who are not suited to making big decisions or of being reliable enough to continually keep doing the right thing and what’s in the best interests of everyone rather than themselves.
If politics and the British Political System worked as it should, this type of thing really shouldn’t be a problem. Because real leaders and public representatives would be able to adapt to circumstances and would be prepared to do their very best for us in every way.
Unfortunately, the way that the British political System works today means that the three main Political Parties effectively control which person gains entry to Parliament and which person gets elected in each and every Constituency Seat. This means that the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats determine who sits in Parliament and runs the Country by their rules, not ours.
As the Political Parties are themselves flawed and all about what works best for them, the whims of their current leaders and what will gain and then keep them in power, rather than anything else, there is simply no way for us to get the kind of leaders that we now need in Parliament and running our Country. The next vote is already completely sewn up!
Counterintuitive as it may be, now is the time to be working on the alternative to the problem, so that when the next Parliamentary Constituency vote comes, there will be a credible alternative in place that people will want to vote for.
The importance of creating, developing and building an alternative political movement, constituted and led to work for all, cannot be understated in any way.
There are great problems coming and the Covid Pandemic was just a steppingstone along the way.
When those problems come – like a financial crisis of a kind that may never have previously before been seen, we will need leaders in place who can lead and deliver without a manifesto commitment to guide them, simply because they possess the qualities, life experience, values and love for all others that anyone facing the challenges of doing what’s right for 68 million People in a National crisis will feel normal and not something that can be influenced by the loudest or most threatening voice.
Adam Tugwell 