Where is democracy?

Having been asked to contribute to The Conservative Blog, I have submitted an article - not yet published (if it is!) which is basically a re-hash of views already stated here, however I thought regular readers would like sight of it.

"That the United Kingdom, as a democratic nation, is but a sham of what it once was can no longer be in doubt. It is governed by a growing authoritarian-minded political elite who no longer have any concept of principle and honour; it no longer has a ‘free’ press in that it is no longer possible to distinguish whether the press is in the pocket of the politicians or vice versa; it’s society has been emasculated by the political elite through the latter’s subservience to the European Union; and it’s people have slowly been led into a state of robotic obedience.

A contentious statement? Consider:

We have at the head of the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative parties three men who, as Privy Councillors, have sworn an oath of allegiance to the monarch that no foreign entity shall ‘hold sway’ in the affairs of our nation; and have promptly ignored that oath by their acceptance of ‘rule from Brussels’. They have altered the constitution of the United Kingdom by stealth, accomplished by acts which were not fully explained in their manifestos – if mentioned at all. Votes are taken in the House of Commons, sometimes without there having been any debate, and those votes are then ‘whipped’ to ensure that MPs support their party – yet are not MPs elected to represent their constituents, rather than their party? We have Secretaries of State, Ministers and Private Parliamentary Secretaries unable to represent their constituent’s views as, by reason of their office, they must support the Government and are therefore unable to voice any dissent.

As Leader of the Conservative Party, a party which was once considered to be right-of-centre, we have a man who has changed that party to be one of left-of-centre. A man, who as my Member of Parliament, informed me that where any proposed local policy was in conflict with national policy, then national policy must reign supreme. That statement comes from a man who proposes to devolve power to the lowest common denominator and who issues a White Paper to that effect. At the same time this man’s government, of which he is Prime Minister, introduces a Localism Bill which again promises devolution of power and incorporates the ability of people to request a referendum on a particular matter; yet this Bill allows the local authority to disregard the results of that referendum when it so wishes. Some devolution of power!

Not that Cameron is alone in being a politician devoid of principle – witness Nick Clegg, a man who would like us to believe has ‘liberal’ beliefs and who is the author of a post on HuffingtonPost in which he writes that when elites deploy secretive and opaque practices, it is nearly always to protect their own position; yet is this not exactly what MPs attempted to do when questions were being asked about their expenses? He writes that he wishes for a free, investigative press yet at the same time he considers it necessary that politicians regulate that press. As did Clegg and Cameron change their principles in order to form the Coalition, so it seems would Ed Miliband if the conditions were in his favour. David Owen authored an article on ePolitix in which he envisaged the present Coalition breaking down and the forming of another comprising Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Yet Ed Miliband is the man who, during the Labour Party leadership contest called for the extinction of the Liberal Democrats, yet on his election asks them to work with him. With the opinion polls showing Labour well ahead, Miliband also shows that political principles mean nowt when the lure of power is in the offing.

The relationship of politician and press is one that also exhibits a total lack of principle by both. The media is one of the checks on misuse of political power by means of their ability to report on what politicians are doing, yet this does not happen as journalists are dependant on the politicians for their ‘news’. Politicians are likewise dependant on journalists in order that they, the politicians, can gain publicity for their latest proposals and politicians also need the printed media in order that they may earn an extra income by writing ‘guest’ articles and in the process gain yet another avenue for their ideas. In any event journalism no longer exists as what appears as ‘news’ in the media is not more than a ‘cut & paste’ reproduction of a government press release. It is even reported by Janet Daley in an article which appeared in a recent edition of the Sunday Telegraph that journalists had been known to telephone politicians and ‘take dictation’! Hardly a ‘free’ press!

The society of the United Kingdom has been changed out of all recognition by what can only be described as ‘social engineering’ which has been practised by the political elite. This has been accomplished by the means of permitting mass immigration with a view to gain electoral advantage; a headlong rush to introduce the concept of human rights to the disadvantage of the indigenious population; the conivance of a media who fail to report fully on the cause and effect of ‘social engineering’; allowing a bureaucracy to carry out their civil service with what may be called a ‘Common Purpose’; and all enacted with the pervasive attitude that, regardless of what the people think and may want, only they the politicians know what is best for those whose views they are meant to represent. With subtle – and not so subtle – policies the political elite have managed to reduce the people of this nation to a level of dependency on the state, one that leaves the people with a false sense of their own freedom.

I have long maintained that the the ultimate aim of our political elite is to reduce the people of this land to a condition whereby the state controls how we think, speak and act – in other words to reduce us to the level of slaves. My critics confront me with their view that slavery is a total loss of freedom, a view with which I agree; but I remind them that total slavery is not that great a step from the situation we presently have. In fact, let me pose readers a question: name me six aspects of your life that are not affected by the state – a few have tried, no-one has yet succeeded.

One can only hope that the people of this nation wake up to that which is happening around them – and to them – in their name. The alternative is, I fear, a situation in which our politicians will experience a fate that has befallen other politicians in other lands where those politicians have believed in their own omnipotence only to find that the people have enacted a terrible and permanent end to those politician’s careers and existence."