One Party v Two Party State
Democratic Britain could always be worse, imagine if we lived in a one-party state as Russia does. They go to the polls this weekend with just Vladimir Putin on the ballot paper. That isn’t a choice, it isn’t democracy, we accept that.
In the UK, one of the oldest democratic nations on earth we are much more fortunate. We have the freedom to choose between two halves of the Uni-Party, both having moved to occupy the centre left ground of large state, high tax, high regulation, mass immigration, globalist, pro WEF, pro multiculturalism, pro Agenda 30 and the Net Zero economic madness that accompanies it.
That is your choice in 2024. A general election looms, the Tories are in an unpopular doom spiral due to their inability to impose any of the manifesto they were elected on and it looks likely, based on historical electoral inertia at least as if Labour will inherit their mantle of government for just one reason, they are not Tories.
Over the last 100 years or so, our political system has evolved to defend the status quo. Imagine a system designed to retain shared power for eternity while presenting the illusion of choice to the electorate. The two parties in question once stood in actual opposition to each other. Labour in support of the working man and the Tories as the steady, economic hand on the tiller not only espousing low tax and low regulation, but managing the economy with those two criteria as their primary focus.
Politics Evolves
I am in the process of selling a property and couldn’t believe that as the seller it falls to me to prove that I am not money laundering before the sale is allowed to proceed. I was aghast to be frank. Surely, in a civilised western democracy, we trade, we buy we sell, we earn, whatever and then we declare as required to the taxman each year. The state interfering in a sale due the presumption of fraud by default left me a little dumbstruck.
Labour were once the party of the working man, still funded by trade unions, their working class voter base has shrunk in line with our industrial might. The electorate evolve over time it’s true, but our two political parties have evolved out of step with that electorate.
One might rightfully conclude that a successful political party keeps itself aligned with public opinion by shifting policy as required to remain in front of the majority. What has happened in the last few years however has been a step change in thinking.
Politicians telling the electorate they were wrong to vote a certain way. Political parties aligning in order to guarantee the outcome regardless of the result of an election.
That is where we are. Whoever has dictated the terms of Agenda 30, Net Zero by 2050 etc. it is now set in stone for the two halves of our Uni-Party. You cannot choose another option, because as they will remind you daily, no other party in the UK can form a government because of the two-party system we have.
There is talk of a Conservative annihilation when the general election comes. Which will equate to only getting maybe 100-200 seats. So maybe 3 or 4 x more seats than the Liberal Democrats have achieved in the last hundred years will be an annihilation.
The System is Rigged
How can we have a system whereby the most unpopular, ineffective and unsuccessful government in at least 70 years, who have lost their way, their vision, their purpose, yet is still around three times more popular than the Lib Dems have ever been? That is a demonstration that our system is not fit for purpose.
The system is the system. It is only natural I suppose for those in power to design a system that looks like democracy while preserving their interests.
We can collectively shout and scream about wanting a fairer system, about wanting a version of PR (Proportional Representation). There are pros and cons to PR. Importantly PR normally leads to coalitions, i.e. committees. No committee ever created anything great, they are the ideal tool for managing decline, but are they the best way to run a country? To get things done.
Breaking the Doom Loop
Our two-party system has created a doom loop. Those parties are not overly reliant on the electorate’s approval. Inevitably there will be a switch between the two parties, but the fundamental direction of travel for the country will not alter. We will remain aligned if not yet back in the EU, we will promote globalism, low wages via mass immigration, low growth high taxation so we don’t go embarrassing our European neighbours by doing anything daft like growing our economy.
All the exiled party has to do is to sit and wait long enough and eventually the incumbent party will ruin enough, irritate enough, overtax enough to make the party in waiting look enticing. We have an electoral system designed to make you vote against the party you want least. Those same parties have encouraged the practice to maintain their duopoly.
So how do we break this doom loop? How can we break the misguided cycle of belief that has led to generations voting for the same parties, like a religious belief, regardless of the policies?
The Green Party has had the rug pulled from beneath it by both sides of the Uni-Party. The Green Agenda is front and centre of both their campaigns. The Liberal Democrats are going nowhere, fast becoming a one policy Rejoin-EU party with little else to offer and no mass appeal falling in behind them.
Reform UK are on the move, currently growing in support at around 1% a month. That level of growth may develop in time for the Autumn election and be enough that have a significant impact on the outcome. Lee Anderson is currently 2/1 favourite to retain his Ashfield seat. The red wall is up for grabs having been deserted by the Tories and unlikely to return to Labour.
A Week is a Long Time in Politics
Sunak is on notice to be replaced in the next few weeks. He might last until the May 2nd local elections, but it is expected that the results will be the last straw for the party.
In all likelihood we have 8 months before the election. In electoral terms that is a long time. Between now and then we are likely to see growing numbers of boats crossing the channel, no planes leaving for Rwanda, inflation may fall further, but it will not lift the pressures we all face on the cost of living, on our huge energy bills, our spiralling taxes, our council tax rises.
The Tories have lost control of the economy, they have caused the economic crisis. In 14 years, they have increased our national debt by £1.4 trillion. Only £400 Billion of that was spaffed cash from the unnecessary covid lockdown fiasco. The rest is from mismanagement. Our national debt rose during the years of austerity. What sort of austerity is it where you still have to borrow money to make ends meet? The Tories have lost control of the purse strings. The waste is out of control and they don’t even seem to be able to identify that there is any waste to cut.
All this time, while we borrow £ billions in the names of future generations, we hand out many £ billions in foreign aid, to charities, to house illegal immigrants. It is as if the Tories have given up caring about looking after our finances.
They spend nothing on building our police force but when they are personally attacked, they rapidly deploy additional security measures for themselves. You and I won’t see a policeman if they are robbed or mugged but the government has provided over £100 million for extra security for Mosques. Good to know that MPs and the Muslim community have been chosen for protection, but what about the rest of us?
MPs Decisions Cause Division
The only reason that MPs and Muslims need extra security measures is because of the decisions MPs have made in Parliament. Of course, our public figures need to be safe, as do the Muslim community, but yet again it looks to the rest of us like we are at the back of the queue, again.
Everyone needs to not just feel safe, but to actually be safe. Wouldn’t it be nice to walk down the road without having to think about whether we will get mugged for our phones or watches?
I think it is safe to say that our Uni-Party politics isn’t working. The illusion of democracy in the UK is just that, an illusion.
It will take courage, conviction and a leap of faith for the electorate to get behind an optimistic vision for the future of the United Kingdom. I believe if can be achieved, it will be achieved. A tipping point is coming. If the Tories can’t halt their seemingly terminal decline in the polls, then anything becomes possible.
In just a few months Reform UK are on target to be level with the Tories in the polls. When that happen then we will reach a tipping point. Reform UK will stop being the insurgent and become the natural home for small c conservatives who want to actually see conservative values being implemented.
The Farage Factor
Getting on level terms with the Tories polling will be a massive moment for Reform UK. If that can be achieved without Nigel Farage stepping back into politics then it will become very interesting when he does do so. I believe he will be getting involved ahead of the election and that doing so will add 10% to Reform UK polling numbers.
As and when that happens, all bets are off and anything becomes possible. I for one can’t wait for election night.