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Is Democracy all but Dead in the UK?
A
By Dr Tony Talburt
ccording to a recent report by the BBC, Donald Trump Jr. is reported to have said, ‘democracy is all but dead in the UK.’ Mr Trump Jr. claimed if Theresa May had listened to his father, President Donald Trump, regarding the Brexit negotiations, things might have been better. Now, however, things are very unclear over the direction the UK should adopt, regarding its departure from the European Union. The implication seems to be that the Prime Minister needed to take a more decisive role in the negotiations. In cases where the electorate fails
to give an overwhelmingly clear decision, weak political leadership might be the result. Does this, however, really mean the democratic system in the UK is ineffective or dead? The view taken here, is that the UK’s democratic systems are as effective as ever. In the absence of a clear strong or firm handling by the Prime Minister, even if this had resulted in further widescale fallouts within her own Conservative Party, at least the country would be heading in one direction or the other. Some might argue that Mrs May is delaying the whole process in order to play for time so as to get a deal that keeps the UK tied, however loosely, to
the EU in some or the other. However, the Prime Minister, Parliament and the electorate are in this situation because of the inadequate ‘instructions’ given to them by the people in the referendum of June 2016. The result of the referendum indicated that just under half the electorate wanted to stay in the EU while and just over half wanted to leave. This resembles a picture of a person with one foot in Europe while the other foot is firmly planted in the UK. In other words, the final decision of the people in 2016 was too close to call. The House of Commons seems just as divided. The referendum result, however, was not decisive enough and
no one seemed to know what an EU exit would involve. The close referendum result, and the subsequent divisions in Parliament, should not, however, lead to the conclusion that democracy is dead. With the benefit of hindsight, it might have been useful to go for a two-thirds majority system for referendums in order to get a clear mandate. The last three general elections in the UK have failed to deliver a clear winner, making it inevitable that compromise and king maker deals would have to be done. The Conservative Party has not been able to govern effectively for the better part of ten years simply because the people have not given them the free run. In 2010 the UK had a coalition government, in 2015 the conservatives had a slim majority. In the 2017, that majority was significantly reduced. The current Conservative government is therefore being kept alive by the slim support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This means, the way forward for governments in this situation is to forge deals with smaller parties and engage in compromise deals. This is where Theresa May finds herself today. She is swimming against a number of different tides that appear to be going in different directions. Since the referendum vote was so close, looking down from out of space, it might appear that half the people want to be in while the half want to be put. It seems the people voted for a compromise with no clear winner. Democracy is not dead. Far from it, the people seemed to have voted for a compromise deal. Long live democracy.
Welcome the Inaugural West Bromwich Junior Street Watch Team Lisa Hill, West Bromwich Town BID Operations Manager, stated “I am pleased to announce that West Bromwich Police in partnership with West Bromwich Town BID have launched the first Junior Street Watch under West Midlands Police force.
“We have selected 5 Public Service students from Sandwell College. “The students will complete 2 hours a month patrols with our Town Centre Ambassadors or PCSO’s and the date of the first patrol us Tuesday 2nd April 2019 onwards.”