There is nearly another week of radio and television coverage before the General Election. The media milk the story for all it’s worth and – as usual – try to make out that it will be a close run thing. Having determined not to vote in this election, I can take a detached view.When I first became a voter in the 1960s, it seemed straightforward: if you were more selfish than spiteful you would vote Conservative, and if you were more spiteful than selfish you would vote Labour. Most people fell into one category or the other.
Now it seems that, just as county councils are run to a large extent by staff rather than councillors, governments are run principally by the civil service so there is no point in spending a lot of time choosing elected representatives.
The way we do politics in this country is an exasperating sham, so I have to keep reminding myself of the words of Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965): “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”
Photograph by Yours Truly.
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