I am very lucky in my MP. His views mostly align with mine, which is great for me, although maybe not everyone in the constituency would say the same. That's one thing. But it's not the only thing. And even if he didn't share many of the views I hold I would still respect him as my MP - although I probably wouldn't vote for him next time around.
Apart from his political outlook, he is very active and open about his activities. He has a strong voice in parliament (albeit one that being a minority party does not get listened to by the government as often as I would like). He is very active on social media, regularly gives public updates on what he is doing, and writes a blog/newsletter about things he is involved with and votes that are, will or have been debated. I wonder how many people can say the same?
This post has in part been prompted by the vote on the repeal bill that has just gone through the House of Commons. For those of you who don't know, in very simple terms this deals with how EU laws which have been integrated into our systems are handled when we separate from the EU. The Conservative government ideally wants to take a blanket approach where everything is just decided centrally by the Westminster government. The issue is that many of these laws relate to things that are currently devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If these laws are controlled by Westminster and relate to a devolved issue Westminster would effectively be in control of that issue instead of the devolved parliaments once we leave the EU. Living in Scotland, I am of course most interested in how this affects the Holyrood Parliament, and have not looked into how our Welsh and NI counterparts view this issue.
Multiple amendments were suggested to the bill following its first reading, some of which related to the repatriation of devolved issues to the devolved parliaments, instead of all powers going first to Westminster and being controlled centrally, the amendments would mean that devolved issues would skip Westminster and come straight to the devolved parliaments which currently control that element of government. The Government assured MPs that these would be written up and included in the second reading - before the parliamentary vote on whether to put the bill forward to the House of Lords as it stands. At that point all Scottish MP's including the 13 Conservatives said they supported the amendments. However, when it came to the point the amendments were not made. The bill was presented as is and vote held. Every single Conservative MP voted with their party to put the bill to the Lord's without the amendments. This means that the House of Lords - none of whom are elected officials, and none of whom represent Scotland are now in charge of whether the bill is allowed to go through and become law.
I know how my MP voted, can you say the same about yours?
And what about the other issues you feel strongly about? Education? The NHS? Policing? Welfare? Tax? Human rights? Trade deals? Privatisation? Nationalisation? Immigration? All of these things and more affect our daily lives, affect the distribution of wealth in this country, affect the amount you pay for your shopping, whether you have medical bills, whether you can afford to eat and pay rent if you lose your job, how quickly, and efficiently, the police are able to respond to and process criminal offences, theft, traffic accidents, assault, rape... And more.
I know a lot of people who aren't interested in politics, and don't want to spend time thinking about these things. Fair enough. We live in a democracy and that is their choice. On the other hand, I wonder how much of this is down to learned behaviour and societal expectations rather than a true desire not to have a say in these aspects of our lives.
After several votes over the last few years from the Scottish Independance referendum, EU referendum, 2 general elections, Holyrood elections and potentially by-elections and other local elections as well, it is no wonder, the corporate controlled media tells us, that people are fed up of politics. They tell us that we have voter fatigue, and that we should let the government worry about Brexit. They tell us we don't want any more votes and that we are right to be sick of these things.
I disagree. And not just because if you look at the people behind the main media outlets you realise that they benefit from this narrative. But also because I feel this attitude is fundamental to the direction this country has taken over the last few decades, and to the situation we find ourselves in.
Yes, the internet has facilitated the rise in false stories, fake news and 'alternative facts' but when we fail to interrogate and think critically about information presented to us, when we fail to demand transparency and truth, not just from the media, but also from our elected representatives, when we accept the narrative we are fed, we fail not only our 'society', we fail our friends and neighbours, our colleagues, our parents, our children, and we fail ourselves.
Let me tell you an open secret. Voter fatigue does not exist. It is a construction of the society we live in. Like queuing, or saying thank you when someone holds a door, and like these things it is different in different cultures and societies. In America when you go to the polls you are there for at least an hour or two. Why is that? Because you are not just expected to tick a box to elect a representative. Once you've done that you're expected to tick a lot more boxes. On local issues, on state issues, on national issues. You are expected to read the associated literature and vote on multiple things.
I am not suggesting that we should hold more elections, but that we should engage with the process, not dismiss it as irrelevant or not worth our time. Is the process boring? Most of the time probably. Does it take effort? Yes it does. But I believe it is our responsibility as citizens to do the best we can for our country. If we accept that once we have placed our X we are relieved of all responsibility then quite frankly, whatever we get is on our own heads.
So what is the answer?
Not so long ago, an elected official would have resigned or been quietly told to make themselves scarce if they were caught in a lie, or involved in any kind of misdemeanour that was seen to bring the party or government into disrepute. There would have been a scandal and the free press would have rightly called for an explanation and reported the behaviour faithfully, using primary sources and true investigation techniques, rather than regurgitating a carefully worded press release.
Nowadays it seems the right spin and a lip service apology is enough to satisfy most discontent. Remember the expenses scandal?
We need to change the narrative. Make it unacceptable to accept news as it is sanitised and dripfed down the corporate straw. Interrogate your news outlets, check whether or not your MP, MSP, MEP, local councillor, is speaking about and voting on the issues you care about, and that they are voting in the manner you would expect.
Send them emails telling them you are disappointed, send them messages of support. Engage with the process, and always, always demand more. More honesty, more transparency more engagement, more updates, and higher standards.
Hold them to account and let them know when they are out of line with what you believe, because the only way to truly know that your representative actually represents you is to know what they are doing after you place your X.
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