As predicted, the referendum on Britain’s membership of EU has so far proved to be anything but fair or balanced.
From Cameron using the machinery of government to disseminate their own official-looking propaganda via the civil service, to scaremongering on all sides of the argument, it’s no wonder that so many of the electorate are still undecided according to the polls.
Vox Pop is all in favour of holding a referendum to allow the public to decide policy but only when it’s a fair and balanced proposition that allows us all to see the full facts. Regardless of whichever way we may think we’re going to vote in the referendum, wouldn’t it be fair to have the full details to make an informed decision?
So the Prime Minister has decided to give us a referendum on Europe to placate his backbenchers and stop any further defections of Euro-sceptic Tories to UKIP.
Vox Pop is all in favour of referendums. In fact, Vox Pop would like to see all policies decided upon by the whole electorate, not just a handful of politicians. However, the manner in which the referendum on Europe is being handled goes against the fair way it should be managed.
For us at Vox Pop, direct democracy, where we the public are in charge of all government policy, is the only truly fair and real democracy, yet there are some detractors, no doubt with vested interests, that prefer the current system of so-called “representative” government.
In recent blog posts, we’ve dispelled some of the myths and today we’ll take a look at one of the criticisms levelled at direct democracy.
One criticism that’s been levelled at direct democracy, where the British public will make all policy decisions, is that there’s no individual person to hold accountable should things go wrong. The blame game is never a great place to start when trying to construct a fair and real democracy but the implication seems to be that we can hold politicians to account currently. This is far from the case.
Despite major welfare cuts being pushed ahead, MPs are set to reap a windfall of increased wages and larger pension pots.
There’s no more obvious illustration of the way that Parliament is rigged to get the result it wants than the recent spat over fox hunting between the Conservatives and the SNP.
What job would you immediately think of which would be suitable for the son of an artist and fabric designer? A man who studied Modern History then wanted to be a journalist? Probably not Chancellor of the Exchequer but that’s what George Osborne has become.
Like they say, it’s not what you know but who you know, especially for the Bullingdon set.