How the politics of consensus disenfranchised a majority of British voters
by Gerald Warner, Reaction:
[…] “Now we are being told,” he continued, “that if Labour returns to socialism it won’t win an election. So what? We should stand for a principle, win or lose. What’s the point of winning elections if we can’t implement what we believe in? In that case what is Labour for, apart from advancing a few careers? I want to be able to vote for what I believe, whether it wins elections or not. If Labour won’t promote its principles, I have no voice. All the parties represent the same programme. I have no one to vote for. I am disfranchised.”
That was the point where his complaint became identical to that of a UKIP supporter. That is not a flippant point: disfranchisement is the crucial issue that has provoked the present crisis in British politics and which could yet trigger a dramatic revolution in the political system, even beyond what it has already effected.
Consider the almost incredible reality. EU membership was for decades an axiom across all political parties. At the recent referendum – not held due to any democratic instinct among the political class but as an expedient by David Cameron in trying to suppress dissidents within his own ranks – all of the political parties except UKIP (with just one MP) supported Remain. As the result showed, the consensual parties had thereby disfranchised 17.4 million voters.
That is an indication of the scale on which the political class had arrogantly parted company with the electorate. Include other elements, such as the leftists abandoned by Labour, and you can safely add at least 3 million more voiceless voters. Ditto social conservatives, rejected and traduced by the metropolitan liberal establishment, though many of them may also be included within the pro-Brexit insurgency.
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