tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post356601547192440179..comments2024-03-27T06:56:10.255+00:00Comments on Broad Oak Magazine: Parliamentary democracy: belling(ham) the cat, by SackersonUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-54512858215833219292021-05-13T05:58:10.095+01:002021-05-13T05:58:10.095+01:00“A 2009 court ruling http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk...“A 2009 court ruling http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8025255.stm said that there is no legal remedy if your MP ignores you.”<br /><br />Most interesting. And concerning.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-56379177869967321702021-05-10T17:10:23.409+01:002021-05-10T17:10:23.409+01:00Ancient Athens had a special machine for the rando...Ancient Athens had a special machine for the random selection process:<br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleroterion<br /><br />and it has been re-created:<br />https://news.cnrs.fr/videos/the-machine-that-selected-the-citizens-of-athensSackersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17284329249862764601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5524682876220396502.post-28258587705066125442021-05-10T17:07:18.363+01:002021-05-10T17:07:18.363+01:00JD comments:
I didn't know the story of Belli...JD comments:<br /><br />I didn't know the story of Bellingham but of course the majority of political stories pass me by, they are usually remote from the lives of 'normal' people. Benn and Powell were the great constitutionalists of the sixties which was when politics was transformimg itself into 'showbusiness for ugly people'. When Benn renounced his peerage to allow him to become a Member of Parliament he forgot there might be unintended consequences; Lords Home and Hailsham followed him into the Commons, the former becoming PM. As I recall he claimed to use matchsticks to help him understand economics!<br /><br />James Goldsmith had a short lived magazine called 'Now!' in the eighties and I read in one issue a proposal for MPs to be chosen at random from the public in the same way that juries are selected. It couldn't be any worse than the current system. The problem with that is it would give more power to Whitehall so what our political system needs is a revolutionary overhaul of the Civil Service. I think more than a few of our current MPs would like to do that.<br /><br />John Ward's idea that power should be more local is fine in theory but if he had any experience of the local Councils he would quickly change his mind. I have worked for local Councils in building council houses and I have found that local politicians are even stupider and more corrupt than those in Westminster. Ward's idea is well intentioned but we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.<br /><br />In our local election results I noticed that one candidate was returned to his council to continue his 30 years of 'service' on that council. That sort of thing needs to be stopped. Politics is not and should not be a career, it is a service to and for the local people. When you have done your four or five years it is time to step aside and make way for others who wish to 'serve' but in fact human nature means there will never be any ideal solution.Sackersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17284329249862764601noreply@blogger.com