You are in:
- Contents » European Democracy
It Couldn't Happen Here
Richard Littlejohn asks why Britain can't have inspiring politicians like Hillary, Obama or McCain.
The US Presidential race is a battle of ideas, of big personalities, of character, he says.
It's "a triumph for the people over the pundits."
The Republican frontrunner has no equivalent in British politics - both McCain's age and his military background would stand against him in 21st century Britain. Sixty-year-old women of Mrs Clinton's experience & standing are thin on the ground in British politics, while few minority Brits are as inspiring as Barack Obama.
Yes, there are flaws in the US process: The vast sums of money involved in pursuing a candidacy, for one. But compare the US elections with the ongoing seedy carve-up in the smoke-free rooms of Brussels as the EU decides its first "President" (see yesterday's top story).
Where are the big ideas in Britain?
The grandest vision in British politics emanates from the EU - that of the creation of a United States of Europe. Most Britons oppose this vision, but are denied any say in the matter.
Littlejohn quotes Peter Mandelson, a former British minister and currently the EU Commissioner for Trade & Industry. Back in 1998 in an interview with the Sunday Times, he said that the "era of pure representative democracy is coming to an end". He suggested that plebiscites, the internet, focus groups and special interest groups would guide the future of nations. We've had few plebiscites, and those which have taken place in Europe have been ignored. Recent events have shown how the EU funds focus groups and selected special interest groups to tell it what it wants to hear - namely, that it should fund more "civic society groups" (ie, them) and that it should demand more powers from nation states.
Only on the internet does a lively debate continue: And, as recent events have shown, even the web falls under the watchful eye of Big Brother.
For all their faults, each of the American candidates appeal to a particular idea of America: The only appeal to an idea of Britain made recently has been Foreign Secretary David Miliband's vision of making Britain "a hub of ideas" - as EURSOC said, A cypher; a history-free Interzone where 2000 years of accumulated wisdom and history are removed at a stroke and replaced with the cold hum of New Labour think tanks laying the ills of the world to rest.
We added: "Miliband's hub model is both modest and presumptuous: It's also radical, the replacement of the nation state with a borderless, ahistorical entity existing only to facilitate the passage of certain approved ideas and to suppress those deemed unsuitable. This is the final incarnation of Labour's vision for Britain."
We have an unelected Prime Minister, a soon-to-be appointed European President and a twice-rejected Constitution explicitly constructed to ensure no further public debate or vote is allowed.
It's some distance from We, The People.
