Politics: 650 Vacancies

There are, currently, numerous vacancies for various jobs to be found around the UK and more than can be found in many European countries, most especially more than can be found in those European countries that are members of the European Union.

This is because, generally speaking, the UK’s economy is not in bad shape. It does have some problems however but compared to many of those in membership of the EU, the UK isn’t doing too badly. Some of the problems are those that surround how many UK citizens have what they need to stay alive; there are too many who do not have a home to live in. There are too many who do not have enough money for food, clothes and shoes on their feet. That there are such problems is something of an indictment on the current government and a subject that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is very often quick to pounce on whenever he can, which is often.

Corbyn is of course, entirely correct to do so, as is his close confidant John McDonnell, along with a coterie of their supporters. Yet these problems are not new; they have been growing and growing very quickly for at least the last forty years, including the time of the last Labour government as well as its predecessors. The answer to these difficulties however, will not be found in the policies that a Corbyn-led Labour government would adopt should it ever come to power in the UK. Clearly however, they are not to be found with the Conservative government of Theresa May either. Or for that matter, another party leader should Mrs May step down any time soon.

This is where those job vacancies arise and there are a number that need to be filled desperately - for if we do not find the right people to take on these jobs, the United Kingdom is surely doomed. There are 650 of these posts just waiting for those right people. These jobs – all 650 of them – are the jobs of Members of Parliament.

650 is the number of MPs we have and there is not a single one of them that can be allowed to stay in their present posts. Not one.

The reason for this is that events over too many of the past few years (and the last two in particular) have shown beyond any doubt at all that our present members are not good enough. They aren’t talented enough, they aren’t experienced enough, they aren’t diligent enough, they aren’t responsible enough and none of them have the ability to relate to the lives of those who are in charge of them. None of them have the moral standing to accept that they are the representatives of the people and that consequently, they must do as the people tell them to.

What that actually means is that they must do two things; the first is to represent those ordinary people who live in the constituencies they serve – the ones who gave them their jobs. The second is to represent the country as a whole and the needs of the country as a whole – and by ‘country’ I mean the entire United Kingdom, not just one part of it.

That is done, in any democracy worthy of the name, by following the wishes of the majority of people who cast a vote, whether that vote be locally for their town or city authority, whether that vote be for a political party to form the government of the country, or whether it is to follow the decision of a majority in a referendum. The woeful, and at times, simply dishonest posturing of MPs over the past few months has been nothing short of a scandal. It could of course, be said that those current MPs who are the cause of the UK’s discomforts at the moment, are in fact a minority of them – the rest are dutifully doing as they should. No they are not.

When some behave in a way that is clearly wrong, it is up to the rest to bring them into line and thus ensure that the business of running the country on behalf of those who gave them their (very well paid) job to start with is done. This is not happening. It is not happening because MPs are not doing what they should be – and that is why they must go. Every single one of them.

An ever-increasing number of people across the country, no matter what their previous political allegiance may have been, are now saying that they will never vote again. This in fact, is not new. Examine the numbers who voted in the last few general elections. The numbers are not great. Compare those to the numbers who voted in the referendum over leaving (or staying in) the EU; a far greater number of people did indeed vote. Clearly therefore, a huge number of voters across the UK were interested enough to go to their local polling booth and cast that vote. And as I have already written in previous columns, a majority of the people of the UK voted to leave. It doesn’t matter what the division was – large or small, narrow or wide. A majority won. That MPs now, no matter how they are going about it, have threatened that result, is a betrayal. That is also why all of them must be thrown out – we, the people, must sack them and sack them in disgrace. All of them.

Significantly, reports continue to grow of local associations considering de-selecting their current MPs. One must hope that consideration becomes an action; the last quoted number was 50; only another 600 to go then.

For a number of years, MPs have gilded their own lily. They have hidden themselves away from their bosses – us, the people – and lined their pockets with our money and at our expense, often through always-increasing taxes on almost everything. Too many MPs have never been anything else and thus have no concept of life for those they must answer to, again, us, the people. This is why there are food banks. This is why the cost of just remaining alive is becoming or even has become, beyond the means of many. This is why the majority decision of the Brexit referendum is under threat. This is why every MP must go. All 650 of them.

There are, it must be said, some who have steadfastly supported the vote over Brexit, and who are worthy representatives of their constituents but this does not absolve them of responsibility. Such MPs can of course, re-apply for their jobs and if, after appropriately intense scrutiny, are found to be the right person, then they may be returned as candidates to be the people’s representatives. But the numbers of such men and women are far fewer than those who should be thrown out as fast as possible.

The simple way of putting this is that the House of Commons is now packed to the gills with people who are opposed to the people. Either MPs give way or the people do. It must be MPs. If not, then after over 800 years, democracy and freedom in the UK is coming to an end.

It is time to change how the selection of candidates to be MPs is carried out. At present it is a small number of activists in every constituency who do the selecting – except that, on all-too-frequent occasions however, candidates are imposed on local constituencies by party leaderships. That has to stop. Perhaps it is time to have ‘primaries’ where every constituency has a choice of possible candidates from each party as well as those who are not affiliated to a party, Independents if you like. Each possible candidate must however, be able to demonstrate what their politics are, how they will conduct themselves if selected and ultimately elected. In short, how they will behave if they become an MP. If that is broken, the ability to remove them instantly must be available and it is worth noting that if such an ability already existed, then there are a very significant number of MPs who would not be MPs now. Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen, Chukka Umunna, Dominic Grieve and others, would already be gone. So too might the posturing and posing, like Boris Johnson and Steve Baker, along with others who are clearly positioning themselves to become their party leader. Jacob Rees-Mogg should not be safe either and it is even possible that ordinary people – who are remember, the bosses here - might even have removed Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, based on the now clear evidence of the bigotry that has emerged under their leadership of the Labour party. Party Election Manifestos are another example. They are not currently legally binding – they must become so. If the manifesto was binding, parties might be less inclined to promise everything yet deliver nothing, particularly if the consequence was dismissal. And as I have written before, the option of choosing ‘none’ on an election ballot paper (including primaries) must be available.

Let’s phrase it another way; power must be returned to the people of the UK. As long as the present bunch of MPs remain in position, that power is concentrated in the hands of a few elitists.

This is also why people must, must, MUST vote – again as I have said before, if the majority do not, a minority will and the result is that bad politicians are elected by those do not vote and a minority government will come to power (see my related article, ‘Politics at the Crossroads’, under News Commentary). Everybody must not only vote but do so with thought and care, not only to whom their vote is granted but also how. Voting can be done not only via the ballot box but also in a number of other ways. By that I do not mean violent demonstrations; the freedom to demonstrate is one of the most precious we have and for those with long memories, think back to the days of the poll tax; such were the numbers of ordinary people, from all walks of life, who made their feelings known against the poll tax, and in a number of different ways, the government was forced into abandoning it. It was the last time practically the entire population demonstrated in some shape or form and in one way or another.

It must be so again. It must be so to remove those 650 inadequate Members of our Parliament and replace them with people who will genuinely serve. It might be worth noting by the way, that of the forty-six Tory MPs who voted to block a ‘No Deal’ Brexit, thirty-two of them are employed by constituencies that voted to leave the EU. Perhaps is it time, three hundred and sixty-six years on, for another Oliver Cromwell to march into Parliament and for his modern-day counterpart to repeat his words: ‘It is high time to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice. Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. In the name of God, go!’

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© Kevan James 2019.

Related articles:

The Unrepresentative Representatives. March 12, 2019.

The Politics of Hate. March 10, 2019.

News Commentary: Politics at the Crossroads. February 21, 2019.

Vote - lest it be taken from you. January 19, 2019

Sacking the Posers. December 12, 2018.

Brexit - Delayed, Derailed and Done For. December 7, 2018

Brexitania. November 16, 2018

Has Magna Carta been eroded and beyond the point of no return? August 24, 2018.

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