Labour began this Parliament with 9,708,716 people voting for them. Total voter turnout was down and as a percentage of total voters, that’s roughly 20% of voters backed a Labour Government. I, and others, warned that such a government – of any party, is a low legitimacy Government and needs to be cautious. Did they listen? Did they heck.
So now Labour starts 2025 with lowest approval ratings – what’s next? Well, I get asked this on twitter on a daily basis. Usually, I am asked for some wizzo legal solution to get rid of the Government. Always, I must disappoint. You see our constitution, our system, doesn’t want almighty Judges who can cast out a Prime Minister – even a hugely unpopular one. We looked at the downsides of overpower people called ‘judges’ and we said, ‘yeah, thanks but no’.
So, the solution to the current week, illegitimate and deeply unpopular Government will have to come from politics, not law. What do I mean by that?
Owning your own home is crucial to the British concept of freedom.
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Well, we are, fundamentally, a property-owning democracy (never downplay the first part, the idea that we all either do, or should aspire to, own our own homes is crucial to a British concept of freedom). And a democracy is an interesting form of government – it is rather more hands on than the other types. What do I mean?
Well, in a dictatorship, be that under a King, a High Priest, a modern technocrat or a communist regime, your job as a citizen is basically ‘shut up and do as you’re told’. In a democracy, your job is the opposite. Our system of government needs you to get involved.
This concept of volunteering is riven through our society. Every school is run by Governors, who are they? Volunteers. Every Scout, Guide and Brownie group etc. is the same. Every charity. Every food hub. Every church café. Every single Magistrate. All of them are volunteers.
Most Parish Councillors are unpaid volunteers. Most local councillors are given a stipend, but it is a long way from enough to live on. Our country doesn’t function if people don’t step up to the plate.
And that is what 2025 is going to need. The wheels are going to start coming off this Government, and I suspect, sooner rather than later (I think the Conservative Party needs to wake up to that risk).
Jess Phillips has been accused of letting down victims of grooming gangs by refusing a full national inquiry into the scandal.
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The Prime Minister has already started the year calling everyone ‘Far Right’ and trying to demand we all sympathise with Jess Phillips – a person many of us deeply dislike. He has a thin skin, dislikes being questioned and doesn’t seem to understand why we don’t all think the sun shines out of his proverbial. If the Prime Minister were a dictator, I’d still predict a short reign.
But in a democracy these trates are catastrophic. That is, provided we remember this is a democracy. Provided we all volunteer, step up to the plate and make our voices heard.
Do you dislike his plan, and let’s admit it, Leadbeater is a ruse, it is clearly his plan, to kill us all on the NHS? Tell him. Don’t like him giving away our Chagos Islands and all our money? Tell him. Don’t trust Bridget Philipson with your kids? Tell him. Worry about the Farmers and the Pensioners? Tell him.
That’s what we all need to do in 2025. We all need to step up and be counted. There’s no cheap legal trick to remove him. We’ll have to do the hard work ourselves. Elon is helping. Trudeau just stepped down in Canada, let 2025 be the year we remove the human bollard from office with the strength of our voices and democracy.