We Pray For Your Election - ask General MacArthur...

So, it's election time again. Thoughts on the parties, as twittered at various points recently...

- The Labour Party (or specifically, "New Labour") : traitors

- At least you know where you are with the Conservatives - on the wrong end of a kicking

- The Liberal Democrats : an attempt to mean something to everyone that ends up meaning nothing to anyone.

- So what's left ? Probably the Greens, or the Scottish Socialists if they can keep it together this week and field a worthwhile candidate...

I still think the only way to get the general public to re-engage with politics is to take politics out of the hands of professional politicians. Back in the day, when I were a lad (cue Largo from The New World) Labour MPs had done a real job for some time, and probably come up through the union ranks as a shop steward, to councillor and eventually to MP. A Tory MP would likely have been in the military, or in business or perhaps gentleman farming. The point is, they would have done *something* in life that wasn't directly to do with politics, and would bring that knowledge and experience to bear on the issues of the day.

Now, we have a parliament crawling with solicitors and sundry others who have effectively made a career out of politics. Labour gets blasted for introducing new laws at a frightening rate, but the trend had started under previous Conservative administrations - when you have that many lawyers stuck in a room, with the ability to create new laws at the drop of a hat, they are going to churn out legislation like there's no tomorrow. The other problem with career politicians is that it gives inordinate power to the party whips; in much the same way that you don't go out of your way to tweak your boss's nose at work, you offend the whip at your career's peril - representing the genuine views of your constituents be damned, if the whip says how you should vote, that's the way you vote lest you be marked down as a "maverick", and that's your chance of a bench job gone for a burton.

Another problem, of the many facing British parliamentary democracy, is the fixation on the personality of the party leaders. This is because, although in your constituency you vote for your local MP to represent you and your neighbours in parliament, that is also effectively a vote for the leader of that MP's party. So what if you, say, think your local Tory MP is doing a fantastic job, but you really want a Labour government ? Well, you're stuffed in the British electoral system, basically.

And that's all before we get to the relative injustices of devolution, or the age old (and really comparatively irrelevant) saw about proportional representation. Or indeed, the position of the Church of England as an established church, or the constitutional awkwardness that would result if a Roman Catholic (or indeed a practicing Jew) became Prime Minister. (Thankfully there is no "Muslim Emancipation Act" to create similar problems for followers of Islam.)

So, what is to be done ? Well, we could start by taking politics back to grass roots level. We have effectively all colluded in allowing affairs to get to the state that they have - it's all to easy to say "I've done my bit - I voted" then step back and leave the elected to do as they will. The problem is that we all seem to have forgotten that we elect a government to do what *we* want *them* to do - not for *them* to tell *us* what to do.

The term "soviet" springs to mind. In its original form as a local or workplace council, rather than how it was deliberately overrun and perverted by the Bolsheviks, the soviet was a forum for members of a community or workplace to come together to discuss the issues of the day. We should create a similar mechanism to bring together workplaces and communities to give their views and opinions directly and regularly. A representative would be elected by those present at the soviet to take the decisions of that soviet to the next soviet up (e.g. from community to town to region to nation). That representative could (and indeed should) change every time the soviet had decisions or deliberations to pass on to the next tier. The representative would be fully accountable to ensure they gave the decisions of their soviet rather than their own opinions. To ensure attendance at soviets, possibly an increase in your local taxes if you miss three in a row ?

OK, so it's not exactly a thoroughly worked out proposal. But it would do something to get people back involved in politics again. Too many people say "I'm not political" - but the fact is that every action is in some way political, because politics is really about how a population interacts and decides - the term "politics" has been defined to count only "party politics" and this is part of the reason the ordinary "man on the Clapham omnibus" feels detached from the whole process.

All Power To The Soviets !