The Death of Politics?

When you witness the endless cycle of coy comments about reducing this country's level of debt combined with the testy name-calling over who has the worst donor from the three two main parties, it is tempting to think that politics is dead in this country. No longer do we debate the awesome potential of ideas on offer in political philosophy; instead, the party leaders snipe at each other like an old couple in a loveless marriage that each participant is too immersed in to actually consider ending it in anyway other than through the death of one of the participants. This isn't politics - it is a testy squabble.

Yet politics isn't dead. It takes place within the ranks of the main parties, as they battle to decide the direction of their particular political organisation. It takes place in minor political parties, as they vie to get their agendas into the mainstream and persuade people to vote for them for a different future. It takes place in pubs, cafes, living rooms, universities, workplaces. Politics is everywhere and being discussed all the time. In fact, those who probably have the most limited political conversations are those who have the audacity to call themselves politicians.

So what to do? How to end this hideous irony that are politicians seem to be afraid of what is genuinely political? There is no easy solution. The problem with the political oligarchy in this country is that it is self-perpetuating. In order to play a meaningful role in power politics, you have to play the game and join one of the main political parties. Then, to get into a position of power, you need to become an MP. In order to become an MP and then win elections to the Commons, you have to leave controversy and ideology behind you. The opinions you have need to reflect that of the party you represent - which at the moment means adopting the policies and the philosophy of the bland, post-Blairite consensus. It really shouldn't be surprising when our MPs end up as dull party hacks when then need to be exactly that in order to become an MP.

No, there is no easy solution. I have a profound pessimism when it comes to the practitioners of politics at the national level, and I know I am not alone in that. As things stand, the only way in which we can break this impasse and either get the mainstream parties to start offering real choice or getting more radical smaller parties into power is if things get worse, and the bland palliatives on offer by Labour and the Tories are further exposed as utterly useless. Yet things have got pretty bad over the past 13 years - civil liberties and the economy have been decimated, and we are fighting in not just one war but two with no end in sight and the original reasons for the conflict muddied by evasions and lies. Just how bad do things have to get before the people in this country demand that the political language they speak becomes the political language spoken by the so-called politicians?

Am I cynical? Sure, but with good reason. And I think more people need to be more cynical about our political class. There used to be a slogan used against Richard Nixon - "would you buy a used car from this man?" Let's apply it to our leaders in this country - "would you buy a used car from Gordon Brown/Dave Cameron/ Nick Clegg?" No? You want better, more trustworthy and more convincing politicians? Fine. Start demanding them, and we'll take it from there.