Drum Magazine Issue 3 | Page 58

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Drum: DEMOCRACY I

The answers, like most things that stare you
in the face every day of the week, become
apparent once they have been vocalised. Here,
then, are some reasons why I, friends,
colleagues and family don’t vote.
‘ Ministers are incompetent, hopeless muddlers’
(this comment came from a managing director): if you look at
how our politicians (and their committees) have screwed up the
health service, railways, London Underground, education and
even the Millennium Dome, this sounds about right. The one area
that seems to be working well – the economy – does so due to
the absence of political interference from the Chancellor. But as all
Western Europe, not just the UK, is affected by voter abstention,
we must look for a European-wide cause.

‘ Corruption and dishonesty’:

this argument applies
to all, but is used more against European politicians who seem to
have the knack of working the European Union to their financial
advantage. In the UK, we tend to use the rules to wreak havoc
among farmers and Customs and Excise.

‘ My vote won’t have any effect’: with no real
opposition, what’s the point of voting? If there were a tick box for
‘none of the above’, visitors to polling booths would lift
dramatically as they demonstrate their displeasure with all
participants.

‘ Not interested’: this was from my 18-year-old niece. Being
18 should bring some kind of involvement in citizenship, but
abstention is high among the young. The politicians burden
students with tuition fees and long-term debt because they know
there will be no backlash.

‘ Politicians are a bunch of wankers’: this
argument, from a Professor of Economics, refers to unpopular
action. An unexplained war, collapsed pension schemes, overtaxed drink and fuel cause resentment. Witness the non-stop
migration of UK residents to live in France and Spain or the
gradual return of the Windrush generation back to the Caribbean.
Houses of Parliament at night Photography © John Pring