The shocking United Kingdom Indpendent Party result from Thursday's local elections should have left us all reeling.
The complete apathy of the more than 60% of our voting population who stayed at home should make us all feel ashamed.
The complete lack of belief in the trustworthiness of MPs or in their ability to represent and truly understand the views of the people, should make Whitehall wince.
And the fact that a quarter of the people who did vote, voted for a nationalistic, racist, policy-less party, should be a wake-up call to everyone.
But the truth is, no one cares.
If they did, they would have voted.
Instead poling stations were empty, ballot boxes left unfilled and a minority party was able to win the day.
 |
| Our local poling station most of the day, 2nd May 2013 |
For the first time, I am pleased that we don't have proportional representation because if we did, our local government would now be led by Nigel Farage and his crazy UKIP gang.
 |
| Nigel Farage |
And that would be a day to dread.
And it is not ok to say you didn't vote because none of the politicians have anything to say to you.
And it is wrong to say you stayed at home because your vote wouldn't have made a difference anyway.
Every vote makes a difference, even if it is just to protest.
Your vote is your political voice. If you can't be bothered to speak, don't expect anyone to listen.
In the constituencies where the most people voted ( still only 39%) UKIP did worst.
If more people had voted in the places where UKIP did best, the result could have been different.
Your vote could have been that difference.
Edmund Burke once said:
" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
And on May 2nd 2013, too many good men and women in Britain, did nothing.
1 million people vote for the X Factor.
Why do people believe their vote can make a difference on a TV show and not in an election?.
The simple truth is that we care more about who will be the next big celebrity star, than what is happening to our country.
Today is a sad day to be British.
And it is easy to blame the politicians, the system, the weather, the day.
Much easier than it is to blame ourselves. .
There is much that is unfair and wrong in Britain today. But we live in a democracy.
And as voters we have the power, it is up to us to use it.
I know It is easy to be melodramatic about Thursday's result. And it is too easy to define UKIP as a purely racist party. But it is a platform for racist views and it is frightening.
When our mixed race 15 year old daughter heard the local election results on Friday, she turned to me, her deep brown eyes full of panic.
" I'm frightened mum,: she said, " Are they going to throw us out of our country?"
And I know it doesn't and I hugged her tight and told her so.
But somewhere, deep inside, I'm frightened too.
Because a seed has been planted and it doesn't need much for roots to take hold.
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
In the constituencies where the most people voted ( still only 39%) UKIP did worst.
If more people had voted in the places where UKIP did best, the result could have been different.
Your vote could have been that difference.
Edmund Burke once said:
" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
And on May 2nd 2013, too many good men and women in Britain, did nothing.
1 million people vote for the X Factor.
Why do people believe their vote can make a difference on a TV show and not in an election?.
The simple truth is that we care more about who will be the next big celebrity star, than what is happening to our country.
Today is a sad day to be British.
And it is easy to blame the politicians, the system, the weather, the day.
Much easier than it is to blame ourselves. .
There is much that is unfair and wrong in Britain today. But we live in a democracy.
And as voters we have the power, it is up to us to use it.
I know It is easy to be melodramatic about Thursday's result. And it is too easy to define UKIP as a purely racist party. But it is a platform for racist views and it is frightening.
When our mixed race 15 year old daughter heard the local election results on Friday, she turned to me, her deep brown eyes full of panic.
" I'm frightened mum,: she said, " Are they going to throw us out of our country?"
And I know it doesn't and I hugged her tight and told her so.
But somewhere, deep inside, I'm frightened too.
Because a seed has been planted and it doesn't need much for roots to take hold.
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
When they do come, let's hope we are not all too busy sitting at home, watching "The X Factor," to notice.
UKIP voting demographics - low graduate areas, older population and a population of faith... whilst we will all get older, there will be more graduates (one presumes therefore more well educated) and faith (thankfully) is on the decline...
ReplyDeleteIn 1994 I witnessed the queues and queues of South Africans, millions of people, waiting in the beating sun over three days to be able to cast their vote in the country's first democratic elections. People came from shacks with no running water, sewage or electricity; they walked miles, took buses and taxis - but made their way to the polling stations and stood patiently in queues that snaked around blocks, to vote. The atmosphere was jubilant despite the exhaustion and hunger because everyone was so pleased to be able to vote. For most citizens, it was their first opportunity to be heard and the percentage poll was estimated at something like 86%.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I heard that many people didn't vote in our most recent election because they'd not been given enough information about the candidates and that because of the economic climate, the candidates had been unable to canvas particularly effectively. I think that's a poor excuse.
If the electorate had wanted to vote they could have sought out information or read the local paper. Most polling stations around us are within walking distance.
THERE'S NEVER ANY EXCUSE NOT TO VOTE!
And this week in Pakistan, people risked their lives to vote.
ReplyDeleteIn England, people wouldn't even risk the rain.