Brexit has put a massive question mark over the democracy of
the UK. Whether it is remainers, leavers or in-between, everyone is responsible
to uphold the democratic process of this country. However, what if this process
is broken. What if we don’t live in the perfect democratic country? Does that
mean the rules can be bent and changed, making it acceptable to be undemocratic?
Fundamentally, Brexit has shown the undemocratic political process this country
is ran by. Not just by the government or one particular group, but from all sides.
At the heart of the British political landscape lies the monarch,
currently the Queen. She is the head of state and that is where the first
problem lies. Unlike most other countries, we don’t have a written constitution.
Since the Queen is the head of state, any constitutional duties lie with her.
However, her powers are ceremonial. To allow for a smooth democratic state, she
should not be politicised, but instead any constitutional questions should follow
laws and convention. However, conventions are just a set of unwritten customs that
are acceptable. There are no legal precautions if one were to go against it.
With Brexit, we have been in a constitutional crises ever
since the result of the referendum. That has lead to boiling point with
Parliament being prorogued. Suspending parliament goes against conventional
thinking, and is highly undemocratic, but it is legal. There is nothing stopping
Johnson from suspending parliament. Not even the Queen since that would mean
she is getting involved with politics of this country. Now that leads to the
question, what is the point of having a monarch, who is part of the political process,
if they have no powers to prevent any undemocratic actions. Okay, the royal
family bring in a lot of money from tourism, which is highly exaggerated. Surely
democracy should be at the forefront, in front of financial gains. If the monarchy
can’t prevent any undemocratic practices carried out by the government then there
is no need of them being involved in the political process. Just like Johnson
going against convention, what is stopping the monarch from going against tradition.
What if the monarch doesn’t approve of a bill and does not give it royal assent? We
need to stop relaying on conventions and have certain answers to these undemocratic
scenarios. Instead of having a useless monarch, we should adopt an evolving
constitution. Not like the American constitution, which still lives in the 18thcentury, but one which moves with time.
Brexit has completely shaken the executives position and
the power it holds. Executives are the ministers who hold positions in the
cabinet. Since they propose laws and run the country, they hold a great deal of
power. At the head of the cabinet lies the Prime Minister. We have seen the
power held by the PM over the course of the last couple of years, especially this
month as Johnson prorogues parliament. Certainly, we should be voting on who
becomes Prime Minister. How can it democratic for a bunch of rich people to represent
the country. No one voted in Johnson to deal with Brexit, except for 92k
people. If a Prime Minister stands down, there has to be a general election.
Allow the people to decide who should run the country, and determine the fate
of millions, not just on Brexit, but all issues. We currently have an unelected,
right wing of the Tory party running the country, when no one asked for one.
With that, we should also discuss the number of MPs who have
changed parties since the election in 2017. There have been over 70 changes
since the last election. Some have been due to suspensions. However, a hell of a
lot have been due to MPs changing because of personal preference. MPs run in
elections, standing on a Manifesto, by showing their support for a party and its
leader. By continuing to change parties when they disagree with party lines,
they essentially put aside the views of their constituent. No longer do the
people who voted the MP in, have their views represented in parliament. Some MPs
have changed parties 4 or 5 times in the space of one year. Once an MP voluntarily
changes party, they must hold a by-election. To carry on holding onto their
seat is highly undemocratic. The will and views of the people need to be of the highest
importance. A by-election is the democratic way forward.
All this undemocratic nature of politics started during the
EU referendum in 2016. Remain and leave campaigns failed their democratic duty.
Lies across the board, not just Leave campaign. However, Leave campaign should
take responsibility of their message. Their lies lead to millions of people
voting for something they did not. People voted to allow the NHS to have extra
income. People voted to make this country a better place. No one voted for all
the lies they were told. These people should be held accountable, even if this
was an advisory referendum. It was supposed to be the biggest democratic
procedure of this country. However, that failed. 17.2 million people voted to
leave, but what does that mean. Did they vote for no deal? No. No one voted to
leave without a deal. That was not a thing in 2016. Even the leave campaign clearly
stated we would leave with a deal. So why are they turning their back on that. People
were lied to, and what followed just deepened the undemocratic nature of this
country.
A second referendum has to be the way forward. At one point I believed we could've made Brexit work. If we were able to get a deal where the needs of the people were put ahead of the rich. However, we can no longer negotiate with the EU. No deal can never be the option. The only option left is to have a referendum with remain and Theresa May's deal on the ballot paper. If Brexiteers believe that leave is the will of the people, they shouldn’t worry about a second referendum. Unlike the referendum in 2016, we will actually know what leave means. It is the only democratic option available to move forward.
A second referendum has to be the way forward. At one point I believed we could've made Brexit work. If we were able to get a deal where the needs of the people were put ahead of the rich. However, we can no longer negotiate with the EU. No deal can never be the option. The only option left is to have a referendum with remain and Theresa May's deal on the ballot paper. If Brexiteers believe that leave is the will of the people, they shouldn’t worry about a second referendum. Unlike the referendum in 2016, we will actually know what leave means. It is the only democratic option available to move forward.
Finally, we must re-evaluate the role of the House of Lords.
How can we have an unelected legislative body in 2019? Even if the parliament
act limits their powers, they are still able to block bills for a period of
time. We have one of the largest unelected bodies in the world, with around 800
members. On top of that, we still have unelected positions for religious
members. Since there are no retirement age, members continue to sit in the
house of Lords as long as they feel necessary. The average age is 69. These
people don’t represent the people of the United Kingdom. How can an elderly, unelected
person knows how young working class adult feels? We must change the way the House of Lords is
ran. Changes are necessary. We must get rid of positions assigned to religious members.
We aren’t a church state. All members must be elected. We criticise other
countries for doing exactly what we do.
Currently we are fighting the undemocratic government, as they
prorogue parliament and try to push through a no deal Brexit. However, Johnson
is not the only undemocratic aspect of the British political system. The whole
system needs change. For too long we have let these issues lie beneath the
surface. Now it has come to back bite us in the back. We face a constitutional and democratic
crisis. We need to fix it now. Lets move forward into the 21st
century, by abolishing the monarchy and reforming the House of Lords. Let’s
make changes to the House of Commons, to make it more democratic. Let’s prevent
any future undemocratic fiascos that have with Brexit. Let's pull the United Kingdom into a 21st
century democratic state.
Aleha
Aleha