By Peter A Bell
Democracy is, not what the people choose, but whatever the British political elite declares it to be
Politics in the UK has become confusing. Democracy has ceased to be a contest of ideals and ideas and has become instead a struggle to assert the legitimacy of electoral arithmetic against the contesting claims of established power. It used to be sufficient that a government was elected, or a leader chosen. Opposition involved an effort to persuade voters to different choices. Now, if established power is dissatisfied with the popular choice of administration, they simply declare that choice invalid. If they dislike the public’s choice of political leader, they simply use the manipulative power of the media to elevate their own choice to a status they were unable to earn in a free and fair election.