Letter: Get involved to make difference - 26/06/09
Reading your recent discussions on political allegiance, I find myself quite troubled by the loss of public trust in our democratic system.
Tories don't do political philosophy, it is just not their thing. Theirs is a largely gut response; indeed they did not know that they had a philosophy until Mrs Thatcher told them. Learning that greed was indeed good and there was no such thing as society, Conservatives took to it with a will. They quoted: "You can't buck the market", forgetting that their party was born supporting the iniquitous Corn Laws which did the bucking for the major industry of that time.
Mrs T introduced monetarism, which purported to limit the money in circulation, but then, "liberating" the financial world, she invited anyone who thought they could profitably do so to open another bank in our high streets. The result was the arrival of plastic in our lives, so screwing up monetarism's declared purpose. Liberation also encouraged the de-mutualisation of the building societies, where trading rules precluded borrowing more than a limited proportion of the money lent. Chief executives turned themselves into rich men by dishonouring the trust in which they had reached their controlling position. The seeds of the present financial crisis were born of Thatcher's "liberation", at least as it affects the UK.
Liberal Democrats opposed the de-mutualisation, not least because "mutuality" accords with the whole of Liberal history. In shorthand, Conservatism is about personal capitalism, Socialism is about state capitalism and Liberalism is about mutual capitalism. All the above systems have their uses and their limitations and there are many more facets to be considered in the motivations of political parties.
Independents, while a welcome addition to politics, cannot be relied upon to initiate the changes called for in a dynamic society; you cannot take the politics out of the politics. The idea of primaries in the selection of candidates cannot disguise the disenchantment of the public with politics, nor would they cure it. If you want to be better represented, find a party that accords with your own views, get involved and be part of the selection process that finds and promotes candidates.
BRYAN LEE,
President Grantham and Stamford Liberal Democrats, Bainton Road, Barnack
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Weather for Stamford
Thursday 24 May 2012
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