Democracy. Overrated, I reckon. Making a mockery of it are self-serving politicians of the local, national and international variety, occupying the left, right or centre ground. And because they go about their business almost unchallenged by the 42 million drivers in Britain and the circa 1.5 billion globally, they’re getting away with dumping their own iffy brands of democracy on us. As a consequence, our freedoms and liberties, motoring budgets and right to car ownership are suffering like never before. Undoubtedly, it’s becoming harder, more expensive and less fun to remain active motorists. And to add insult to injury, under the deeply flawed western democratic ‘system’ we now have, comparatively few of us get a proper say in who’s elected into or thrown out of office. The world’s biggest, mouthiest, most unpredictable political lump, Donald J Trump, proves my point. It’s obvious that we, as Brits, had zero say in him being elected or what he does, because he’s America’s president, not ours. But this hasn’t prevented him from being responsible for the huge hike in prices we pay at UK fuel pumps. Who asked him to start a global oil and gas crisis that is – in human and financial terms – so damaging and unnecessary? Nobody as far as I can tell. How’s that for democracy? At the opposite end of the political spectrum and far closer to home, Sadiq Khan demonstrates in the worst possible way how local politicians play cynical games while seriously damaging the purpose and spirit of our democratic system. He’ll argue that as elected Mayor of London, he has a mandate from Londoners to impose congestion and ULEZ charges/fines, plus tunnel toll fees, that cost people driving to their regular workplaces in the capital many thousands of pounds annually. But what he doesn’t mention is that only around one million of the people officially residing in Greater London (and therefore blessed with local voting rights) actually voted for him and his cruel brand of car/motorist hatred. The tens of millions of people (many of them born in London, but now displaced from the city) living in bordering counties have no say in who’s allowed to seize the mayoral role and how extensively he can financially punish motorists when they drive into his fiefdom. And as I write this, immediately after the Makerfield by-election, Andy Burnham has been re-elected as an MP and seems poised to soon take over as Prime Minister. The good news is rumoured to be the removal of net-zero nut and committed car hater Ed Miliband as Energy Secretary. The bad is that he’ll then likely be appointed Chancellor – where he’ll decide everything from the price and extent of road tolls to levels of vehicle and fuel taxation. If this is democracy, I’m a banana.
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