If there's one thing I have learnt from the recent General Election, it is that too many people amongst the general public are politically ignorant. Now I have no doubt that there are a whole host of reasons for this. It could be that people don't feel that politics affects their day-to-day life enough for them to take an interest. It may be that people just find politics boring, or feel disconnected from the mostly privately-educated MPs who run this country.
However, I think there is another reason that so much of the general public is ignorant of what is truly happening in politics and that is that they do not believe they are ignorant. They tell themselves that even though they don't go out of their way to really understand government policy, at least they read the newspaper every day.... or the headlines at least. This, however, is an issue. The majority of the media in this country is sensationalist, and only a few of the national papers are independent of the political parties. Therefore, many of the public who have a set newspaper will never change their mind on a party or even an individual policy.
Now, onto the reason for this blog. I have faith in the British public. I understand that many people believe it is their duty to vote even if their vote has only the tiniest impact on what happens in this country (note: I will almost definitely blog on the voting system in this country in the coming days or weeks) and I respect anyone who casts a vote. However, many of these British citizens do not have the time to fully immerse themselves in politics and have to quickly decide who to vote for in the last few weeks of a government's term. Sure, there are plenty of websites which try to make this easier for people and I highly commend their efforts but this isn't enough. To use these websites, people need a basic understanding of the policies they're choosing between. These websites also give favour to the parties nowhere near government with policies which sound good but aren't possible in real life. Unfortunately, this is what came back to haunt the Lib Dems when they realised their policy to scrap tuition fees was not realistic when they actually got into government.
Therefore, this blog will be an attempt to explain policies that are proposed and implemented over the course of this government. I will try to present these in a balanced way backed up by facts. I hope that my blog posts will be to the point where possible, enabling anyone who wants to understand our government to do so without sacrificing too much of their time. On the other hand, if a short explanation does not do a policy justice, I will not apologise for explaining it in depth.
I plan to follow this post with a post explaining my position in the political spectrum to allow people to eliminate any potential bias I may include inadvertently. Once I explain my political philosophy, it should, however, become clear why this should not be an issue for me.
Many thanks for reading and I hope that you will stay with this blog for the long haul so that you can stay... In The Loop.
Ed
However, I think there is another reason that so much of the general public is ignorant of what is truly happening in politics and that is that they do not believe they are ignorant. They tell themselves that even though they don't go out of their way to really understand government policy, at least they read the newspaper every day.... or the headlines at least. This, however, is an issue. The majority of the media in this country is sensationalist, and only a few of the national papers are independent of the political parties. Therefore, many of the public who have a set newspaper will never change their mind on a party or even an individual policy.
Now, onto the reason for this blog. I have faith in the British public. I understand that many people believe it is their duty to vote even if their vote has only the tiniest impact on what happens in this country (note: I will almost definitely blog on the voting system in this country in the coming days or weeks) and I respect anyone who casts a vote. However, many of these British citizens do not have the time to fully immerse themselves in politics and have to quickly decide who to vote for in the last few weeks of a government's term. Sure, there are plenty of websites which try to make this easier for people and I highly commend their efforts but this isn't enough. To use these websites, people need a basic understanding of the policies they're choosing between. These websites also give favour to the parties nowhere near government with policies which sound good but aren't possible in real life. Unfortunately, this is what came back to haunt the Lib Dems when they realised their policy to scrap tuition fees was not realistic when they actually got into government.
Therefore, this blog will be an attempt to explain policies that are proposed and implemented over the course of this government. I will try to present these in a balanced way backed up by facts. I hope that my blog posts will be to the point where possible, enabling anyone who wants to understand our government to do so without sacrificing too much of their time. On the other hand, if a short explanation does not do a policy justice, I will not apologise for explaining it in depth.
I plan to follow this post with a post explaining my position in the political spectrum to allow people to eliminate any potential bias I may include inadvertently. Once I explain my political philosophy, it should, however, become clear why this should not be an issue for me.
Many thanks for reading and I hope that you will stay with this blog for the long haul so that you can stay... In The Loop.
Ed
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