In a different universe, I took part last week in another edition of BBC Radio’s Moral Maze. My co-panellists and I discussed to what extent politicians should be guided by public opinion. Britain’s prime minster, Rishi Sunak, is assembling a menu of policies he thinks will resonate with the public and help him win the next general election. Meanwhile the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, wants government planners to ride roughshod over local objections when deciding where to put new housing developments. But then, those involve constituencies where Labour doesn’t have any chance of winning.
Politicians today are governed by opinion polls and focus groups. Does democracy require them to pay such attention to what voters want, or is this a cynical recipe for putting short-term political gains over the national interest? Should majority opinion trump the agenda of politicians? Aren’t politicians needed to use their own judgment in many situations? Has representative democracy had its day?
My co-panellists were Anne McElvoy, Matthew Taylor and Mona Siddiqui. Our witnesses were writer and business consultant Arwa Mahdawi; associate professor of journalism Dr James Morrison; Involve’s chief executive Sarah Castell; and political columnist Quentin Letts.
You can listen to the show here.
Recent posts
My most recent exclusive post for my premium subscribers reproduces an excerpt from my 2006 book Londonistan to show how Britain has sleepwalked into its current civilisational predicament. This is how the piece begins:
How Britain appeased Islamic extremism
And you can read my most recent post that’s available to everyone, discussing the dismaying convulsions over Gaza that threaten the sanctity of Britain’s upcoming Remembrance Weekend, by clicking here.
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