You must vote if you believe in democracy
As the past five years have demonstrated, the choices we make at elections have real and serious effects
We will not be endorsing any political party at this general election. By dint of reading The Scotsman, our readers are more than capable of making up their own minds without direction.
We prefer to provide you with the facts, a range of informed opinions, and our thoughts on specific issues. But that is not to say we do not have views on what is the most important event in any democracy.
Take Nigel Farage. He may object to the idea that Reform UK is “far-right” – claiming spuriously he has “done more to drive far-right out of British politics than anyone alive” – but his party has cast a worrying shadow over polling stations across the country. A second Reform candidate has now defected to the Conservatives, claiming the “vast majority” of its candidates are “racist, misogynistic and bigoted”. The first also spoke of “reports of widespread racism and sexism" among Reform candidates.
Such prejudice is entirely at odds with the values of a liberal democracy. Unless Reform can demonstrate it is free of candidates with views like these, true democrats should use their power at the ballot box to oppose them. Fortunately, Reform are not going to win the election. The make-up of the parliament will, however, still be very important, and a strong showing for Reform could be a stepping stone towards Farage’s dream of becoming Prime Minister in 2029. He does not deserve the chance.
As the past five years have demonstrated in no uncertain terms, the choices we make at elections have real and serious effects on our economy and our quality of life. This extraordinarily traumatic period in British history saw three Prime Ministers, the Covid pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis sparked by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Boris Johnson became the first Prime Minister ever found to have committed a criminal offence and was forced to resign over repeated lies. Liz Truss’s catastrophic policies crashed the economy, adding to people’s mortgage payments and ensuring she was the shortest-serving premier in British history. The way our elected leaders behaved, and the decisions they took, really did matter. When Johnson was fighting for his political life over Partygate, he wasn’t thinking about ways to safeguard the nation or improve people’s quality of life.
The next Prime Minister needs to be of sufficient integrity that they are capable of devoting their time to the big issues. They may have to contend with further military aggression by Putin and with Donald Trump in the White House, because the fate of democracy in the free world could be at stake on both fronts. They will also have to work hard to restore the UK’S lacklustre economy, fix the NHS and guide Britain towards its future as a net-zero nation.
So there is a real choice at the ballot box. The pub bore’s claim that politicians are “all the same” is simply not true, as is the weary claim they are all “in it for themselves”. These are ideas espoused by people who have substituted cynicism for wisdom and, in doing so, are effectively campaigning against democracy. It’s much harder to think about the issues, identify politicians whose views align with our own, and then put our faith in them. But that is the task at hand.
When politicians let us down, it is hard to trust, but it remains our solemn duty to be informed and engaged members of our democracy. We cannot complacently assume that we are immune to politics, that we somehow exist beyond its reach. There is a choice to be made tomorrow. It is absolutely vital that we make it.