Affairs

Apologies, the headline may have been a tad misleading. Can almost hear the elevated heart rates of the gossip queens/kings who thought I was about to dish the dirt on the less monogamous of us.

There is a list of things young people don’t like. It’s a long one. I’m the first to admit I have one, and I’d imagine it’s more extensive than most; it just happens to be somewhat irregular. For instance, one of my pet hates is noisy children. If they aren’t in baby form, and create noises within the spectrum of human hearing, then I tend to be on the edge of committing hara-kiri.

It isn’t my dislike of children however that is of concern to me at the moment. One of my greatest worries of late is the lack of interest people have in current affairs and politics in particular.

For most young people having to watch the news or read a newspaper is an example of the epitome of boredom. If you then bring politics into it, suicide becomes the preferential option.

Why is this? Why is it people aren’t interested in politics? At first I simply put it down to the subject: politics, especially at first, can seem a bit of a boring subject. Something discussed by groups of old men and women who don’t really know what they’re talking about. Regardless of this fact, politicians make decisions that affect all parts of our everyday lives; be it the speed limits on the roads or whether or not we go to war. You would imagine this is reason enough for people to follow the goings on in the political world closely? The evidence however points towards the contrary. In June this year, turnout to the European Elections fell to a record low; with only 43% of the electorate voting. To work out why we are in this situation we have to look at what the role of our political system is.

The sole purpose of Parliament is to represent the views of the people and subsequently to make decisions with public interest at heart. Always. There should never be any doubt as to whose interest they are acting in.

Unfortunately, many politicians have planted seeds of doubt in the heads of the public. Their objectives now appear questionable; are they working for us or is self-interest their principal goal? The expenses scandal shows that this may be the case for some of the politicians in the Commons. This apparent self-absorption, coupled with the arrogance many of the political elite show the public has resulted in one of the widest gaps ever seen between the public and politics.

In general, it would seem people are just a bit fed up with politicians of late. The public see them as being out of touch, arrogant and frankly dishonest. Their inability to answer a straight question, along with the deft trick of obfuscating matters with cosy words and universal opinions has everybody sick. Something must be done. I believe a new age of politics is required: voters need to feel their votes and opinions matter. How this is achieved falls into the hands of Parliament. Does it begin with political reform or simply just listening? It is, however, easy to blame the government and the politicians. Responsibility sits with us as well.

Most of us have not long turned 18, or will do so in the near future. With this milestone we are granted the right to do many things; most of which are undeniably more enjoyable, but undoubtedly less important than the right to vote.

It is the job of the politicos to correct their currently declining credibility and to return the status of respectability to being an MP. We, the people, are obligated to hold them to account. They serve us, and in the court of public opinion we are both judge and jury. When polling time comes, we will be given this opportunity. I advise you not to take it lightly; find out who these people are and most importantly what they stand for. You are given the right to vote for them; your responsibility is to know what you’re voting for...