On Friday the 1st of March 2024, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, gave a speech warning of the dangers of extremism from the Far Right and anti-Semites. He said that “our democracy itself is a target”. This marked a tonal shift from his speech two days earlier, in which he suggested that Britain was descending into “mob rule”.
These interventions from the Prime Minister come in the context of the chaotic scenes in Parliament over the vote on a ceasefire in Gaza and the election of George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election of Thursday 29th February.
Parliamentary Chaos: The Ceasefire Vote and the Rochdale By-election
In the SNP’s ceasefire motion, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker allowed votes on government and Labour amendments, which goes against precedent. This is generally not allowed as it means that smaller parties’ Opposition Day Motions can be easily amended leaving them with little opportunity to present their positions. The speaker said he broke precedent, due to the threats to MPs’ safety. This incident led to the initial accusations of ‘mob rule’. While it was certainly a bad decision by the speaker, we should never allow our democracy to be intimidated, the democratic deficit was evident before this decision had been made by the speaker.
The SNP motion was put forward to exacerbate divisions within the Labour Party. Labour’s amendment was designed to counteract this. While war raged in the Middle East our politicians were playing political parlour games. The vote descended into a farcical debate on arcane procedures and made the British political class seem more interested in cheap point scoring than in resolving issues. The threat to our democracy comes not from extremists but from our politicians. This can also be seen in the Rochdale By-election, a recent event that further illustrates the consequences of our politicians’ failures.
Sunak described the election of Galloway in Rochdale as “beyond alarming”. Seemingly suggesting that this too was a threat to democracy. However, Galloway was elected with a sizeable majority in a free and fair election. The reason that a demagogue, such as Galloway, was able to win the election was due to the failures of the mainstream parties. The Conservatives have not won in Rochdale since the 1950s, since then it has gone to either the Liberal Democrats or Labour who held the seat between 1997 and 2024. However, in last Thursday’s by-election Labour only polled 7.7%, after they withdrew support for candidate Azhar Ali after he was recorded repeating anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Labour’s inability to properly screen its election candidates meant that the people of Rochdale were denied a proper democratic choice. Galloway’s election was not a threat to democracy, the ineptitude of the mainstream parties is.
Threats to Democracy: The Last 14 Years of Conservative Rule
Sunak’s criticism of the threat to democracy from extremists could be perceived as lacking depth given he has done so little to tackle the racism in his party. Lee Anderson was recently suspended by the Conservatives after saying that Islamists were in control of London and London Mayor Sadiq Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates.” Despite the suspension, Sunak would only say that Anderson was “wrong” and would not condemn his racism. Sunak has also failed to condemn Liz Truss after she stayed silent when racist thug Tommy Robinson was described as a “hero” by Steve Bannon.
Sunak has also done nothing about Suella Braverman saying that “the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now”. An interesting statement from a politician whose party has been in charge of the country for 14 years.
In these last 14 years of Conservative rule, the threats to democracy have come from the government itself. They have presided over an illegal prorogation of parliament, massively curtailed the right to protest, and disenfranchised voters by insisting on compulsory ID.
David Cameron’s appointment as Foreign Secretary marked an occasion not seen since 1982, where a member of the House of Lords was appointed to one of the great offices of state. Cameron’s appointment was the first time someone had been given such a position on the same day they were elevated to the Lords. This sets a precedent whereby anyone could be appointed to those positions without having a democratic mandate or any democratic accountability.
Britain needs an election
Sunak has no personal mandate from the British people or his party members, which has undermined his credibility and authority. This has led to a divided government unable to tackle the issues facing Britain or to move the polls in their favour.
The most immediate threat to British democracy is this worn-out government. Politicians in recent years have treated democracy as a tool for their ambitions and ideologies, riding roughshod over democratic traditions. In a world where democracy is under attack from all sides this blasé attitude towards our constitutional norms is dangerous and could lead to our political system being fatally wounded. If Rishi Sunak wants to do something about it, he should call an election.
State of Democracy 