If readers are wondering at the labyrinthine procedure, archaic ritual and historic precedent that has enmeshed our ‘mother of parliaments’ or marvelled at the adversarial stale-mate so often arrived at under the American Constitution, we have just witnessed the ugly alternative.

On 29th March 2019, a swiftly cobbled together ‘deal’ crafted in Brussels by unelected bureaucrats, sanctioned by a duplicitous prime minister with the deceitful connivance of our two main parties, finally killed our 300 year old British democracy. The veil has lifted. In stark relief, we see the difference between the ‘wisdom of crowds’ that underpins our slow and thoughtful democratic process and the ignorance of so many of our elected representatives who have betrayed it in their intemperate lust for power. Under our own Constitution, that power is handed to them temporarily. As Tony Benn said, “Members of Parliament are lent the powers of their constituents and they have to return those powers to the people, undiminished, at the end of their term”.

Throughout history, leaders have arisen whose personal ambition has temporarily overwhelmed the checks and balances put in place by their wiser predecessors. Utopia is Greek for ‘nowhere’. Utopians believe they can create the perfect society - if only they can seize enough power. To achieve this goal, they must first create a ‘doom scenario’ to frighten the masses into compliance. They must insist that an existential threat approaches and can only be averted by urgent and ‘efficient’ action. Utopians are not averse to using force on their own citizens, turning neighbour against neighbour, family member against family member - for the sake of ‘the greater good’. It should be remembered that one man’s utopia is another man’s hell. It has always been thus. We do not have to look far back for an example.

There are currently only two political parties that retain respect for our historic freedoms and hold sacred the sacrifices of those who fought and died to preserve them. They are realists, not utopians. They believe in free speech not censorship. They will ask for your vote and abide by the result. The most recently formed of the two, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, will appeal to the professional middle class and others who care about what their taxes pay for. The older party, UKIP, will appeal to the skilled working class and others who care about what their taxes pay for.

Voltaire once said, to know who rules over you, ask who you are not allowed to criticise. While our present MPs are emboldened to suppress contrary views, they should remember the greatest lesson of history: would-be utopians always crash and burn!

Prof. Christine Wheeler McNulty

Oxhey