To Debate, or not to Debate, that is the Question

There has been much discussion regarding the potential to have debates in advance of May’s general election. Politicians of all parties are trying to walk a tightrope. Those that do not want a debate do everything possible to avoid one without seeming to do so, while those who are keen have to appear to be not too enthusiastic.

It really begs the question, in today’s television age should there be an agreed debate timetable that is the price of taking part in an election. All politicians profess to want to engage with the public and make sure that the maximum number of people vote. What better way to engage the public than to have an informed debate? So my first reaction is to take the debates out of the political arena and mandate them. Of course politicians who do not want to take part can always be empty chaired.

Well so far so good, this solution seems fair and equitable, and then I start to think about these debates. Are they informative, do they help decide who should run the country? They can be no more than sound bites, they show who reacts best under pressure, and most importantly do they actually tell the truth?

I feel that this is the problem of a modern election campaign; it is about bribery and telling the electorate what they want to hear without any accountability at all. So each party maximise their vote by pandering to special interests. For instance the Conservatives have implemented a savings bond for the over 65s paying 4% interest. They then feign surprise that there is overwhelming interest in a product paying twice the market rate. It is bribery pure and simple.

Only tonight on the local news we were told of the major suicide problem in Yorkshire amongst men. A recurring theme is that there is no intervention at an early stage. Now imagine if instead of bribing the electorate proper resources had been put into mental health. This will not get discussed in the campaign, instead every politician will try to fool us into thinking we can Scandinavian services and US tax rates. So if we are having a debate lets have real debate not synthetic lies.