It has long been said that Britain’s
leftist political scene has been marred by a lack of unity and little cohesion
of ideas and strategies amongst the ‘major players’. This is certainly why
Margaret Thatcher was in power for so long in the 1980s and managed to so
effectively implement her ideas – there was just no-one to stop her. The Labour
Party has struggled particularly with this issue, and at no time has struggled more
than during Thatcher’s three parliaments, with the Social Democrats and other
such groups breaking away from Labour and further weakening the ‘socialist’
cause. Nevertheless, to the surprise of many, the political paradigm that we in
the UK have become accustomed to appears to have flipped. Instead, it appears
that it is the right that has become divided – David Cameron is currently
attempting to fight off the threat posed by the remarkable support of Nigel
Farage’s UKIP, whilst the majority of those on the left of the political
spectrum appear to be more united behind their leader Ed Miliband. But that is
not what this article is about. Indeed, it is arguable that the major political
parties are all too similar to really make a positive difference in our country.
It is therefore refreshing to see the emergence of an exciting new player on
the political scene – Russell Brand. His interview with Jeremy Paxman on BBC’s
Newsnight has attracted almost ten million views and this is not surprising. He
is offering the weary, cynical and immobilised political class a fresh new
challenge. More importantly, he has offered us, the people, some hope.
I am not suggesting that we necessarily
adopt his ideas, as a read of his editorial in the 25th October edition
of the New Statesman will testify, he is purposely vague and is the first to
admit that he does not know how his ideas could be implemented. However, he
does have good points – elitism, unfairness at the heart of British society and
‘an underserved underclass’ feature amongst the problems in our society that he
has highlighted. And this is what is important – that for the first time in
recent history, there is a prominent public figure that is recognising and
attempting to act on issues that threaten to cripple our society. One in six
British children currently live in poverty and since 2010 6,642 nurses have
lost their jobs, whilst tax havens in the Channel Islands and other such
overseas territories continue to avoid paying the Treasury £180 billion
annually. Only a national political awakening in the biggest possible sense can
save us from plummeting into an abyss of a rigid class structure, a declining health
service and mediocre schools.
Only when a large group of people are
inspired to take action and to make a difference will we ever realise what an
opportunity we have in this country to fully realise the social democratic
dream that so many on the left have been dreaming about for so long. For
centuries the attainment of an egalitarian and socialist society has eluded us.
Whether it was the ‘get rich quick’ years of the Thatcher and Blair governments
that came back to haunt us in 2008, or profit-driven factories of the
Industrial Era, developing a society that serves both those at the top and at
the bottom has never been a priority. Until now. What Russell Brand so
excellently articulated in his interview and in his writing is that we have
reached the end of the road – the phrase ‘the system is broken’ has never rung
so true. I am not trying to scaremonger or claim that we will be eternally screwed
over by the upper classes, but I am saying that there is hope. The majority of
our country did not go to Eton, they do not work in politics – in fact most of
the population are not even interested in politics. But politics affects all of
us, in nearly every aspect of our lives and the time has come for us to take a
stand. We must take a stand not only for our NHS and for our schools, but for
us to make a significant change so we work not for ourselves, or for
corporations, but for the betterment of society. Thatcher famously said ‘there
is no such thing as society’. Well, the hundreds of soup kitchens and homeless
shelters across the country as well as the Occupy movement continue to prove
her wrong. It is time that we stop worrying about the fate of major
corporations and begin to support organisations that fight for social justice. It
is important to pick your battles but what increasingly large numbers of people
are beginning to realise is that now is the time to fight. However, the
political class continue to try and placate us by offering meagre promises such
as tax cuts, or freezing energy bills. These measures will not make a
difference. What will make a difference is an overhaul of the entire system and
a restructuring of the way our country operates so that politicians work for
the people, not the other way round. This large social uprising is not going to
happen overnight, but the first step in fixing a problem is admitting that
there is a problem, and as a society that has to be our next step.
