The Conservative administration at Devon County Council have voted to cancel elections this May and remain in power for the foreseeable future. To hear them argue it was ‘for the good of the people and communities of Devon’ was enough to make you squirm. Sophistry of the highest order. You’re right, people just aren’t interested in Local Government Reorganisation (LGR,) but to have democracy denied is going too far.

Democracy Cancelled

We now have an unholy alliance of a stumbling new Labour Government and a failing Conservative administration conspiring to cancel elections. It’s all for the good of the people they claim. The government can still pull out of this folly. They say it would help devolution. It won’t, and even if it did, I’m not sure their idea of devolution is what we want anyway. More power and decisions by remote politicians. Planning decisions taken by officers with no local input, I don’t think so.

The Devon County Conservatives have already decided. They believe they are best placed to deliver what local people want but without asking them. Do the people of the South Hams see their future with Plymouth, Torbay or neither? No need to answer that, the ruling conservative county councillors already know what’s best. We should all just tug our forelocks and let them do their worst. It’s a heady mix of arrogance, entitlement and downright ignorance.

A Failed Administration

Why on earth would the people of Devon trust this shower? From broadband rollout to children’s services, from potholes to the brink of bankruptcy, they have failed with everything they do. The very opposite of the Midas touch. Now, with no democratic mandate, they want to take charge of the biggest reorganisation of service delivery in 50 years. I wouldn’t let them run a bath.

We all accept and indeed welcome the need for change and reorganisation. (Anything to get rid of this present Devon County Council.) What we don’t accept is central government’s one-size-fits all approach. We’ve asked for examples of where mega councils with a population of over 500,000 in rural areas actually work. If our neighbouring unitaries of Cornwall and now Somerset are anything to go by, they need to think again. Instead of challenging government and their management consultants, the county conservatives have grabbed an opportunity in a grubby attempt to hang on to power. Driven not for the good of Devon but by self-interest and self-preservation.

Politicians we Deserve

So what, some people will say, who cares. Maybe they’re right. We’ll have a couple of years of chaos, and then another entity will be running our services. We’ll still be paying our taxes and complaining when things don’t go right. We might not know who to complain to, but nothing really changes. Perhaps this attitude, this democratic complacency, gives us the politicians we deserve.

When Putin and his like cancel elections or change the constitution so they can remain in power we appreciate living in a democracy. Yet now, in our own country, we have a faltering government minded to cancel elections for millions of people. How convenient. All compounded by opportunist councils desperate to hang on to power.

We must treasure our democracy and never allow its fundamental principles to be sacrificed on the altar of self-interest, self-preservation and political opportunism. Therein lies a slippery and dangerous slope. We must all be vigilant and protect principles that we know are right.