Exercising the democratic right

This evening I went to vote, an activity that for unknown, but actually rather liked reasons always stirs a strange swell of satisfaction, pride and sense of importance in my heart.

Today in Britain is the 'European' election. I put European in inverted commas because in all intents and purposes it is in actuality a vote entirely about British domestic politics. Argubly most voters heading to the polls will not recognise a single candidate's name on the ballot paper and will cast their vote based on their verdict of the job done by a completely separate set of polititions from a completely separate institution - the House of Commons.

I can't help but to feel bitterly sad that in the month leading up to these elections there has been all but no debates or articles in the media about what the European Parliament's members have done and what it hopes to do, let alone a proper debate between two or more parties on actual issues such as EU expansion, economic co-operation, tax or foreign affairs. Heck, I'm even nostalgic for the Tory's overly-zealous and jingoistic 'Save the Pound' campaign. Yes, it was based on knee-jeck insecurity and no, it wasn't based on a cold, hard, intelligent assessment of whether adopting the single currency would make Britain a stronger, more prosperous place to live (surely what one should be looking for when choosing a currency right? It's just a tool for buying stuff!) but at least they bloody talked about European politics.

For too long British polititians and the media have failed, perhaps even conspired to maintain the shroud of general ignorance that surrounds the populations understanding of European politics which has the benefit of allowing the British political establishment to keep the EU as a convenient whipping-boy on which to blame their problems and mistakes and the media the ability to write scare-stories about straight bananas. Hindsight leads one to wonder that had the parties in the House of Commons had known exactly what the Daily Telegraph's expenses scandal had in store for them this past month, whether they might have been a little keener to have a debate on the Euro and the Lisbon Treaty.