There’s a palpable sense of frustration and anger in the electorates of many Western democracies that has been brewing for some time, and nowhere more so than the U.K. Decades of broken manifesto pledges, votes ignored, targets unmet, policies introduced without consultation and public opinion flagrantly disregarded leave the impression that we are living in a uni-party world that is now a democracy in name only. Once elected, our entitled elites on both sides of the aisle forge on with activist policies and agenda that are often at complete odds with those of the people they supposedly represent and to whom they forget that they owe their very positions. Institutions that should stand as a balance against activist ideologies have been steadily captured by the same intellectual conformity that ensures the tyranny of the faceless ‘blob’. With no recourse to a safety-valve of interim voting (between general elections) it is unsurprising that we are seeing and hearing a disempowered electorate prepared to take matters into their own hands via civil disobedience and potential acts of violence. This never ends well and before discontent turns to action, we should start to be forward thinking and propose solutions to the limitations of our representative democratic model.
Perhaps it has been ever thus? There is good reason to think so. However, a perfect storm of societal shifts, global alignment of intellectual elites, groupthink and technological changes mean that we find ourselves in unchartered territory where the systems that we have relied on to date are no longer entirely fit for purpose. The historical dividing line between Right and Left has been rendered almost meaningless, rather being replaced by new axes of authoritarian versus non-authoritarian and woke versus anti-woke. Presiding over the landscape are institutions that find themselves in a legitimacy crisis, which has spread stealthily from academia to society at large. Institutions, including the police force, judicial system, regulatory bodies and legacy media think and act as one. More alarmingly, as recent events have shown, these institutions are now being used to vilify, silence and destroy anyone whose message contradicts the official narrative.
Unable to generate societal consensus, governments have encouraged an almost permanent state of ‘poly crisis’ to justify increased controls and surveillance and bypass the democratic process – a dynamic explained in Natan Sharansky’s The Case for Democracy, where governments create ‘external enemies’ to divert the public away from real concerns closer to home. We can look back at the events of the past 20 years and see that the world has been mired in a state of almost permanent crisis of one form or another. The constant evoking and manufacturing of crises has become, as Thomas Fazi puts it, a “method of government” in which “every natural disaster, every economic crisis, every military conflict and every terrorist attack is systematically exploited by governments to radicalise and accelerate the transformation of economies, social systems and state apparatuses”. These perma-crises allow governments to deviate from the norms of public debate and parliamentary politics. Extraordinary restrictions of our freedoms to speak, to associate and to dissent become justified on the basis that the immediate threat overrides medium to long term planning. The idea of permanent crisis precludes any idea of progress – situations need to be managed but never solved. If Covid was the awakening for many people of how these systems work, the climate crisis is the most recent and pressing example of how any means are justified in order to ‘save the planet’. The solution must always be at a global level, obviating any need for local input and surrendering even more powers to supra-national organisations such as the WEF, EU, WHO and UN.
It is becoming abundantly clear that truth is no longer the lodestar around which many of our once independent institutions are ordered. The weight of evidence that something is not right and has been rotten for a long time has reached the point that many people can no longer pretend not to see it. A dogmatic secular religion with its own shibboleths of ESG, DEI etc. has grown up, with a new priesthood of politicians and technocrats who enact their X under the conviction that they, and they only, are best placed to decide how we should live ‘for the greater good’. As C.S. Lewis so astutely observed:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
We know that this moment in time is critical. There are technologies that are primed to impose unprecedented changes upon our societies, from surveillance cameras that can look through walls, facial recognition, permits for 415,000 low level satellites that will ensure 24/7 surveillance, Central Bank Digital Currencies, digital ID’s, Net Zero, the list goes on. All brought in without discussion and without consultation and, once implemented, almost impossible to reverse. These ideas seemed to be the thing of dystopian novels, but the evocation of ’emergency’, as seen during the reaction to Covid, shows how democratic constitutions can be easily bypassed and frightening precedents set. Our democratic societies are at serious risk of being replaced by global totalitarianism run by technocratic elites, based on propaganda that they control. Matthias Desmet call this seemingly irresistible force “turnkey totalitarianism”. It will be almost impossible to dissent to once in place.
It is clear that the U.K.’s system of representative democracy on its own is no longer fit for purpose in a world where technology and modern communications give us a front row seat for everything that is going on in the world, but with only a once in five-year window in which to express our views. Feeling politically homeless, sandwiched between two political parties that are no better than ‘two cheeks of the same arse’, is the place where increasing numbers find themselves. So what to do to preserve the freedoms that we desperately want to keep?
Now is the time for bold and visionary leaders and a bold party to propose a much-needed change to a not-fit-for-purpose system. With a General Election a year away and cynicism, fatigue and scepticism at an all-time high, the idea of direct democracy is being mooted by journalists such as Allister Heath in the Telegraph and successful business people like Hugh Osmond. They look across at the success of Switzerland, which is one of the wealthiest, happiest and healthiest countries in the world and wonder whether a Government that is more regularly made accountable to its people and is thereby more transparent might not be a template for a modern Britain. There is good precedent as the U.K. and its constituent countries have held 13 referenda since 1973. A democracy that is more direct, decentralised and devolved, where the more responsibility voters are given, the more responsibly they behave. The exact model that the U.K. should adopt will obviously have nuances best adapted to the size and structure of our parliamentary system. But let us take a look at the basics of the model as it exists in Switzerland at the moment to see where this ‘safety valve’ of public opinion could provide part of a solution to our political predicament.
“No country on earth is more democratic than Switzerland”, says David Altman, Uruguayan political scientist and direct democracy expert. “Here, each citizen can change each aspect of life. Of course not acting alone, but only if they belong to a group.” Switzerland successfully combines and integrates representative and direct democracy, which is no small feat. While it may be tempting to see the Swiss example as a tried and tested solution, there are naturally caveats, not least the requisite for a highly informed and participatory electorate, limiting the abuse of well-funded groups to advance their own agendas, and balancing individual sovereignty against the ‘tyranny of the majority’.
There are three main types of referendum and each has its place in a healthy direct democracy. They are: popular initiative, optional referendum and mandatory referendum.
Popular referendum initiatives are citizens’ proposals that currently in Switzerland require 100,000 signatures collected within a period of 18 months. These can be held up to four times a year. Any Swiss citizen who is eligible to vote can sign a popular initiative and a group of at least seven citizens (the initiative committee) can launch their own popular initiative.
The Federal Council and Parliament will each give a non-binding recommendation on whether the proposal should be accepted or rejected. For the proposal to be accepted a ‘double’ majority (that is, both a popular majority and a majority of states (cantons) in favour) is needed. If it is accepted, new legislation or an amendment to existing legislation is normally required to implement the referendum result.
Optional or ‘facultative’ referendums are for the purpose of rejecting (or confirming) a newly passed law. They require 50,000 valid signatures, collected within 100 days of the official publication of the new law or international agreement. A popular majority voting yes or no determines the fate of the new law. The right to request an optional referendum is an important element in Swiss direct democracy, not only for when it is used, but because for all new laws the prospect of a popular vote focuses the minds of the politicians and civil servants drafting the law as they know that there will be a guaranteed referendum if they don’t take the views prevalent within the population proactively into consideration.
Mandatory referendums are stipulated in law for certain major decisions, such as to revise the constitution, join an international organisation or introduce emergency federal legislation for over a year.
In addition, several Swiss cantons give citizens the right to recall their elected officials before the end of their term of office, a further safety valve and check on their use of power.
While no system is perfect, it is imperative if we are to maintain the benefits and privileges of our liberal democracies that we explore ways to reform the system to counterbalance major decisions where our elected representatives have deviated from the views and priorities of the citizenry. More regular referenda should be used to enhance national decision making, keep public policy more closely in line with the views and interests of the public and ensure the accountability of our elected representatives. No other form of democracy ensures a greater degree of openness and transparency between the people and their Government. Yet here comes the rub, as David Altman explained: “A direct democracy decision-making process ultimately results in an additional and finer distribution of power. Those who already have great decision-making powers in a political system are usually opposed to the introduction of a direct democracy process.”
Neil Oliver is a writer and broadcaster. Find him on X (Twitter). Join the next Space on X/Twitter on Monday October 30th at 6pm (U.K. time).
Image: The Landsgemeinde or cantonal assembly of the Swiss canton of Glarus, a public gathering of citizens which holds the highest political authority in the state.
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Why is this a story?
And are they ‘infected’ or ‘tested?
My heart sinks when I see ‘”he Mail/Online has the story”
I can think of several explanations – none of which have anything to do with infection.
Could it be because of who is getting tested? The figures really need to be adjusted for that.
You would have to be brain dead and/or have some kind of agenda, to not realise that’s what this is.
Exactly. Numbers pushed up and the average age pushed down partly by LFT in schools. I can’t believe that so many parents are consenting unquestioningly to their children having these. Mine has been withdrawn from the madness. No effing way am I playing even the smallest part in this ridiculous neurosis by allowing a stick to be shoved up her nose twice a week. Total waste of time, taxpayers money and the world’s resources too.
And the point is?
Positive test results does not equate to being infected. Lateral flow test has specificity of around 99.7% i.e. up to 300 per 100000 are false positives. If there are no symptoms there is no infection, except fo the 48 hours immediately before symptoms start. Why is this article so important?
I think it’s interesting in that the virus is continuing to infect younger and younger people but deaths from the virus remain in single figures and hospital admission figures are in the doldrums.
Which all goes to confirm what we have been saying all along – that the virus is not a threat to younger people and vaccinating younger people is at best unnecessary and at worst, dangerous.
Of course the spin on the article is somewhat different, as it comes from a place of “we want zero COVID”, and that “the virus is still circulating amongst young people, so we need to vaccinate them all and prolong the emergency”
Hang on. What is ‘interesting’ about the detection of random RNA strands?
The test is bollox, but given that it’s the same bollox test that’s been used throughout, a difference in the average age testing positive is still interesting, because the information is no doubt being used to drive government policy, even if it’s driving it in the wrong direction.
What age groups are being tested?
Fair point. Younger age groups. The people who they want to be vaccinated, I imagine.
I’d still prefer the story was published here than not, though. Although it would be nice if there was a sceptical slant to it, given this is supposedly a site for sceptics.
Despite the story stating that the numbers are people “rushed to hospital with coronavirus” they are only the number of patients testing positive while in hospital. I’d give good odds that most of the patients under 40 are pregnant women being admitted to give birth, and who have no symptoms just a positive PCR. There are around 10000 deliveries per week in England and Wales, so with even a 1-2% positive rate that’s a lot of young healthy women showing up in “coronavirus” hospitalizations.
I had to laugh when I read this .. ‘(though increased testing of younger people could also have something to do with it)’ .. I assume they were LF tests which are more meaningless than the PCR tests .. https://www.bitchute.com/video/hr32Q2Zn9yfe/ ..
What gives you the impression that PCR tests are more ‘reliable’?
Getting bored of this now … what’s next?
Ah yes I know … a climate emergency!
Lets put the fear of god into everyone about the potentially life-threatening climate disaster thats heading our way which can only be averted if we all hand-over all our freedoms and money to the government and obey everything they tell us to do.
F**k the pandemic and vaccine – thats old skool stuff now and no one is interested – what we need now is good old-fashioned international emergency whereby the human race is only months, weeks maybe even hours away from certain extinction unless we all shut ourselves away permanently.
The slogan on the Prime Minister’s press conference podium could be … ‘Save the Earth – Kill Yourself’ and everyone will be offered the opportunity to blow their brains out for Britain.
Those that refuse the offer will be labelled by the msm as complete and utter selfish bast**ds and Richard Madeley will demand that they be all rounded-up and sent to concentration camps.
Greta Thunberg will be appointed successor to Jesus Christ.
“Getting bored of this now … what’s next?”
The only quibble I have with that sentence is the ‘now’.
Just wait until the G7 meet in Cornwall in a fortnight. The moon will be reflecting the virtue signaling emanating from Carbis Bay (although it won’t be a full moon by then).
I hope the G7 luminaries and their vast retinues from the other 6 countries, all of which are on the Amber list, will be arriving in the country very shortly, in order to spend the required 10 days in quarantine, in a grotty hotel at a price of £1750 a head. They should, of course, take all the tests before travel and whilst here as well.
What will probably happen is that they’ll import another “variant”, which will put the pusillanimous Johnson in a panic, stoked up by Ferguson and the rest of the stinking gang. Of course, it won’t be anything to do with Johnson’s desire to grandstand, but will be the fault of Joe Public for not getting vaccinated, following the rules or some other specious reason.
It’s started today with the announcement of the new “Thai Variant”. We already know the script by heart. “Scientists believe it could be up to twice as infectious as the Kent Variant” and “We expect the existing vaccines to have some effectiveness in dealing with it, but we may all need further vaccinations in the Autumn.) Twats.
Re the Thai variant our Health minister says there isn’t one and that it really came from Egypt in January!!!
“The next milestone is June 21st, with the lifting of restrictions. That won’t be allowed to happen.” (Paraphrasing)
Full moon a couple of days ago.
There’ll probably be no visible moon by then.
“Getting bored of this now … what’s next?”
Well I heard…. staged alien invasion. Don’t laugh, it could happen. And the media has been full of UAP videos for the last couple of years. Maybe we really are being primed for this…
Who gave you that copy of the script?
Universities and workplaces are pushing testing, so of course the “average age of infection” is coming down…
This is the answer
Yes – and don’t forget the pantomime of testing in schools.
The mass testing of healthy people with an inaccurate test
Chuck in a few 85+’s who tested positive with a duff test but actually died from being 85+ and hey presto a crisis is born
It’s over.
So why is the BBC still pushing “everything you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Friday morning”?
One thing for sure : the BBC is the last place to find ‘all you need to know’ about the virus.
In many people’s minds, it is not over. And coronatheatre is now ingrained in most aspects of everday life. The other day I made a long list of all the things I used to do. I do hardly any of them now, because they are either still banned/closed or subject to varying degrees of coronabollocks theatre. Sadly most of that theatre will be with us a long time, either legally mandated or de facto mandatory on the initiative of businesses and organisations everywhere. The “new normal” evil has worked, and many people are resigned to life never being the same again.
Had to chuckle today radio 5 presenter said that young people need to get information about the vaccine from a trusted news source like the BBC.
Now that IS funny!!
Because the sun is out and the forecast is good.
Not in North Cornwall I am afraid.
“though increased testing of younger people could also have something to do with it”
In which case, parroting this article is totally meaningless (as opposed to predominantly meaningless).
If LS is just going to repeat articles from mainstream media without rigorous scrutiny, it might just as well be one of them.
It is not a new “strain”; it is a variant. No wonder we are in such a fucking mess when the media are full of biologically ignorant idiots, supporting the equally ignorant Cabinet.
They may not be biologically ignorant idiots, but hoping the majority of the public is.
Roll up! Roll up!! Get your vaxopropaganda here!!!
It is nothing to do with the success of the vaccine and everything to do with mass testing of schoolchildren.
Why are absolutely bollox articles like this getting published?
We all know that the virus is either gone, attenuated or never existed. We have a story based on PCR tests which we all know are at least being misused if not fraudulent.
I’m sick of this shite, shame on Toby and Curzon for prolonging the scam.
I don’t think the intention from TY is to prolong the scam. There’s nothing wrong in linking to MSM articles and keeping us abreast of what the enemy’s current set of lies is, but more critical commentary would be helpful, though obviously that takes time and effort and I’m sure resources are limited. Personally I would rather see fewer links to MSM but more in-depth demolitions of them, and more original material, but it’s easy to snipe from the outside. I don’t suppose TY’s budget is limitless.
LS is part of Covid problem, not the solution.
Just more fear porn to coerce the younger members of the population. Anyone surprised? Deaths are flat, all they have are bogus PCR related ‘cases’.
I’d wager the vaccinated elderly folks are not interested in taking a test anymore, it’ll be the younger ones making up the vast majority now. Purely a function of this I reckon. Test more young people = more young test positive. Meh
Yes what’s wrong with old people, why on earth don’t they like unqualified louts shoving overlong contaminated asbestos buds up their noses and damaging their cribriform plates, all for no good purpose? Shame on you old people.
If you are considering buying something novel for your Covidian friends then my new book ‘Coups for Dummies’ will be out in time for our next cancelled Christmas
Some of the reviews are promising
‘Super stonking soar away, page three explains everything’ The Sun
‘A great insight into how the regime murdered millions of black people’ The Guardian
‘Free pair of elasticated waist slacks with the first 100 copies’ The Mail
‘Vindicated’ Cummings Free Press
‘Lots of big words’ The Times
‘Please take up a one of our subscriptions for 4p a year’ The Telegraph
Sumption shot himself in the head quite some time ago.
Sumption did sterling work on the issue of rights.
But he is shaped more generally by a profoundly establishment mindset.
He was ok on the radio this morning, suggesting the public could ignore the rules and restrictions after 21st June, though he couldn’t officially advocate law-breaking.
Jabs seem to be working in Indian variant hotspot – vaccine expertVaccines seem to be working in an area of the UK hardest hit by the Indian coronavirus variant, a vaccine expert has said.
Dr Helen Wall, senior responsible officer for the Covid vaccine programme in Bolton, tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme patients in hospital in the area are not as sick as previous patients with Covid-19 and “vaccines seem to be working”.
She says there are “significant numbers of 30 and 40-year-olds” going into hospital in Bolton, adding there are “tens of thousands of young people” who have only just become eligible for the vaccine “that we need to get vaccinated really rapidly now”.
But she says there are not as many people as sick as there would have been pre-vaccine.
She says there i only a “handful” of patients in hospital who have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, and some of those who have been double-vaccinated have only had the second dose recently.
And she adds the oldest patient in hospital is 101.
More made up stuff
Enough to charge her with manslaughter when the time comes
There would be even fewer sick people in hospital if they were using the treatments available such as ivermectin.
The fact that they’re not means they should all face criminal charges, ministers, ‘experts’ and doctors.
We know the test is a lie. Its what the whole pandemic is based on to get people to believe that all these cases exist and that there is a dangerous virus on the loose.
The biggest fraud in history on mankind and it is worldwide.
Cases through, not actual infections! Christ, I’m boring myself now.
Meanwhile can we even get hold of the figures for hospitalisations after the vaccine?
This should be a speed-up sign to reopening fully. No where in the globe has 80% of infections been in the under 50 age category caused a stain on healthcare resources. I’m all in favour of continued vaccination of 35+, but this data alongside global data on recovery rates is a sign to keep moving forward, not slowing down.
35? Strange number that. Better to do it by BMI if you ask me
Why do you want to kill over 35 year olds?
What have they done to you?
Oh they will find a new variant all right when the time comes for it. A few months ago the BBC was allowed into ‘the lab’ where the Kent variant (I think it was) was purportedly ‘identified’. All that was to be seen was wall to wall computers. The reporter said to the man in charge on getting this ‘scoop’ “Oh so this is the equipment used to identify the Kent variant”. To which the reply was “Well not exactly. It’s the computer used to model the variant”. Says it all. Another variant? Just re-programme the computer.
Utterly meaningless unless you normalise for the number of tests carried out on each age group – which takes about 10 seconds to do in excel.
It is blindingly obvious that Johnson has sunk huge money into these lateral flow tests and they must be used. This conveniently dovetails with the appearance of different variants across regions, they can push hospitality, for example, to test their (very young) staff even more than usual.
29 year olds are not seeking out tests because they’re sick. The tests are coming to them.
I think we all know the script by now. As deaths, real infections and hospitalisations head towards the vanishing point, the contrived nature of these non-stories increases in inverse proportion. In my district, we’ve had one ‘Covid death’ since 5th March. You’d never guess it from the ads at the bus stops.
Don’t we think that testing among the vaccinated older people has plunged? I think I remember reading some story that said that vaccinated people don’t need to be tested as often. Combine this with the fact that there is some on-going testing programs for the younger populations (perhaps at schools and colleges) … and this is exactly the result you would get.
Anyway, the story needs to present the ages of people who ARE being tested and compare this to the ages of people who were being tested weeks or months ago to have meaningful context, or a basis for a good comparison.
We need data on the number of “tests administered” to different age cohorts … Which this story doesn’t provide.
Here is Brian Gerrish on the Corona Ausshuss yesterday from 2hr 18 min.
BG describes the use of applied behavioural psychology and propaganda by UK Gov to
induce fear and confusion. The role of Common Purpose spreading their philosophy ‘power without authority’ and their targeting younger people ..using NLP (neurolinguistic programming). Explains how the population has been manipulated for political objectives.
https://corona-ausschuss.de/sitzungen/
Two questions spring to mind.
The first, already raised, is it the younger population that is being tested more frequently?
The second, are we using the CDC protocol for testing with PCR – that is vaccinated are run up to 28 cycles and the unvaccinated are run up to 40/45 cycles?
It’s all going to be false positives by now, after 18mo of a reputedly highly infectious respiratory virus scooting about.
More than 25% of the population has at some point tested positive, which is greater than in the Petri dish that was the Diamond Princess.
Another factor is the natural lifecycle of any virus (as pointed out by Mike Yeadon and others months ago). It’s run out of dry-tinder and so is desperately adapting to hang on to naturally healthier people. More contagious / less deadly in it’s effort to survive.