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Performance politics but empty words

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keepingquiet Tue 21-Jan-25 08:17:17

It's quite simple: education. I was interested to see Justine Greening on Celebrity Mastermind yesterday.
She is the ONLY one time education secretary who was educated in a local comprehensive school.
This tells you everything about the ingrained privilege of the real establishment in this country.
She now works to raise expectations in working class children to achieve more than being nail technicians or warehouse workers.
I am not a Tory and always thought Justine was in the wrong party but it was refreshing to see and hear this.

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Whitewavemark2 Tue 21-Jan-25 07:59:45

I think that the weakness in your argument is that the assumption that supporters of political parties or political issues are “uniformed”

They may be very informed indeed snd come to the conclusion they did.

Politics is the art of persuasion. At present the populists appear to hold all the cards. But this will change - it always does.

One thing guaranteed about politics is disillusionment.

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PoliticsNerd Tue 21-Jan-25 07:41:12

Much of today's display of 'performance politics' may appear to yield results, but ultimately, it's unlikely that these promises will come to fruition. Signing public documents or holding photo opportunities in no way guarantees the passage of these bills and policies. However, this facade is what Trump supporters will initially remember. Like many Brexit supporters who have come to realise that getting what they wanted has not improved their lives or, in fact, led to nothing being done, some may eventually move towards authoritarianism.

Winston Churchill famously said that a democracy requires an informed voter. Unfortunately, too many people are either misinformed or uninformed. Those who are uninformed are, by default, the most susceptible to manipulation. My initial optimism about the potential of Citizens' Juries to empower citizens and foster informed debate now seems misplaced, as they have become mired in the complexities of government.

So, how can we, as individuals and as a society, work towards becoming better informed?

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