April 27, 2015   |   0 comments

Andy Duncan discusses the 2015 UK General Election and the wider political scene past, present and future. Like many political systems around the world, UK politics is deeply divided and in a growing state of disarray. Many feel that voting in the UK today has become all but irrelevant, and in future may achieve little more than cementing a series of incoherent, toothless and conflict-ridden coalitions.

In the face of enormous challenges, we get little from the political class beyond predictable, undeliverable policy promises and outright bribes for special interest groups during arguably the most unpredictable UK election of the modern age. And yet many citizens still believe that their vote actually counts for something when in the vast majority of cases it rarely – if ever – makes any difference to anything.

In this programme we explore these and other related issues including why the differences between the main political parties are disappearing, where we are headed if things continue as they are, and how the global financial crisis of 2007 – which was not allowed to run its course – will come back to bite us. Other questions include: Has political correctness made early 21^st Century politics a pointless exercise? What does the rise of smaller parties from across the political spectrum and the emergence of regional secessionist movements mean going forward? And, in a system where voters can see no real alternatives and increasingly resign themselves to disillusion and apathy, what will UK and indeed global democracy look like in the coming decades?

Previous interviews with Andy Duncan:
Democracy – The God That Failed
The Myths and Mysteries of Modern Money
Independence for Scotland?

Bumper music: Cliff Martinez ‘Traffic OST’
Rick Wakeman ‘King Arthur’
With thanks to Cassetteboy