Congratulations to some of Labour’s leading figures, who have begun to discover some 19th-century proposals for political reform. Proportional representation, devolution from the centre, abolition of the House of Lords: a few senior Labour politicians are now taking the daring step of contemplating these “radical” innovations. While I have nothing against 19th-century solutions to our 18th-century government, would it be too much to ask, at the risk of sending these bold pioneers into a dead faint, that they might also start exploring some more recent ideas?
Regardless of which creep beats the other creeps to become the next prime minister, inordinate power will again be granted to someone who should not be allowed anywhere near it. But even if the leading contenders to replace Boris Johnson had wings and haloes, they still could not govern us well. Society is a complex system, and complex systems can never be sensibly and benevolently controlled from the centre. A centralised, hierarchical system means concentrated power, and concentrated power favours concentrated wealth. Systems like ours are easy for billionaires and their media empires to co-opt.
