Political opinion with John Milne MP: I vote for optimism
This week, I experienced two extremes of the political landscape. At the optimistic end, I joined a wonderful group of volunteers restoring Ayshe Court Lakes and woods off Depot Road in Horsham. And at the pessimistic end, I heard from residents who are so disillusioned with society that they don’t believe anything can make it better.
The attempt to cancel the West Sussex County Council elections for the second year running has been overturned. As a Lib Dem, I strongly support going ahead with the vote.
My first impression from knocking on doors and talking to residents suggests that this election will be more of what we saw in 2024. Lifelong voters are changing their habits. The traditional dominant force in Sussex, the Conservatives, are in crisis. People are genuinely interested in discovering other options for the first time. That’s healthy in my view. No party should have a monopoly on power.
But a significant number of people have given up on politicians in general. They say the country is ‘falling apart’, that ‘nothing works’, and that no one lives up to their promises once they win. If these people vote at all, they’ll be looking for extreme solutions.
I understand why they think that. Probably nothing is more emblematic of political failure than the potholes in our roads. And the man in the White House is the most alarming and unpredictable president ever.
But there’s another, more positive, side to this story. From what you read in the papers, you’d never know that the UK murder rate is the lowest it’s been for 50 years. Or that after decades of relative decline, we still boast the sixth-largest economy in the world. And that far from ballooning out of control, welfare spending is roughly the same as it was in the 80s under Margaret Thatcher.
Paradoxically, this collapse of faith in politicians may lead people to vote for the people and parties who have the least chance of fulfilling their promises. Tough as things are, it is possible to make things very much worse. Step forward, Liz Truss.
So for me, it’s the group of volunteers who come together on a Sunday to rescue Ayshe Court lakes who have the right idea. Small actions can achieve big things….if you do enough of them.