Travel and politics
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man,
and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.”
― Bertrand Russell
We just got back from Blighty.
It’s always good to visit family and friends.
A nostalgic version of life in GB is recreated with every visit; time with parents and friends, the great British boozer, big fried breakfasts, hot crumpets, cool pimms, egg and cress sandwiches and London’s south bank.
While we were enjoying all of this, various political events unfolded. The whole thing played out throughout our trip.
The nation is caught up with Brexit. Nothing else seems to matter. Everywhere we went, we heard talk of protests and proroguing of parliament and debates about democracy and division.
Chaos.
Boris ‘Bo-Jo’ Johnson’s assault on parliament is unprecedented. In recent weeks I’ve seen journalists refer to what’s going on in England as a “coup”, an “abomination”, and a “failed state”. It’s far from the tourist image projected to the rest of the world.
Without getting too political, one of the things that has rattled me the most, has been thinking back to other people’s comments about ‘African’ leaders while we were in Zambia, South Africa and Kenya. Many were quick to judge corrupt presidents in developing countries. But some would suggest that when you effectively silence the MPs who are elected by the people to make decisions for the good of the nation, you kind of look a like a dictator too.
At the time of writing, just two nights into our trip, I stayed up late, watching live footage of parliament being shut down. There were scenes of dis-order and disgust. Mayhem. Members of Parliament held placards, simply reading ‘silenced’.
British MPs tried to stop the PM proroguing them. They failed. This unelected prime minister was forcing through his agenda.
Whatever your political view, one thing that is undeniable is that Britain is at a crucial juncture, a time when it is vital that MPs engage in important debate, and the forum for that is parliament. The PM closed Parliament.
There was pressure on the PM to abandon the five week suspension. The Speaker of the House, John Bercow spoke out clearly “surely at a time of a grave public policy challenge on the biggest issue the U.K has faced since the Second World War, MPs should for the most part, be at their place of work” (Bercow turns screws on Boris, London Evening Standard, p4).
We travelled to London for a day and walked by Westminster one evening. I took this photograph. All was quiet. The placards and people protesting in recent weeks were nowhere to be seen. Then we realised that they were all somewhere else, the U.K Supreme Court.
The case had been taken to the U.K’s Supreme Court and after several days, the actions of the prime Minister were deemed unlawful. Members of Parliament were able to resume their jobs yesterday (25th September, 2019).
I’m sure there are plenty of tourists travelling around London right now, shopping on Oxford Street, visiting Buckingham palace and snapping selfies all over the place, blissfully unaware of the political turmoil that the nation is facing.
But around the world, many continue to watch with interest. Do you have a particular passion for politics?
It got me thinking about the different sides that we see when we travel somewhere. When we just drop in, do we get the politics of a place?
There are real links between travel and politics. We might have to obtain a visa, often giving foreign currency to a particular government. We have to be respectful of other cultures and rules, even if it might be different to our own. We might even have our own reservations about a particular government.
While in Indonesia, I wanted to visit Myanmar. An aunt, who was related to the Burmese royal family, had entertained me as a child, with her tales of the golden temple, monkeys and flying foxes. But reading about the Rohingya crisis and the politics at the time, we decided maybe it wasn’t the time to go. By purchasing a visa and paying taxes, one was indirectly funding a government that was being accused of human rights violations. We chose not to go.
Have you ever travelled to a place in political turmoil? Or did you choose to stay away?
© Maggie M/ Mother City Time