A STANGE thing happened last Thursday that restored my faith in the ‘power of the people’ and it came about because of a change to scheduled television.

Having long given up hope of seeing anything vaguely cerebral on the mainstream channels before the 10 pm newscasts, I did a double take when flicking to BBC1 just after 9 pm. There was David Dimbleby chairing Question Time.

Having expected to see the usual example of ‘chav TV’ – house/people makeovers, police car chases, dining with complete strangers or weird and repulsive diseases – I naturally assumed that I had lost an hour or so of my life. A glance at the clock restored my equilibrium; it was a gnat’s nudge after nine and there were Labour and Tory grandees lined before an audience representing the good folk of Salisbury. And all because the nation is in arms having discovered that MPs had cheated the British taxpayer of millions of pounds to waste on such trifles as floating duck houses, moat cleaning and dirty movies.

Question Time was brought forward as the previous week it has scored its highest ever audience figures and what cracking entertainment it was. This snapshot of public opinion was indicative of the malaise that is British politics and the political system that has for years allowed Members of Parliament of all political persuasions, from the very top to the furthest backbench, to milk the system for their own benefit.

Middle England, the silent hard-working and decent living majority who go about their daily business and expect their elected representatives to serve the nation in the interests of the common good, is fed up to the back teeth with the immoral shenanigans of the body politic.

Question Time panellist and former BBC correspondent Martin Bell, who famously won a seat in the 1997 UK general election running on an anti-sleaze ticket, described the wind of change roaring through Westminster as a ‘very British revolution’ and he is not alone.

The great British public may not be manning barricades, tearing down statues of public figures or storming the gates of Downing Street but what is happening now in corridors of power and constituencies the length and breadth of the country is, nonetheless, a revolution. If the civilised revolt that ousted Communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia is known as the Velvet Revolution, then what is taking place in the UK at the moment is pure silk, very British and exactly what should be expected of a representative democracy.

I cannot remember such a time when everyone was talking politics. For a graduate of government studies and a fierce proponent of the representative democratic political system, these are exciting times. Since the Telegraph, doing what all good newspapers should do, began its exposé of the Westminster gravy train and the lamentable lack of any rigorous restraint on politicians excesses, those elected to represent the people have been shown to be more concerned with feathering their nests from the public purse than serving the country’s interests.

It is not just MPs’ penchant for milking the system that ignited the ire of Middle England, the usually silent majority are equally fed up with the condescending attitude of politicians and, moreover, with a Prime Minister and ministers who use the media to broadcast policy instead of in the debating chamber that is the House of Commons. Martin Bell hit the nail on head last Thursday, when he observed that it is not the politicians’ House of Commons, it is the people’s House of Commons – and the people want it back

How, those people are asking, can a government and a parliament that cannot regulate itself be fit to run the country? Reform is happening and more will follow as the ‘guilty’ are brought to book by being ousted by their parties and constituencies. If this is not done in a timely fashion and seen to be fairly done, then the public trust cannot be restored nor can government be seen to moral, honest and true.

I sincerely hope that the revolutionary zeal being exhibited by Middle England – and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – will filter down to the Island’s own silent majority. We may not have States Members claiming for floating duck houses, to have their wisteria trimmed or a tray or three of dog food (well, I sincerely hope not) but they are guilty of not listening to the public mood. Or, in some cases, pursuing personal agendas. Deputies Southern’s and Pitman’s blatant breach of the electoral law and indifference to the democratic process brings disgrace to the States in just the same way as MPs have been abusing their privileged positions. Like those caught out in the UK, they should both do the decent thing and resign and let the people judge their actions.

With a party system as in the UK, the electorate know what they are voting for and can put their trust in elected representatives to vote according to that party’s manifesto and principles. You get what is written on the tin. Unfortunately, in Jersey, placing a cross next to a name is a bit of a lottery as Members vote according to their conscience and that is not necessarily always in accord with the views of those who put them in power.

If we are to affect the government reform that Jersey so desperately needs, it cannot be left to the Island’s body politic to decide, otherwise we risk going down the same dead end as Westminster. The States are poised to yet again reforming themselves and, having largely ignored public opinion on this thorny issue since Sir Cecil Clothier made his recommendations, what guarantees are there that they will act in the interest of the common good?

Middle Jersey is strangely silent, leaving the usual suspects to vent their spleens on local radio moan lines, in letters to the editor of this esteemed tome and to mutter and complain in supermarket, bus and bank queues.

The silent Island majority is in dire need of a champion to take up their cudgels and lead from the front. Silence can be mistaken for acquiescence; if there was ever a time for heads to be raised above the parapet it is now.