Comment: Thank God Britain hates its government
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Monday, 15, Jun 2009 12:01
On the anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, we would do well to remember what the document says about Britain, and its ideals.
By Ian Dunt
Britain has been responsible for some pretty ugly things in the world, but it is also generous.
We have given the world the English language, a truly beautiful, vast method of communication, which is more alive and innovative than any other known to man. We gave it the industrial revolution; the machines and ideas which gave birth to the modern world. We gave it the theory of evolution, which explains some of the fundamental questions of the human condition.
But our greatest gift is the Magna Carta, the first attempt of the modern world to limit executive power. Today is the anniversary of the day King John put the royal seal on the Magna Carta at Runnymede, near Windsor, in 1215. Fittingly, civil liberties group Liberty released a ComRes poll affirming huge public support for basic British rights and freedoms this morning.
The Magna Carta's content helps define what British society is. But its story is also typically British, in that it was a total mess. The nobles and barons who forced it on the king were not motivated by society, but by power and their own well-being. It is a document which was barely followed for the centuries that followed its creation. And sections of it were endlessly added to and done away with once it was signed. It's not a simple story – it's a muddle.
But Britain isn't a very idealistic place, and most of its great achievements are conceived through muddle, accident, smarts, and moderation.
Take, for instance, the monarchy. It's a paradox, but over the years, the monarchy has protected us against executive power by its very existence. I was in the States at the start of the year and socialising with some right-wing friends when I asked them about their new president, expecting a flood of anger and resentment. There was none of that. He wasn't just their president; he was their commander in chief and, importantly, their head of state. Instead, they said they were disappointed by the result but that it was their job now to get behind him.
Sounds nice, doesn't it? It isn't. It's dangerous. By making a political figure the head of state, the American system mixes up patriotism and politics. This allowed George Bush and his entourage to paint anti-war activists as anti-Americans. We don't have this problem. We direct our patriotic sentiment towards the Queen, allowing us to take a pretty hostile attitude towards the prime minister while keeping love of country far, far away from politics.
There's a sense that Britain is on the verge of something important, even dangerous, right now. The expenses scandal has destroyed parliament's legitimacy in a way few of us could have fully predicted. The recession still bites, and its political repercussions are unpredictable. The government is almost universally despised and the opposition is uninspiring. Things feel dark in Britain. Politicians – and some commentators – are worried about our faith in government. That's fair enough when fascists like the BNP can win elections, but we would do well to remember how healthy the British suspicion of government is.
Look overseas. America turns its president into a monarch. The Continent has an insufficiently critical attitude towards government, which it often confuses with welfare provision. America loves government from the right – because it conflates it with patriotism. Europe loves it from the left – because it conflates it with welfare. Both are wrong.
It is perfectly possible to love your country and not the government, as Britons prove every day. And the government does not provide free health and education; we do. We pay taxes and give it to our fellow man, through the medium of the state. It's not 'government money' as people often say. It's our money.
The government is not something to be loved or admired. It is the most dangerous thing in the history of mankind. It is - at best – to be accepted, and even then only grudgingly and with great vigilance. Governments – and the state – expand their power by definition. They aim to control the lives of those who live under them. It's in their genes. We see it now, with ID cards, CCTV and the surveillance of our electronic communications. I could go on; the list is endless.
The tragedy is that this is happening in Britain, the country which gave the the modern world the concept of limiting executive power. When we fail on these issues, the world fails too, because we give it less to live up to. Today of all days, we should remember why the Magna Carta came to be, and what it says about us as a people. It’s quite evident our politicians forgot those lessons a long time ago.