John Drummond: Immoral UK isn’t working – because failure is baked in

Many claim that ­Britain has the worst media; the worst politicians; and ­probably the worst voting system. Some claim it also has the worst pensions, and the least safety and security for its citizens – despite record levels of government spending.

(Of course, none of what follows applies to The National and Sunday National.) Take the media. The Tory-controlled BBC now fires people who criticise the government on social media. Carol Vorderman is gone, and Gary Lineker will surely follow.

The Edinburgh Evening News said sorry for mistaking Kyiv for Edinburgh, while the ­Scottish arm of the BBC grudgingly apologised for confusing Northern Ireland with Scotland. There may be an excuse for the former as it’s likely run on a shoestring. But the latter spends £300 million a year and most times could not be trusted to find its ass with both hands.

By the way, have you heard of Rhodri Talfan Davies? No? Well, you’re not alone. He is the BBC director of nations “with responsibility for nations and local audiences in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland”. ­Honestly, I am not making this up. Organisational failure is ­often foreshadowed by an obsession with exotic titles.

Our limited freedoms are disappearing fast. Last Monday we were assured the police are free of government interference. Then on ­Tuesday, we were told the Met will be held to account over Armistice marches.

Think about it. The Tories want to ban a march for an armistice on Armistice Day.

Westminster wants only government-approved marches.

Behind all of these failures is moral collapse. There is no shame. Ministers routinely lie. Are found out but carry on. Following a series of incompetent prime ministers, we have now reached the nadir. Rishi Sunak is so very weak that his ministers treat him with open contempt.

Note the incumbent PM is unelected, as were a bunch of his predecessors. What kind of ­democracy allows its leaders to evade the ­public’s verdict?

There are 800 words in this column, but it would take much more space to cover the many other deficiencies of Westminster rule.

People cry; how do they get away with it? The answer is that we let them. We agree to be abused because we do not require the rules to be obeyed. Let me explain.

Unlike the great majority of democracies, the UK electorate gives a government “carte blanche” to behave as it wishes. All it has to do to get this total authority is to have a working majority. That’s it. Nothing else is needed.

And for the two “main” parties, the first-past-the-post electoral system makes swapping ­control easy.

The result of this grossly incestuous ­arrangement means that vital and overdue constitutional improvements are ignored, and every British government fails. The opposition merely waits for the inevitable collapse of the incumbents. Then bingo! They then have four or five years to fail.

It’s the system. It’s not simply the parties and politicians, woeful though they are. British ­failure is now baked in.

As this column has pointed out, the ­British Constitution is whatever the Westminster ­government of the day – providing they have a working majority – says it is. That is why they can make up the rules as they go along. Or abandon long-standing rules and conventions as it suits them.

The Met is objecting to government ­interference over marches saying the moves are “verging on being unconstitutional”. I have news for the police. The moves may be ­unconventional, but hardly “­unconstitutional”. In a country with no written codified ­constitution and a sovereign parliament, for a government controlling that parliament, there are no rules. Anything goes. It has ­total power. And remember – power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

You’ve seen it for yourself. The Government routinely rewards its mates straight from the public purse. It does it openly. There’s no ­reason to hide. If anyone complains, ignore them. Or if the heat becomes too great set up a committee or inquiry, stuff it with pals, then ­ignore its findings. Or postpone any resultant ­report for years. Justice delayed is justice ­denied.

This unbridled power has also increasingly corrupted the civil service. The British civil ­service used to be respected across the world. Now it has been reduced to rubber-­stamping dodgy deals for Tories and their friends.

All the while holding its nose as the stench of ­corruption defiles everything and everyone it touches.

It is no comfort knowing that the present bunch of crooks will be replaced by a party whose leader insists he has principles, but if we don’t like them, he has others.

An immoral, unreformed Britain with failure baked in, makes independence inevitable.