Democratic deficit?

Today the Labour MP John McDonnell was ejected from the House of Commons. He did what Michael Hesseltine did all those years ago - he waved the mace about in his frustration at how democracy has become subverted.

The issue was the proposal to build a third runway at Heathrow. Now most people would concede, I think that as this cuts across several local authorities, planning permission could not be given in the usual way. Mr. McDonnell was concerned at the effect of the proposal on his constituents, both noise and air pollution, and also the destruction of their communities and eviction from their homes.

All he wanted was that the decision should be taken by parliament, the highest authority in the land, but although the government support for the proposal was predicated on the claim that Heathrow is a national treasure and must be expanded, the nation was not allowed to vote through its elected representatives. This is an irony, as well as an affront.

So the decision, with government approval, is to be delegated to the faceless bunch in a regional planning quango, all unelected, and appointed by the government.

I share Mr. McDonnell's concern at this process, and the democratic deficit it reveals. To this could be added the fact that the government has elevated another peer, Mr. Mervyn Davies, a senior banker. I have lost count how many there are like him - Lord Digby Jones has resigned, but others remain, Lords Mandelson, Malloch Brown, Darzi, West, Carter and Myners, and also Baroness "Green Shoots" Vadera. Patronage and personal whim, as in ancient royal courts, still exists, and to this extent reaches back to a pre-democratic age. (Can the travesty of the House of Lords with all its patronage be allowed to continue much further?)

Add to this the increasing domination over our lives by unelected quangos and European Commission, and one has to ask to what extent are we still a democratic country. Is there any surprise that turn-out at elections is diminishing year by year, when it is for most a pointless exercise?