It is a legal maxim that Justice delayed is justice denied. Equally, Democracy delayed is democracy denied. There has been mild uproar at the governments' suggestion that many of next May's local elections can be delayed. Not cancelled, you understand, just delayed. As is the want of governments, they are consulting local authorities to ask if each one wants a delay. Extraordinarily, this has not produced howls of indignation, why not?
The basis of English law and by extension democracy is the sovereignty of the individual. The compact is simple. I, a sovereign individual, give you authority to make decisions on my behalf. I agree to do so for a set period of time. At the end of that time, my sovereign rights are restored, and I choose in whom to next vest them. A body elected by the people does not have the right to extend their term and deny elections. We are not at war. Are we being softened up for a delayed general election?
Democracy has been under attack since 1945. Authoritarian governments, Trade Unions riding rough shod over democratic rights and then the EU. Of course, Labour would be delighted to return to the status of a Province of the Socialist EU. What joy, all the trappings and pay of governing a country, but none of the decisions or responsibilities. Implement the Politburo's edicts and enjoy life in the workers' paradise.
We have lost our way. Part of the reason was invented in the 19th century, the 'Judeo-Christian tradition'. Much loved by MAGA in the States and increasingly used by Reform. It suggests that our law and democracy emerged from a shared heritage. That this displays extraordinary ignorance is unsurprising in a world where those who wish to rejoin the EU spout lies every day to justify their anti-democratic desires.
Christians as believers in the god of Abraham had a problem. According to the Bible, which they accepted, it was the Jews, who alone, were god's chosen people. The early church was riven, with most followers of Jesus demanding that they continue as a part of Judaism and Paul seeing wider possibilities. The problem resulted in the doctrine of Supersessionism. Quite simply, Christianity has superseded the Jewish people as god's chosen people. Islam gets around the problem by saying that it is the final revelation, negating all that went before. Until recently it has not been possible to pose the philosophical, moral, and ethical question "Why would a universal creator want a special gang anyway, having made all equal?"
The belief in a mythical Judeo-Christian origin of our civilisation is harmful because it is a lie, and it denies the truth of our German heritage. Before the birth of Christ, North German tribes had developed systems of democracy and law that are present in our lives today. The people Tacitus described in his book 'Germania' in A.D.98 were not savages living in the dark. Their descendant, the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians came to Britain and became the English. They brought with them their civic organisation and law. Centuries before Augustine arrived to convert England, there was law and order. There was also a people's democracy. Folk Moots decided not just important matters, but disputes between individuals too. An accused had to provide surety pending trial, which is the origin of our bail system. An accused had the right to trial by assembly, the origins of the jury. There were written laws covering everything from murder to knocking over someone's beer in the pub. Before Christianity, England was a well-ordered land. Christianity and the Norman Conquest condemned most to serfdom. It was a long struggle to regain democracy and other rights. Women did not fully recover the rights enjoyed by their Anglo-Saxon forebears until the 1920s.
The core of our Anglo-Saxon heritage survived because it was sensible. Common sense is a peculiarly English trait that is so obviously right that English Law and democracy - and common sense have spread around the globe. It is time for us to have the common sense to understand our true heritage. Understand and demand our Folk Rights.
