Dave has already written about the British Social Attitudes report but I wanted to pick up on something in the Radio 4 coverage of it.
There’s all the interesting stuff about people becoming more conservative over the last 20 years, and more socially liberal. There’s the changing attitudes to homosexuality and to inequality, and the increasing rejection of simplistic tax and spend.
But what I found really interesting was that we are not more liberal in every social area. For example, while we are increasingly not bothered by homosexuality, we are less and less likely to support the legalisation of cannabis.
Alison Park, who directed the research, pointed out in passing that she thought people actually listened to and engaged in rational debates, and then made up their own minds based on evidence rather than prejudice or social pressure.
This has huge implications for all of us involved in politics. For years, it’s all been about reducing things to one sentence soundbites. But as I continuously argue, politics is complicated. There are valid arguments on both – or all – sides. I don’t want to be patted on the head and told not to worry about it, that politicians will take care of it all. That’s not accountable nor is it good for democracy – it means a political class that is ever more separate from the people they are supposed to represent.
We can see what that results in from this same survey – people think it’s less and less worthwhile to vote, and they are less and less involved in political decisions in the widest sense.
So what I want to see in the coming election campaign is not simplistic one-liners. I think politicians have a duty to acknowledge that it’s complicated; that there are things we disagree about, and that what we need is a coherent policy structure to make the changes we need.
Related posts: