Much of what is said and done in Parliament by the political class doesn’t get reported because the media doesn’t find it sexy or controversial enough to form a sensational story.
But there are always snippets of information that, if they were given more exposure, have the potential to make people realise the British government doesn’t work in the interest of the British people. This question and written answer published this week is one such example:
Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to help improve local government in sub-Saharan Africa.
Lynne Featherstone: In 2010-11 DFID worked on decentralisation and subnational government in 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, spending a total of £16,279,000 through its bilateral programme. This support includes strengthening departments of regional and local government, regional and local authorities and their national associations. DFID has also supported peer to peer learning mechanisms, through the Commonwealth Local Government Forum which has achieved good results in several African countries.
The obvious point to raise here is, how come so much taxpayers’ money is being spent on ‘improving’ local government in sub-Saharan Africa when the UK needs to get its own house in order for local government to be effective, efficient and a servant of the people rather than their master?
Is it not ironic the British government wants to tell other countries how their local government should be and throw our money at realising that vision, while our local government is a functionary branch of central government? Here local government is only good for soaking up more of our money in fees and charges to service its own existence while delivering ‘services’ for which we pay ever more and get ever less. Here local government is administered by a core of unaccountable and overpaid bureaucrats whose target is to restrict our rights and freedoms while carrying out the wishes of the EU overlord, regardless of what elected Members decree.
Perhaps that is the vision our well-heeled mandarins have for the people of sub-Saharan Africa. Perhaps our money is being spent in this way to ensure the structures there are just right for future supranational control by an unaccountable authority that takes its steer from the equally unaccountable UN and the various bodies operating beyond democratic control, who impose their will on the rest of us regardless of what we want – made possible through our taxes. He who controls the money and how it’s spent…
Referism anyone?
Autonomous Mind 
As you say, overseas aid is a scandal in that it is funding that should be spent here where there is so much wrong – not just with local government, but also, for example, in the area of services for the vulnerable and aged.
I have for long found it ironic that we spend so much money – and fight wars – to export ‘democracy’ abroad when it does not exist at home. That irony appears to have escaped the notice of many.
Politicians preach we are a democratic society, but it is an illusion. We in fact have a dictatorship run solely by the established, corrupted, combined influence of political parties and government bureaucrats, who do not act for the people but only in their own interests.
Thanks for publicising this scandal.
Been saying for yonks that we live under what I term a democratized dictatorship…….
Pleased to see you agree.
I will rather called it in North’s way, “Parlimentary dictatorship”. If democracy means people’s power/governance, then democratized dictatorship sounds to me like ” Tyranny of the majority”, which although it is sometimes as dangerous, it is very different to the one we have now, lol