Peter Mandelson, the Daily Mail, and Affronts to Democracy

I've never really done a political blog - so let me know what you think. This episode really wound me up - so here goes ...


On Friday 6th March I got a 'tweet' telling me that Peter Mandelson had had green custard thrown at him, with a link to a video. The video was a close up, showing a woman - who I now know to be Leila Deen simply walking up to Peter Mandelson, with a cup of what looked to be a hot tea or coffee, and throwing it in his face. It was then obvious that it was a thick green substance - and will be forever known as "Green custard".


The speed with which the video was out on the net was astonishing - I'm guessing it was less than an hour. My initial reaction was one of annoyance - I feel it is simply wrong to do this to anyone. I would feel extremely distressed if someone did it to me - even more so if the massed ranks of the UK press were watching the whole thing.


All things considered though, stuff like this happens, and hopefully falls from the public eye quickly. In the grand scheme of things it's a mere blip - not very relevant. What really annoyed me though was the way in which several media outlets reported this. The worst - but by no means the only - offender was, I felt, the Daily Mail.


Their front page assertion on Saturday was that Leila Deen had cheered up the whole country by throwing green custard on Peter Mandelson, and Leila of course had decided that her reason for doing this, was that Peter Mandelson was an affront to Democracy.


Well sometimes I instinctively feel that some Mail stories are incorrect, however this time I KNOW that this one is - because she certainly didn't cheer up the whole country - she didn't cheer me up for one !


My understanding is that for democracy to work, then people should be able to go about their business, expressing their opinions, and casting their votes, without threat. Threat of violence, and threat of psychological intimidation.


There is a logic that follows from Leila Deen's actions that goes like this : She could just as easily have thrown paint stripper or acid - or a bomb, therefore we need to surround politicians with top security; therefore we need to make sure that anyone who attempts any action like this is subject to instant and extreme justice - so we need to make sure we stifle any attempt at making dissenting noises - by anyone.


So next stop totalitarian police state.


And for those who'd say that we already have one - think again ! I wonder what might have happened to Leila had she chucked custard at one of Robert Mugabe's advisors, or Hu Jintao's or dare I say it - Barack Obama's ? I sincerely hope that she wouldn't have been beaten senseless, shot, or simply thrown immediately in jail (which many would argue she should have been) - but somehow I wouldn't put money it.


Imagine for one moment what the Daily Mail would be printing now if Peter Mandelson had thrown the custard at her instead ?


But I don't follow this logic.


In the country where I live - the United Kingdom, I have briefly met not one, but 4 Prime Ministers - 3 of whom were serving at the time. They were merely passing encounters - but I feel that it's indicative of the openness and democracy that we enjoy that I was able to do this - and not kept at arms length by police and soldiers.


I've also met and had conversations with at least six members of parliament, including a party leader, and interacted with several more via internet and email facilities. I'm not a politician mind - I'm just an ordinary joe.


So it strikes me that the affront to democracy is not from Peter Mandelson, but from Leila Deen, and the Daily Mail. It is only because we live in an open and democratic society that she's able to pull pathetic stunts like this. To suggest also that there was no option to this 'direct action' - that all other means had failed, is plainly ridiculous - she could even have sent him a message on Twitter for god's sake ! Now OK- no doubt she'd say that he'd ignore her requests - but that really is what Democracy is about. We elect people to make decisions for us, not because it is a universally fair way of doing things - but because it is the fairest we can get in an imperfect world. Politicians get lots of requests - it's their job to do what they think's best - not to try and do what everyone suggests they do , which is clearly impossible


Sometimes those elected decision makers appoint people to the unelected House of Lords, and sometimes they appoint those members to positions of authority - that's the way the Government works - We should respect it whilst it remains the way we do it, and if we don't like it - then vote for someone who will change it, or get someone to vote for you and change it yourself.


It isn't easy - and progress is undeniably slow - but I promise Leila Deen - it is whole lot more effective and more democratic than throwing custard at people because you don't agree with what they say !