Book Review
Honourable Friends? Parliament and the Fight for Change, By Caroline Lucas. (2015) Portobello Books £14.99.
In May 2010 Caroline Lucas won the seat of Brighton Pavilion for the Green Party, and became the first Green MP at Westminster. This book is a record of the challenges, setbacks, and successes that she experienced over the following five years in Westminster, and as she says “I hope it may have some value as the view of an outsider, inside; and in particular, how Parliament needs to change if it is to have any hope of re-engaging with the mass of people it is meant to represent, and rising to the serious social and environmental challenges we face.” Her effectiveness as an MP is shown by her having been named Ethical Politician of the Year three times and by winning the 2014 MP of the Year award.
The book is in three parts. In the first, Caroline describes how she strove to understand the workings of the arcane institution that is the Westminster Parliament (MPs are given a hook on which to hang their sword before parliamentary sessions even before they are allocated an office space), and in the second she describes her attempts to be an effective representative for her constituents in the face of austerity cuts, attacks on the NHS, education and the environment, and a government intent on increasing privatisation and corporate globalisation. In the final section she looks at how it might all be done differently, and better. Throughout she writes in an entertaining and engrossing manner, even if the litany of governmental attacks on the wellbeing of the ordinary person makes for depressing reading.
Now that we know the outcome of the recent Westminster election in English constituencies, Caroline’s hopes for the future may seem a little optimistic, but in her own concluding words “The years after 2015 will not be easy. Successive governments have taken us so far in the wrong direction, towards a society where citizens feel powerless in dealing with the state and with major corporations, where inequality is on the increase, and where public services are constantly undermined and meanwhile climate change takes further hold. …… We need new thinking and a new way of working together in politics to tackle the things that really matter. Despite the power of those intent on blocking change, I believe we can prevail. The Scottish referendum has shown that people want a say in their own futures and that once that passion and commitment is released, the result is inspiring …… and to see political parties, whether it is the SNP or the Scottish Greens, welcoming thousands of new members, demonstrates that if you can articulate a positive vision, and reject the cynicism of traditional politics, people will come.”
This is an honest, inspiring and empowering book, and also a shocking indictment of an arrogant and outdated political system.
