The Trouble With Political Parties

There's a bit of a kerfuffle in UKIP at the moment where there appears to be one of their regular purges going on. Those being chucked out in this current round of blood letting are those who have publicly backed the idea of 'gay marriage', which UKIP opposes.

I oppose 'gay marriage', although I believe that gay couples should have the same legal rights and protection as heterosexual couples. I oppose it on the grounds that marriage is between a man and a woman. I do  not believe that to be homophobic in any way, although the usual emotionally incontinent obsessives elsewhere on t'internet have called me, and others with similar views, homophobes.

However, I do believe that political parties should allow some leeway on issues of conscience such as this, and that UKIP have over-reacted, as they usually do. Why Cameron is so obsessed with this issue, which few other people in the country feel is of vital national importance, we can only guess. So I do not understand why any political party should force members out over the issue.

What it really shows is how dehumanising political parties have become. Yes there is a need for discipline, but there should also be room for debate and dissent, within reason. On any matter of conscience individual members should be free to take up their own position, especially on issues such as this, capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia and similar. The public are sick of hearing party spokesmen just parrot the party line, they want real human beings who can think for themselves. Sadly when independent thinkers surface in a political party they are all too often hounded out.