Only then will the West really begin to make a difference in Africa.. It is a commonplace at two levels that this election campaign is more boring than any before it As so often with conventional wisdoms, this is mistaken. On the doorstep,the campaign has certainly failed to engage the interest of more than a tiny minority But it was ever thus. The same refrain is heard at every election: they are all the same; they are all out for themselves; they are not saying what they will do for me. This is the ignorant anti-politics of the great tradition of British indifference.
While at the more deprived end of the social scale, such pessimism may be understandable, there has long been a strain of more culpable irresponsibility among the materially comfortable who advocate abstention or spoilt ballots as a gesture of alleged principle. It is a commonplace at two levels that this election campaign is more boring than any before it As so often with conventional wisdoms, this is mistaken. On the doorstep,the campaign has certainly failed to engage the interest of more than a tiny minority But it was ever thus. The same refrain is heard at every election: they are all the same; they are all out for themselves; they are not saying what they will do for me. This is the ignorant anti-politics of the great tradition of British indifference. While at the more deprived end of the social scale, such pessimism may be understandable, there has long been a strain of more culpable irresponsibility among the materially comfortable who advocate abstention or spoilt ballots as a gesture of alleged principle. The second level on which the campaign is claimed to be unusually tedious is in the media village the broadcasting studios, the newspaper offices, the party headquarters and the stage-managed events outside them. It is alleged, even by the Prime Minister himself in his interview in this newspaper earlier this week, that "large parts of the media" are focusing too much on "process, incidents, personality rather than policy".What is true is that the political classes the politicians, the pundits and the journalists find this campaign less interesting than those in the past There are many reasons for this.
The outcome does not appear to be in doubt nor did it last time, of course, but nothing is more exciting to the political class than an imminent change of government. Nor are these times of ideological dispute over the direction of the nation's affairs. The broad lines of managing a prosperous economy are agreed, while the policy debates between the parties are essentially the same as they have been over the past few years.To dismiss this campaign as uninteresting or irrelevant, however, is simply to lend credibility to the ballot-spoilers, the miserable anti-democrats who even if the choices were as unappetising as they say they are are morally incapable of distinguishing between bad and worse.Equally, to suggest that this election campaign has not seen a serious debate about serious policies is bizarre. Mr Blair's charge that the coverage has revolved around "personality" is flat wrong the only time when that was so was when John Prescott punched a demonstrator, and then the Deputy Prime Minister's personality was a perfectly legitimate issue.There are vitally important issues at stake in this election, and they have been debated in depth. The linked questions of taxes, public spending and public services; the twin issues of asylum and race; and the advance positioning for a referendum on joining the euro. On this last issue, indeed, Mr Hague demands too much detail in his interview in our pages today.
