Politics: Cutting Through the Crap

Rai’s theme – perhaps ‘burden’ is a better word – is that how politics is done and presented in Britain is, to most people, a total turn-off, devoid of passion, conviction and fun. Like all memorable politicians, he’s entirely biased; unlike most he’s honest enough to say so.

Starting from Disraeli’s ungrammatical definition of politics as ‘the art of governing mankind by deceiving them’ he explains the concepts of sovereignty and democracy, consistently putting his steel toecaps into dishonesty wherever he finds it. He finds it everywhere. A passionate natural socialist, he sees good points in many of our political parties but none in New Labour and he hates the Murdoch media with an incendiary fervour. His rant against deceit and double standards is sustained throughout his 170+ pages, and very refreshingly too, making this a thoroughly entertaining and provocative read, larded with good references for provocatees to follow up. His opening sentence: ‘There are going to be people who read this book and slag me off.’ sets the tone for the rest and leaves the reader confident that, however off the slagging, Rai will give as good as he gets.

The author’s name is new to me – but he turns out to be an Angus Book award-winning teen fiction author with a politics degree. Thus equipped, he leaps into his subject with both feet blazing and mouth-motor on full chat. He lists among his enjoyments ‘going to the pub’ and addresses his reader throughout in pub language which should make him accessible to both disenchanted and disenfranchised readers – every secondary school (even in Winslow, Bucks) should have plenty of copies. All I need to know now is which pub he frequents and when can we expect Boris Johnson’s reply? Walker, please advise.