Maybe I'm not a good politician?

Anyone who is alive at this moment in time will notice that our politics is a bit messed up - to put it mildly.

'We have had enough of experts' declared Michael Gove MP during the 2016 EU referendum. That's not our issue. Our issue is that everyone seems to think they are an expert, often despite not knowing very much at all about the topic they are pontificating about. Everyone with a Facebook or Twitter account seems to understand incredibly difficult and complicated topics because they can produce a good sound bite in 280 characters. Obviously I'm not included in that...

I'm not claiming to be an expert, far from it, but I am claiming to be reasonable. And we seem to have lost reasonableness from our politics. There seemed to have been a time when political decisions were made based on reason, logic and fact. Whether this time existed or not is another question entirely but it seems it may have done once. I think I'm a bit old school in my politics. I'm not an ideological purist but I am someone with strong ideals. By the strength of our common endeavour we can achieve more together than we can achieve alone. This is the Labour Party basis. Within that there is flexibility to interpret what that means within any given situation. When it comes to the railways, we clearly aren't all in it together as the trains are old, the timetables are unreliable, the companies make a mint and the passenger pays through the nose for the privilege of that. Nationalising them and putting the profit into the railways and not into the hands of a few private individuals is a logical step forward. When it comes to Trident, is it reasonable to work for a world without nuclear weapons, absolutely. Is it sensible to unilaterally disarm, probably not but I can see the logic in leading the way. Is it sensible to unilaterally disarm and not replace the jobs that Trident creates, particularly in my constituency, without other high skilled industry, absolutely not.

When it comes to Brexit. Can we undo 40 years of political, economic, judicial, cultural and societal ties in 2 years or less. No. That's just not possible and if we try, it will be extremely painful. Therefore, if we are going to leave we need to do so in a way which is as frictionless as possible and that means probably having a long adjustment period to get everything in order. That just makes sense.

When it comes to Facebook. Oh my, Facebook. If I share this long meme or post about a topic I am passionate about will I check everything is correct in it or just share it anyway as it backs up my argument even if it is all lies? Yes, I'll just share anyway! NO! If there was ever a time we needed truth and facts it's now. And I'm sorry to say that although everyone is entitled to their own opinion, that is not that same as everyone's opinion being valid or right.

You see, I try to base my arguments, thoughts, decisions in politics on reason and fact. Is this reasonable? Does this make sense? Does the weight of evidence back up this decision and if not is there a good reason why not?

I wonder, maybe I'm not a good politician? Maybe facts are old hat? Maybe everything should be based on emotion and opinion? Or maybe the world is currently just a bit screwed up.