MARTIN CRUTWELL (January 21) can take heart. In his “reflections”, Malton’s greatest MP Edmund Burke wrote, “The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever.”
In fact, the sophisters, economists and calculators, who have dominated our politics for the past generation, are on the run.
The idea that elections should be dominated by two, or possibly three, major parties who use a powerful computer to identify a few swing voters in a few marginal constituencies, hire focus groups to identify their demands, get elected and then betray their supporters, has gone for good.
The rise of fourth, fifth and even sixth parties, plus independents, has made life far more difficult for the sophisters and calculators, but much healthier for our democracy.
After May, we will almost certainly be back to the world of loose coalitions based on shared beliefs that Burke would have recognised all too well.
And with the nations of Southern Europe now rising up against the EU, the glory of Europe may yet return.
Toby Horton, Prospective UKIP Parliamentary Candidate for Thirsk and Malton
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