Democracy

Along the northern edge of Northamptonshire where it joins Leicestershire the morning of 14th June 1645 started damp, a cool mist drifting across the fields, the morning sun not yet warm enough to clear the air. In an area known as Broad Moor to the north of the village of Naseby opposing forces of King and Parliament lined up for what was to be the decisive battle of the Civil War. Initially the armies could not see each other through the mists but as the morning temperatures rose and the air cleared the forces clashed and a fierce battle was fought. The result was probably never in doubt as the Royalist forces lead by King Charles I and Prince Rupert of the Rhine were soundly defeated by Parliamentary forces lead by Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Baron Fairfax of Cameron and Oliver Cromwell. The Royalists suffered over 1,000 deaths on the battlefield with more than 5,000 of their force captured. The Battle of Naseby marked the end of any ability of Charles I to assemble a force sufficient to overcome Parliamentary forces. A year later the Civil War ended with Parliament totally victorious and the foundations set in place for a new democratic constitution with power lying in the hands of members of parliament.

The decisive nature of the encounter seems to have been un-noticed by the inhabitants of Naseby. The villagers were unmoved by forces passing through the area and they needed to concentrate on their own problems. The village had suffered badly in the Black Death of 1348 and still had not fully recovered. Large areas of the old village still lay abandoned. The parish register records only that one baby was baptised on that day.

Last week also marked the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine, that great 18th century political thinker and activist. What would the author of The Rights of Man have made of the present chaos in our parliamentary institutions? I think first and foremost he would have been depressed that we had not made more progress in democracy over the last 200 years. Could he have expected that we still had a House of Lords where membership was still largely a matter of birth and that our head of state was still a hereditary monarch? Thomas Paine believed in democracy but also, he hated religions. "Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, the tyranny of religion is the worst." "One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests" He didn't specify if the priests were good or bad but I think he would have regarded all priests as bad.

Thomas Paine is always worth reading and he can still provide much guidance to our failing politicians. After twelve years of excessive government, the Labour Party could benefit from that homily of Paine which suggested that "That government is best that governs least."