Cherish voting
The most common reaction to Theresa May’s decision to call an election seems to be a moan that we are being asked to take part in the third national poll since 2015.
But a sense of perspective is necessary (not least in comparison with the people of Northern Ireland, who on June 8 will be casting a vote for the seventh time in three years).
At a parochial level, issues that mean much to our own, small community will rise to the fore as parties compete to persuade us that they are most worthy of our support.
But more fundamentally, while it may be trite to point out how many people have died for the right to vote, it is no less true for that. Whatever the motivation may have been behind the calling of the election, we should celebrate our ability to choose our next government — something denied to the majority of our fellow human beings.
The next seven weeks are ours to shape, and ours to use.
French horrors
Just how much the act of voting matters is rammed home by the election across the Channel. It is far from impossible that the first round of voting in France on Sunday will deliver a run-off between a fascist and a hard core Stalinist.
At the very least, it does seem more than likely that Marine Le Pen will end up in that contest — and thus tangibly close to the Elysee. That thought is frightening.
Despite the makeover, Ms Le Pen is leader of an authentically fascist party and her recent remarks about “France” not being responsible for the roundup of Jews at the Vel d’Hiv in 1942 remind us that she is her father’s daughter. Democracy is precious, and can never rest on its laurels.
