Tom Harris fails to get how democracy works – objects to vocal disagreement

Tom Harris is being silenced. At least according to his latest blog post, entitled ‘Silence those who dare to disagree with us!’. He has taken exception to an advert in the Guardian, posted by constitutional reform activists Power 2010, which attacks 6 MPs for opposing electoral reform. And Tom is deeply aggrieved to be on the recieving end of such opposition. “Hang on”, he writes,

I actually oppose PR because I think it’s A Bad Thing. I believe it would be bad for our country and bad for democracy. Disagree with me by all means, argue against me, but allow me to have my own opinion. Do Power2010 believe that I should vote for something, support it in public, even against my better judgment, just because they disagree with me? Is that what constitutional reform has come down to – silencing parliamentarians with whom you disagree?

Except nobody is attempting to silence Tom. What they are in fact doing is attacking him for the positions he has chosen to express. It seems pretty obvious that this is how democracy is meant to work: Tom Harris, as a parliamentarian, has the right vote and speak as he wishes, and groups of citizens have the right to oppose him for how he votes and what he says.

What Tom Harris seems to want is not simply the “right to express his opinion”. Rather he wants the right to advocate what he wants without being held to account, or politically attacked by those who disagree with him. Perhaps he would be more at home in another parliament… I’m thinking North Korea.