GET REAL, GET POLITICAL!
Now the dust is beginning to settle after the upheaval of the general election, I would like to give you a little further food for thought.
Something was brought home to me forcibly just before the election: that there is a sizeable – and perhaps growing – chunk of the UK population which sees no point in politics, consisting of people who have no interest in voting and somehow think that in the end it will make no difference to their lives.
I listened in horror to a BBC interviewer asking young people of voting age on the street just before the election basic questions about UK politics. Few had any real idea of political parties, or even who the Prime Minister was. One thought he might get round to voting in a general election ‘next year perhaps’.
Sad, isn’t it, that wars have been fought in recent decades around the issues of national freedom and the rejection of totalitarianism of one sort or another and the need for democracy, and that now so many in the UK population see no need to exercise the vote which is their right. Sad, because all life in a developed, civilised country depends on politics as the main means of bringing about change.
If every angler was a member of the Angling Trust our influence in parliament would be quite enormous – Join now.
Sad also because these people’s lives will inevitably change as a direct result of legislation and changes introduced by politicians. Whether they change for the better is quite another thing. What is certain, however, is that if their lives change for the worse, they will blame it all on those same politicians they could not be bothered to vote either for or against. What struck me is that these are people who do not realise that they potentially have real power: if they all voted then the face of British politics could be quite different. Instead they end up feeling sorry for themselves and hard done by.
Many anglers are guilty of the same attitude. Countless times I have heard anglers express the view that they do not wish to be ‘involved in politics’, as if this was akin to being involved in crime or whatever. Without doubt politics can be a dirty game, but it is also true that the more people who are involved and interested, the more politicians are kept honest.
The ideal political position for us anglers to be in would be to have enough clout to be able to ask political candidates what their own or their party’s policy on angling was, and expect to be given a proper answer.
So you think this is OTT, or even crazy?
You do? Well stop and think for a moment. There are, it is estimated, three million anglers of various kinds in this country. Why should they not be interested in putting their views across, and wanting to know how government policies will affect them? Or seeking to influence policies, in order to protect and further their sport. And why should they not be able to muster enough support from their own ranks to show that they mean business?
A few broad issues which will inevitably affect us spring immediately to mind:
· Water access policy/legislation(eg: the constant battle with the canoeists)
· Abstraction regulations/permits
· Water quality and sewage regulations
· Energy policy (hydropower, tidal power)
As individuals we can do very little to influence any of the above, and what little we do will make no difference. We need a strong organisation, in the same way that other interest groups have, lobbying those in power on our behalf. If we fall down on this, then our future is bleak.
Quite a common view of problems of any kind is that of ‘Someone should do something/say something…’
Well I’m doing something. For a start I’m bringing to your attention the fact that the Angling Trust is working continuously on your behalf as an angler. Why do I do this? I could in fact simply get on with enjoying my fishing without giving any thought to the future it may or may not have. But I choose not to do this. I want to put a little back into the sport I have so hugely enjoyed. I have no other motive. I get paid nothing for this, but do it willingly. Because I am aware of what the consequences might be of doing nothing.
Quite a common attitude is that of: ‘It’s a total waste of time – we’ll end up getting a raw deal, as usual’. I believe this is called a self-fulfilling prophesy. The kind of individual who comes out with this sort of stuff is by definition the type who does nothing and in the end gets a raw deal. And unfortunately many, if not most, anglers fall into this category. So we all end up with a raw deal.
I seem to remember someone once saying: ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’ Not doing nothing is what the democratic process is about. If one political party or politician is allowed to put their ideas into practice unchallenged, then the result, regardless of which party or politician is involved and however well-intentioned they are, will be a disaster sooner or later.
And eventually you and I and everyone else would suddenly find they no longer had a voice in the matter. And before long, we would no longer even have a vote.
When it comes to politics, even the most honest and upright individuals will fudge issues and encourage the massaging of statistics, especially when their future political career depends on it. For this reason alone, politicians need to be kept honest.
And then of course there is the standing requirement to educate the general public as to the pleasures and benefits of angling. Why? The answer is: to recruit young people into fishing, and also many who are not so young.We live in an ever more urban society. Since 2007 there have been more humans living in towns and cities than in the countryside. Whenever I get asked, in a social context, what I get out of fishing, I have no difficulty in coming up with a suitable reply: fishing is the perfect antidote to an urban existence in which kids rarely stray beyond a major road, and spend half, or perhaps more, of their waking life studying the internet, wrapped up in their own little world, and with no contact with the natural one.
Worth protecting?
Fishing is the perfect antidote to an urban existence
You will have no difficulty persuading people of this, but as an individual you are not going to change the course of history just by chatting to people. What angling really needs is an efficient PR machine to persuade the public of the benefits of fishing, particularly for the young. And that does not come cheap. The Angling Trust is the body which represents UK anglers. It manages to do this on a fairly slender budget. But it is still less than 2% of regular coarse fishermen who have seen fit to become individual members.
I can understand that for the most part casual or infrequent anglers will be unaware of the existence of our representative body, the Angling Trust, and even if they were, they are unlikely to feel motivated to join.
To raise awareness the angling Trust is currently running a campaign to help more anglers find out about their work by signing-up for free e-newsletters at www.anglingtrust.net/subscribe – why not try these e-mails yourself? You can always unsubscribe if you really don’t like what they’re up to, but my guess is that you will be pleasantly surprised.
For anglers who enjoy and value their sport and wish it to have a decent future there is only one sensible option: join The Angling Trust! It needs your support in the form of membership, donations, involvement, campaigning and voluntary work.
Get real, get involved, get political!
