The BBC reports the results of a survey on political attitudes in the young by the National Foundation for Educational Research. Unsurprisingly, one conclusion is that the majority of youngsters in the UK are not particularly interested in “Politics”. This is not a particularly revelatory finding – concern has been expressed over this for some time now.

The respondents were asked to gauge how much they agree with the statement “I am interested in politics”, and I suspect that this has skewed the results somewhat as interpretations of what falls under the definition of “politics” vary. Certainly the main thrust seems to be that there is widespread disillusionment with Parliamentary Party Politics, and who can be surprised. The major political parties in the UK don’t offer any radical differences in their macro-level policies; the devil is, as they say, always in the detail. The only really major issue where there is some divergence is the Euro, but then whoever is in power when this comes to a head will have to take the question to a referendum anyway. With what appears to be such little real choice, who can blame the young for disregarding the process? This can’t be helped by the constant reports of attempted media manipulation – particularly the more cynical forms – and the fact that debates in the Commons often seem like a game of Who’s Soundbite is it anyway, that is when the speakers are not being drowned out by incoherent heckling.

The study did suggest that the young are more interested in politics of a non-party political nature – social issues, exactly the sort of politics where they feel they can participate and possibly see the effects of their actions. Parliament has to seem less remote for people to want to be involved. Precisely how this can be achieved is, of course, open to debate, but it’s important if we want to reverse the trend away from participation in national politics. A more diverse mixture of views in Parliament itself would probably help, and that’s one of the reasons I see potential value in electoral reform – whatever it’s faults, Proportional Representation has the potential to introduce a wider spread of views into the process, and it would be good to see this back on the agenda.