Billy Bragg reminded me on FaceBook yesterday that it was Tony Benn’s 100th birthday. Ot would have been if we had been lucky enough to still be blessed by his presence. He’s always been something of a hero: eschewing rank and privilege to represent the Silenced by Society, to represent those unable to represent themselves, to ask the hard questions of the powerful.
Here they are, his five questions:
- What power have you got?
- Where did you get it from?
- In whose interests do you exercise it?
- To whom are you accountable?
- And how can we get rid of you?
“If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you” he told parliament in 2001 “you do not live in a democratic system.”
Universities aren’t democracies, it seems. That should be no surprise given they are oligarchic by default, but forced to run as service industry businesses due to the nature of their funding for decades. However, business leaders are ultimately held responsible for their decisions. The five questions still apply, to an extent. Possibly more lucrative would be to ask: How are those in power accountable to us? Who is responsible for decisions made? Why have they not been replaced?
