I keep seeing people saying we should have TV debates between leaders. They say it like it’s crucial to our democracy that the senior ranking MPs of the two main parties have some kind of face off in a TV studio. I see arguments in the media that it is madness not to have them perform like monkeys in front of the nation so we can say to ourselves ‘they won’ or ‘they lost’.

Personally I think it’s a terrible idea.

I like the fact we’re in a representative parliamentary democracy. I like all three of those words.

I like representative because it means the people who represent us at a local level get to make decisions on the basis that we trust them to do their job rather than jumping at every jumped up moronic plebiscite we’ve had this week. (Can you tell I’m a remainer?)

I like Parliamentary because it means we aren’t ruled by a president (god forbid we have a sodding king by another name). Most people sing I’m the king of the castle and reference chopping of the rascals head…I sing it the other way around. Just ask my kids if you don’t believe me. I’m a radical republican (not a Republican!) and anti-monarchist. Parliament is a system whereby decisions are made by consensus building and an executive not a single leader.

I like democracy because it means, in practice, that if you dick me around I can vote you out. I like that. I like how it’s overseen nearly every major social innovation around equality and rights in the last 200 years.

Together we should be thanking our lucky stars and doing everything we can to support that system. By support I mean rooting out corruption but also communicating positively with our representatives and supporting them socially, emotionally and also letting them know when we disagree with how they’re representing us. (We really shouldn’t be threatening them or sending dick pics or whatever other mad stuff people are probably doing right now).

How exactly does a TV debate help this? Does Corbyn win? Can May? I don’t see it, I also don’t see how them winning helps the parliamentary system maintain its strengths, checks and balances. Sure, it helps media sell advertising space, but their arguments for why we want them only work if we have a presidential system. Which we don’t. Only a few thousand people get to vote on May and/or Corbyn. It’s likely not you. It isn’t me. I vote for an MP who works in the executive. I believe I’ve even had some wins on subjects I’ve written to them about (repeatedly, patiently and, I hope, not too madly).

For all the many flaws with our system that I’m sure people will take time to internet explain to me, our system is pretty good. It could be better for sure. But it could also be worse. We could have an orange proto-fascist in charge deciding things by executive order. Our current set of politicians might not be of the calibre we want, but they’re not, on the whole, massive racists or misogynists or basic corrupt bastards. Some are, but you know what, most of them aren’t – my MP, for instance, isn’t any of those things.

We should not be clamouring for a presidential system or supporting cynical moves to make it appear to be one thereby undermining a consensus driven executive.

Just my two pennies.