Instant Opinion: ‘party members should never be allowed to elect prime ministers’

The Week’s daily round-up highlights the five best opinion
pieces from across the British and international media, with
excerpts from each.

1. Robert Saunders in the New Statesman

on the Tory leadership race

Why party members should never be allowed to elect
prime ministers

“Not since the days of the rotten boroughs, before the Reform
Act of 1832, have a few thousand people held such extraordinary,
undemocratic power. This raises serious questions of legitimacy. In
a democracy, the authority to govern must flow from the people. It
can do so directly, through a presidency or a general election, or
indirectly, through our elected representatives. The current system
does neither: on the contrary, it vests the power to appoint a
prime minister in a private, members-only democracy that you have
to pay to join.”

2. Danny Finklestein in The Times

on what Jeremy Hunt needs to do to win the Tory
leadership

Jeremy Hunt must have a go at creating
Jeremymania

“However many scrapes Mr Johnson gets into, Mr Hunt cannot win
or even come close unless he is able to engender Jeremymania. If he
regards that as impossible or ridiculous, then he should just give
up. He needs to make Conservative members feel a sense of
enthusiasm for his leadership, a desire to join the Hunt.”

3. Philip Johnson in the Daily Telegraph

on education and social mobility

Want to end the reign of public schoolboys at the
top? Build more grammar schools

“If there is a problem it is with one group in particular, the
white working class who live on benefits and appear to have a
cultural animus towards improvement through education that is not
shared by, say, poorer ethnic minorities. Once, a clever child from
this group would escape its clutches by going to a grammar school.
Now if they are lucky they will be in the catchment area of a new
academy or free school where intellectual achievement is not
considered a sin.”

4. Jo Ellison in the Financial Times

on the ills and benefits of noise pollution

Why we need to turn down the volume

“The noisy adult on the train is a violation of one kind of
social contract, the one in which we consider our impact on other
people’s lives. But the widespread use of headphones symbolises
another social ill. The death of the community — where you are
attuned to the nuances of life around you, and moderate your
behaviour to fit in. To quote another parental maxim: Can’t we just
dial it down? Modern life is deafening — but for all the shouting,
no one’s listening any more.”

5. Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian

on the rules of modern dating

Is it ethical for a woman to date a man for a free
dinner? Only if they’re very upfront

“Call me old-fashioned, but I reckon that if you are only
interested in a dude for food, you should probably be upfront about
it. Be like Kate, a Chicago-based woman who went viral a few years
ago for asking every man she matched with on Tinder to send her
pizza. ‘Just be straight up with the guys, and tell them you want a
pizza,’ Kate advised at the time. As for guys, she counselled:
‘Don’t send dick pics. Send pizzas.’ Truly, advice to live by.”