Are we a democracy?

I've been thinking lately about just how democratic this country (the UK) is.  I guess if we compare ourselves with North Korea and the many dictatorships across the planet we are setting the bar pretty low but occasionally something hits the headlines which makes me think  ...
Why, in spite of all the evidence about its addictive nature and how damaging it is to our health, is sugar regulation left to the industry self regulating?  It tooks decades for the tobacco industry to be controlled and it seems to me that much the same is happening with sugar.

Although lots of money could be made from moving to alternative energy, the fossil fuel industry keeps us heading towards catastrophic climate change.  Why?  Could it be because the fossil fuel billionnaires have massive funds invested in getting the last drop of oil and gas out of the ground.  Koch Industries, a US oil and chemical giant with $100bn in annual sales, spent almost $25m funding climate denial organisations and they regularly pour millions of dollars into US election campaigns.  

Then there is the power of corporate Press - I remember the Sun headline 'It was the Sun what done it' after Sun headlines had brought about a surprised Conservative general election victory.
Must think about all this a bit more ...