Labour MP and Shadow Cabinet member Caroline Flint has decided to oppose her newly elected leader Ed Milliband and launch an unofficial labour no campaign to AV. Most telling is her comments at 0:55 in this video from the BBC “It’s about not allowing fringe parties to have more a say in our elections and i think that is very important” That is disturbing and Sounds like someone does not want small minority parties to ever have the chance of growing without one of the big two collapsing. We nearly have effectively a two party system like in the USA and ultimately that results in a complete lack of ideas resulting in malaise and apathy. Then you end up with the situation where personality counts more than policy. We are not far off from presidential style elections where it is all about making the other person look bad.
Caroline Flint has a history of opposing democratic and open governance. After the expenses scandal she was one off 98 MPS who voted in favour of legislation that would have kept MP’s expenses secret truly disgraceful. Caroline Flint would appear to a classic example of the self entitled careerist who we need to remove from parliament
The AV system is far from perfect but is a damn site better than the current situation.
According to a YouGov poll yes to AV is slightly ahead of no by 37% to 32%. 24% are unsure how they will and 7% saying they will not vote in the referendum. Expect these figures to change as we get closer and more people learn what AV is and change their mind or make their minds up. If you are unsure what AV is and what you will be voting for here is a guide.
Most people will be avoiding all this silliness. About a third of the Welsh electorate turned out to vote on a different and more exciting referendum topic recently. The turn-out in May will be much lower. There's been no campaigning, and not even a mention in the local press. Are you sure this referendum really is on? Will 11% of the electorate against and 10% for tell us anything?
ReplyDeleteIt’s unusual for election or referendum campaigns to start more than month ahead of voting. People get bored and annoyed if they are bombarded with a campaign for weeks on end so don’t expect much campaigning until mid April. That said it is in the national news and local news so it is out there. Well 11% for and 10% against would show most people are apathetic about politics and AV may help make voters fell that vote has some worth. Also AV would shake up the parties creating a wider range of policies rather than the one degree of separation we have between the current parties. That should also help to make voters fell more connected if they are given genuine political choices rather than which party leader do you like the most.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in hearing what is silly about trying to improve democracy or participating.