Nick Cleggs desperate apology in the run up to Brighton conference. Only the words "I resign" will do.

In the run up to the Liberal Democrats Brighton conference and in a desperate attempt to stave off any sort of leadership challenge NickClegg has said sorry for deceiving voters over tuition fees. All I can say to that is to late Nick it was meant to be a core part of what you as Lib Dems stood for and instead you kowtowed to Cameron and made deal with the devil in exchange for minimal reward and even less personal power. The only acceptable apology is "I'm sorry I betrayed the voters  for personal power and I resign to give the Liberal Democrats a fighting chance at the next election".

Tories day of spin over lords reform and Nick Cleggs stupid mistake

Today Tory tweeters are all agog trying to spin Nick Cleggs blocking of boundary changes (gerrymandering) in retaliation for the Tories betrayal over Lords reform as some sort of betrayal.

 They are trying to claim that the boundary redrawing is linked to the AV referendum. However if you look at the coalition-agreement there are absolutely no  linked agreements i.e AV for Lords reform. it is an all encompassing agrement. The Tories broke the agreement so the whole thing is now binned.

However i can have no sympathy for  the Lib Dems they made a deal with the devil and the devil is a much better liar than they are. It was very naive off Nick Clegg to believe that the conservatives would ever keep to their end of the agrement. Their entire philosophy is I got mine screw you.

Has Louise Mensch been caught lying? Time for her to resign?

Speaking on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, the Conservative MP Louise Mensch said the issue of whether Murdoch was a fit and proper person had not been discussed by the committee before an amendment was tabled on Monday. However it has now been revealed that she did not tellthe truth and in fact it was discussed six weeks ago. It seems Lousie is now up her neck in news corps mud and it does seem that she has lied to try and protect news corps, it is now time for her to resign or explain why she lied.

Are the conservatives now blatantly in the pockets of the Murdochs? Is Louise Mensch unfit to serve in Parliament?

The conservatives are no longer being subtle about their support for the Murdoch’s and BSkyB. Louise Mensch, blatantly shilling for Murdoch by calling the recent report partisan. Either the Murdochs misled parliament and are therefore corrupt and unfit to run a media company or they are highly incompetent and therefore unfit to run a media company. Either way the inescapable truth is that the Murdoch’s and BSKYB are not fit to hold a media license. Therefore the other inescapable truth is that Louise Mensch and her conservative colleagues are either incompetent or in the pocket of the Murdochs either way they are unfit to serve in parliament.

No to AVs three dishonest claims, actually they are outright lies.

The No to AV campaign has 3 main reasons to vote no to AV. One a complete distortion the other two are outright lies. But the whole no to AV campaign has been one of dishonesty and fear mongering from the start.

AV is costly

“The change to AV will cost up to an additional £250 million. Local councils would have to waste money on costly electronic vote counting machines and expensive voter education campaigns. With ordinary families facing tough times can we really afford to spend a quarter of a billion pounds of taxpayers' money bringing in a new voting system? Schools and hospitals, or the Alternative Vote – that's the choice in this referendum.”

If they think a onetime £250 million cost is going to stop education or health care they have not got a clue about how much those actually cost. Healthcare costs £110 Billion a year or about 440X the one of cost for AV. Education costs are approximately £84 billion a year about 336X the one of cost of AV Clearly the claim that it is schools and hospitals or AV is a complete and disgraceful lie.

Cancelling the unnecessary trident replacement at a minimum would save a £24 Billion one of cost and who knows how much per year in maintenance. By doing so you could spend £250million on AV and have over £23 Billon extra to spend on schools and hospitals. Or use that money to buy conventional military equipment that has a genuine use and is under our control unlike trident and its potential replacement.

AV is complex and unfair

“The winner should be the candidate that comes first, but under AV the candidate who comes second or third can actually be elected. That’s why it is used by just three countries in the world – Fiji, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Voters should decide who the best candidate is, not the voting system. We can't afford to let the politicians off the hook by introducing a loser's charter.”

Under AV the most popular candidates win First past the post allows for unpopular and weak leaders who are elected with less than majority support. The reason only three countries use it is because it is an anathema to weak careerist politicians who rely on the first past the post system It would have taken heavy campaigning from the non political class to get AV passed in those countries. The suggestion that the politician who comes second or third gets in is ludicrous. Under AV a politician must get a substantive majority (over 50% of the vote) and therefore be a true winner, a truly popular leader. First past the post means a politician can get in with an un-substantive majority (under 50% of the vote) now that is a real losers charter.

AV is fairer and the suggestion it is too complicated is insulting the intelligence of everyone in this country. Filling out the census form is a lot more complicated and it’s not hard. Australians have been using it successfully sin 1918 they don’t think it is complicated at all.

AV is a politician's fix

“AV leads to more hung parliaments, backroom deals and broken promises like the Lib Dem tuition fees U-turn. Instead of the voters choosing the government, politicians would hold power. Under AV, the only vote that really counts is Nick Clegg's. We can't afford to let the politicians decide who runs our country.”

Australia introduced to alternative vote in 1918 since then they have had 2 hung parliaments in 1940 and 2010. Since 1918 our first past the post has also produced three hung parliaments in 1929, 1974 and 2010. Looking at the facts it shows a hung parliament is slightly less likely under AV not more likely. Therefore political deals are actually more likely under first past the post but that is why career politicians and extremists oppose AV. As for the suggestion that the only vote that counts is Nick Clegg is just a bizarre and outright lie.

Av is to the careerist and extremist politician as garlic is to a vampire that is why so many of the UK’s political failures and extremists are against it.
So there you have it the no to campaigns three main arguments against AV one distortion of reality two outright lies

Tory MP Greg Hands wants to waste government time and money

Tory MP Greg Hands seems to believe that there is nothing important going on in the UK or world. He has asked ministers to take the completely unnecessary step of declaring Foxes vermin.
Mr Hands said "Last summer a number of my constituents were attacked in their own homes by urban foxes," “Could you liaise with the Communities Secretary (Eric Pickles) to see if we could change the law so that urban foxes could be treated as vermin in the same way as rats and mice are?" This is a complete waste of time it is lawful for people to kill foxes by shooting, snaring or trapping them in a baited cage - although poisoning is not allowed. Declaring Foxes vermin would make no difference to this whatsoever and would just waste government time and money.

Labour MP opposes Democracy wants to keep small parties small.

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.

Clegg pledges to defend NHS

Deputy prime minister spoke at the lib dem party conference Saturday vowing to protect the NHS from privatisation.
This is a pledge that Nick Clegg must keep to we do not want an American style system where health care is provided to only those who have money and at a far greater cost than what we currently pay.

Alternative vote referendum

In two months time there will be a referendum on new voting systems. You can find out what is being voted for here and how the parties stand here.

Which way are you going to vote? I’m in favour as a step towards stronger democracy. Altough we need a non of the above option as well.