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Missed Opportunity

Really sad about the NO vote winning the referendum.  Clearly it was the will of the UK electorate, but a once in a lifetime opportunity has been missed to reform British politics.

AV may not have been the perfect voting system to replace our current system, but without taking the step to AV there will be no significant reform and we're stuck with a an old boy, corrupt, two party political system that should be resigned to the history books.  Sadly, in a typically British manner, we'll cling onto a failing dysfunctional system just because it's British.

It's unlikely that in my lifetime we'll see real reform of politics in this country and we'll continue with the two party system, that suits Labour and Tories so well.  They'll continue with jobs for the boys.  We'll continue to get more and more ill thought out legislation which purely reflects party political ideology not helping the UK develop.

The YES campaign was seriously hampered by a number of things, including the bank balance of the NO campaign, the timing of the referendum and Nick Clegg's foolish sound bite about AV prior to the General Election. (He seems to have quite a collection of those, which can be played to counter almost any argument he makes)

What happens now?  Well many reformers will feel that British politics is a lost cause.  Sadly if British politics is a lost cause, then there can only be a negative knock on affect to the UK economy, way of life and general well being of us Brits.  It's really clear that the Scots are sick of our political system, and have used their vote to elect the only party not mixed up in the mess that is Westminster.  I doubt the SNP support in this election will lead to independence, but would understand if it did.

I'm sure the NO campaigners will be very pleased with themselves tonight, thinking they've won a great victory.  Sadly, unless they are through and through Tory or Labour supporters, they're simply deluding themselves as the big loser tonight was Britain.

An Interesting Night, But Most Interesting Story Still to Come

No doubt that the LibDems had a dreadful night.  Labour will claim it's been great for them, yet they've barely touched the Conservative vote, so that claim is pretty hollow.

The Tories are the big winners, as they haven't lost out despite being in power at Westminster and bringing in huge cuts.  In the words of a Tweeter, 'their human shield has worked brilliantly!'

In Scotland clearly the winners have been SNP, destroying the Labour vote, yet Labour have been hugely successful in Wales.

The biggest story is still to come.  What will happen in the referendum?  Most people seem to be suggesting the No vote has won, yet at the time of writing no results have been declared.  There is a slim chance of the general consensus being wrong and the Yes vote winning, but much of that will depend on the turnout in areas where there weren't council elections.

Alternative Vote - Tory Position

David Cameron has no interest in changing the status quo
Picture from www.inthenews.co.uk

No huge surprise that the Tories want people to vote against the Alternative Vote (AV).  Many of their MPs wouldn't win the safe seats they've enjoyed for generations and they would probably have lost the election this time around, leaving them in the wilderness of opposition for even longer.

AV will most certainly affect the guaranteed flipping between Conservative and Labour governments, each one earning tax payer money, either as the government of the day or as the official opposition.

The current situation means Westminster, and more specifically the current Tory government, is full of career politicians, who have absolutely no life experience and certainly no business knowledge.  They're view of the world is through sound bites and media, not from actually living life and understanding it's challenges either as an employee or a businessman.

Voting for AV will hugely increase the mix of MPs at Westminster, create far better government and I really hope you'll be voting Yes for AV this Thursday, 5th May

Alternative Vote - Labour Position

Ed Miliband, Why is he backing AV?
Photo from www.telegraph.co.uk

First glance and it seems strange that Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party, is pushing for the Alternative Vote (AV) while some of the biggest names in the Labour Party are against AV.

The natural position for both Labour and the Conservatives is against AV, as it challenges the status quo of them taking it in turn to have power and opposition, both paid positions.

However Ed Miliband wants to prove he's different to Blair and Brown, despite having most of their henchmen on his front bench, and appears to have chosen AV as one of the key ways to show the difference.

It's a gamble for him. If AV gets the go ahead, then he can proudly say it's a win for him, yet many in his party will probably lose their seats at the next general election and many others will be forced to work really hard for what have been safe seats. If the country doesn't vote for AV, then it will weaken an already weak Labour leader.

Has the US not sunk to it's enemies levels?

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."
Martin Luther King, Jr

By carrying out the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, have the US not sunk to their enemies level?

I'm not questioning the fact that Bin Laden was an extremist, happy to murder others, and few tears will be wept for him in countries who have suffered by the hands of Al-Qaeda.

Osama Bin Laden - Photo from BBC website - www.bbc.co.uk

However this step by the US, seems to mirror the actions of Bin Laden and his followers.

Surely the US should be using the justice system they want to install in other countries, especially when they say they wants to bring democracy to the world and freedom for repressed people.  The US has a record of saying one thing and doing something very different, so the assassination comes as no surprise, but that doesn't make it the right decision.

Not a single politician interviewed so far seems to question this step.  The most worrying part seems to be the television address by Obama announcing the news to the world.  Clearly he's started his campaign for re-election already, which makes him no better than Bush before him, or does US politics bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator?

Why not just keep this assassination quiet?  Surely silence from the US would scare the Al-Qaeda network more than the huge press circus currently taking place?  If people didn't know of the assassination, then fewer would step up to join the ranks of Al-Qaeda in the hope of avenging the death of a self styled resistance fighter.

Listening to the American's celebrating in Washington & New York, they exactly mirror the reactions of flag burning groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Maybe they reflect that this is simply a religious fight between two power hungry religions or two tribes, American and Arab.  Either way, the US has no moral high ground left to stand on.

Voting No to AV means No Change Ever to Voting System

The referendum this week isn't really about whether we want the Alternative Vote system (AV).  It's actually about whether we ever want reform in our electoral and political system.

Many commentators and politicians say AV is a poor substitute for Proportional Representation, so people shouldn't vote for AV.  However that misses the entire point, if we don't get AV, then we will never get Proportional Representation or any other decent reforms in our 'old boy' 'fat cat' 'corrupt' political system.

Voting for AV begins the slow process of reforming that politics in the UK desperately needs.  Once AV has been implemented then other changes can more easily follow, as the two main parties will never offer the country real reform unless their power is limited first by AV.

All the so called reforms in the last few years have been piecemeal at best and more corrupt in many cases.  MPs expenses and reform of the House of Lords are two excellent examples of supposed reform, which simply end up suiting MPs and/or the party in power.

Reform, after AV has been adopted, could take a number of different routes, not necessarily Proportional Representation, which is all a debate for later.  Right now we have to seize the moment to take a chance in a generation (or two) to make a significant change, which will start a much needed upgrade to our political system.