If this is really the state of the UK, should we concentrate on voting for Proportional Representation?
The ballot box: at the moment, your vote doesn’t count for much because the ‘First Past The Post’ system means there are many ‘safe seats’ in Parliament, that go to the same parties at each election. The result is stagnant politics. Could proportional representation be the answer?
Interesting thread from economist Richard Murphy – showing that he, at least, is trying to think about the current political climate in a constructive way.
I’m not saying he’s absolutely right, but here’s his Twitter thread and I invite your comments:
The first thing to agree upon is that there is profound poverty of thought in English politics. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all still have people of vision. England has not unless promoting division counts, and I don't think it does.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
I am sorry to say that I did not think it does for one very good reason. Whilst I support the idea, to suggest that reclaiming something that was represents vision for the future seems a little far-fetched to me: there has to be more to it than that.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
Labour has, so far, nothing to offer except the statement ‘We will have to see how things are when we get into government' as if they are unable to imagine that the answer is ‘Just a bit worse than things are now'. Meanwhile, they purge anyone with the ability to think.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
This Writer wholeheartedly endorses that last comment!
After that, I run out of options, excluding those that the factionalised far right have to offer, and thankfully it is still the case that only a very few people take them seriously.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
(Sadly the BBC seems to be among those few.)
So what comes up when I start to scramble? What I realise is that my criteria have to change. They move from what do I want to who is offering anything that might deliver the change I want to see so that we can get out of this mess?
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
Given that this would break the hegemony of Labour and the Tories that is now so utterly destructive, that will do for me as the number one criterion for selection.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
I am not saying that the resulting choice is completely bleak. But I still have to ask, how did things get this bad? Why is it that politics reached this sorry state? And what price have we paid for it doing so?
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
One day we might have a politics that addresses who we are, where we are, and what we need to do. But that day, it seems, has yet to arrive.
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 6, 2023
So there it is.
Is this the beginning of an answer? To bring in proportional representation so the next government we elect (after the one we elect in 2024 or 2025) accurately reflects the mood of the electorate at the time?
If so, I fear people may be put off by the fact that this would put us on an extremely slow path to reform.
To those people, the answer might be: slow reform is better than no reform at all.
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The only way we will get PR is the vote for any party rather than Labour or the Tories!
I don’t always agree with Richard, but he basically gets most things right. I cannot vote for Tory nor Self Serving & nasty Starmer & his cabal so that leaves me with LibDems(who I once took the mick out of) or Greens who are advocating net zero & narcissist eugenics advocate Klaus Schwab & his billionaire funded WEF.
What I really need to do is focus on one party that will grab enough seats to force a hung parliament with Lib Dems and Greens holding the majority seats. I just have to decide which party! Probably LibDems, it’s better than the two current options.