Brexit is an absolute mess. However, this won't be a post demanding any particular solution to that now grave crisis. It is a post dedicated to what is clearly, after the last 3 years, a pressing need to help make our political culture healthier and more responsive.
The paralysis in Parliament right now comes not just because no one has an idea of the way forward. It is also because attempting to balance the, sometimes contradictory, beliefs of different important groups within each party means there's no way to make a decision that pleases anyone. A compromise might cause a split in your party or bring down your Government.
These parties, filled with their warring interest groups, still don't manage to represent the electorate. Votes are wasted as an MP could easily be elected with less than 40% of the vote (i.e. 60% of those turning out to vote, let alone of the electorate as a whole, voted AGAINST them and they still won). Governments can get large majorities and do all sorts of crazy things (like introducing an ill-conceived referendum without considering what needed to be done if a particular side won) despite the majority of people in this country having voted for someone else.
MPs stand on manifestos they don't believe in. Deals are done behind closed doors with very little understanding of what might have been traded to win support for whatever legislation or policy was up for debate.
What we need is proportional representation. We need to ensure more votes matter. We need to ensure MPs can stand on manifestos they actually believe in. We need to break up the not-fit-for-purpose "umbrella" parties and get parties that actually reflect the diverse opinions of our electorate. We need political parties that will know they won't win a majority and be upfront with the electorate about what they will and what they won't compromise on so we all know what we are getting into before the trouble starts.
So sign the petition calling for a fairer voting system. Use your anger righteously and lets finally start digging this country out of the big hole it has gotten itself into.
Showing posts with label brexit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brexit. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 March 2019
Monday, 5 June 2017
Why I'll Probably Vote Lib Dem And You Probably Should Too
When this election was called I thought getting rid of the Tories was secondary to trying to get rid of Brexiters.
Of course this election turned out to be about everything BUT Brexit. I'm still rabidly pro-EU. I'm not giving up on the dream but I think the fight for Remain is now totally over. The fight for Return will have to start but it can't exactly do that for a while.
The Tories have shown themselves to be even more useless than I'd given them credit for. Since May took over as Prime Minister I've struggled to understand some of her actions. Her failure to actively build bridges with Remains and picking a judicial fight over Article 50 rather than just get it through the Commons first time are top among the pre-election "blunders". These pale in comparison to the errors that May has made since calling the election.
She can't help but say hypocritical things like how she was too busy thinking about Brexit to attend a debate (well you called the election during the negotiations Prime Minister!) or complain about Labour being all soundbites and no substance (this needs little explanation!). Her manifesto policies were not just poorly conceived and rather empty, they were also pretty bleak. There was no vision there, none of the promise that Brexit supposedly will bring. It was all charges and pain.
Despite being extremely cool towards Corbyn before (his stances on the Falklands War and the IRA remain deep concerns to me), he seems like a professional whilst May appears dangerously inept.
At this point I'm more concerned about the prospect of a May return than a Corbyn premiership.
Meanwhile the Lib Dems, the only party I've ever voted for at general elections, have not taken off. The Brexit focus turned out to be the wrong strategy. They remain tarnished by coalition and caught off guard in what is turning out to be a possible national re-alignment politically. But right now the Lib Dems are the most sensible of the three main national parties (though some of those "Which Party Should You Support?" websites have me down as SNP!!). Their manifesto is sensible and costed. Tim Farron is a bit wet but he's not crazy and he's not utterly inept. At this point that's the best we can hope for.
You'd think as a near life-long Lib Dem member, a past paper candidate, and a liberal to my core, the decision to vote Lib Dem should be straightforward based on what I've laid out above. However, here in Dover, Yougov have got the seat down as leaning Labour. A chance to help punish the self-obsessed Tories who've put themselves before our national interest is calling out to me. I'm fighting it, but I don't think I'll know how I'll vote until I get to the polling booth.
And if you think that's crazy just take a look at this on the Yougov projections. If accurate (take a very large pinch of salt!) it suggests we could see massive seat changes across the country unlike anything seen for many years. I still think the Tories will win handsomely. But you never know!
Of course this election turned out to be about everything BUT Brexit. I'm still rabidly pro-EU. I'm not giving up on the dream but I think the fight for Remain is now totally over. The fight for Return will have to start but it can't exactly do that for a while.
The Tories have shown themselves to be even more useless than I'd given them credit for. Since May took over as Prime Minister I've struggled to understand some of her actions. Her failure to actively build bridges with Remains and picking a judicial fight over Article 50 rather than just get it through the Commons first time are top among the pre-election "blunders". These pale in comparison to the errors that May has made since calling the election.
She can't help but say hypocritical things like how she was too busy thinking about Brexit to attend a debate (well you called the election during the negotiations Prime Minister!) or complain about Labour being all soundbites and no substance (this needs little explanation!). Her manifesto policies were not just poorly conceived and rather empty, they were also pretty bleak. There was no vision there, none of the promise that Brexit supposedly will bring. It was all charges and pain.
Despite being extremely cool towards Corbyn before (his stances on the Falklands War and the IRA remain deep concerns to me), he seems like a professional whilst May appears dangerously inept.
At this point I'm more concerned about the prospect of a May return than a Corbyn premiership.
Meanwhile the Lib Dems, the only party I've ever voted for at general elections, have not taken off. The Brexit focus turned out to be the wrong strategy. They remain tarnished by coalition and caught off guard in what is turning out to be a possible national re-alignment politically. But right now the Lib Dems are the most sensible of the three main national parties (though some of those "Which Party Should You Support?" websites have me down as SNP!!). Their manifesto is sensible and costed. Tim Farron is a bit wet but he's not crazy and he's not utterly inept. At this point that's the best we can hope for.
You'd think as a near life-long Lib Dem member, a past paper candidate, and a liberal to my core, the decision to vote Lib Dem should be straightforward based on what I've laid out above. However, here in Dover, Yougov have got the seat down as leaning Labour. A chance to help punish the self-obsessed Tories who've put themselves before our national interest is calling out to me. I'm fighting it, but I don't think I'll know how I'll vote until I get to the polling booth.
And if you think that's crazy just take a look at this on the Yougov projections. If accurate (take a very large pinch of salt!) it suggests we could see massive seat changes across the country unlike anything seen for many years. I still think the Tories will win handsomely. But you never know!
Wednesday, 29 March 2017
Inner Emigration: A Citizen Of Nowhere
So today the die was finally cast. The country now heads off away from the EU, for better or worse. There have been many calls for those of us opposed to this move to give up on a future that is no longer coming and join with Brexiters "for the good of the country".
Theresa May has called for unity repeatedly and Brexiters have been lambasting Remoaners for months. The cries of "traitors" have begun to grow as some Remainers have sought to continue the fight.
I've no real urge to help build a future I've got no investment in. The country has spoken and it said "No thanks" to what I thought was best. It is now up to those who voted for Brexit to make it work. My love for the United Kingdom hasn't grown any smaller. It is just I've found very few people share my love for the country. They worship the flag of St. George, express little more than a very thin loyalty to Her Majesty and think compromise, that which has seen our country through many a constitutional muddle, is an evil and that any other course of action, no matter how dangerous, is worth considering before it.
I've already discussed my own personal brand of patriotism here. It has become crystal clear to me that I'm in a tiny minority of people who still believe that being British means having honour, decency and respect. The trolls have taken over our country and the nationalists are preparing to laugh themselves silly over whatever remains in the next few years of our once noble nation.
Look... I'm just not going to claim to share any sort "patriotism" with people like this:
The flag is upside down. Suspended between two bins. This is what we're dealing with. I just... I can't bear it. It is wounding to see such people win. And win they did. And they'll continue to win...
I see no prospect of a change of heart in this nation, regardless of what happens. The Tories are ascendant with little to no realistic opposition for the foreseeable future. Culturally we've lost our devotion to being better people.
So I'm out. Just out. I'll tinker around with my family tree. I'll drool over gorgeous men. I'll read, watch movies, get on with my life as best I can. But the country I owe allegiance and loyalty to is gone. It may never have even existed. And soon even its name may be consigned to the history books if the nationalists get their way.
And one day, if opportunity presents itself, I'll leave.
Theresa May has called for unity repeatedly and Brexiters have been lambasting Remoaners for months. The cries of "traitors" have begun to grow as some Remainers have sought to continue the fight.
I've no real urge to help build a future I've got no investment in. The country has spoken and it said "No thanks" to what I thought was best. It is now up to those who voted for Brexit to make it work. My love for the United Kingdom hasn't grown any smaller. It is just I've found very few people share my love for the country. They worship the flag of St. George, express little more than a very thin loyalty to Her Majesty and think compromise, that which has seen our country through many a constitutional muddle, is an evil and that any other course of action, no matter how dangerous, is worth considering before it.
I've already discussed my own personal brand of patriotism here. It has become crystal clear to me that I'm in a tiny minority of people who still believe that being British means having honour, decency and respect. The trolls have taken over our country and the nationalists are preparing to laugh themselves silly over whatever remains in the next few years of our once noble nation.
Look... I'm just not going to claim to share any sort "patriotism" with people like this:
The flag is upside down. Suspended between two bins. This is what we're dealing with. I just... I can't bear it. It is wounding to see such people win. And win they did. And they'll continue to win...
I see no prospect of a change of heart in this nation, regardless of what happens. The Tories are ascendant with little to no realistic opposition for the foreseeable future. Culturally we've lost our devotion to being better people.
So I'm out. Just out. I'll tinker around with my family tree. I'll drool over gorgeous men. I'll read, watch movies, get on with my life as best I can. But the country I owe allegiance and loyalty to is gone. It may never have even existed. And soon even its name may be consigned to the history books if the nationalists get their way.
And one day, if opportunity presents itself, I'll leave.
Saturday, 5 November 2016
Nothing Good Will Come Of Any Of This Brexit Nonsense
The referendum on whether to leave the EU is now over 4 months behind us. In its wake we had a Prime Minister resign, an opposition busy having a civil war, a Tory leadership "battle" that brought Theresa May to Number 10 and a seemingly endless division within our country.
Let's not look with rose-tinted glasses upon our nation's past. There has always been division and, as long as humans continue to inhabit these islands, there will always be division. We're hardly unique as a country. But we have usually succeeded in having reasonable people in positions of power (or at least in positions behind those with the power!) who have defended the basics of our Westminster system and appealed for calm rather than chaos (Thatcher, for example, was hardly blameless in the chaos of the Miners Strike but you can't say she wasn't looking for orderly obedience). At the same time we had sober voices in our press who'd grumble at any change to that system or perceived abuse of it. Tony Blair's use of the Parliament Act, for example, was hardly greeted with mass support from the majority of papers.
Now, however, the division that has followed in the wake of David Cameron's ill-conceived referendum has been allowed to fester with no real attempts at calming the increasing vitriol (from either "side") by those who should be leading us. Jeremy Corbyn, the man foolishly tasked with keeping those in power in check by the Labour party, hasn't got a clue about how to handle the responsibility he has. We're adrift and our country's moral compass appears to be left in the hands of the nastier members of the Tory party (and I mean that quite strongly in terms of their our personal morals being nasty, not just some vague dislike of the Tories there).
There have been those making some feeble calls for unity but those calls seem based on some idea that just calling for it will make it happen. Unity happens through absolute victory or through compromise. A 51/49 split at the referendum wasn't an absolute victory and "Brexit means Brexit" isn't exactly a compromise (nor is it very clear about what's up for negotiation).
When certain elements of the press call judges "Enemies of the People", the response from those who should be trying to unite and govern the country has been so abysmal as to suggest they probably agree. The Government doesn't even respect the supremacy of Parliament, preferring to deal completely behind the scenes and away from the scrutiny of even Leave backing Tory MPs.
The battle over Europe is, sadly, over. The referendum was lost by a whisker. No one was clever enough to put in any threshold better than 50%. But it was lost and the vote was to leave the EU. I'm strongly in favour of our membership of the EU but feel that the best place to express a desire to do so is at the next election. All we currently are is a barrier to the continued evolution of the EU and we should now leave to put an end to the confusion. I think that is the wrong thing to do, but the only reasonable thing to do at the same time.
The battle for Britain has now begun. I don't seek some silly unity based on everyone just pulling together for the public good. This isn't the same country that fought in the Second World War. We're a series of interwoven but extremely different communities. All of us pulling together isn't going to happen. But the reasonable people of all hues could do so, if a compromise of some sort can be agreed. Something needs to happen to protect this country from falling into some very dark times indeed.
Unfortunately, I don't see there's much will within the current leadership of this country to make any sort of attempt to heal some of the wounds. In fact I don't see any real national leadership at all. Anti-intellectual, anti-liberal, anti-British elements seem to have infected our country from top to bottom. I know MANY people who are so angry, just as a general rule, that they'd welcome economic collapse or war rather than compromise on their ideological position. Death threats and calls for "Purges" aren't limited to the crazies either.
We're in the middle of a crisis. We've got no leader worth the title (with no offence meant to Her Majesty, who I'm sure would do a pretty good job. Just a shame she actually does value our constitutional arrangements and would never dream of interfering, God love her). We have a complete lack, across all stratas of society, of any urge to kept this country together or prosperous. We're up shit creek and no one is going to use the paddle because that might upset the direction of travel.
This United Kingdom has been one of the greatest countries ever to come into being on this Earth. Scoff at that if you wish but our influence remains great even in our old age. We are the country of Gladstone and Churchill. Of Victoria and Thatcher. Of Wellington and Montgomery. Of Shakespeare and Austen. And now, in what may become one of the darkest times of our history, we can't seem to step back from the abyss nor rediscover the better angels of our nature. Where is the leadership we need to get us through the storms ahead?
It is sad to see us turning into a disgraceful excuse of a nation and even sadder to see nationalism on the rise ready to destroy our Union. If you believe in a God, now is probably about the right time to start praying. If you don't, then hold tight and hope for salvation.
Let's not look with rose-tinted glasses upon our nation's past. There has always been division and, as long as humans continue to inhabit these islands, there will always be division. We're hardly unique as a country. But we have usually succeeded in having reasonable people in positions of power (or at least in positions behind those with the power!) who have defended the basics of our Westminster system and appealed for calm rather than chaos (Thatcher, for example, was hardly blameless in the chaos of the Miners Strike but you can't say she wasn't looking for orderly obedience). At the same time we had sober voices in our press who'd grumble at any change to that system or perceived abuse of it. Tony Blair's use of the Parliament Act, for example, was hardly greeted with mass support from the majority of papers.
Now, however, the division that has followed in the wake of David Cameron's ill-conceived referendum has been allowed to fester with no real attempts at calming the increasing vitriol (from either "side") by those who should be leading us. Jeremy Corbyn, the man foolishly tasked with keeping those in power in check by the Labour party, hasn't got a clue about how to handle the responsibility he has. We're adrift and our country's moral compass appears to be left in the hands of the nastier members of the Tory party (and I mean that quite strongly in terms of their our personal morals being nasty, not just some vague dislike of the Tories there).
There have been those making some feeble calls for unity but those calls seem based on some idea that just calling for it will make it happen. Unity happens through absolute victory or through compromise. A 51/49 split at the referendum wasn't an absolute victory and "Brexit means Brexit" isn't exactly a compromise (nor is it very clear about what's up for negotiation).
When certain elements of the press call judges "Enemies of the People", the response from those who should be trying to unite and govern the country has been so abysmal as to suggest they probably agree. The Government doesn't even respect the supremacy of Parliament, preferring to deal completely behind the scenes and away from the scrutiny of even Leave backing Tory MPs.
The battle over Europe is, sadly, over. The referendum was lost by a whisker. No one was clever enough to put in any threshold better than 50%. But it was lost and the vote was to leave the EU. I'm strongly in favour of our membership of the EU but feel that the best place to express a desire to do so is at the next election. All we currently are is a barrier to the continued evolution of the EU and we should now leave to put an end to the confusion. I think that is the wrong thing to do, but the only reasonable thing to do at the same time.
The battle for Britain has now begun. I don't seek some silly unity based on everyone just pulling together for the public good. This isn't the same country that fought in the Second World War. We're a series of interwoven but extremely different communities. All of us pulling together isn't going to happen. But the reasonable people of all hues could do so, if a compromise of some sort can be agreed. Something needs to happen to protect this country from falling into some very dark times indeed.
Unfortunately, I don't see there's much will within the current leadership of this country to make any sort of attempt to heal some of the wounds. In fact I don't see any real national leadership at all. Anti-intellectual, anti-liberal, anti-British elements seem to have infected our country from top to bottom. I know MANY people who are so angry, just as a general rule, that they'd welcome economic collapse or war rather than compromise on their ideological position. Death threats and calls for "Purges" aren't limited to the crazies either.
We're in the middle of a crisis. We've got no leader worth the title (with no offence meant to Her Majesty, who I'm sure would do a pretty good job. Just a shame she actually does value our constitutional arrangements and would never dream of interfering, God love her). We have a complete lack, across all stratas of society, of any urge to kept this country together or prosperous. We're up shit creek and no one is going to use the paddle because that might upset the direction of travel.
This United Kingdom has been one of the greatest countries ever to come into being on this Earth. Scoff at that if you wish but our influence remains great even in our old age. We are the country of Gladstone and Churchill. Of Victoria and Thatcher. Of Wellington and Montgomery. Of Shakespeare and Austen. And now, in what may become one of the darkest times of our history, we can't seem to step back from the abyss nor rediscover the better angels of our nature. Where is the leadership we need to get us through the storms ahead?
It is sad to see us turning into a disgraceful excuse of a nation and even sadder to see nationalism on the rise ready to destroy our Union. If you believe in a God, now is probably about the right time to start praying. If you don't, then hold tight and hope for salvation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)