PR needs to be accompanied by strict regulations stopping / reducing dirty money going to political parties & party leaders. £13.7m from arms dealer harbourne to farridge in 2019/20 ?!*! Election expenses are only declared for short campaigns. Suggest parties should be required to declare all donations over £50 for whole period since previous election. If undeclared then fine party pays needs to equal all of donation & 20% to go to a newly unshackled from govt electoral commission.
A committee discussing setting up the constitution of a new country would surely say, “If we are going for democracy then for fairness and common sense we need political representation to be proportional to the votes of the public.” There is widespread agreement that democracy, although far from perfect is the least bad system. People may vote foolishly; they often do but eventually they will learn. So distorting the system, and FPTP is a distortion, to achieve an end is not a good policy. And Mr Kieran produces some excellent and convincing arguments why PR would not be a charter for extremists to get control.
Media likes excitement, good versus bad, issues with two sides for maximum conflict. But life is often more complicated and PR encourages intelligent argument. I shudder when I hear someone say, “I have voted Tory / Labour all my life until now…” Do they not sound like football supporters? People who vary their voting are called, somewhat derisively ‘floating voters’. We should be called thoughtful voters!
I believe voters mostly are in favour, but politicians will say to themselves, “I am where I want to be and there are many causes I believe in. If I vote for PR I might not be here any more!
I read it and believe Mark Kieran's arguments are more convincing. But I applaud respectful argument. I voted for and currently support the Labour party but have some criticisms of Starmer. If I was a Labour MP I would have to keep those criticisms to myself in case I gave support to the 'other side'. That is not a good situation.
Can we NOT imply that Reform UK is "far right"? If you want your campaign to have any authenticity at all, aligning Reform UK with the "far right' is not a good look!
OK it is populist then. What I believe happens is that someone like Farage, who can speak indefinitely without pausing, gets the attention of every voter who has something to complain about, and there are plenty of them, and says to them that he understands their problem and will fix it. That's all that is needed to get their vote. How he will fix it is not discussed.
PR needs to be accompanied by strict regulations stopping / reducing dirty money going to political parties & party leaders. £13.7m from arms dealer harbourne to farridge in 2019/20 ?!*! Election expenses are only declared for short campaigns. Suggest parties should be required to declare all donations over £50 for whole period since previous election. If undeclared then fine party pays needs to equal all of donation & 20% to go to a newly unshackled from govt electoral commission.
A committee discussing setting up the constitution of a new country would surely say, “If we are going for democracy then for fairness and common sense we need political representation to be proportional to the votes of the public.” There is widespread agreement that democracy, although far from perfect is the least bad system. People may vote foolishly; they often do but eventually they will learn. So distorting the system, and FPTP is a distortion, to achieve an end is not a good policy. And Mr Kieran produces some excellent and convincing arguments why PR would not be a charter for extremists to get control.
Media likes excitement, good versus bad, issues with two sides for maximum conflict. But life is often more complicated and PR encourages intelligent argument. I shudder when I hear someone say, “I have voted Tory / Labour all my life until now…” Do they not sound like football supporters? People who vary their voting are called, somewhat derisively ‘floating voters’. We should be called thoughtful voters!
I believe voters mostly are in favour, but politicians will say to themselves, “I am where I want to be and there are many causes I believe in. If I vote for PR I might not be here any more!
A repudiation of the arguments presented by Mark Kieran - https://westenglandbylines.co.uk/politics/democracy/voting-reform-and-the-far-right-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/
I read it and believe Mark Kieran's arguments are more convincing. But I applaud respectful argument. I voted for and currently support the Labour party but have some criticisms of Starmer. If I was a Labour MP I would have to keep those criticisms to myself in case I gave support to the 'other side'. That is not a good situation.
Can we NOT imply that Reform UK is "far right"? If you want your campaign to have any authenticity at all, aligning Reform UK with the "far right' is not a good look!
OK it is populist then. What I believe happens is that someone like Farage, who can speak indefinitely without pausing, gets the attention of every voter who has something to complain about, and there are plenty of them, and says to them that he understands their problem and will fix it. That's all that is needed to get their vote. How he will fix it is not discussed.
The right know this. That’s why they joined the Conservatives.