Don't let the fact that Nick Clegg, Tony Robinson and other assorted nauseating pond-dwellers are leading the charge for a "yes" vote in the AV referendum put you off.
If the "no" camp win, that will be electoral reform off the political agenda and the Labour-Tory Buggins' Turn arrangement the UK has got used to over the last 80 years entrenched for another generation.
I'm not going to repeat my previous argument. And tempting as it is to engage with the lunatic nonsense being spouted by both sides – although there's rather more on the "no" side – I won't. I'll just give a link to the Yes campaign then get back to what you're all here for – my opinion.
If AV is good enough for both Labour and the Tories (kind of) to elect their leaders with, why is it too complicated or too likely to lead to extremists being represented for you and me?
If it is good enough for Northern Ireland, why is it wrong for England, Scotland and Wales?
AV is far from perfect, but it's a step in the right direction – that is, towards a species of democracy that aspires to some kind of pluralism in representation.
More importantly, the symbolic importance of slapping the Westminster establishment around its bewhiskered purple chops cannot be overstated.
There's nothing sacred about first-past-the-post, just as there's nothing inherently right or democratic about one party having a monopoly of government.
It's precisely because people are sick of the Tory-Labour cycle and the lack of choice and real representation it provides that first-past-the-post threw up a result last May where no one won. You think that was a one-off? You don't think that's a reflection of long-term changes in political affiliations?
The country, the state, belong to the electorate – not the politicians.
The electoral system is the petri dish in which the current culture of political bacteria developed. Let's squirt some Toilet Duck into it on May 5th.
PS – I recycled the idea for the photo from here. Can't claim any credit for that beyond working out how to use MS Paint to change the numbers round...
I hated the idea of AV... and I fucking did not agree with Nick. He blinked. PR should have been on that ballot paper, the price of his political sell out. If you are going to sell your ideals and party into a politically barren hinterland then do it for what you believe in.
ReplyDeleteI voted "yes" for AV in the hope that it would result in a situation that was unpalitable for all sides thus (within say 10-25 years, if not 100) engendering a further vote on PR (or "true democracy" as I like to call it).
Still, the tories played it right and now we can look forward to always doggedly voting first past the post for the rest of our lifetimes.
Yay.